Umebachi

I purchased premium because I also have to give a lecture. But then the university allowed the use of their institutional Zoom. You may wish to check it out with your uni? In any case, I did purchase the premium which we can use for shared viewing!

Off topic:

Honorary Canadian...

In this time of fear and uncertainty, sharing runrun's beautiful art to dispel the darkness: "Onward! On the wings of your dream"

Take care and stay safe!! Thinking of you and all our friends in Italy. I just cancelled my trip to Montreal because my asthma is flaring up again which puts me at high risk of catching - and transmitting - the virus. I am praying for Yuzu's health and safety in this high risk environment, as he is also asthmatic. I live on Vancouver Island - where we haven't seen any cases yet, but it's a matter of time since we are just a short ferry ride away from Seattle and we are living in fear of what is happening south of the border. US and Canada are so closely intertwined in this region that it will be next to impossible to close the border and stop movements, like they did in Italy & China.

Sorry to rain on the parade, but I saw on Japanese Tw about a recent interview with Ari Zakarian - the "brilliant" originator of the Awards - and apparently he told the interviewer that 10 out of 10 respondents were in favor of NC for MVP. He seemed to be in no doubt that NC will win the Award. So it's been cooked from the beginning. It was a translation of a translation so something may have gotten lost there - and now I can't locate the tweet anymore. Has anyone seen this interview? Assume the original was in Russian...

With sparkles, please!!

I want to give a shout-out and a million cheers to Brian, who has been and continues to be the force that put the TCC team together and the glue that keeps it together. He embodies emotional intelligence and decency - which is in short supply throughout the world, not just in figure skating - and I think his presence continues to define the spirit and culture of teamwork that pervades TCC. Having worked in many so-called "high-level/elite" teams (sadly, mostly dysfunctional), I have learned that it's not the IQ smarts, resourcefulness or educational credentials that make good leaders, but emotional intelligence and that strong core ("zubutoi" in Japanese) sense of fairness and integrity that sets apart great leaders. And that individual leadership does make a huge difference, because as human species we are highly socially attuned and an egotistical or wishy-washy personality can ruin a team overnight that had worked well together for years. Brian is the glue that holds the TCC team together and creates the atmosphere of collegiality, teamwork and support. But that doesn't mean that it makes him a good communicator or spokesperson for Yuzu. To this day, I don't think he "gets" Yuzu - partly because of language barrier and the reticence (and inability) of Japanese men to express their points of view especially in a foreign language. Much more than language barrier, my sense is that Yuzu has a very different approach to problem-solving and it seems Brian isn't attuned to it very well. Yuzu is a highly quantitative thinker and a geek, which makes him bond very well with Ghislain and he probably feels more comfortable relating with Ghislain during competition. Brian is probably a more touchy-feely guy and unable to keep up with the Geekiness of Yuzu and Ghizlain. (I can relate because I am quite geeky, love math and complex analysis - which leaves my sister out in the cold as she just can't relate and she just tunes out. We are grown adults but this mismatch in energy still leads to sibling arguments and huffiness.) Ghislain's interview around GPF19 reveals a lot about his technocratic approach to skating, which few people can understand except for Yuzu. Another issue I see is that Yuzu is a complex thinker, and has multiple points of view on many issues involving subtle nuances - which he is unable to convey in English to Brian. Perhaps Tracy intuits his emotional shades better than Brian, but it's still not the same thing as being able to parse out and work through various angles on an issue. Ghislain can do that with one aspect of Yuzu's brain, but I don't think he can cover all angles. Because Yuzu's mind flits so quickly through many phases - which he doesn't communicate - Brian is often left in a blind spot and he appears at times to be behind the curve. Yet he is a kind and patient man, and he does not get angry or frustrated by being left out - and he solidly continues to support Yuzu with unconditional love. Any other egotistical man would have given way to his irritation and it would have ruined their relationship. I am sure Yuzu appreciates Brian's patience and forbearance- because I bet Yuzu can be a pain in the neck (which he seems to be with his family) - and it takes a close-knit and resilient team to be able to support him. Yuzu, more than anyone else, should realize that there will be no TCC team without Brian. Some additional personal reflections:

Thank you so much for doing this! I would like the green Seimei with my name on the label: Akiko/ "Umebachi".

