axelsandwich

can I steal this and put it on twitter (with your name)??? because you said it so well; I know there's the ankle to worry about, there's stuff he still wants to do but he said himself he sacrificed SO MUCH to get this goal, and he's just basking in it all now, and letting go and having fun. He might've been hardcore drilling stuff he was kuyashii about after any other competition but no, he's just...enjoying himself. The biggest change I feel with this injury and now with the Olympic win is that he finally seems to be settled with the fact that yes, he's good enough, he can let go of a few things, he can just relax a bit and let himself be as silly as he wants to, I'm just happy he's so happy

Have to admit I laughed a little at this because it's not new at all and you are definitely not imagining the big brother dynamic (though Yuzu has recently said Shoma's like a little pet dog roaming free lol). Shoma has always been very 'my pace' and quite introverted/shy/poker-faced in front of the media and just in general and Yuzu has always been quite the media darling with his natural charm, but has always gone to pains to help Shoma out in social situations, making sure Shoma's on top of things (and marrying him) and just kind of having fun with him. Shoma was a little .__. at first but their relationship definitely seems closer now. They've both gone to pains to deny it when media has attempted to pit them against each other as rivals too, which is very nice.

A collection of +3GOE elements arranged by skater and well........... I'm throwing this at anyone who says Yuzuru isn't a well rounded skater because holy shit.

No I don't expect them to comment live on broadcast while the ladies FS is happening but they may be interviewed and then shown key clips from the FS and asked for their opinions

Ohhhhhh will they get Yuzu and Shoma to comment on the ladies FS? my lowkey dream is to hear yuzu's thoughts on others' performances so MAKE IT HAPPEN FUJITV (i'm also dying at the thought of shoma doing it bc I'm totally expecting him to be spaced out and say something like 'oh that was nice', maybe he'll surprise me)

omg! we finally have full footage of that one 4Lo success alll the way back (I remember it was being discussed here)

Famous coffee artist made yuzu coffee art hahaha

!!! maybe our last time seeing him this season sobsss. hope that anything taxing on his ankle is BANNED FOR LIFE for the gala though

I feel like I've butted heads with a couple of people over this issue and while I can't speak for all, I can say that to me, I take laments about his recklessness or like 'WHY IS HE LIKE THIS' it in the spirit of someone who is reacting to, for example, a week of nonstop rain to a bunch of strangers at a bus stop. We don't actually expect the weather gods to be listening to us, nor are we actually really addressing them, it's just kind of reacting to the situation, knowing you can't change it but kind of just letting your emotions out. Of course we don't expect we can tell him what to do, he's a grown man whose every decision is likely carefully thought out. But we are not privy to that thinking, we just see patterns of eg. Yuzu smiling brightly and then later revealing he was actually severely injured and it's happened MANY times so we react because we recognise it. It's mostly fond exasperation, like a parent towards a naughty child, but it's not actually like we're seriously thinking of Yuzu/any skater like a child or unable to make rational decisions, it's more just sort of shorthand for the affectionate/protective feelings that are like those of a parent's. It's more to share our own reactions/speculations/opinions with everyone in the fan community than actually feeling like it'd matter to Yuzu/his team (of course this doesn't apply to the genuine anxiety we've had over this Olys season but I think many people here are great at calming true anxiety). I don't think anyone is egotistical enough to believe what a couple of people say on fansites will affect whatever Yuzu decides to do and I think once he truly makes any decision, everyone stands behind him anyway. Anyway sorry for the ramble, I've just noticed this is kind of a gap between how fans in predominantly English-speaking countries (specifically America/Australia?) act vs perhaps elsewhere in the world and I find sometimes it doesn't quite translate over and people (not you specifically but just generally) sometimes end up misunderstanding ;;

