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He relied on painkillers, as he did a lot of times during his competitive career. I'd prefer he didn't need them; I'm worried about the long-term effects of all these painkillers. If you're up for a long list, I can list quite a few physical issues Yuzu had to overcome over the years. Let me know if you want to read it. Painkillers aside, how could Yuzu go on like that? He is stubborn. When he wants do do something, he really does his best. Probably he has an high pain threshold, but mostly is stubbornness. No, he can't change the format of the performance. He loves to skate in an arena full of people who wants to see him. Take that away from him, and you take away what he loves most. A recorded show isn't the same. A video, as Ikue, is wonderful, but he wants to perform in front of the public. I saw him live two times. At the 2019 Grand Prix Final: short program, one official practice (the one in which he tried the 4A) and free skate, not the gala: that day I was at work. There were a lot of strong skaters in all the competitions. No one was comparable to him. He was magnetic, he was able to catch my eye even when he was at the side of the rink, drinking water, and ad the same time one of the other skaters was doing a quad at the center of the rink. I learned in that competition how overwhelming his presence is. In 2022 he went pro. I saw all his solo show from my computer. Prologue only some time after the show, but for Gift, Re_Pray, Echoes of Life and Realive I bought the ticket for the livestream every time, this means 9 tickets. For the other shows, two times (Echoes day 2 and Realive day 1) I was able to watch them on Asahi in real time, I watched all the others when they were aired some times later. So I know what he did. I saw everything. I won the tickets for Echoes of Life in Chiba, both days (but I bought also my ticket for the international livestream, as a support for Yuzu). Chiba was the third city of the tour, so I already knew the story. This aided me a lot, because I was able to understand what was happening even whithout the English subtitles. And... it's totally different. From a screen, the shows are wonderful. From a cinema (two days later I went to a cinema in Kyoto and I watched the delayed viewing) they are even more beautiful, because you feel the atmosphere with the other fans. Inside the arena... it's totally different. The light are brighter. The colours more intense. The music wraps the people. There is a sensation of the space that you can't feel from a screen. You see Yuzu's speed, the beautiful transitions from one move to another that sometimes get lost when in the video there is a camera change. You feel to be part of the shows, because the lights often go over the public. You feel the emotions of the people sitting near you. It's totally different. Without the live performances, what Yuzu is doing would lose a big part of his meaning. The emotion would not be the same. Think to a detail: no one knows whether Yuzu will be able to skate a clean show or not. He too doesn't know it. And this feeling is an important part of the show. Really. When in Gift he started the six minutes of warm up, I was worried as I was worried the year before, when he was about to skate in Beijing. In a video... would he show a flawed performance, or would he skate again and again until he will do a perfect performance? There can't be the same tension in a recorded show. Another thing: he loves challenge. He could do easier shows. But he doesn't do them. He needs to be challenged, otherwise he would lose interest. At the 2017 Autumn Classic International he obtained 112.72 points in the short program. The Total Element Score, with three jump elements (one combination), three spins and one step sequence, was 64.17 points. For the free skate he decided to avoid the 4Lo and the 4Lz because he felt some pain to one knee. And he lost his concentration. He did countless mistakes. The Total Element Score for eight jump elements (three combinationa), three spins, one step sequence and one choreo sequence was 67.02 points. Less than three points more compared to the short program, but with a lot more of elements. When he doesn't feel challenged, he is not able to skate at his best. So we have to accept that sometimes he will be injured, and that, prayers aside, we can do nothing. To be his fans means, among all the beautiful things, also accepting this truth. From time to time, we will have a new trauma because we will discover something painful.

Oh~no. I wish I hadn't asked. He did three 2-hour shows with an injured ankle? How could he go on like that? Maybe he can change the format of the performance. Instead of doing live shows, he can film his performance or ice story as a movie, and then people can watch it in movie theaters. He can sell it overseas. I think the box office will be great. This way, he doesn't have to perform 10+ programs in 2 hours and can rest several days between filming.

