micaelis

Incidentally, has anyone tried that How-Old.net program on Pooh? It would be interesting (if it actually worked) to see the result.

I'm thinking he's thinking about 'Where do I go from here?' I think this season is the critical one when the decision is made to go to Beijing or not. If he has an extremely good season, meaning going gold at every competition I actually think that might be when he retires. It all depends on how hard he had to work to get all those wins. If they came easily, judging by his margins at each competition, he'll hang on through Beijing. If every one has been a struggle, he'll announce his retirement. If he has a season with mixed results, but one in which those wins he has came easily (again judging by winning margins) he'll go to Beijing. If he had to struggle even for this mixed season, he'll retire. One thing I'm fairly confident is that he'll not announce his retirement (except for a very bad injury) at the end of the season just before the Olympic season. That would seem to be too much of an admission of inadequacy. That's not in Yuzu's nature. So he's thinking about things knowing that this season will decide whether he continues to Beijing or not.

Well, it's coming up fast and I think it's getting close to the time we should put a Tokyo Olympics thread on this forum. The chatter can only increase as the months and weeks go by. Some speculations on the games, specifically the opening ceremony. Unless he's competing, my guess is that Kohei Uchimura will be the person lighting the torch. In terms of Olympic summer sports he's the only Japanese with such a long record of successful Olympics involvements. As for where Yuzu, being right now the reigning Japanese winter sports figure, I'm sure there's some planning of involving him in the torch-carrying ritual that will proceed the opening. It's almost certain that he will carry the torch during part of its passage through Sendai. My thinking is that he might also be involved a second time, and that would be either that he's the one carrying the torch as it enters the stadium and, as is often the case, handing it to a succession of former summer gold medal winners who carry it around the stadium before handing it to (as I presume) Kohei, who will actually light the main torch signalling the beginning of the games. The other possibility is that he's the person who hands the torch over to the main-torch lighter, the symbolism there being very apparent - Winter giving over to Summer. Whatever the situation ultimately is I can't imagine the Olympics organizers are not planning to have Yuzu involved somewhere along the line. His achievement is just too great and he is just too prominent and popular to ignore him. I will make one solid prediction, though, and that is that Yuzu will not do anything that seems to him to be overshadowing those Japanese who've made great achievements in summer sports. His sense of propriety will veto anything that seems to him to call undue attention toward him.

I want to thank you for clarifying what I intended. I did not think he actually owed his fans anything except acknowledging how important they are to him. We have to realize that as a result of his experiences of the earthquake I think he has a keen awareness of how fragile life is, which has raised his sense of right and wrong well above that of most individuals. The very substantial donations he's made to Ice Rink Sendai and other programs meant to help in the recovery are a clear indication. As such, much of his generosity, as I see it, is because of his sense that he is fortunate to be alive when so many other thousands from the quake are not. Ice Rink Sendai did not collapse from the quake but the sixteen-year-old Yuzu could not know that when he was fleeing the building during the quake. As it was Sendai was right in the middle of the destruction from the subsequent tsunamis and out of just over a million in the population well over one thousand Sendaians perished. It's very possible that he may have known some of those who died. So, yes, I agree that he does not objectively owe his fans anything but I think what he gives to his fans is just part of what he gives to children and elderly and all the others he visits in outreach activities and such. It's all part of Yuzu's way of being thankful that he survived.

