Russia's two-time world champion Evgenia Medvedeva leads after the women's short program of the NHK Trophy figure skating competition on Friday, while Japan's Rika Hongo sits in fourth and Satoko Miyahara in sixth.
Medvedeva, skating last among 12 contestants, pulled off a clean program featuring a triple flip-triple toe loop combination at Osaka Municipal Central Gymnasium to score 79.99 points, ahead of 2014 Sochi Olympic bronze medalist Carolina Kostner of Italy with 74.57.
Polina Tsurskaya of Russia is in third at 70.04, followed by Hongo, the sixth-place finisher at October's Skate Canada International who earned 65.83 after an underrotated triple lutz, and 2016 Four Continents silver medalist Mirai Nagasu of the United States with 65.17.
Miyahara, making a comeback after about 11 months out of competition with a stress fracture in her left groin area, had trouble with her opening combination jump and scored 65.05.
"The cheers from the stands seemed bigger than ever and I feel like I've finally come back to this big stage," said the 19-year-old Miyahara, who was world silver medalist in 2015 and won the Four Continents meet the following year.
"I couldn't show my best but I think my performance was passable. I want to improve on the areas that need work and do my best," she said.
The men's short program, held without icon Yuzuru Hanyu who withdrew at the last minute with leg injuries sustained when he fell during Thursday's official practice, saw Russian Sergei Voronov taking the lead with 90.06.
Israel's Alexei Bychenko was in second place, followed by American Jason Brown. Japan's Kazuki Tomono placed sixth, while compatriot Hiroaki Sato was 10th.
In the pairs competition, China's Sui Wenjing and Han Cong topped the short program, followed by Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov and fellow Russian duos Kristina Astakhova and Alexei Rogonov.
Japan's Sumire Suto and Canadian partner Francis Boudreau-Audet were in seventh, and Miu Suzaki and Ryuichi Kihara in eighth.
The NHK Trophy is the fourth of six events in the Grand Prix Series, whose top six finishers in each figure skating discipline will compete in the Grand Prix Final in Nagoya on Dec. 7-9. Skate Canada was the second series contest this year.
