Umebachi

Perhaps now we should retire the name "Nessie" since the monster is shedding its dark form and emerging into the sunshine. I vote that we rename it Yon-chan from now on. A friendly and cooperative creature, easy to tame by the one and only (Kenshin) Dragon whisperer.

@SitTwizzle Yes!! So now, what do you think s/he means by adding "kur" at the end? A Black Rabbit Cure? Some sort of a twist on a German (or French) recipe or health ritual?? Sorry, getting off topic, but this is all very healthy and "healing" conversation inspired by Yuzu (the skater). Yuzu (the fruit) is also healing.

I have heard Yon Axel used as a contracted/abbreviated version of Yonkaiten Akuseru (Axel). Japanese like to shorten long words - like LMEY became LemiEn. I like Yon-chan - sounds like something he would eventually use. Then we can say that @rockstaryuzu called it into existence, and we will congratulate her for her first effort at coining a new Japanese phrase.

That is an iconic macaron tower! I also love the twitter name - Kurousagi means black rabbit (seems to be a play on the white rabbit - Shirousagi - which appears in the Japanese mythical foundational story). Somehow that twist resonates... Also, the person uses "lapinnoirkur" for the handle. Must have studied to become a patissiere in France?? S/he said s/he used yuzu flavored cream in the center, of course!

Hi, just catching up after a good night's rest! It's comforting to be able to share our feelings after this unsual and (yet another) stressful competition. As many of you have said here, I am getting a very different emotional wave from Yuzu after the competition. He is no longer so focused in flagellating himself with "kuyashii" emotion and is revealing a more philosophical and reflective self. I am especially relieved to see Yuzu appearing to be calm after the Free. It was a pity that his body had a hiccup during the performance - as an asthmatic myself, it gets triggered and comes on unexpectedly even when in good condition. He didn't really say he had an attack, but his heavy breathing after the performance as well as the pale look at the start of the Free reminded me of that tight chested feeling one gets when the inflammation flares up. He had been holding onto a lot of stress since the earthquake delayed his departure, and while his mental capacity is really amazing and he was able to control his body throughout most of the competition, your body can also give way at a very subliminal level, probably the immune system flexing itself in a dynamic way that can cause a hiccup in the flow. Perhaps the food situation could have triggered it as well. In any case, it was clear his physical condition had suddenly flared up but it was momentary and he does not seem concerned. It seems the Covid isolation period has really matured and refined this young man's self-awareness - and I am really impressed and happy to see this. He is on such an amazing trajectory, and as I've said before, I still think his best performances are yet to come. I love how he has introduced the sound of Biwa (lute) so strongly in the music. It reminds me of the plaintive sound emerging from the Bishamon temple where Kenshin used to play his Biwa in deep meditation. The melancholic sound was supposed to have carried across to the Sado Island across the sea. That Yuzu is able to recreate that image through his skating is a masterpiece, and I look forward to his refining this program to its full potential. This is the program truly worthy of housing the 4A within its frame, and will be a crowning achievement for Yuzu in the first phase of his long and illustrious career. May he prosper and grace us with his presence for years to come! PS: With regard to his interview about the 4A and TTCT, my understanding is that he plans to put the 4A as the first jump of the program. This seemed clear to me from the context of his preceding sentences.

Wow! Thank you for this initiative, and welcome to the Planet!

The link is in the twitter cited by Yumeaki. Here it is again: https://mainichi.jp/articles/20210325/k00/00m/050/180000c

The article provides a very nice write up about your initiative! The piece introduces you as a Swiss fan of Hanyu and how, as the mother of two daughters, you were saddened that the children in Sweden wouldn't have the chance to receive Winnie the Poohs after this WC and that's why you had initiated this campaign in February. They provide the weblink to the campaign, so I hope the hospital will receive donations from the Japanese fans as well! Thank you for all your efforts to make this happen!

I can't express enough how emotional this makes me feel! I had watched the original NHK Taiga (not Daiga) drama back in 1969 - don't remember all the details but Taiga dramas were part of our Sunday evening family experience, and the image of Lord Kenshin wearing blue with the white cowl of a buddhis monk was seared into my childhood brain. Ishizaka Koji is a very well-known and well-liked actor, a familiar figure in the Japanese media. I never dreamed in my wildest dreams that I would be able to share that special experience with so many people from around the globe. Thank you, Yuzu, for reviving these beautiful and iconic moments of Japanese history and drama to the world, including the Japanese audience since many people don't know about TTCT! Shame on NHK for not preserving the recordings in an archive!