*Machine-translation. Inaccuracies exist* 2026.06.10 Source: https://kahoku.news/articles/20260609khn000027.html (paid) “‘Very pop music’: Yuzuru Hanyu skates to Yuzu’s song ‘Ikue’ — a performance filled with prayers for a brighter future” Professional figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu (a native of Sendai) has created and recorded an original skating performance to "Ikue," an NHK song commemorating the Great East Japan Earthquake sung by the popular duo "Yuzu" (Yujin Kitagawa and Koji Iwasawa). The station will broadcast the video on various national and local programs.

*Machine-translation. Inaccuracies exist* 2026.06.10 Source: https://deepedgeplus.kyodonews.jp/feature/yuzuru-hanyu-nhk/ Archived: https://web.archive.org/web/20260611022510/https://deepedgeplus.kyodonews.jp/feature/yuzuru-hanyu-nhk/ Yuzuru Hanyu speaks about the 15th anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake and the future: Full interview about the collaboration project for the earthquake memorial song "Ikue" (Part 1) Yuzuru Hanyu (31), a native of Sendai City who won two consecutive gold medals in men's figure skating at the Winter Olympics , performed his own original routine set to "Ikue," an NHK song commemorating the Great East Japan Earthquake, created by the popular duo "Yuzu." Fifteen years have passed since the earthquake. After finishing the recording of his performance, Hanyu spoke in an interview about the thoughts he put into the choreography and the changes in his feelings.

*Machine-translation. Inaccuracies exist* 2026.06.10 Source: https://digital.asahi.com/articles/ASV6B0TRKV6BUNHB00SM.html?ptoken=01KTRGMV6YVG9GWR08RC0DEW78 (paid) Yuzuru Hanyu: "I've gotten better at living with the earthquake." Fifteen years have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake. Professional figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu performed an original figure skating routine to a song commemorating the disaster, which was created by the folk duo "Yuzu" at the request of NHK Sendai Broadcasting Station. Hanyu, a native of Sendai and a survivor of the disaster, spoke about his feelings 15 years after the earthquake. Transcript:

Short articles in English about the Yuzuru Hanyu x Yuzu collaboration. They have a couple of quotes from the Q&A. By the way the translation of the articles published by Hochi (8 pages in total, much more details than the English articles), which include the Q&A, are posted under the translation tab (if you have no idea what I'm talking about, please let me know).

Same. We can't know when something wonderful will disappear. The only thing we can do was to wonder. Would his ankle heal? And would heal in time for the most important competitions? I'm happy that I was not a fanyu at the time of the 2014 Cup of China. The other injuries were devastating enough, that one would have been a nightmare. Anyone who doesn't follow Yuzu's career closely can't imagine how much criticism he's received, how many senseless accusations he's faced. But when we look at what not jealous people but others say, then he has received enormous praise, because everyone realizes what he does, how he does it, and who he is as a person. It was Yuzu who sprained his ankle. I don't know wether you saw the video of Yuzu walking in the backstage, at Notte stellata, with the ice on his ankle. And in Notte stellata he avoided the 3A and did only two 1A delayed, a 2T and a 3Lo. When he skated Requiem for the anniversary of the earthquake, the 3A was not so good. In Realive, for Otonal, he did only 3Lo, 3A, 3F+2T. His layout in his first senior season was more difficult, because then the combination was composed by two triple. We know that he wants to restore all his jumps, he was clear about it in Radio Members. But with his ankle is really difficult. We can only hope.

