Yuzurella

Home, sweet home. I wonder if Yuzu's still in Sendai.

Considering his love for ice that would make sense.

Brian is such a wonderful coach. He's doing an amazing job. I'm so happy that Yuzu has found such a great dad coach and a warm, loving, supporting and caring family at TCC.

Satomi is a true artist and a genius when it comes to figure skating costumes. I think a beautiful costume that matches a program adds so much to a performance. It's part of a complete package. I'm really glad that most skaters still put a lot of attention on their costumes. And among the men, Japanese skaters definitely have the best costumes in my opinion.

With English subtitles: Really interesting short clip about Satomi Ito, the costume designer of Yuzu, Shoma and many other skaters. I'm blown away by how intricate these costumes are and how much work and attention to detail goes into them.

Awww... Yuzu's being shy...

Brian is such a great dad coach.

Sensei, thank you. I'm so grateful that Yuzu has such a wonderful coach in Brian and a warm, loving and caring family at TCC.

Yuzu's full press conference after the Sendai monument revealing. I'm hoping and waiting for English subtitles.

I agree. Other people in his position might be tempted to actually use their power to influence other people and things to their own advantage, but not Yuzu. He has too much integrity for that. And this is one of the things I admire most about him. He leaves all that politicking, bitching and complaining to other people. And even during hardships and failures that are true tests for a person's character, Yuzu always keeps his integrity and is true to himself. The only place where Yuzu shows his full power is the ice. And on that slippery surface, he's unsurpassed and will be for a very, very long time, maybe forever. I just re-watched CiONTU and even though I've watched his performances in these shows multiple times, I'm once again blown away by how Yuzu just moves on the ice. His grace and elegance on the ice is out of this world. His love and passion for skating is so obvious every time he steps on that frozen water. And this is something that differentiates him from other skaters that I've seen. For Yuzu, skating isn't just something that he does and excels at. He literally becomes skating. He is skating. Every time he steps on the ice and starts skating, it's like he enters another magical realm where the laws of earthly physics don't matter. Yuzu creates beauty that is out of this world. It's a magical experience. And I feel soo fortunate that I get to witness this.

Oh, I haven't seen this one before!

Hahaha! Yuzu is such a cat! Is the other guy Nam?

Thank you! Good to know.

I don't know Japanese, but according to Google Translate it seems that Kose is gonna release a limited edition face powder in Otonal design on May 16. The case is so pretty. I want one of these!!!

Yes, I think he is.

From the new Kiss&Cry. Just when I thought our sweet Sakura Fairy couldn't be any more beautiful...

My theory is that Yuzu is a real life elf. In "Lord of the Rings" it's mentioned that elves sleep with their eyes open.

JSF taking a stand for Yuzu? That's a new one. Let's see how much effort they will actually put into this.

It's 3 in the morning in my time zone... Sleep as a Yuzu fan? Who needs sleep?

Hmmm... maybe 2020/2021 then? One can still dream...

I think Yuzu should do two new programs next season. If he does keep a program, I'd prefer him to keep Otonal. Even though his interpretation of Origin was great, I think it doesn't suit him that well. But maybe that's just my feeling because we never saw Origin at its full potential and Yuzu performing in top form. I do love Haru Yo Koi, though. It's just so perfect for him. And I'd love for Yuzu to keep that next season. I think Yuzu should try out new styles of music. I've been thinking for a while that Exogenesis Symphony Part 3 by Muse would be awesome for him. I'm sure he'd turn it into an absolute masterpiece. Even watching him practising to Muse in this edit is mesmerizing. I've also been envisioning Yuzu skating to empire of Angels. It's so dramatic and utterly epic. Yuzu would also create a msterpiece with his music.

You're absolutely right. In China, Yuzu's not only popular with his legions of fans. The media are also reporting about him and praising him a lot. I remember when Yuzu got his People's Honor Award, CCTV 2 covered this in their news. Can you imagine a national TV station of a country reporting in their news about a foreign athlete getting a prestigious award in that athlete's home country? Regardless of the fact that Yuzu's Japanese and there's still some tension between China and Japan because of historical reasons, Yuzu seems to be a role model in China, not just for fans but also the media. I agree that Yuzu's virtues are the perfect embodiment of the ideal in Chinese traditional culture. This is probably the reason why the public and media admire and promote Yuzu so much.

