[Video] 2011/7/11 Hodo Stn. Interview (w/S. Matsuoka)

[¯\_(ツ)_/¯]

Hi all. In celebration of a new forever home for Yuzuru fans worldwide (thank you so much for doing this), I thought I'd post this here, if allowed, as a little house-warming gift. I did this a few months back and had nowhere to post it and so did it on my WP blog...which is more of a personal output dump than anything. I don't actually know the name of this program (though I know it's a rather regular one) so if someone could enlighten me, I'll gladly edit the name of the thread.

(edited 17/5/2, with a big thank you to Dara)

 

Now when I first did this, I used a video uploaded on YT and the user forbade linking or even the disclosure of the url, which explains why I ended up using screencaps instead. I've since found other sources that don't impose the same restrictions but somehow didn't have the presence of mind to save them when I did so if any of you can provide me with one, I'll be happy to add the link in here.

(edit: (1) http://www.bilibili.com/video/av1058310/, (2) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjNb6OyGddY, both links are courtesy steemsprite, with the second one being a reupload by them :bow:)

 

As you can probably tell from the thread title, this gem is an old one, so many of you older fans may already have seen this translated but since I haven't seen any for myself, and I love the content of it, I'm going to share it here. Consider it a nice little throwback of sorts. ^___^

 

Enjoy! (And in Hanyu we trust!)

 

A humble request: If you'd like to use or repost this translation, I'd really appreciate it if you could check with me first. Thank you!

 

~*~

 

Quote

 

 

[Matsuoka:]

Is it time for some figure skating?

 

I’d like to introduce to you all Yuzuru Hanyu who, in the Cup of China that took place a couple of days back, placed 4th in an extremely close competition. And would you believe it, he’s only 16! He’s now being heralded as the next generation ace and he comes armed with not just a single, nor just a double, nor a triple but a quad jump!

 

[Narration (Matsuoka):]

The Cup of China, which is part of the ISU Grand Prix Series.

 

Japan is still quivering from the disaster that rocked her northeastern shores in March.

 

Enter 16-year-old Yuzuru Hanyu.

 

And the greatest weapon in his arsenal?

 

[sports announcer:]

A quad! He did it! And very nicely at that!!

 

[Nar:]

The jump that reigns over all other jumps in difficulty, the quad.

 

This is the jump that even Patrick Chan, who became the reigning World Champion two weeks ago with a record-breaking score, was only able to pull off just once out of his three total attempts.

 

And now we have this 16-year-old who’s only just entered his second senior season beautifully pulling it off, not just in his SP, but in his FS as well.

 

This places him 4th by a very narrow margin but what’s amazing is that the only skater who was able to successfully land his jumps in both the short and the long was none other than this very young man, Yuzuru Hanyu! Just what kind of a person is this amazing homegrown talent?

 

~Interview starts~

 

 

[Hanyu:]

Hello ♪ ❤ !

 

[Matsuoka:]

Hi there ❤ ❤ !

 

 

[M:]

What are these?

 

[H:]

Oh these? My ma loves power stones. And I kind of like them too.

 

[M:]

Won’t these get in the way when you do those big leaps of yours?

 

[H:]

Nah, they’re fine.

 

[M:]

But you have so many on…!

 

 

[H:]

I know, but they really don’t bother me at all. *GIGGLE*

 

[M:]

Don’t you *GIGGLE* me, young man! xD

 

[Nar:]

This…confounding…boy also happens to be last year’s Junior World Champion. When asked about his quad jump, he confidently replied:

 

[H:]

My consistency kept improving the more I trained. I think I can currently nail about 8 out of 10 of them quite easily. I’m hoping to train it until it blends seamlessly with the choreography.

 

[M:]

I'm sorry, how old are you again?

 

[H:]

*giggle* I’m 16~♪!

 

[M:]

How on earth are you able to think like that already…?

 

[H:]

*gigglegigglegiggle*

 

[Nar:]

Last season, he was only barely able to land 1 out of the 50 attempts he tried in a single day. That’s not even 2% in terms of ratio. But this season, it’s miraculously skyrocketed up to 80%. What was the secret behind the steep rise?

 

[H:]

Mmmmh…the point of accumulation (before takeoff), I guess?

 

[M:]

??????

 

[H:]

When jumping, there’s a point where you have to start gearing up for the takeoff.

 

(Location change to Ice Rink Sendai)

 

[M:]

*watching YH do a practice jump* Woooow…look at him soooar. He’s so light!

