[2023.06.28] Elle Japan August issue

[yuzurujenn]

Info:

https://www.amazon.co.jp/エル・ジャポン-2023年8月号-羽生結弦特別版-Sitting-ver/dp/B0C5WYPN68/

https://www.amazon.co.jp/エル・ジャポン-2023年8月号-羽生結弦特別版-Butterfly-ver/dp/B0C5X2J45L

https://www.elle.com/jp/fashion/fashion-stories/a43939389/elle-men-yuzuru-hanyu-2306/

 

Summary:

The August issue of ELLE Japon, special edition featuring Yuzuru Hanyu ([A]Butterfly ver./[B]Sitting ver.), not only features Yuzuru Hanyu on the cover, but is a special edition that is 13 pages larger than the regular edition, featuring fashion portraits, as well as an exclusive interview with Akutagawa Prize-winning author, Machiya Ryohei.

*The August issue of ELLE Japon, special edition featuring Yuzuru Hanyu, comes in two versions, the [A]Butterfly ver. and the [B]Sitting ver., with different cover photos.
The only difference between the [A]Butterfly ver. and the [B]Sitting ver. is the cover.
*The following content differs between the regular edition and the special edition.
・Cover (Special edition cover = Yuzuru Hanyu)
・Number of pages for the "ELLE MEN" project featuring Hanyu (The special edition has an additional page in addition to the regular ELLE MEN feature page)
*All photos published in the regular edition will also be included in the special edition.

Photo: TAKAY
Stylist: TETSURO NAGASE
Hair: ASASHI/OTA OFFICE
Makeup: YUKA WASHIZU/BEAUTY DIRECTION
Set Design: CHIHIRO MATSUMOTO

 

 

[yuzurujenn]

Source: Elle Japan August issue

Credits to LGeogin: https://x.com/LGeorgin/status/1675171490206191616 

 

 

Exclusive interview with Akutagawa Prize-winning author Machiya Ryohei

 

Spoiler

Advancing on a new path as a professional with a pioneering spirit

R: Since the announcement to turn professional at the press conference last July, you have taken on new challenges one after another, like the solo show and the photo shoot this time. I've also seen your solo show [GIFT] at Tokyo Dome. I had a strong impression that you put on a show that only Hanyu-san could do. Was it easier to put your emotions into your performances now than when you were skating at the Olympics and the competitions?

Y: That's for sure. When creating a new program in a situation where there are no rules at all, to self choreograph or to receive a choreography, it's really fun to have a program where you can think about your emotions first. For example, what was previously asked to be written in four chapters and 10,000 characters on the manuscript paper, can now be written in 20,000 characters or 200,000 characters or however many chapters I wish. However, even if i write as i feel, it is meaningless if it is not conveyed, and so I'm figuring out how much of the techniques used to put that across can be incorporated.

 

R: [GIFT] was an unprecedented show in which Hanyu san skated all by himself, and I could feel the spirit that Hanyu san has probably done everything from the planning stage. Ice shows have a pattern, but I feel the pioneering spirit of a creator who tries to break the mold. Had the strong desire to create something new always existed within you?

Y: I've always wanted to express my emotions at will since I was little. Especially when it comes to music, I've always liked to imagine how I want to express the music, what kind of movements I can make with the music, and to actually move to it. In a way I think i really like creative things. Planning and putting together the big show called "GIFT", the preparatory period was long before the show was released to the public. And so, although it is said that "It has only been a year after turning pro", I've got the feeling that it has been around two years.

R: Did time seem to go by more quickly after you've turned professional, or did you have this feeling since you were competing?

Y: This past year has been far more intense than when I was competing. I was blindly trying my hand at various things and was nervously watching how it would be received, and I'm really grateful that so many people supported me and shared their thoughts.

 

Desires that won't stop, even if the ideals are far too high

R: Listening to Hanyu san's words, I'd say there are two sides to it. Despite the fact that you are confident and positive about your surroundings, I can tell that you are equally uncertain and insecure.

