sweetwater

Thank you for reading! Yeah, he is so photogenic! Even when he is fighting against the centrifugal force or the gravity during spins and jumps, his positions and lines are beautiful. However, Sunao Noto and Yoshiki Kogaito of Sponichi both say it is hard to photograph Yuzu during a program because of his speed and fluid performance. So I imagine the sense of achievement they feel when they could capture something they aimed to capture must be enormous. After I read your post, I tried to look for some nice photos of spin and jump and found this Wakasugi san's Instagram post instead. It was posted during NHK last year. According to his comment, he seems to have taken this photo during the six to seven seconds before Taachan (one of the mascots) came to get him back on the ice in this footage, so this is indeed a scene that only they and their camera could capture. And the last one of this photoset looks like another moment before or after the photo above. Sadly, we will have to wait a little more to be able to see Yuzu on the ice and to enjoy these photographers' new photographs, but it was fun to listen to Wakasugi san in these few weeks. I hope he will have another chance to exhibit his photos and talk about them!

How about Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini ver. 2.0?

Footage of Yuma, Shun, Mai aired by Fuji's Live News Alpha

Found a full translation https://rika-kihira.tumblr.com/post/624265425600020481/exclusive-birthday-confession-rika-kihira-talked

JSF's high-performance director Takeuchi says they are going to figure out the ways to let their athletes maintain their intuition for competitions, such as holding mock competition/competitions, etc. consulting with coaches. According to a reporter from Nikkan, there were separate flow lines for media and skaters. JFS took their temperature at the entrance and let them interview the skaters remotely from the spectators' sheets.

A few more summaries of skaters' comments: Keiji Tanaka: As you may have already known, he is keeping both programs from the last season, although he has a new SP and has started working on it. He stayed off the ice for one and a half months and gradually resumed on-ice training after the state of emergency got lifted. During the time off the ice, he tried many things such as running when people weren't walking on the streets, without knowing what was right. He tried not to drive himself into a corner. Thanks to such struggles during the time away from the ice, he didn't lose his physical strength much. However, he hasn't regained all of his jumps yet. Since he will keep both programs, he wants to brush up on them. According to this article, Keiji was already in Canada when the Worlds got canceled. He stayed there for a few days and had to head back to Japan surprisingly quickly, so he felt really down after he came back home, although sharing such a feeling with other Team Japan members helped a bit. https://www.nikkansports.com/sports/news/202007210000420.html Mitsuki Sumoto: As he had shared on his Instagram, he has been training under Takeshi Honda since January February. At the moment, he can't execute what the coach tells him to do about his jump, so he wants to be able to execute it/them without consciously trying. He stayed off the ice for about one and a half months and resumed on-ice training at the beginning of June. Although he doesn't feel he is completely back in form, he is regaining his stamina and muscles. While being off the ice, he tried not to think too much about fs but kept on doing exercises he had not been doing much before this pandemic, such as uphill dashes and core training. He thinks he needs to solidify his Axel and quads. He added some new choreography to the SP and hoping to show its uniqueness in this season. As to the FP, he wants to deliver Mission that people would remember even if they see it online. (when the competition gets held behind the closed door) https://www.nikkansports.com/sports/news/202007210000618.html According to Quadruple Axel, Mitsuki chose to skate to Mission inspired by Mai's. ETA (7/22/2020): Fixed a typo.

According to a more detailed article by Nikkan, Mai has a new SP choreographed for the last season by David Wilson but, for some reason, decided to skate It's Magic this year. She is hoping to upgrade it to be able to portray a lovely lady with more maturity. The FP is also the one choreographed for the last season. https://www.nikkansports.com/sports/news/202007210000885.html Mai is dancing to Mahna Mahna in my head now...

Thank you for taking time to check and update!

Mai Mihara: Her SP for this season is It's Magic that she skated in the 2018-2019 season. FP will be Fairy of Forest and Galaxy choreographed by Lori Nichol. She seemed to have answered to the questions from the media online. She says it was a surprise for her that JFS invited her to this camp. She is happy to be able to train with skaters who she had been watching on TV during the last season and says she is motivated by that. Her home rink closed soon after she got back on the ice, and she had trouble getting back on it once again after the rink re-opened, so she hasn't been able to skate much. While she was staying at home, she worked on rebuilding her muscles and regaining her core strength. What made her go through this process was her feeling toward figure skating. She says her love for figure skating has never changed, and she had spent every day to get back on the ice as soon as possible. When she got back on the ice, she thought, "Ice is this slippery!" She has regained her jumps up to be able to land 3Lo until now. Her goal at the moment is to be able to do 3F, 3Lz, and triple-triple combinations without a mistake. She says she can't share the details of her physical condition but assured with a smile that she is getting a lot better. https://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2020/07/21/kiji/20200721s00079000315000c.html ETA: That's it for now! Sponichi and Nikkan is still uploading articles about others so I'll catch up later if others don't.

