 Nagashima went home in December, forgoing the sprint World Cup race in Inzell like many of his compatriots, to win the Japanese sprint championships held in the last weekend of December 2005, tallying 141.985 points to finish just over 0.05 points ahead of silver medallist Yusuke Imai.The 500-metre-record-holder and Japanese champion, Kato, did not participate.However, at the World Sprint Championships in Heerenveen a month later, Imai was well ahead of Nagashima; Nagashima finished 22nd in the overall classification and was not in the top ten on any distance.