[NEWS] Asahi Shimbun has translated the message from Yuzu on the 10th Anniversary of 3.11 in a YT video. It's a difficult message to translate into English.

[NEWS] From S-Park. The first part is older news about falling to the bottom and finding the way back to light by skating to HYK, which reignited his love of skating. New part: Yuzu says Uchimura Kohei inspired him recently. At age 31 when his physical capacity is obviously declining, Uchimura decided to focus on the single event of high bar for the Olympics. In his most recent competition late 2020, he succeeded in performing the H-Level hand release - the most difficult move on this device. After watching this, Yuzu realized he is still quite young and he still has a lot to offer. He has 4A on his mind. He is beginning to sound like he will continue competing after Beijing (my speculation). Fly Yuzu! Edit: many Japanese tweets are upset that Fuji TV had kept the second part secret for all this time. Typical of Fuji TV - they parse the single interview over weeks and months to draw out viewership. It breaks the flow of thought and expression which are important for understanding the context. So this is from the period just after JNats, not a new interview for the Worlds. Fuji suffering from advanced Dry Cactus 🌵syndrome .

@yuzuangel FYI : The 2012 Nice Worlds Men's FS is in French, not Russian (which is great for me, since I don't understand Russian). I am glad we have the recording of this French commentary - which is fun and very complimentary towards Yuzu throughout the FS competition.

I am leaving this short clip of the ceremonial Miko dance, which was caught by my family in Tokyo during their walk around the neighborhood. Asakusa Shrine in the old part of the city. To cleanse the air of toxic intentions and wishing good fortune to those who strive. “Effort may betray us, but it is never in vain.”

Yes, I'm with you. Yuzu will not want to win in a splatfest. This is his chance to "reset" the judging standards and prepare the way for the 2022 Olympics.

I'm so sorry to disappoint you... but Japan has been extremely laggard with regard to COVID vaccination, and has the dishonor of being the slowest among the OECD countries. Currently only health workers are being vaccinated, and they won't get this completed until next month (April). PM Suga and his entourage (around 60 people) received their first vaccination shot yesterday, in preparation for their trip to Washington DC to meet with President Biden in April. This is the only exception that is being reported. The Japanese media staff have already travelled to Stockholm, as reported early, and I doubt that any of them has received vaccination. Yuzu, of all people, would probably consider it highly unethical to jump the queue and receive vaccination ahead of the elderly and vulnerable population. Japan has been struggling to obtain sufficient supply - as with so many countries - and while they are finally beginning to receive some supplies, they are on the order of 100,000's. (Japan's population is over 120 million people.) The Japanese news media are reporting that 3 Japanese fencers have tested positive while in Budapest, Hungary, for the international fencing competition. They are in quarantine in Budapest, awaiting further tests... Another piece of not so good news (might as well bring it forward in one fell swoop!). On the Japanese twittersphere, there is news about the fact that our Ajinomoto support team will not be allowed to provide special food for the Japanese athletes. ISU has designated their own food service providers for the Worlds, and will not allow any other food to be provided to the athletes. Presumably for safety reasons, but needless to say, this will be a major setback for Yuzu, as he has a slow and finicky digestive system that requires careful eating regimen before, during and after the competition. I am hoping that he will be able to take pre-packaged food items with him to the hotel.

Beautiful calligraphy by a fanyu calligrapher, giving life to the words on the Sendai signage. LMEY 翔如春雷 Soar like the Spring Thunder TTCT 昇如春光 Rise like the Spring Light PS I like this abbreviation of Ten to Chi to (TTCT) better than HE

I haven't watched Ayumi Takanami compete so I have no idea about her skating skills. I hope this partnership will work out better this time. Too early to tell, as you say.

I loved watching Shingo doing his program as a single skater on this stream. It's at around 56 minute mark on the Waseda on Ice recording on Youtube. Quite a good swagger and lovely skating skills - fit for an ice dancer. Also congrats for the new "AyuShin" dance team, and good luck for the next Winter Olympics at Milano!

