Geo1

Are you thinking of “Together on Ice” that Yuzu produced in 2014?

Ghislain Briand will be with Koshiro Shimada next Friday, Saturday and Sunday for regionals at the DyDo Drinco Ice Arena (Higashi Fushimi Ice Arena) in Tokyo. As you know, Koshiro has been training with Stephane Lambiel in the Champery, Switzerland, since 2017 and Ghislain frequently works with Stephane. I know that this is a bit off-topic, but I thought it was appropriate to post it here because of everyone's affection for Ghislain and the fact that Koshiro Shimada is a big fan of Yuzu.

I have similar feelings about choosing just one favourite costume, but I must admit that the Origin costumes fit and suit Yuzu to a T. We were lucky enough to see Yuzu performing live in the black Origin 1 costume at 2018 ACI and in the purple Origin 2 costume at 2019 ACI and 2019 SCI… sights to behold…

The only movie about Yuzuru Hanyu that I would watch would be one starring him as himself. Only Yuzu looks like Yuzu and only Yuzu can skate like Yuzu.

For new fans of Yuzu who have not seen it before, this is the video of the first meeting of Yuzu and Shuzo Matsuoka on November 7, 2011 following Yuzu’s fourth-place finish at the 2011 Cup of China. Unfortunately, it does not have English subtitles. The following is just a general summary and not intended as a proper translation. From the very beginning of the video you can see that Shuzo was very excited and announced that Yuzu’s weapon was the yonkaiten (4 turns) and spun the poster, dramatically stopping it after the fourth rotation. Shuzo was immediately impressed by Yuzu’s personality. He asked Yuzu what those things were around his wrists and Yuzu explained that they were good luck charms that his mother favored, but he liked them too. When Shuzo jokingly said that they posed a hindrance when jumping, Yuzu repeatedly and vehemently denied that they posed a hindrance to him and finished with “hee hee hee”. Shuzo described Yuzu as a boy with a miraculous ambience and said that he was demonstrating an incredible success rate in landing the quad even when compared to three-time world champion Patrick Chan. When asked about the quadruple jump, Yuzu went into an impassioned mature explanation about the quadruple jump (he was referring to the quad toe, although he did not specify it). Shuzo looked at him in surprise and asked, “How old are you?” Yuzu replied, “I am 16.” The next scene in the video was Yuzu, Shuzo Matsuoka and Nanami Abe at Ice Rink Sendai where Yuzu was demonstrating to Shuzo the technique that allowed him to increase his quad toe landing success from 2% to 80%. “Oh, so light!” was Shuzo’s reaction when Yuzu landed the quad toe. In the next scenes, Shuzo explained that Yuzu’s home rink, Ice Rink Sendai, was severely damaged during the 3/11 earthquake. Yuzu was in the middle of practice when this occurred. When Shuzo asked Yuzu what it was like, he said that the ice which was normally perfectly flat and solid, became like waves of ice during the earthquake. Shuzo explained that the home rink that Yuzu had been going to since four years of age had been taken away from him. The Hanyu family home was damaged and they were forced into an “evacuation life”. Yuzu and Nanami said that without electricity, gas and other essentials, just existing took all their efforts. They could not think of anything like skating. Yuzu said that he thought that he was going to have to give up figure skating for two or three years. Then, there was a bright spot in Yuzu’s life when he was invited to a charity ice show in Kobe which took place on April 9, 2011. The ice show featured celebrity skaters like Daisuke Takahashi and Shizuka Arakawa. Yuzu put everything he had into his performance of “White Legend”. Of all the performers, he garnered the most applause. Yuzu said that it was not as if the audience had come to just watch him, but to see everyone standing up and giving heartfelt applause made him very happy. He asked himself rhetorically, “What other sport is there in which I can receive this much appreciation and support?” This gave him the motivation to continue skating. Yuzu proceeded to participate in 60 charity ice shows. Since he had lost the use of his home rink, he would arrive at the show rink early in order to practice his competitive programs. Yuzu included his quad jumps in his show performances. Takeshi Honda explained that this is rarely done in ice shows because of having to do it in the spotlight. Having to do it in the spotlight can be very disorienting, but Yuzu did it all the time and his landing success rate was very high. In the next scene, Shuzo explained that Yuzu had the opportunity to skate with the likes of Stephane Lambiel, two-time world champion and 2006 Olympic silver medalist, during the 60 ice shows. Then Shuzo leaned forward in his chair and said, “EH!” in shock. “You asked Lambiel-san for advice about the quad jump?... Well, then tell me what you said. Pretend that I am Lambiel-san and tell me what you said.” Yuzu was embarrassed and said, “I can’t, it’s too embarrassing!” Shuzo said, “Just give me the gist of what you said.” Yuzu then laughingly said, “It was like, ‘Give me advice, please!!!’ Really, that was about it!” Finally, Yuzu told Shuzo that his future aim was to win the Olympics; however, that was not his ultimate goal. He told Shuzo that this would just be the beginning for him. Shuzo looked at him incredulously in admiration and asked him again, “How old are you?” Yuzu replied, “16 years old.” Shuzo said, “People are going to support you.” Yuzu smiled with another “hee hee hee”. Back in the studio, Shuzo said that Yuzu explained that winning the Olympic gold-medal was just the beginning of his dream. Yuzu told him that even if 10 years went by after the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami, the damage would remain and people would still be suffering and he wanted to do whatever he could to help. Shuzo was completely and utterly amazed by this 16-year-old boy who knew exactly what he was about and what he was going to do. He said that this was an athlete you would want to support. This is the interview in which Yuzu won Shuzo Matsuoka’s heart, support and friendship.