I've been thinking quite a lot recently about being a Yuzu fan and with the interest in this thread right now being focused on that I think it right to add a few words to the conversation. First, after looking at what other skaters have in terms of fan interest sites and such I can say, at least for those in the English language, that this site here in scale and activity has no parallel to be found for any other skater. As for Yuzu himself it has no peer. In many ways it could be labeled Hanyu Central. I can't imagine that Yuzu doesn't know about us here and doesn't keep tabs. He is always considerate of his fans and what way to better know his fans than through the Planet. Second, being a Yuzu fan is more than just having an interest, or even an obsession. It's a way of life and like all ways of life it has its do's and don't's. I'm not sure how Yuzu fans act on other Yuzu sites but on this site decorum is mandated. Moreover, while there is a great deal of what I view as trivial chatter going on there is also a great deal of meaningful discussion taking place. The analyses of the strengths and weaknesses of his programs that have been so much the main part of the recent conversation here serves as a prime example. It is also evidence that being a Yuzu fan involves intelligence as well as enthusiasm. Third, the animosity which we see in so many fans of other skaters in their criticisms of Yuzu and Yuzu fandom I feel is frequently the result of jealousy. Not jealousy necessarily of Yuzu's obvious superiority but also of his fans. None of their skaters are prominent outside of skating like Yuzu is. None of their skaters get the kind of gush from the commentators like Yuzu does (well, maybe the Americans over Nathan but that's just Americans for you. Incidentally, I'm American so I think I can criticize here). The thing is none of their skaters can get huge victory parades or meetings with the emperor or really high civilian awards (People's Honor Award). None of the other skaters get Poohbursts (or analogous fan tributes) like Yuzu does. None of the other skaters have fans following them around the world like Yuzu does. They see Yuzu fandom and wish they had the same but, quite simply, their skaters just don't have the sheer enthralling charisma Yuzu has nor, despite all their achievements, which should not be dismissed, will those skaters ever get that. Finally, Yuzu fans are not just young and middle-aged and even elderly Japanese women. There are men (such as myself) out there who greatly admire Yuzu and their are non-Japanese (such as myself) who greatly admire Yuzu. Moreover there are fans of Yuzu who aren't even necessarily figure-skating fans. Yuzu's following is a following that is focused on Yuzu the person, not simply Yuzu the skater. There is a nobility in Yuzu which transcends sport and that's where his greatness lies. It's a nobility in which Yuzu acknowledges his gifts as a skater and the gifts of his fans (not simply the Poohs but the interest and love they have for him). Yuzu wants to give as much as he receives. He sees that as a duty and it's a duty he doesn't shirk. I can't think standing on top of a moving truck and waving, waving, waving, sometimes bowing and such could not have been boring. But he did it because he owes so much to his fans and this was one way to pay them back. All in all, I think it safe to say that the Yuzu phenomenon is comprised not only by Yuzuru the skater, even Yuzu the human being, but his fans are also a crucial part of that phenomenon. It is, in fact, his fandom that makes the Yuzu phenomenon what it is. There may be other skaters who achieve what Yuzu has achieved but I can't think any skater now or in the future will have the following that Yuzu has because with Yuzu it's not just his skating that is being celebrated by his fans. It's his humanity.

The limited VPN I have with my Opera browser was not able to access this but I did find out that Australia is the country in which Seven Network is found, so if your VPN has a server in Australia you should be able to access it. Hope this helps.

A long-range question - Now that this thread has hit page 5000, will it hit 10,000 before Beijing? Inquiring minds want to know.

Face it! Yuzu and TCC have a plan, one that is centered on keeping the competition guessing until the practice session of the first competition (in this case ACI 2019). TCC's security has to be the envy of many a national government, so tight it is. Nothing gets leaked. The result is that while we languish in self-pity because WE WANT TO KNOW, our ignorance is simply collateral damage because Yuzu's competitors want to know also. The result? If Yuzu were a known quotient many of them might be training against what Nathan comes up with. With Yuzu shrouded in mystery they all have to train against what Yuzu might be skating, exactly the result he wants. Why? Because even after two successive injury-wrecked seasons they all know exactly what Johnny Weir knows when several seasons ago he said - Nobody can beat a perfect Yuzuru Hanyu. They know that that perfect Yuzuru Hanyu is still alive and kicking.

Just looking at Yuzu's physique and face I can say that if he had been an American skater he would be a very major teen-idol, on the scale of a Justin Bieber, and all this without making a single record. One article some ages ago talked about Yuzu's 'boy-band good looks', and seeing him almost shirtless and with those skin-tight PVC pants, well, if he were American he would certainly ignite an interest in figure skating amongst the young and feminine in this country. Yuzu isn't handsome in the manner of, for instance, a Daisuke Takahashi, and he isn't good-looking cute in the manner of most of the teen heart-throbs with their images coldly calculated, actually, because of that aura of depths unexplored in him and the way his face so intimately reflects his every mood change, well, quite simply, he's just plain beautiful.

