Suzuki trained in
Nagoya, Japan. At the same time, she worked for Toho Real Estate, which has its own skating rink. On going to university, where she was in control of her own diet, she began to lose dangerous amounts of weight. Suzuki said she kept the disorder to herself and that "People don’t get it. They assume eating is easy. It’s not like I didn’t want to eat."
2004–2005 to 2008–2009 Suzuki returned to competitive skating in the 2004–2005 season after being inspired by
Shizuka Arakawa's victory at the 2004 World Championships. She had a breakthrough in 2007–2008, winning several events, including the
2007 Winter Universiade, and achieving her highest finish at Japanese nationals since 2002. She consequently received her first senior Grand Prix assignment in 2008–2009, and won the silver medal at the
2008 NHK Trophy. That same season, she also won the
2008 Finlandia Trophy and finished 8th at the
2009 Four Continents Championships.
2009–2010 season Suzuki appeared at two Grand Prix events, winning the
2009 Cup of China and finishing 5th at the
2009 Skate Canada International. She qualified to the
2009–10 Grand Prix Final, where she won the bronze medal. She was awarded a place on the
Japanese Olympic team after she placed second at the
2009–10 Japan Championships. She was also assigned to compete at the
2010 Four Continents Championships, where she won the silver medal. At the Olympics, she finished 8th, and she was later 11th at the
2010 World Championships – her first senior World Championships.
2010–2011 season Suzuki opened her season with gold at the
2010 Finlandia Trophy. She received silver at both of her Grand Prix events, the
2010 Cup of Russia and the
2010 Cup of China. She qualified for her second consecutive
Grand Prix Final, this time finishing fourth. A fourth-place finish at the national championships left her off the World Championships team, but she was selected to go to the
2011 Four Continents Championships, where she finished 7th.
2011–2012 season Competing again on the Grand Prix series, Suzuki won the silver medal at the
2011 Skate Canada International and the gold medal at the
2011 NHK Trophy. Her placements qualified her for the
2011 Grand Prix Final where she won the silver medal. She won the silver behind
Mao Asada at the
2011–12 Japan Championships. At the
2012 World Championships, Suzuki won the bronze medal, becoming the oldest ladies' single skater to medal at the event since
Maria Butyrskaya. At the
2012 ISU World Team Trophy, she won the ladies' event, defeating World champion
Carolina Kostner. Team Japan also won the event overall.
2012–2013 season Suzuki received the same Grand Prix assignments as the previous season. She won the silver medal at the
2012 Skate Canada International and the
2012 NHK Trophy, qualifying her for the
2012–13 Grand Prix Final. At the final, she placed third in the short program. She fell twice in the free skating, finishing third overall. In December 2012, Suzuki said that the 2013–14 season would be her last. She finished fourth at the
2012–13 Japan Championships behind
Satoko Miyahara. Suzuki won the silver medal at the
2013 Four Continents Championships, as part of a Japanese sweep of the ladies' event with teammates
Mao Asada and
Kanako Murakami taking the gold and bronze medal respectively. She placed twelfth at the
2013 World Championships. At the
2013 World Team Trophy, Suzuki placed first; Team Japan placed third overall. Her free skating score of 133.02 and her combined total score of 199.58 are her personal best scores.
2013–2014 season Suzuki began her season at the
2013 Finlandia Trophy, where she won the silver medal behind
Yulia Lipnitskaya. She won another silver at the
2013 Skate Canada International, again behind Lipnitskaya. At the
2013 NHK Trophy, she earned the bronze medal after placing second in the short and fourth in the free skating. Suzuki won gold at the
2013–14 Japan Championships, ahead of
Kanako Murakami and
Mao Asada. She placed second in the short program behind Asada, but rebounded to first place after winning the free skating. She skated two clean programs and earned the highest free skating and total score to date in the ladies' event at the Japan Figure Skating Championships. At the
2014 Winter Olympics, Suzuki competed in the free skating portion of the
figure skating team event, placing fourth in that segment; Japan finished fifth overall. She went on to place eighth in the
ladies' singles competition. At the
2014 World Championships, she placed fourth in the short program with a personal best score, eighth in the free skating, and sixth overall. Following the World Championships, Suzuki announced her retirement from competitive skating. == Post-competitive career ==