 

[Nar:]

Here, he explains what this ‘point’ is exactly.

 

Kanji on image: Left-side

 

[H:]

I feel it the strongest here *indicates left shoulder* right before I turn to the back, when I’m still facing the front. Right before I turn, I’ve got to make sure I’m already feeling it on my front left shoulder.

 

[M:]

Your left shoulder…so it’s a feeling of sorts?

 

[H:]

*nod*

 

[M:]

Is it like some kind of pressure?

 

Kanji on image: Right-side

 

[H:]

It feels kind of like pushing against a wall or a hand. And using that as my center of gravity, let’s say we have a pole, I start rotating so that the feeling, or this ‘pole’, moves to my back right shoulder.

 

[Nar:]

This is the moment. The awareness of something that feels like a pole is first accumulated from the front left shoulder and when turning to enter a jump, the body is shifted around it so that it is now felt on the back right shoulder. The reason behind the increased consistency is apparently this ability to grasp this very particular sensation.

 

There was, however, a lot of hardship he had to go through in order to gain this very special skill.

 

This is Yuzuru’s home rink in Sendai. It was badly affected by the East Japan Earthquake earlier this year in March. Yuzuru was in the middle of practice when it happened.

 

 

[M:]

You mean to say that you were training right here when it happened?

 

[H:]

Yes.

 

[M:]

It just came on suddenly?

 

[H:]

It just came suddenly.

 

[M:]

What was the ice like?

 

[H:]

Well, it’s all even and fixed now but back then the bumps came up like waves.

 

[M:]

Waves?

 

[H:]

Yeah it’s like being hit by waves but on ice. For a moment, I didn’t even think I was on the ice anymore, when I was being lifted on it. It was raining rental skates everywhere and the shelves were toppling over. It all looked so strange to me that I couldn’t even recall what normal was like.

 

[Nar:]

And just like that, Yuzuru lost the rink he’s been calling his home rink since he was 4. And because his family home became temporarily uninhabitable, for 4 days, home was an evacuation shelter for Yuzuru and his family.

 

[H:]

Back then, it was a situation where I was no longer an athlete, but a survivor. It was all we could do to get by day to day. There wasn’t room for anything else.

 

 

[Abe:]

There was no water, gas or electricity. We couldn’t even get gasoline. Simply living itself was hard so it was all we could think about. Skating became something so far in the horizon, it wasn’t even in the books anymore.

 

[Nar:]

It was all everyone could do to get by day to day. During this time, this was what Yuzuru had thought:

 

[H:]

I’d thought that it might be two or three years before I could even think about picking up skating again.

 

[Nar:]

But, as fate would have it, a turning point came for Yuzuru about a month after the disaster.

 

[H:]

Some time in the beginning of April, they told me that they were doing a charity show in Kobe and asked if I’d like to be a part of it.

 

[Nar:]

On April 9th, a charity performance was held in Kobe. A show organized in an effort to support the disaster stricken area, among some of the big names that appeared were Daisuke Takahashi and Shizuka Arakawa.

 

[Overhead announcer (reading Yuzuru’s message):]

“It’s only been 4 weeks since the tragedy so I am very grateful to be granted this opportunity to stand here on the ice before everybody, here in Kobe, a city returned to its former glory."

 

Please give a warm welcome to Yuzuru Hanyu from Sendai, Miyagi!

 

[H:]

I skated my heart out on that ice. I wanted to communicate as much of myself back then as I could.

 

[Nar:]

On this day, the loudest cheer went to Yuzuru.

 

[H:]

I think most of the people weren’t there to see me specifically but seeing them moved to tears by my performance, or giving me a standing ovation…just hearing their voices was really uplifting and I thought to myself that there was no other sport out there for me that could help me inspire this kind of reaction.

 

[Nar:]

This was the moment Yuzuru decided to not give up the sport.

 

After that performance, Yuzuru was flooded by invitations to appear in charity shows all over the country. As a result, in just half a year, he performed in 60 shows. His schedule was an overwhelming one but Yuzuru maintained a positive attitude all throughout, and decided to use the situation to his advantage.

 

Having lost his home rink, he arrives at each rink a few hours early to train. On top of that, he began challenging something new: a quad jump was inserted into his performances for the shows. When two-time Worlds bronze medalist Takeshi Honda did it in shows, it was unprecedented.