I think this topic of different Asian beauty standards and features that are seemingly distinct for each country or culture quite interesting. First of all, I'd like to point out that Asia is a huge and extremely diverse continent with a sheer endless variety of cultures and peoples. This is something that some people tend to forget when they speak of Asia or Asians. I think what we're talking about here is East Asia, i.e. China, Japan and Korea. To be honest, I'm of Chinese origin and I've never been able to tell East Asians apart country wise based solely on their appearance or facial structure. I myself was often mistaken for Korean whenever I was in China. And when I was in Helsinki last November to watch the grand prix there, every Japanese person who approached me spoke Japanese to me, thinking that I was also from Japan. There are probably some people who tend to look more like they're from a certain country or region, but for the majority that's probably not true. It's like here in Europe. I grew up in Austria and I also couldn't just look at a person and see from their appearance whether they're German or Austrian. I'd need to hear them speak to notice that. The same is true for East Asians, at least for me. What I'm trying to say here is that we shouldn't categorize people based on the shape of their eyes or nose or whatever facial features. I'm aware that there are certain beauty standards in every culture, but that doesn't mean we have to follow them. I believe beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.

There are so many reasons why Yuzu is loved and adored by so many people. What I'd like to point out are a few things that are particularly attractive, inspiring and fascinating for me (on top of the one hundred million other things for which I'd need a novel-length essay to elaborate fully). Yuzu is probably the bravest person I know of. He has the courage to live his passion to its fullest. He has the courage to bare his heart and soul when he's on the ice. He doesn't just skate. He doesn't just perform. When I watch Yuzu on the ice, I have the feeling that he's sharing his most intimate thoughts and feelings with us, allowing us to look into his very essence, connecting with us on a spiritual level. Yuzu has the courage to just do his thing, do what he thinks is right, without fearing what other people might think or say about him. And he has the courage to endure all criticism, ridicule and judgement, to overcome all of this and keep on doing what he loves, keep on going his way, doing his thing and living his passion. Despite all of the setbacks, injustice and harsh criticism Yuzu's had to experience, he never became defensive, cynical or spiteful. He always remained highly respectful and always focused on the positive aspects and the things he can improve. And Yuzu never plays the blame game. He never finds excuses for his failures. He never complains and whines around about how unfairly he was treated (even in cases when he was indeed treated unfairly). He always takes responsibility for his skating and his results. Yuzu has the courage to be be himself and stay true to himself. He dares to glide out into the center of attention under the scrutiny of millions of people all over the world expressing his heart and soul, performing in ways his spirit calls him to. I cannot even imagine how much courage it must take to dare to stand out like this in every way and withstand the storm. I think most people are so afraid of the judgement of others, so frightened of rejection and ridicule, that they don't dare to express their true selves. I have to admit that I myself used to give too much significance to the opinion of others and more often than not tried to bend over to please other people. In this sense, Yuzu is such an inspiration to me. Even though he's younger than me, he inspires me to be a better and braver person in so many ways. He shows me again and again that there is always a way to succeed and improve. He is simply the most inspirational person I know.

I think at least in China, the preference for double eyelids is a longer-standing phenomenon. With the development of modern cosmetic surgery, it's possible for people with natural monolids to achieve that look. That's why nowadays there are so many people - especially women - who get a surgery to "open up their eyes" (make them bigger). I personally think that this "trend" of a uniform beauty standard has gone too far. I watch quite a few Chinese dramas on a regular basis and I've noticed that there's not even one single actress who doesn't have double eyelids and huge eyes. (With men this doesn't seem to be so extreme.) It's like if you don't have double eyelids, you just cannot be considered beautiful. I also think the scrunchy eyed smile is totally endearing. I love Yuzu's and Kaori's smiles! I'm glad that at least athletes stay their naturally beautiful selves without trying to "enhance" their looks via surgery.