I am really thinking Yuzu is closer to retirement than most of us think (or WANT to think since for most of us Yuzu should compete forever). I think, with all his mention of Nessie and wanting to do all of the quads that he is looking to retire after this season, but desires to go out in a blaze of glory, with his taking gold every time his blades hit the ice and his doing ALL of the quads in a SINGLE program. Sensing Yuzu's sense of what is right, I think this is likely his last season unless he hangs on until Beijing. If Yuzu doesn't retire this season it does mean he's planning on Beijing, since retiring after the season that directly precedes Beijing would not, to Yuzu, seem appropriate. He will, however, continue to Beijing only if he feels confident of doing a 'threepeat', something which has only been done once, and that back in the 20s and 30s. As far as ice shows, I have been strongly thinking since Continues that Yuzu sees his ice show future as a producer. His friendship with Plushie has almost certainly made him acquainted with a show Plushy has done in Russia with Plushy as the star in a masculine version of Hans Christian Andersen's Snow Queen. We were given a hint of that back in Continues in that Yuzu seeks an ice show format that has a unified theme or storyline and is not simply a collection of skaters doing their exhibition skates. Almost certainly Yuzu has seen the North American Stars on Ice, which has a format that involves the star skaters interacting with each other in ways they do not in Fantasy on Ice. As far as financing for such an endeavor Yuzu will have no trouble rounding up money to back him. In Japan the mere mention of Yuzu as being in a particular competition or show guarantees an almost instant sell-out. In many respects he may be the greatest cash cow that figure skating has ever seen. Coaching may also be in Yuzu's future, but only after he has made his mark in the history of ice shows. I wouldn't be surprised if Yuzu's intentions regarding ice shows involve putting together a show that can successfully tour internationally. In a career that has been highlight by a succession of 'youngest' and 'firsts' and record-breaking, Yuzu would not be averse to achieving a number of ice show firsts. He's already made his mark on competitive figure-skating, a mark that essentially makes this decade the Yuzuru Hanyu decade just as the preceding one is dominated by Plushenko. If he's made his mark as a competitor and an ice show producer then I think coaching will be the next mountain he intends to climb. He has as his model one of the most successful coaches in the history of figure skating. All in all Yuzu is not going to simply retire and fade into the hazy realms of figure-skating history. He intends to remain the Absolute Champion in one way or another well beyond his days of skating for points. As with all things Yuzuru it will be interesting, very interesting, and, as always, something which only Yuzu is able to do.

Ice Emperor sounds nice, but how about Lord of the Rinks?

Thoughts on Yuzu and his 4A. First, I think he's letting the competition know that he has a 4A, with the caveat that he's landing it less than 20% of the time. Does landing it mean just landing it or does landing it mean competition-worthy landing it? They'll have to figure that out for themselves. If by the time the season starts rolling it's quite possible he will have the 4A well in hand. Then, when does Nessie surface? I really think for maximum effect he'll do a 4A in his SP. That'll spook the competition since they'll be figuring that he'll do another one (or even two) in his FS. That should throw a lot of them off their game. Three, will he be doing a stripped down 4A or one with lots of bells and whistles, meaning the same type of entries and exits he uses on his 3A? I think Yuzu's sense of showmanship is such that we'll get a fully adorned rather than unadorned 4A. As long as he's doing it he might as well do it in a way that no other skater now skating will be able to do even after long practice. Finally, what will be the audience reaction when he does it? He'll get a standing ovation at the time and after the skate a prolonged ovation. Additional thought - How will the judges handle it? I really think the judges will be intimidated when it occurs. They'll be a lot more generous than normal, fearing that underscoring Yuzu will bring about the first collective judge-lynching in figure-skating history.

Like his 3A on steroids!!

About the earthquake, I wouldn't worry too much. For one, it was off the west coast of Japan. Sendai and Tokyo are both on the east coast. Secondly, it was in the mid-sixes in terms of strength. That's like comparing a conventional bomb to 2011's thermonuclear bomb. There is, of course, a danger from tsunamis but they won't be anything like 3/11 and the Japanese seawalls there should handle things. The problem in 2011 was that there had been a miscalculation about how strong an earthquake Japan could have from the subduction zone there. The strongest they thought could occur was an 8.5. Thus the seawalls had been constructed to handle the tsunami from an 8.5. Instead they had a 9.0 or 9.1 and thus the tsunamis went right over the seawalls. All in all I don't think anyone need worry. Things got a bit shaken up but there's probably little damage (considering Japan's very rigorous building codes). We have to remember that earthquakes are a part of the routine of living in Japan, just as tornadoes are for those living where I do. As such the Japanese start really taking notice only when the quakes are stronger than a Richter 7.0.