[2026.06.10] *Machine translation, inaccuracies exist* Hochi Sports: 1 introduction article and Q&A published in 4 parts Source: https://hochi.news/articles/20260610-OHT1T51323.html?page=1 Archive: Yuzuru Hanyu × Yuzu A Prayerful Performance to the Earthquake Memorial Song "Ikue" "I hope wounds can become even a little gentler in their pain" June 10, 2026, 7:05 PM Yuzuru Hanyu, who won consecutive Olympic gold medals in men's figure skating at the 2014 Sochi and 2018 PyeongChang Olympics, has achieved his first collaboration with the popular duo Yuzu. Performing to Ikue, NHK's earthquake memorial song marking 15 years since the Great East Japan Earthquake, Hanyu presented a skating performance. By the 10th, the recording, made at an ice rink in Sendai City, had been unveiled, and he responded to media interviews. Source: https://hochi.news/articles/20260610-OHT1T51329.html?page=1 Archive: Yuzuru Hanyu: "Expressing the Music, the Lyrics, and the Feelings with Great Care" Self-Choreographed Ikue - Interview Q&A (Part 1) Source: https://hochi.news/articles/20260610-OHT1T51348.html?page=1#goog_rewarded Archive: Yuzuru Hanyu Listened to Ikue More Than 500 Times Forward Roll and Hugging His Knees: "From the Past to the Present" - Interview Q&A (Part 2) Source: https://hochi.news/articles/20260610-OHT1T51356.html?page=1 Archive: “Yuzuru Hanyu: ‘Little by little, I've become able to properly reach out a hand’” - Q&A Part 3 Source: https://hochi.news/articles/20260610-OHT1T51402.html?page=1 Archive: Yuzuru Hanyu: “Forcing painful memories in front of people is not what passing things down means” - Q&A Part 4

[2026.06.10] *Machine translation, inaccuracies exist* Source: https://www.nhk.or.jp/sendai/info/articles/310/051/75/ Archive: Yuzuru Hanyu × Yuzu Earthquake Memorial Song Ikue - Figure Skating Special Program June 10, 2026 Yuzuru Hanyu's special program is scheduled to be broadcast on: NHK General TV, June 11, 6:10 PM "Teremasa" (Miyagi Prefecture broadcast area) (After the broadcast, it will be available for catch-up streaming on NHK ONE.) Yuzu Performs Ikue — The 15th Anniversary Great East Japan Earthquake Memorial Song Fifteen years have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake. To pass on the memories and lessons of the disaster to the next generation, NHK worked together with Yuzu to create the earthquake memorial song Ikue. Yujin Kitagawa [from Yuzu], who wrote the lyrics, put into Ikue the wish that "everyone would be able to see themselves reflected in it." Through this project, NHK hopes that the power of a song created by Yuzu—one of Japan's representative artists—will convey the experiences of the disaster not only to Tohoku, but throughout Japan and to the wider world, connecting those experiences to the future. This time, a collaboration with Yuzuru Hanyu, who felt a deep connection to Ikue, has become a reality.

Articles about the collaboration between Yuzuru Hanyu and the Japanese band Yuzu. Yuzuru skated the memorial song "Ikue". A special program will be broadcast on June 11th at 6:10 PM JST, on NHK General's "Telemasa" (Miyagi Prefecture area) The program will also be available for streaming on NHK ONE after the broadcast. NHK ONE is a free online streaming site. VPN Required.

I was deeply involved in another fandom for a 90s TV drama about 20 years ago. It was incredibly vibrant—fans produced over 10,000 fanfictions just for the main character! I stepped away from that community about 15 years ago, but returned around three years ago. To my delight, the fandom hadn’t completely faded and was still attracting new fans. However, most of the old forums had vanished. So many sparkling discussions and creative works were lost, including several of my favorite fanfics. It’s heartbreaking to realize that these things don’t exist forever. Now, whenever I come across something wonderful about Yuzu, I make sure to save it on my computer. I’ve learned from past experience that they might not exist forever. If I had followed Yuzu’s journey in real time, it would probably have been even more intense—filled with thrilling and heart-attack moments (like his difficult decision to withdraw from NHK 2017 due to injury). Many incidents were bloodier than described in his biography. The amount and intensity of criticism he received is more than I could have imagined. Still, I’ve also found plenty of cute and heartwarming moments. For example, Kurt Browning’s comments about Yuzu’s smile after a mistake in the FS at NHK 2012, and his saying that “building (choreographing) a program for Yuzu is like playing a video game, because Yuzu is able to do pretty much anything a choreographer can dream up.” This comment and the video game analogy made me smile. And finally, may I ask, who got a sprained ankle, David or Yuzu, in January?