Rough summary, not word for word and don't have time to check every single kanji/grammatical point so I'm sorry if there are any things that are inaccurate (open to being corrected). But I'm very grateful to Tsuzuki-sensei - lucky of Yuzu to be raised by a teacher with such a far-reaching vision and with such strong fundamentals. Tsuzuki was 'the parent who raised 'Skater Hanyu' - Yuzu started training with him since Year 2 in Primary School for 10yrs Yuzu as a child: hated losing, was a little boy so couldn't really stand training for a long time but was able to concentrate in a short amount of time and always surpass himself Since young, Yuzuru had been saying he wanted the gold medal so it wasn't exactly a surprise to him that Yuzu got gold At 16yrs old after the 3/11 disaster, in April, Yuzu's father (I think?) contacted Tsuzuki-sensei and asked if Yuzu could practise a little at the old rink in Yokohama Tsuzuki-sensei says at the time, it would be strange to say Yuzu had no life/energy to him but looking at him, it was uncertain if he could/would continue skating - Yuzu has said before that he had been worried about the fact that so many people were suffering and whether it was okay for him to continue skating But because of the cooperation and backup provided by the other team JP skaters during the charity/fundraising ice shows, Yuzuru was able to once again 'return' to skating life Yuzu at presscon said he wanted to make the 4A - his childhood dream - not a dream but a goal. Tsuzuki-sensei told him when he was a child that the axel is the 'king of jumps' and so he wants to aim for it. Yuzu loves the words 'first in history' lol. Tsuzuki-sensei felt the quad era was coming so from the basic foundational stages, he trained Yuzu's body and mind with quads as the end goal (or quads in mind), consistently/constantly saying things to Yuzu like 'let's become able to do all the different types of quad jumps'. He was very happy and thankful to hear Yuzu say with his own words 'I want to do a 4A' at the presscon because he realised the words he said to Yuzu from the childhood remained in Yuzu's heart Believes Yuzu now has an image of the 4A in mind Believes if Yuzu lands the 4A, the doors/path to quintuples will open Kanako says she's met Tsuzuki sensei before and he seemed to be a very comprehensive coach in her impression Tsuzuki sensei said to Yuzu in August 2017 that he wanted Yuzu to take the role of a producer in the future (for FS) and Yuzu replied 'sensei, please wait 3 years'.

I think this is new so I doubt there's a translation up just yet but I'm guessing from the context that it's going to address 4A stuff because Yuzu mentioned in the presscon that Tsuzuki-sensei (the man featured here) was the one who impressed upon him that the axel is the 'king of jumps' (also the title says 'challenge quintuple jumps?' which like......no thanks lmao) I'll see if I can do a rough summary tonight ( :

Manga artist Satomi Ikezawa drew Yuzu

33 is the magic number for OGM (OGM's birthday numbers add to 33) https://ameblo.jp/poissonbleu/entry-12305189932.html

Plushenko on Yuzuru, translated by @Fay

re: skaters and people saying kind words about Yuzu like Plushenko (and skaters congratulating him on social media), I think maybe a better idea would be to put them in the #WeLoveYuzu thread as @kaeryth has been diligently doing already ( : It'd be a nice place to compile nice things that 'famous' people have said/done for him (including famous manga artists etc. who have been drawing fanart of him)

HE WAS SO PROUD OF HIS PUN I laughed out loud though so it worked tbh I have no idea, Google wasn't helping at all and there's no real coherent result for 寒い禁句 even if you google the meaning in Japanese. 禁句 apparently means 'taboo word'?? some help from PH's JP members would be great

I'm exhausted but I just had to translate this as best as I could because it was a really incredible interview. I'm filled with a lot of complicated and bittersweet feelings but my admiration for Yuzu is always constant and my respect for what he managed to pull off in Pyeongchang is magnified a thousand times, and it kills me that people outside Japan may not easily be able to find out. But anyway, hopefully by attempting a translation, I'm helping his words reach more people (I pretty much feel like Matsuoka who always just looks like he's been clubbed over the head after each Yuzu interview lmao)