Wishing everyone a happy Hina-Matsuri day. March 3 is the girls day in Japan where we display Hina dolls - a recreation of a Heian court. Exquisite Hina dolls created by Ms Goto who passed away a couple of years ago. The first one is in Moegi green - the same as Seimei 3.0. Ms Goto made this Snow Bird dolls with Yuzu as the model for the male doll. Delicate. http://www.gotodolls.jp/products/detail/snowbird.html

I love the cover, especially with the tracings on the ice as part of the design. The feather seems to fall right in the middle of the tracing from some element - can you tell what that might be?

A doctor in China on the front line of fighting Covid-19 is a fanyu. You can see the back of her protective gear. Each doctor writes his/her name on the protective gear to be able to distinguish each other - but this person just wrote "Yuzu-no-fan". I find this little detail of writing "no"の in Japanese very moving.

I agree and am trying not to be worried (but will still be anxious). I just hope he can perform Seimei to his satisfaction, leaving for us a legacy of yet another great performance for the history book. As long as Yuzu can continue to perform the way he wants to perform, we will have memorable moments that will survive the test of time. No doubt he will be remembered long after his rivals are forgotten (Can you imagine rewatching that R*ck*tm*n performance 10 years from now??). I am sure NC will become a capable and very caring physician and I respect his decency and athleticism; yet his contribution to the world of art and performance will have come and gone, sadly. I had hoped for much more from him after his Bayadere - which had shown great promise of artistic growth and there had been a lot of talk about his balletic skills. Although I had initially welcomed this new rivalry with NC, now I am thoroughly disappointed. Meanwhile, Yuzu continues to amaze and will grow artistically in the years to come, irrespective of ISU scoring.

Yes, indeed, every nation /society has its own burden to bear. It's how we take that experience and take it forward - that's what matters.

What an interesting discussion! I realize now that Yuzu's performance during Sochi made me proud with pure joy - unsullied by any of the mixed feelings toward the flag - and be able to sing kimigayo without feeling ashamed. His care toward the flag has none of the prideful and egotistical gesture, and his genuine respect toward all the others has helped to make me see our flag as a member of the global community. He has certainly helped me getting over the stigma of the war and the shame of it all, even though I was not personally involved. I have only become aware now, after much reflection, how much this feeling had colored the earlier years of my life and it took Yuzu to wipe it clean. Truly he is the modern-day Onmyoji!

Recently, there was a twitter storm in Japan over inappropriate comments made by a DJ "personality" on Kamakura FM radio. I hesitated to mention it here because it involves an infamous Japanese anti-fanyu, but I thought I should share that there was a positive resolution to this, with leaders of Kamakura city council finally coming to their senses and banishing this "personality" from the station . A hopeful sign that social decency and resilience is still alive and well in some corners of Japan and capable of vanquishing hate. More details under the spoiler.

I was being flippant in my earlier response, but in all seriousness, I am very glad that he is in Canada with TCC - where the entire team seems to be dedicated to offering a safe and supportive environment. That's why you need a multi-disciplinary team, not individual coaches dictating all aspects of the athlete's life. This being Canada, I would expect TCC athletes to have access to some of the best sports medicine as well as sports psychology specialists. When Yuzu had discovered he had lisfranc injury in 2016, he had initial assessments done in Japan but it was reported on Japanese media that he went back to Canada immediately thereafter because they have great sports therapists in Toronto. This was not related to mental health but in Japan there is a general recognition that Yuzu is receiving excellent care in Canada from physical and mental perspectives. TCC probably offers a far better environment than any of the clubs in Japan, where old ways still linger and probably not enough attention is paid to sports psychology. The situation is definitely improving in many other sports in Japan. Tennis and baseball come to mind perhaps because athletes in these fields also train in North America and are up to date on modern science, and ofc they have much more money to access top experts. Figure skating seems to be lagging in this respect. That's why I am also relieved to see Shoma in Champery with a coach who seems to place a lot of emphasis on balanced mental conditioning. Ofc, Shoma had very supportive and caring coaches in Japan, but this was clearly not sufficient, and he needed a different environment.

