*Machine-translation. Inaccuracies exist*
Note: this article includes the full Q&A, different to the Newspapers articles that included the Q&A, this one is not edited, it keeps the original tone and parts that were excluded from the newspaper versions.
2026.06.25
S-STYLE Vol.739, July 2026, pages 070-079
Kindle version & printed version
Special Report
Yuzuru Hanyu × NHK
Great East Japan Earthquake – 15th Anniversary Memorial Song
“Ikue”
Ikue was created by NHK together with the popular duo Yuzu to mark the fifteenth anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake. The song, born with the aim of conveying the experiences of the disaster and connecting them to the future, became the basis for a figure skating collaboration with Yuzuru Hanyu, who experienced the disaster himself at the age of sixteen. We bring you a look at the program recording, which was shown exclusively to the press.
Photography: Taichi Daitō
Performance photographs courtesy of NHK
Reporting and text: S-style Editorial Department
The two members of Yuzu visited Miyagi and Fukushima, listening directly to people who experienced the disaster as they carefully wove together the earthquake memorial song Ikue. Voices from those affected by the disaster, "I want to see them again," "I still can't get used to the fact that they're gone;" the title of the school song from an elementary school affected by the disaster, "Opening the Future;" the many different words that Yuzu encountered became layered one upon another as phrases in the lyrics, crystallizing into this song. Composer Marihiko Hara, who also created the music for the film National Treasure, participated in composing the piece. Although it is a song about the earthquake disaster, its goal is to be a song in which anyone can see themselves reflected. That difficult challenge has been beautifully realized through gentle words, a warm melody, and delicate musical arrangements. Released on March 11, the baton was then passed to Yuzuru Hanyu, who says he listened to the song hundreds of times. Approximately four and a half minutes long, it is almost exactly the same length as a free skating program in official competition. As he considered the composition of the program, he absorbed the meaning and feelings contained within the song, layering his own feelings onto them as well.