I don't think that Brian, back in 2012, had any idea of the sheer overwhelming phenomenon Yuzu would become. He knew he would be training a very highly talented skater but to see Yuzu go from a promising young skater to the sheer cultural phenomenon he's become in Japan, I don't think any coach could have seen that. I'm not even certain Yuzu saw that (probably not since with his humility he would not have thought it possible even if he wanted it). I think many in the Western press do not yet get what Yuzu is in Japan. They're distracted by the Poohbursts after every Yuzu skate and they're left in wonderment by the way the Japanese media cover him but to them Yuzu is still just a skater. In Japan he is a cultural icon, reflecting not only skating, not only athleticism, not only Japanese ideals, but HUMAN perfection. If this were a thousand years ago Yuzu would be well on his way to being perceived as a god on earth.

From a lifelong ballet fan only one word can work - Bravissimo!!! They might be faulted a few times for less than perfect execution but these were fleeting. The choreographer was well aware that the only way ballet dancers can mimic a skater's gliding is to go en pointe, moving on the toes, and so they spent much of the time on their toes. Also the choreographer kept aerial work to a minimum and when it was done it was done appropriately with the whole ensemble doing it. The groupings were good and the transitions from one grouping to another were inventive and well-executed. For those dancers the greatest gift of all might have been Yuzu in the audience (I wonder if he might have been. We'll never know.) All in all a performance that Pooh would approve.

What is Yuzu attempting in these ice shows this summer? The usual practice is to skate safe. Of course if it's Yuzu he can do no wrong in the eyes of the audience so if he pops a jump or falls or touches his hand down or whatever, it is forgiven, particularly when it's seen as an attempt for something definitely not safe. I have a suspicion, and this is sheer conjecture on my part, that Yuzu is working on his competitors of next season. If they see he is trying to be able to compete with all the quads, or at least the six back-entry quads, they'll see that he doesn't intend to hold back on the jumps this next season. He's going all-out, which means they'll have to go all out. Nathan should be particularly worried because Yuzu's jumps, when he makes them, generally garner high GOEs and combine that with Yuzu's always high PCS numbers Nathan and the others have much to worry about. We have to remember that the last two seasons have gone by with Yuzu generally in absentia. GPF winners, Japanese national winners, even the World champion winners all have an asterisk behind their name, meaning that Yuzu was either not there or skating injured. If Yuzu has truly gotten back his old form then they are all in for a very rough ride later this year and early next year. Yuzu seems to me to be letting everyone know that Yuzu does not intend to hold back this coming season. All this means that Yuzu's back in form and he's very hungry for gold.

Extremely well written. it goes right with what I have been saying almost since I first stopped lurking and joined the Planet. Yuzu has become a symbol of suffering and recovering Japan. Combined with his known psychological and moral struggles as he continued his training and competing after the earthquake, he has emerged as the preeminent symbol of Japan post earthquake. The legend's foundation is the image of him scrambling from the ice when it seemed to him that the building might come down on him at any time. Then his struggles to find another training site and his skating in all those ice shows to get practice time there. I'm sure that his story was probably circulated widely amongst those at those shows and thus boosted his identification with the quake and tsunami. Then the further symbolism of his victory at Sochi, not only the first Japanese man to win the figure-skating gold but also the only Japanese athlete in any sport to bring home gold from Sochi. Since then he has taken his role as symbol of the quake to heart. This also goes to the heart of Yuzu's humility. There is so much expected of him but he knows that he can never fully live up to those expectations. He does his best, however, on the ice and off it and does his best, also, to not let the public know just how taxing this burden is.

Some time ago I said this, but I'll repeat. It seems to me that Yuzu is quite comfortable using English where he's just communicating with other people, such as in training sessions and with other skaters at competitions. It's the formal situations that have him tongue-tied because he realizes so much is riding then on what he says. As was pointed out here, in his media appearances where he is speaking Japanese his answers are quite articulate, probably more than most athletes achieve when interviewed in their native tongues. We have to remember that Yuzu is probably more intelligent, possibly much more intelligent than the average athlete, not that generally athletes are 'dumb jocks'. I know from my own experiences teaching at a university where I had a number of athletes in my classes and some of them were amongst my best students. But back to Yuzu. When he receives a seriously thought out question he wants to give a seriously thought out answer. That's why I really think that the JSF, knowing how often Yuzu is involved in press conferences, should assign an interpreter to accompany Yuzu. He probably handles more press conferences than all the rest of the Japanese skating team combined. An interpreter would be worth the expense.