Figure skating is his own unique form of therapy: it gives him an emotional and artistic outlet, as well as extreme physical exertion, which all go towards helping him to rebalance and center him. That's why I am glad he is feeling reconnected with his own skating again, after a season of struggle.

Looking beyond the current competition, I hope some day Yuzu will perform (for a show/gala) to this piece of music by Kenji Kawai. The lyrics are in ancient Japanese and the words are haunting. toyomunari = echoing, resonating, reverberating These words are emotive and spiritual. A ga maeba, kuwashime yoinikeri Were I to dance, the beautiful lady will become intoxicated A ga maeba, terutsuki toyomunari Were I to dance, the glowing moon will reverberate Yobai ni, kami amakudarite Upon betrothal, the gods shall descend Yo wa ake, nuedori naku The night clears away and the chimera bird will sing

This rumour was started by Josei Seven - that most horrible gossip magazine "for women" (ugh) - so please avoid this magazine. Their reporters went as far as interviewing former high school classmates who indicated that "Ms A" and Hanyu had been classmates and they were very friendly with each other (since Yuzu actually had very few close friends at school). Apparently, she would call him "Yuzuru" (which is quite intimate) when everyone else called him "Yuzu" (nickname) - a very thin piece of evidence. The magazine went as far as suggesting that they had "hot trysts" during the spring of 2015 and that summer they had become betrothed. Some fanciful imagination of an overheated brain of a journalist desperate for sales, but it made the story appear "true" because of all these alleged details that turned out to be a complete fabrication, as we all know. It caused a lot of stress for Ms A who had to deal with the tabloid press - as bad as the British tabloids. I believe some of their reporters were also among those who hung around Sendai looking for "scoops" (worse than J**k G). This is one of the few times Hanyu really showed his anger openly - e.g., being very curt at the throng of journalists who caught him getting on Shinkansen. Since that time, the tabloids appear to be leaving him alone - treating him more like they treat the imperial family - off limits from the usual idol (and idle) gossips.

Thank you for your fantastic obsession! This is very-stimulating and enriching. I love detailed technical discussions and happy to learn by reading up on science. If only he could find a way to speed up his spin a smidgen without losing height! The pull-in motion of the arms will be critical but even a very subtle and slight change can throw the body off axis and with so much angular momentum the tiniest deviation will amplify rapidly. Also, his slightly slower entry speed with wider elbow angle and relaxed shoulders result in an aesthetically pleasing motion. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why his entry into jumps look so much more dynamic and organic than Nathan's entry - which is smaller and more efficient but mechanical (we are not even talking about the landing!). To jump the 4A Yuzu may need to go all out for that efficient spinning motion from the start of the jump. He will probably need greater ab strength to keep the body in that tight but resilient coil!

Celebration of the second OGM anniversary, from the calligrapher fanyu koho. This time, with the term 躍進 = YakuShin = Breakthrough (literally "dancing forward"). Thanking Hanyu-senshu for giving courage and sharing moving moments, and wishing from the bottom of his/her heart for Hanyu-senshu to be true to Hanyu-senshu and to continue making breakthroughs (yakushin).

Oh, no! Is this happening to other members of Team China??

Yuma and Shun will be competing with Keiji Tanaka and Kazuki Tomono for the third spot, and they might actually do better than these two given their recent trajectory. Going to seniors next season will also give the two youngsters the chance to acclimatize in the senior environment for a couple of seasons before the Olympics. Kao Miura is only 14 - he will have more time to develop - and there are a number of promising ones in the novice ranks. Here is Kao in a recent competition.

Looks great!! thank you!