Tsuyako Yamashita

Tsuyako Yamashita, was a Japanese figure skater and coach. She was a two-time Japanese champion in 1953 and 1954.

Early and personal life Yamashita was born in Osaka. She had two elder brothers, both of whom died when she was young, as did her father. She began skating at 6 years old and was coached by Kōzō Nagai along with Etsuko Inada and Kinuko Ueno, the mother of Junko Hiramatsu.

She had two children. Her daughter, Kazumi Onishi, was also a figure skater, and she became a four-time Japanese national champion and two-time Olympian.

Career Yamashita commonly practiced until 11 or 12 at night at a young age. She won the 1937 Japan Junior Figure Skating Championships and won again the next year. She dreamed of skating in the 1940 Winter Olympics, but these were cancelled due to the war. Instead, she competed at the East Asian Games held in February 1943 in Manchuria. She recalled being scolded for mentioning the cold while waiting in her competition skirt and was told not to complain because the soldiers were cold. At the competition, she placed second behind her clubmate Yoshiko Tsukioka.

She won the Japanese championships in 1953 and 1954.

She finished her competitive career at the end of 1955 and became a coach. One of her students was her daughter, Kazumi Onishi. Her students also included skaters such as Nobuo Satō, Kumiko Sato, Midori Ito, Mao Asada, and Rika Kihira. She coached until her late 80s and retired in 2015 after falling on a step at the rink and breaking her neck, although she regained her ability to walk.