Yuhana Yokoi: Her SP for this season is Nandemonaiya (English version) choreographed by Akiko Suzuki. FP is an orchestrated version of Tom and Jerry choreographed by Misao Sato. It is not clear whether she had to stay completely off the ice or she at least had very limited ice-time, but the change of situation affected her as well, and she is a bit struggling to regain the jumps she used to be able to do. As to the SP, she thought about skating to Carmen or tango as well but chose Nandemonaiya that sounds very different from Ten Dark Women. As to the FP, her mother suggested skating something funny. https://www.nikkansports.com/sports/news/202007210000442.html https://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2020/07/21/kiji/20200721s00079000273000c.html Tomoe Kawabata: She wants to work on expression in this training camp since there is a lesson/are lessons aiming to strengthen it. Although her home rink is setting a limit on the number of people on the ice for each session, she can skate roughly as much as she used to do. She had been working on maintaining her muscles and stamina according to the training menu given by her coach, focusing on stretching to heal her back injury. Now she doesn't feel much pain. She is planning to keep her FP for the last season. As to SP, she is practicing the SP for the last season and Twilight Waltz skated by Yuki Nishino before but hasn't decided which will be the SP for this season. She is still aiming for Beijing, but things are uncertain, so she wants to train while focusing on smaller goals. https://www.nikkansports.com/sports/news/202007210000462.html

Yuma Kagiyama: His SP for this season will be Take Five, and the FP will be Princess Mononoke OST, both choreographed by Misao Sato. He wants to present these programs at this training camp and receive feedback to improve them. He was nervous about taking part in the senior training camp, but now he is relaxed being welcomed by friendly senpais. He had to stay off the ice since before the declaration of the state of emergency. He got back on the ice a few days after it got lifted and is getting back in shape. During the time off the ice, he watched the videos of his performances from last season to remind himself of how he skates. and swore to himself to surpass them. He also did rope jumping to maintain the muscles that are necessary for taking off and landing of jumps. He is aiming to include two types of quads in both SP and FP. As to the Olympics, he says it will be held someday, sometimes, so he is going to work on every element of his technique to be able to compete in it. https://www.nikkansports.com/sports/news/202007210000492.html https://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2020/07/21/kiji/20200721s00079000284000c.html Shun Sato: His SP this season will be Pirates of the Caribbean, and FP will be Battle of the Kings, both choreographed by non-Japanese choreographer/choreographers. He was also nervous about joining the senior training camp but is enjoying training with senpais. He could not train on the ice from the beginning of April until the end of May. When he got back on the ice, he felt the amount of the time off the ice, but now, he is feeling good about the way he skates. During the time away from the ice, he did many things he had never done before, including taking dance lessons. Before this pandemic, he was taking it for granted that he was able to skate, but the frustration he felt while being off the ice made him realize how important figure skating has been for him. He had a plan on practicing 4F during this offseason, but since things haven't been going as scheduled, he hopes to work on it step by step. https://www.nikkansports.com/sports/news/202007210000513.html ETA: Shun's programs are both choreographed by Benoit Richaud. https://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2020/07/21/kiji/20200721s00079000293000c.html ETA2 (07/22/2020): Fuji aired snippets of their interview in their midnight news show, and it looked like Nikkan's transcription of Yuma's comment was partly wrong, so I revised the corresponding part of the summary.

Wakaba Higuchi: She had to stay off the ice from April 8 to June 1. After getting back on the ice, she gradually got used to being on the ice again. Now she can do everything she could do before thanks to what she did off the ice. After Worlds got canceled, for the first few weeks, she was feeling uneasy not knowing how to train, and then she accepted the situation and tried to focus on staying healthy, trying not to think about fs, and did off-ice training, mainly running and jumping. She is planning to keep and refine both programs from the last season. She is trying to maintain focus on what she can do now, such as to solidify her 3A instead of thinking about the Olympics. https://www.nikkansports.com/sports/news/202007210000414.html Kaori Sakamoto: She sees this training camp as a chance to take a close look at quads done by men and learn from it. It was the first time for her to remain off the ice for such a long time. Since she got back on the ice, she has been driven by the feeling that she had to catch up. She tried to figure out how she could make good use of each day, and she thinks that was a good experience for her. She will keep Matrix for FP. As to SP, Benoit Richaud choreographed it via video chat using LINE. The process was a bit confusing at first. She doesn't remember the French title of the music, but she will portray a mature lady in the program. She is happy to be able to train with Mai again. https://www.nikkansports.com/sports/news/202007210000389.html ETA: According to Figure Skating Life, a reporter/reporters at the venue searched Kaori's SP music, and it seems to be this one.

