TallyT

Not sure of this is the right place, but I had a weird skating dream last night - the Japan Open was being held, but as the Japanese Only because no one else could get into the country. And no one knew if Yuzu would be there because no one (in the dream!) knew which country he was in.... The unnerving part was that several of the skaters (including one currently big name but I'm not saying who) were actually deceased, but as the rules didn't say undead can't compete.... and Rika was skating to Love In The Time of Cholera in a plain white dress with her hair down. I'm rather glad I woke up before it got much further. It wasn't a nightmare precisely (I dream quite a bit about dead people, don't want to think about why), but very vivid. I'm going to watch happy ice show nonsense now.

Maybe there will be a Japanese one...

Every top 5 that doesn't have at least 7-8 that I can think of is just wrong

If Yuzu had agreed to do it, his name would be up on the website so fast it would make heads spin. They know - even those who don't admit it - that it would double the audience worldwide and bump it up significantly even in the US. There's none of the Japanese/Chinese/Korean though, are there?

Yuzu hasn't been lower than silver since NHK 2014 - and given the circumstances there, it was hardly surprising. That is longer than nearly all IJS skaters' whole international careers.

Are they saying the first one is the most recent - the one where he is oldest??? I would have guessed (after dithering) he was youngest there...

Good selection, but there are several more I would dither about... how to choose? And yes, H&L 17 was the Greatest. Ever. Though I suspect Olympic Seimei will be seen in history as THE iconic skate of the quad if not the decade.

Thank you both! I have a mad passion for domestic history, which means I am fascinated by unusual (to me) foods, both from other countries and the past, the odder the better (though that doesn't necessarily mean I want to eat them, just know about them) It actually sounds a lot better than it looks...

Nope, while people have pored over every word and image we get, we still don't know for sure. He is good at this By the way, I had a quick look at some of the other athletes the JOC got to make clips for and to be fair to our Yuzuru, quite a few of them did the 'stand in front of a blank wall' bit. And I ran across this totally-unrelated-to-Yuzu tweet of someone's healthy meal, which looks to me like, umm, amphibian spawn mixed with tinned pineapple - so of course I am dying of curiosity, is there any from or who has visited Japan and can enlighten me as to what it actually is???

I am so sorry, and will add thoughts and hopes for you into my daily karmic wishes for everyone hurt in this time.

To make your Saturday just that bit more beautiful... they just played my absolute and everlastingly favourite song, Love Me Sweet by Australian composer Carl Vine. I am imagining our boy skating to this in a gala.... beauty just doesn't come much more pure.

I rather love this, the Olympic Channel asked "which athletes are keeping you entertained on social media?" Now you would think the one star who is known for not having any sm would not dominate the replies yet again, but.... you'd be wrong Of course the JOC tweet yesterday was just great timing...

Been thinking about why Yuzu's message seems to have a deeper impact than so many of the others who have been using social media to talk to and encourage fans (well, besides the obvious fact that we get to see him so rarely on it ) Without criticising the other sports stars, their messages have been - as social media tends to be - "this is what I'm doing now," as well as words to encourage fans. Which is great (I looooved Jason skipping on skates). Yuzu however.... a blank wall, plain outfit, serious demeanour, a carefully thought out little talk directly to his listeners and about them, covering those who have to stay home, those who have to work to overcome the crisis, and those who are already ill and suffering (the elderly fans especially - the grannies and grandads he has spoken to in countless fundraising clips - who may be isolated and must be so frightened at the minute can hear that he is thinking of them too) and just touching on 3/11 to bring in that fellow feeling and that lovely image of the darkness and the stars. Nothing about "me" to detract from "us" and especially "you". In this me-hungry world, he really is something special...

Toshi is one of us.....

And the tweet has already reached 200,000 views, I think a lot of people in Japan and elsewhere are drawing from it.

This message from Yuzuru would mean a lot to the Japanese fans, as they know he is speaking not only from the heart but from hard-won experience of disaster and the fear it brings...

Hope we get a translation soon. Mind you, we are still getting no hint whatsoever of where the dear boy is...

What a mess... do they really think that an international series like the GPF is going to be able to start at the usual time?

Wasn't there a writer who said she has never been tempted to use Yuzu for inspiration but he and his life are just too much, too extraordinary for fiction?

As with SOI Yokohama, canny business. I do hope Jason will be there last year, I googled his character and am DYING to see him in that costume - and hair!!!

This is Yuzuru, I don't believe he will make any decision for a long time yet... or if he does, he won't tell till the time he thinks is right. It's a masterclass in patience being a Fanyu....

Had they actually started selling the tickets?

That was so utterly adorable

Whether this year or next, if the first time anyone finds out music and costume is his first competition, the explosion among fans will be epic.....