This was such a bittersweet interview but, as always, I finish translating Yuzuru's words with a sense of awe. M = Matsuoka, Y = Yuzu, T = Tomikawa, O = Oikawa Usual Disclaimer: I am not a professional translator, only a Japanese student practising my skills. While I do check dictionaries and many resources to ensure I’m getting as much accurate as possible, my abilities are limited, I lack a lot of cultural knowledge and I try to always acknowledge where I’m not certain about translations. I am always open to more precise corrections from native speakers, please just let me know ( : M: Today I’d like to take you on a tour. Firstly, please come here. Do-dooon. I am truly happy I think. I’ve interviewed Hanyu-senshuu for a long time and the words that left an impression not just in me but I think in the hearts of the Japanese people. Firstly this phrase ‘I want to penetrate/pierce through the present’ was the first thing you said this season. Y: ….well… (awestruck pause) sasuga [as expected of Matsuoka]. How many did you write?! M: Not at all, there was not enough, I had to cut down on the number! Y: That’s amazing...so good. I’ll start from there: ‘Shuzo-san’s calligraphy is so good!’ M: No - actually we have Japan’s Tomikawa-san here. Which words struck you the most? T: Hello Hanyu-senshuu! I’m interested in Hanyu-senshuu’s words ‘I can only thank my right leg’. After repeating as a champion, the thing you gave thanks to, along with everyone, was the right leg that supported you and worked so hard. But we were watching you in practice and were thinking ‘he seems okay doesn’t he?’ and ‘his condition seems good' and went ahead feeling reassured. But actually it wasn’t like that at all? Y: Yes, actually I think it’s fair to say my right leg was honestly in a bad state. But to be able to do this, I think I can only say words of thanks to my right ankle. M: How painful was it? Y: Because the painkillers weren’t in a state to be working completely effectively, when I was jumping there was definitely an ‘uu’ feeling (of pain). O: Apart from the words written here there are so many other words that left an impression-- ah my apologies, Hanyu-san hello this is Okawa -- but after the short program in the conference, Hanyu-senshuu said this: ‘fortunately I was injured’ and I thought this word ‘fortunately’ was very like Hanyu-senshuu, but what did you mean by the word ‘fortunately’? Y: I really didn’t have any feelings of regrets. For 3 months I couldn’t do anything...I think it indeed did become strength. I completely don’t think of it as misfortune. M: You know I heard a lot of words from you but the one that left the greatest impression on me is this one: 弱さは強さ (‘weakness is strength’) Y: Hahaha, this is a phrase I like. M: I have to apologise to you for this Hanyu-senshu. After getting your gold in Sochi, you were only talking about places where you had failed and negative things. I told you ‘this is my first time meeting such a weak gold medallist’ and you said ‘Shuzo-san, weakness is strength, it can change into it.’ and I thought ‘that’s so true!’ Y: Well here as well, again, my right leg is in a weak state but because of that, it can change into strength. Because there is weakness, you are able to see strength. Don’t we often say that ‘idiocy and genius are two sides of the same coin’?* That’s the sort of feeling. Weakness and strength are two sides of the same coin for me. So if you can stare at your weakness in the face and support the transition, I think it can become strength. *(バカと天才は表裏 - literally ‘front and back’) M: Listening to you, I’ve learned so much… You love adversity don’t you? Why on earth is that? Y: Adversity is a chance to me. Because you have adversity and as a result of being able to think about a lot of things, the adrenaline comes out like ‘PAA’ and therefore you can become strong. Therefore you can grab the chance, I think M: This time after winning, words like ‘very satisfied’ have come out. Within that satisfaction, we can sometimes see some sadness or lingering questions of ‘wanting to do more’. How do you feel about that? Y: Actually, afterwards, I was filled with a sense of accomplishment. I think it is actually the first time I’ve been filled with such a sense of accomplishment - with no complaints - after delivering a performance in competition. Always, for the sake of performing, I say ‘this was bad, I wanted to do this, I want to become stronger’ but this time, I don’t have anything like that in particular. M: You mean...more than when you broke the World Records? Y: Yes, I’m truly satisfied. M: But when you landed like that at the 3Lz like waaah...you don’t have any regrets? Y: No, no regrets. This is the maximum of what I can do right now. M: So… does that mean there is no ‘weakness’ in Hanyu Yuzuru right now? Y: Right now...there are no feelings of strength or weakness… right now it’s probably just ‘wa’ (は - the hiragana between weakness and strength). This is probably ‘Hanyu’. (THIS IS AN EXCELLENT PUN IM CRYING at how he congratulates himself- basically は as hiragana is pronounced ‘ha’ when taken on its own and is the first hiragana to his name (はにゅう) M: Earlier we talked about Shoma ‘Uno’ (‘no’ = mind...probably the same pun they made in the other program on ‘mind’). What about Hanyu’s mind? Please analyse yourself. Y: I mean basically there’s something inside that says to keep changing. Somehow when I’m thinking about something, I think ‘ah isn’t it like this, isn’t it like that’, I’m always waiting for a variety of ideas. It’s been like this since I was young.* M: So let’s continue our tour, firstly Doraemon congratulating you on repeating as champion… Y: 寒い禁句! (either it means saying ‘cold’ is a taboo word or… refers to a cold joke IDK sorry, my Japanese cultural knowledge is zero). I definitely wanted to say this no matter what! M: ‘A gold medal is life’s starting point’ - you said this in October 2011 in our first interview. That year was the year of the disaster and these words stayed within me for a long time Y: Yes, at the time I was only recklessly and utterly devoted with my entire life [to skating/to the goal]. But with this injury and coming to these Olympics through feelings of ‘will I become unable to skate?’, I felt this feeling of a time limit. Like ‘is this the end? Is this Olympics the end?’, I had those thoughts. So because I had those special feelings, this time, instead of saying this is the ‘start’, I feel like this is a ‘midpoint’. M: Here at this Olympics, getting gold was not your [only] goal. Afterwards, you always had strong feelings about wanting to somehow contribute to the reconstruction efforts [of the earthquake-affected areas], but you have said that the question of how can you, through your performances, convey energy and strength to others has been a constant thought. Y: Yes, especially when I actually stepped on the site of the disaster-struck areas. In the previous competition where I got the gold medal, I couldn’t forget the really delighted smiles on everyone’s faces. So it was a place that sort of healed the feeling of uselessness I had after the Sochi Olympics. This time, I felt like I had properly felt these ‘smiles’, even if only a little. M: Really, you’ve been skating with the thoughts of Sendai. Y: Yes, I know a lot of people truly have supported me. This was an Olympics where I really felt that this support was certainly connected to power. T: You said ‘midpoint’ just then, where are you aiming for now? Y: Really… with this, I really feel like ‘at last here is a title in my life that I can be proud of’. How I use the title will depend on how I use the rest of my life and my generation too. ‘I want to use it well’ is the thought in my mind. T: This is not just as an athlete right? Y: Yes, as a human being, if you are not living well as a person, then any titles that come attached will also become bad things. I want take this pride and to live a life that is worthy of this gold medal. T: We want to keep seeing a Hanyu-senshuu who will keep surprising us. Y: I will do my best M: We’re really out of time. This may be a difficult question but at this Olympics, what did Hanyu Yuzuru grasp? Y: I grasped happiness. I say this with confidence. Everyone gave me happiness so if everyone could become happy, that’s happiness to me, I think M: ‘Happiness’....this is something that you can’t really say, honestly, I’m 50yrs old but… what kind of feeling is ‘happiness’... Y: After all, because I threw away a lot of different types of ‘happiness’, because I sought the ‘fruits of happiness’**, I think I am able to say ‘happiness’ right now. M: These words...not only Hanyu-senshuu but I think they should be shared by everyone in the world. This gold medal of happiness...congratulations! **幸せの結晶 - Kind of tricky to translate, if anyone has better suggestions, please let me know.