Not sure how I should feel about JSF gathering skaters for this training camp under the current situation in Japan. I pray everyone stays safe during and after this. It seems that only four or five skaters can be on the ice for each practice session. According to Sponich, each media can send only one person there, and the photos are taken by only one photographer that represents all the media. Let me share some summaries of skaters' comments. Kazuki Tomono: He is looking forward to training with Sota Yamamoto in the same group as it would be stimulating. He resumed on-ice training at the end of May after the state of emergency got lifted. Until then, he had been training off-ice for about 1.5 to 2months. The off-ice training made him realize his weak points, so he focused on working on such points. For example, while doing one-foot squats, he found an imbalance in the strength of muscles and the ability to maintain the balance between left and right. After working on it off the ice, when he got back on the ice, he felt better than before. He says the period he had to stay off the ice gave him a chance to be aware of his physical condition, and it was unexpectedly meaningful. He is going to keep both of his programs from the last season, and aiming to include 3quads constantly. He says he isn't sure what will happen in the future, but if there is a chance to compete in a competition, he will aim for the podium. https://www.nikkansports.com/sports/news/202007210000378.html Sota Yamamoto: Since he has switched coaches and has been training in Osaka, Nishinomiya, and Kobe now, he is trying to adapt himself to the new situation taking one step at a time. He will have two new programs, so he wants to work on and refine every element of his skate. He resumed on-ice training at the end of May. He hasn't lost the feeling of skating but is still trying to regain stamina. He is thinking about learning 4F or 4Lz. Now he is practicing 3F and 3Lz from a different curve. He is now taking a leave of absence from school to pursue his skating. The Dark Eyes, his SP will be a gorgeous program. As to the FP, he chose to revisit Dragon which he used 8years ago. He is aiming to present a new Dragon with a new music cut and choreography. https://www.nikkansports.com/sports/news/202007210000393.html

Second Impact Syndrome

CoC2014 FS was a living nightmare to me, including the warm-up, the free skate, and the things that happened in the Japanese fandom after that. I feel slightly sick looking back at it even now. I watched it live on TV. (The competition was aired by TV Asahi, by the way. They have the broadcasting rights of GPS except for NHK Trophy) So the camera was on him as he collided with Han Yan while commentators were screaming, "Abunai!" After that, I watched everything fearing that we might be losing him and Han Yan, and wondering if it was right to just watch someone when they might be risking their life. Although the camera was kept away from them after they left the rinkside, I could see the doctor checking Yuzu, and then the way he talked to Kikuchi san analyzing the damages himself. However, since there was no way to know how OK he really was, the resumed warm-up and the free skate full of falls were no less scary than the collision itself because I had read about SIS. I am still grateful that they both survived that. If something was slightly different, we might not have been cheering for him like this. ETA: That said, the competition tells what kind of fighter he is, so I understand there are people who became a fan after watching it.

Are you mentioning my other post regarding JSF's announcement? Well, it's not entirely the translator's fault. Some Japanese fans were sharing the article as if it had been a new one. (Well, it could have been new for them...)

Mitsuki Sumoto visited Sendai to make his new FP. His FP for this season is "Mission" choreographed by Nanami Abe. (Source is Quadruple Axel) According to his comment, he says that at Ice Rink Sendai, people are wearing masks both during public sessions and private sessions. He says that he isn't sure when he will debut his new program, but he will rehearse it to be able to perform it anytime he can. By the way, he has left Coach Yoshinori Onishi and has been training under Takeshi Honda since this February.

Off-current-topic but this tweet hasn't been shared here yet, has it? @Fay, is this what you mentioned during the streaming party tonight?

My thoughts go out to her and those who love her. Hope her family gets as much support as possible... I remember a former swimmer represented Japan in two Olympics and had been successful as an actor after retirement telling Fumie Suguri that he spent ten years to overcome the sense of loss after retirement. It was after Fumie announced her retirement, and he knew how much she struggled until she finally made that decision, so he probably wanted to say that she was not alone. Fumie was listening to him in tears. It is tough to learn how much they have to suffer even after retirement, sometimes despite the success in their second career.

Not sure why this article is circulating now, but it is an old one reporting on JSF's decision to not sending their athletes to JGP events and some CS events scheduled in September and October, published on Monday this week. They haven't announced anything about senior GP yet. (I am personally not so hopeful about GP this year, though)

Part 4 video promo clip Translation Updated on 7/23/2020 ETA (8/16/2020): Fixed the link to the video

Part 3 video promo clip Translation ETA: Fixed the link to the video (7/23/2020)

Part 2 video promo clip Translation T/N

Part 1 video promo clip Translation

This thread is a compilation of translations of the short video lectures by Kazuki Wakasugi of Yomiuri Shimbun. *Part 1 and 2 have already been posted in the General Yuzuru Chat. Exhibition site is here! Hanyu Yuzuru Online Exhibition (July 1, 2020 August 2 August 31, 2020) ETA (8/16/2020): On July 29th, they announced that they were going to extend this exhibition until August 31st.