I saw this video immediately following the infamous crash when we were all worried about Yuzu’s condition. Yes, Yuzu is remarkable: thanking, apologizing and bowing despite his serious injury and pain. I still find this exchange between Yuzu and Shuzo very touching. Shuzo Matsuoka is one of my favourite people.

What is the size of that suit jacket? XXL? Size 46 on his size 36 chest? Not to mention the 16 ½ inch neck size shirt with his 14 inch neck. And the color coordination is all wrong. I know that they are supposed to be using the colors of the product that they are marketing, but there are much better ways to do this. We said this with the previous TOWA campaign, but they need to replace their stylist!

Yes, it’s an old video of Yuzu practicing the first version of Seimei with Shae-Lynn Bourne. It still had the sexy backward leg steps which they took out of the competition version because it did not garner maximum points.

Yuzu planned his costume reveals for maximum effect with the aim of causing the screams and creating a spectacle. For example, at the ACI, he started up with an opening jump at the opposite end of the rink from where his coaches were stationed and the bulk of the spectators and rink staff was located. He then skated back and executed a quad toe loop or triple Axel before slowly undoing his jacket and revealing his new costume as he approached the rink staff and his coaches. It was all choreographed. After all, he said that when he was a kid he thought that no other sport offered the opportunity to be the sole centre of attention of thousands of spectators like figure skating. Yuzu loves the fan hysteria that he creates, but acts nonchalant, pretending that he does not notice it.

Yuzu is absolutely meticulous about every stitch of his skating costumes. He doesn’t seem to worry about what his sponsors dress him in. In any event, it’s his sponsor’s right to choose his clothes, not his.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Kitty Yuzu and Bad Boy Hanyu.

Are you kidding? Yuzu knows exactly what he’s doing and he feeds off it. He loves the attention.

As per Brian Orser: "Never underestimate Mr. Hanyu." Edit: Yuzu defies logic and naysayers.

That is probably the very reason why they purposely dress him in ill fitting suits. What is the point of advertising if you kill off your target market.

39 – “sankyu” – is the way Japanese people pronounce “thank you” because there is no “th” sound in the Japanese vocabulary.

This is Ghislain in Toronto Pearson International Airport waiting for his flight to Japan earlier today. He will be coaching at the Kinoshita Academy again.

What was this post about and why has it been deleted?

¥55,000 is actually almost $400 USD or €400, but who’s counting when you get a Yuzu clear file and mask case set? The actual cost of the cream, clear file and mask case set? Who knows, but when endorsed by Yuzu with a picture of his beautiful face? PRICELESS! HANYUCONOMY at work!

I would agree with you, but unfortunately for Lotte, only Yuzu and his mother know where Old Man Pooh is in Toronto. Old Pooh himself would be overjoyed just to be rescued from the collection of musty old skate boots that he is presently residing with and be back with his beloved Yuzu.

Yuzu is able to alter his appearance and character with a change of hairstyle and facial expression. This look is different from his usual clean-cut boy next door look. If Yuzu put on his killer eyes game face with this hairstyle, he would look like quite the bad boy. He is capable of continually re-inventing himself.

Whoever it is will pale in comparison to Yuzu.

I notice that there is a gigantic white wall…

The truth and the travesty is that the judges, referees and technical specialists absolutely understood Yuzu’s “true magnificence” and blatantly under-scored his brilliant performances and over-scored the non-brilliant performances of his opponents. With all due respect (the operative word being “due”) to his rivals whom we know without having to name them, how can you honestly compare their skating to that of the G.O.A.T.?

This is Ghislain outside his hotel in Uji after his daily fast walk exercise (6 km minimum). It is very hot and humid there. This is Ghislain inside the hotel elevator. He is looking very fit.

Yuzu has always subscribed to the belief: “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” He will not give up.