There are a few shining moments in each program but they are sort of falling into similar lines of responses (mostly because the questions asked are all the same). I'll try and translate the more interesting responses though once I have time to watch, while waiting for the usual suspects to do a more polished job yuzu: I'm very happy, I need to take care of my ankle, sacrificed all happiness and did some ridic zen focusing shit, wanted gold all my life, not sure about plans rn shoma: no idea what Olympics pressure was until coming back and needing to do interviews, I was happy yuzu-kun was here to take the media pressure off, really needs to sleep

Can someone PM me the full link when it's out? I'm seeing snippets on Twitter but the usual uploaders seem to all be in Korea lol A reminder I'm trying to organise all the media in this thread

Oh good point, I assumed it was a photo from the actual restaurant of what he eats (there's galbi which is Korean iirc? so slightly unusual to find in a Japanese restaurant though maybe not when it's in Toronto). In which case...the fans will hunt it down LOL. But if it's just a generic photo of sushi and yakiniku, then that's fine.

I don't think it says....but the fans will definitely find it......

One more post from me lkjds - a compilation of clips from foreign commentators and media. I really liked the Chinese commentator's words so I translated it

Kanako during SP 'My heart was beating so fast it felt like it was about to come out of my mouth' - I think he was probably suffering so much (with his injury). When you're injured, even if you don't show it, you would definitely ask yourself 'what should I do?' So to be able to put out such a wonderful performance like this... I just think 'sasuga - as expected [of Yuzu]' Kanako during FS 'No matter as a person or as an athlete, he is truly wonderful.' (I saw a more complete clip on Twitter earlier and iirc she gets emotional again and is like 'ahh I'm remembering our times together' and also 'Yuzu and Shoma really worked hard/congratulations' (something along those lines)). I'm really looking forward to Machida's commentary ahaha ;;