I'm really sad to see Yuzu retiring Masquerade. I've been waiting for him to do something as over-the-top dramatic as we saw in POTO back in 2014. I've been thinking, though, that Yuzu could do something to acknowledge his debt to Nanami, who shepherded him through his junior years and his early years of senior competition. What I'd like to see is a revamping of RJ1 to incorporate changes that have arisen since its days (do I hear 'quads, quads, quads'?) She's too often forgotten but it was she who guided Yuzu through puberty and his early adolescence, who had to help him in the mental turmoil he was experiencing after the earthquake. RJ1 was the best program she choreographed for him and it would not be unfitting that he retool that program (minus 30 seconds) for this coming season. It could be as mesmerizing as Masquerade.

Actually some of those pairs are difficult, since the second in the pair I frequently like more than either of another pair, so given that, here are the ones to which I give a complete thumbs up - Phantom of the Opera (my number one overall), Masquerade (comes up as my current number 2), and then the others unranked but near the top - Notte Stellata, LGC, PW, RJ1, Seimei. None of the remaining have a thumbs down (if Yuzu does it, how can it be a thumbs down?) but I'm just not crazy about them.

Could someone answer a simple question - Who was the choreographer for Masquerade. I've looked all over but can't seem to be able to find who was responsible for one of Yuzu's best programs ever.

In all the discussion about how Yuzu developed into the young man he has, a young man with great regard for family, country and the world at large, who recognizes that the best things in life are not the things you receive but the things you give, one element has been absent in the proceedings, an element that Yuzu himself has said had a very considerable effect on him and helped him put a great many things into perspective - the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. We have to remember that it was a sixteen-year old Yuzuru who was skating on the ice at approximately 2:46 PM on the 11th of March in 2011 when suddenly it seemed like the world was coming to an end. Sendai was the major city closest to the epicenter of the quake and so we can be sure that the shaking there was much greater than what we have seen in videos made in Tokyo of the event. Around him the ice was cracking, pipes were bursting and for a few shattering minutes Yuzu had the very real fear that he was about to die. He scrambled from the rink without even removing his skates, worrying that any second the whole building might come down on him. Fortunately it remained standing, though badly damaged. There followed then for Yuzu and his family three days and nights amongst fellow evacuees in a crowded high school gym waiting for clearance to return to their house. During those days and nights Yuzu gained real insights into how people react in extremis and a keen awareness of how fragile the lives we lead are. It is this experience which has been grafted onto the attitudes of that young urchin so easily grinning we have seen of Yuzu before the quake. The grins were still there after the quake but they were backed by an awareness that not all of life was meant to be 'grinnable'. He remembers those days in that high school gym and he knows that there are still many thousands of his countrymen still lodged in temporary housing. That plus the solid family backing he has had has resulted in the Yuzu we see today, a young man wise beyond his years and who knows that while there are many opportunities in life that invite a grin, there are others for which a smile and a grin are not appropriate. He knows that life can be wonderful but he also knows that life can be deadly. There aren't many skaters out there who have stared death in the face and that is why Yuzu stands out so much in that crowd.

I think one of the things that makes Yuzu so special is his obvious comfort in front of cameras. He doesn't beg their attention but when they are focused on him he acts his natural, friendly, sometimes playful self (Who else but Yuzu would get down on his hands and knees and crawl behind Shoma when needing to exit without taking attention from Shoma?). It's this obvious genuineness and spontaneity that have endeared him to so much of the Japanese public who aren't necessarily into figure-skating and that have made Yuzu a major media star. I might add also that Yuzu does himself great credit when he lets the tears flow (always at a time of extreme joy) in front of the cameras. It lets people know that they are getting the real Yuzu.

One of Yuzu's greatest traits is that he is not overly in love with himself. His humility, his lack of arrogance, these things make him a person who just invites others to love him (although without any deliberation on his part). Yuzu knows what he has achieved but he doesn't think that because he is a world-class skater he's superior to anyone else. This is almost certainly a product of his family life, since unlike others (I'm thinking of Michael Phelps' mother here), they remain determinedly in the background, unwilling to bask in the adulation Yuzu receives from the world at large even though they are primarily responsible for Yuzu being the unassuming young man he is. I do think that on the day he retires, he should have them up there next to him when he makes the announcement. It would be a fitting way to thank them for being the family who was always there to support him during those many years of competing.