[2014.02.05] Japanese Men's Figure Skating Fan Book Cutting Edge 2014

[yuzurujenn]

*machine translation, inaccuracies exist*

 

 

Info: https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/dp/4789962172

Source: https://x.com/Rahna_rarahna/status/918473012436811781
 

 

 

However, I feel like I don't really understand proper Japanese...

Maybe it's because I've been reading a lot of novels lately. I started reading a novel called 'Chimera' (Baku Yumemakura). When I read it, I was hooked! From there, I started thinking about reading other novels little by little.

Reading... I didn't do that at all until now. If I did read, it was usually just skimming through the original books of movies I had watched. When I was really young, I liked historical stories, and I read 'Kojiki' and 'Tokaidochu Hizakurige'. In elementary and middle school, we had reading time, so I would read during that time.

So when I started reading novels recently, I once again realized how amazing Japanese is. It's deep and difficult. Writing articles must be tough too (laughs). At the same time, I became concerned about my poor Japanese... I started to think, 'I'm no good at this.' The spoken and written Japanese are completely different, and it is very difficult.

Thinking about such things, it also connects to the expression in skating. For example, let's say there is a story. If the 'written word' is the faithful expression of that story on the ice, then the 'spoken word' is when you add your own interpretation to it. You listen to the music and create a story that's different from the original one, based on your own interpretation. When that is added, the program becomes something truly great, and an even more beautiful thing emerges. A story is complete in itself, and it's wonderful as it is. So, even if you follow it faithfully, it can still turn out beautiful in its own way. But if you add an accent to it, it draws the viewer in even more. It's just like a novel, where the story comes to life by adding spoken words, rather than just explaining the scenes and events in written language.

After all, figure skating, which is what I do, is a sport of expression. I am reading novels while feeling this little by little.