I, too, was sad to see that some people who had written so much in the past, produced analyses, videos, and texts... at a certain point stopped doing so. There could be many reasons for this, but it's still a treasure we're losing, because none of us can know everything, and by talking to each other, we learn so much. Years ago, I read some old forums, precisely to understand how people reacted in real time to episodes that, for me, were part of history. It helped me better understand the doubts and fears that so many had experienced. These doubts and fears haven't disappeared just because Yuzu is now a professional. In a recent interview, David Wilson stated that he was supposed to fly to Japan in January to choreograph Yae no sakura for Notte stellata, but that they had to abandon the project, and work with Zoom on a later date, due to yet another sprained ankle.

And Yuzu's Post on X Machine translation : "I put my heart into the choreography and skating. Thank you in advance for your kind attention."

More crumbs Machine translation : Figure Skater Yuzuru Hanyu Interview Created together with Yuzu NHK Tohoku Pacific Earthquake 15th Anniversary Disaster Legacy Song Performed a routine to "Ikue" Also shared his own thoughts on the disaster "I skated with prayers So that the future may become even a little brighter"

ALIGATO MERCI @Lou : yes or this COSTUME and it's a good news ( sorry or my bad English )

OMG !! tomorrow ! a new program of Yuzu !! And this costume Machine translation : #Yuzuru Hanyu and #Yuzu Collaboration on Disaster Legacy Song "Ikue"! Figure Skating Special Program Broadcast tomorrow and the day after on "Tere Masa"! Hanyu-san "I skated with thoughts for the future in mind" Overall: 11th (Thu) 12th (Fri) 6:10 PM (Miyagi Prefecture area) After broadcast: NHK ONE 1-week catch-up streaming And the link to access the article : https://www.nhk.or.jp/sendai/info/articles/310/051/75/

2026.07.24 Couture on Ice: Yuzuru Hanyu x Satomi Ito Photobook Couture on Ice（クチュール・オン・アイス） 羽生結弦×伊藤聡美 写真集 Info: https://otonaristore.com/products/9784867910887

Thank you, Martina, for asserting my observations. I am so glad that you are still active. Most YouTube channels about Hanyu that I enjoyed and learned a lot are dormant now (like "Figure Skating Fans"). In this past weekend, I came across the blog https://www.tumblr.com/the-real-xmonster. That blog is like a time capsule. From it, I got to observe how people have reacted to every Yuzu incident in real time, more detailed and more shocking than illustrated in Yuzu's biography. I felt like I was traveling backward in time to witness his journey. Moreover, her technical analysis and knowledge about figure skating is so good. I hope the content she left on the blog can be preserved forever, so valuable.

Any fanyu from Saudi Arabia..

Chan had amazing skating skills and a wonderful 4T. His biggest flaw was the axel, he did a lot of mistakes on it. Fernandez has excellent skating skills and he was really good in connecting with the public. Uno's butt sticks a lot. And in order to raise his BV he cut transitions and skated a lot on two feet. He knew how to skate, but to be able to do more jumps, he simplified his skating. The judges should have noticed this and lowered his PCS scores, but they didn't. And his 4F was a really ugly jump. It was always cheated, but the judges gifted him huge scores. There are a lot of skaters better than Chen in spins, transitions and body movement. He learned to jump, and in his programs he did almost only jumps. But he was from US, and between the US press who praised him a lot and US federation who was able to influence the judges, the results were the ones we know.

We first met this beautiful dream figure one winter's day in February as he created a perfect summer day for us in Tokyo Dome