News Every - that last clip is from February 2020 - over a year old. Japanese tweets are expressing disappointment at NihonTV. The other stations did better . I think Asahi TV with our favorite uncle, Matsuoka Shuzo, is among the best so far... (sorry, there is no sub/translation on this video clip). This clip includes the interview with and some iconic photos taken by Noto Sunao, the photographer, who "discovered" Yuzu during his 2011 performance of the White Legend. He notes that he had gone to this charity event expecting to take photos of Shizuka Arakawa and Daisuke Takahashi, and ended up being totally mesmerized by the young Yuzu. He caught the photo of Yuzu's face as he lay prone on the ice - an unusual angle which allowed him to capture a glimpse of his expression faced down. He has been taking photos of Yuzu ever since, and never looked back.

[NEWS] Sponichi has published a beautiful photographic version of 3.11 and Yuzu, with his essay framed in that special moment from 2020 JNats. (RN I am watching the Emperor's speech commemorating the 10th anniversary of the 3.11 disaster. He is a kind and caring soul - and a scientist with a degree in water resource management - which seems apropos for the occasion.)

[NEWS] NHK's weekly program titled "Nehorin Pahorin" this week featured people who were saved by Yuzuru Hanyu. This program is well known for featuring cute puppet hosts who interview people appearing in the form of adorable piglets, who don't want to appear in person due to trauma experiences or prejudices. Belying the cute apperance, the interviews delve into very difficult and sensitive topics and their gentle and caring approach help people share their experiences. They include people who experienced hate because they came out as LGBT, or victims of domestic violence, bullying, sexual harrasment, and so forth. Last year Nehorin Pahorin had a program featuring women who had gone through traumatic experiences but were saved by discovering Yuzu and his performances. This week, they brought back one of the interviewees from the past to reflect on how Yuzu has inspired her life. In this clip, we see "May" who is in tears with joy remembering Yuzu's return to JNats in December 2020. She says, "That was the best! From tomorrow, I will be able to make an effort again! (To Yuzu) Thank you!" We should try to sub this program!** Edit: **Correction - today's program had only one interviewee who spoke about Yuzu. The other two are very moving and memorable, but not about Yuzu. (In case you are interested, one is about a woman who struggled to recover from substance abuse and cancer and the program has been following her for years; the other is a man who had physically abused his daughter due to anger control problems, and how he and his family have gone through a long process of behavioral change with the help of support groups and their own efforts. In both cases, the interviewees have established a long-term trust with the Nehorin and Pahorin, and have come back repeatedly to discuss their hardships and progress over many years.) I will need to look for the program from last year, when Nehorin and Pahorin talked about Yuzu exclusively. That program would be worth subbing! Perhaps the other Japanese satellites will have an easier access to the program?

Yes, I think this is worth pursuing, but I would suggest taking a different approach. As others have noted, it would be important to contact the person who has already translated Aoi Honoo into English since she generously provided her time and effort free of charge. She had done this to ensure that people will buy the original Japanese version, the proceeds of which go toward Sendai Ice Rink recovery fund. Respecting her efforts, she should be involved in any initiative to publish an English version of the book. I am not familiar with the publishing world so I am speculating on what it would take to do this. It would probably require getting in touch with an overseas publisher which would be willing to support the translation and agree to transfer part of the proceeds to a relevant Tohoku recovery fund. Perhaps we could ask for a fanyu who is familiar with the publishing world to help out with this step? (Courtney Milan might be willing to give us advice?) I think it's long overdue to get Aoi Honoo translated into English and thereby introduce Yuzu to the wider, non-skating world. The Tenth Anniversary of the disaster would be a good occasion to launch this project!

It was in Yomiuri Shinbun. Yuzu came first twice higher than the next athlete - Kei Nishikori. This post has been tagged by yuzuangel as [NEWS].

It:s funny that the Japanese twitter world is tweeting about the Chinese sports news agency reporting on Yuzu coming on top of the favorite athlete survey. Coming back to the survey, I find it interesting that this was actually conducted as a random survey (versus some self-selecting surveys often used by media) ensuring diversity in age and gender. And that Yuzu beat all the baseball favorites. Baseball is still, by far, the most popular sports in Japan, and Figure Skating doesn't come anywhere near the top in this category - although it is growing in popularity. PS Apologies for the multiple posts! Catching up on the forum...

Congrats for getting the vaccination! I am also in BC but will have to wait for Phase 3 roll out. Glad to see the supply pipeline picking up pace! My family physician thinks they will move up the schedule. With warmer weather (on the Island) we are able to spend more time outdoors and enjoying long walks with Momo (my dog) in the sun. What a wonderful father! I wish mine were still alive to be able to share my thoughts... alas, he is safe from covid and probably enjoying his whiskey and soda! As Yuzu reminds us, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Kanpai!