Y: I think it's probably more on the negative side. Basically, I do not have that much confidence in myself. I have more confidence than anyone else on the technical aspect that is evident in winning the Olympics twice and in setting record-high scores, and I think I have worked hard to build that confidence. However, I am not confident when it comes to the expressive side and challenging new things like those i have come up with on my own. Does this fit the current times? What kind of people does this appeal to? Who do i want to deliver to? Even if I think that this is good and want to convey something like this, I always have the fear of what if it is different from what everyone wants.

R: I have the impression that Hanyu san works hard day after day towards your goals, such as the Olympics and shows etc., but more than that, I feel that you are someone who places importance on keeping yourself updated. What fuels your daily practices and new endeavours?

Y: The bar to my ideal self is just way too high. Like the movements that I've imagined, the feelings that i want to convey, the techniques that i want to do etc., the ideals to such things are too high. I want something that is currently not within my means at all. That's why I keep thinking that the difference between where my goal is and where I am right now is so big that I have no choice but to do it. But I do know the specifics as to why I think I am inferior, and so I think I can see the path forward.

 

R: The specifics, do you mean the technical aspect?

Y: It's basically the technique. Without the technique, you can't move as you've imagined. For example, you try to write something but if the words you know are limited, you will never be able to write. It is the same as that. There is a desire for expression but if something like a word for it doesn't exist in the choreography, it can never be done for the rest of one's life. In this sense, there is a need to keep increasing the number of words called "emotional expressions". By attempting various things, it's an image of me gradually expanding my limited vocabulary. I believe that the accumulation of these experiences has been put to good use in the ELLE photo shoot this time.

A promise to the 9-year old self. Resolution for the life as a skater.

 

R: To Hanyu san, everything that you've learnt is for the skate?

Y: If there is a goal in life, I believe that goal = skating life, and so while it's for the skate, in a way I feel that I'm learning to enrich my life. There is no end to what I want to express and my emotions changes each day, but my means of expressing them are through words and skate, and so if I can skate the way that I've wanted, I think my life would probably be enriched.



R: I feel that the novelists also have an inseparable part, since what happens in their daily lives is written in their novels, and at the same time, writing novels is a normal part of their lives. Hanyu san mentioned in an interview during the Beijing Olympics that you had admired the figure skaters of that era when you were 9 years old, and that your feelings (for skating) were the strongest at that time. Is the strong, unbreakable feeling a result of you not wanting to betray your 9-year-old self?

 

Y: That's very true. My positive side is not much different from how i was back then. Since i was 9, I've always been forward looking, and there is this side of me who has learned various things and has been evolving. On the other hand, there is also an acquired personality that has been created through contact with different societies and people and through seeing various things, and I think that is the negative part.

R: Once you figure out what you can't do with just the power that you've longed for, that would inevitably become negative.

Y: Humans, not only humans but even ants, have many communities. And because humans can speak, they can make their way through various things, clash with others, get along with others... I believe that living organisms are "designed" to adapt to society and communities in the first place. There are many senses that are lost in the process of adaptation, and the part that I value the most is what I held on to when I was nine years old. That's why I'm holding it close somehow, because I think if I let go of it, I'll probably be "devoured" by the society and merely adapting to the flow.

 

Now that I am away from competition, I want to evolve further

R: If you just leave it to the negative and adapt to the flow, then you're going to have to compromise in some areas of expression and technical development right?

 

Y: I think the reason why I want to continue to evolve by practicing every day, not only in terms of expression but also in terms of technique, is because I want to live my life not only as a professional skater, but also to live my life to the fullest as Yuzuru Hanyu. And i think the feeling of wanting to continue to grow stronger has been in my heart since I was 9 years old. Now that I am no longer competing, to the general public, it could be thought of as not competing = retirement, but precisely because I am freed from the shackles and chains that are placed on amateur figure skaters, that i think there are techniques and expressions that can be mastered by reaching out to (trying out) various things. What do i want to express, how do i want to evolve, i ask myself while making progress one step at a time, and i want to learn even more and get even better.