 

 

[Honda:]

It’s got to be done under the spotlight in shows. Distance sensing, rhythm and spatial awareness are all skewed so not many people try it but the fact that Yuzuru did and often–-with high consistency, at that–-shows the amount of effort he’s put in.

 

 

[Nar:]

As a bonus, he also got to meet someone he hadn’t expected to be able to: two-time World Champion Stephane Lambiel. But instead of being awed by his very presence, Yuzuru unreservedly went right up to him and asked for advice.

 

(Back in the interview room)

 

[M:]

Wha? You just went right up to him?

 

[H:]

Yeah.

 

[M:]

How on earth did you even approach him? Here, imagine I’m Stephane.

 

[H:]

No way! That's way too embarrassing!

 

[M:]

Just give me a rough idea, then.

 

[H:]

Uh, I guess I just sorta went up to him and went, “Adobaisu puriizu!!!!11one 人´∀｀)”

 

[Nar:]

Despite the trauma of the earthquake and having to handle its aftermath, Yuzuru decided to move forward and took every opportunity to polish up his quad jump. This is how he was able to grasp the point of accumulation for its takeoff in time for the new season.

 

Yuzuru now has a bright future he can head straight towards.

 

[M:]

What’s your dream?

 

[H:]

Winning gold at the Olympics.

 

[M:]

The Games?

 

[H:]

Yep. But I’m not aiming for it as a finish line. I’m aiming for it as a starting one.

 

[M:]

I’m sorry. How old did you say you were again?

 

[H:]

I’m 16! *GIGGLE*

 

[M:]

You slay me, son. It’s impossible to not root for you.

 

 

[H:]

HEE~~~! ❤ ❤

 

~end interview~

 

(Back at the studio)

 

[M:]

He’s definitely a kid we’d all want to root for. When he told me that winning the Olympics is where his dream begins, I asked him where he intends to go from there. Here’s what he said, “In ten years, I’m willing to bet that what Tohoku has suffered will barely even have scabbed over. This is why, even after ten or however many years have passed, for as long as I’m able, I want to keep skating for the benefit of its recovery.” From this, we learn that he already has a clear idea what he wants to be doing ten years from now. Listening to him, it strikes me hard how independent his thinking really is. It’s hard to believe he’s only 16.

 

[Furutachi:]

We can only imagine how hard it is having survived that disaster, but this boy still has the capacity to be grateful and thinking so far ahead in how he can help.

 

[M:]

It’s amazing how analytical his mind is. If you were to ask most skaters how they manage quads, most wouldn’t be able to explain and would just say it’s a feeling. But not Yuzuru. The explanation he gave was as clear-cut as a physics experiment.

 

[F:]

Oh, the part about shifting around the pole ?

 

[M:]

Yes, he says with that red line, you’ll definitely be able to make the jump. So even when he’s off-kilter, he’s able to tell if he can still right himself mid-air. It’s unbelievable how incredibly in-control he is. We’re talking about a 16-year-old here!

 

[F:]

And that reach of his after completing his jump is really something else, as well.

 

[Lady announcer:]

You don’t say. I mean, just look at those arms and legs of his…he’s got them for days.

 

[M:]

Even Furutachi-san was saying during CoC, how he’s different from all the other skaters he’s ever seen.

 

[F:]

I can't say I'm well-versed when it comes to figure skating but even I can tell that what I saw just now was something special. Definitely something we can all look forward to.

 

[M:]

Thank you all for watching and we’ll see you again tomorrow.

 

-FIN-

[yuzu.fairy]

:yay: :yay: thank you, I will wait for next post kekekkee thank god this thread is back :yay:

[xeyra]

Thank you so much for posting this here. I'd never actually seen/read this interview before. It's always amazing to see how articulate he was in his interviews even at 16 (in the middle of a lot more giggling).

 

In a less serious note, we're all the lady announcer: 'legs for days!'

[yuzu.fairy]

Thank you so much for posting this here. I'd never actually seen/read this interview before. It's always amazing to see how articulate he was in his interviews even at 16 (in the middle of a lot more giggling).

 

In a less serious note, we're all the lady announcer: 'legs for days!'

 

legs legs legs legs :yay:

[CupidsBow]

Thank you so much for sharing!

[WeiYuzuru35]

OMG, OMG, OMG...he's make me fall in love again for the nnnn'th times with his personality!

[Killaa]

Ah I somehow haven't seen this one yet! I'm always amazed by how articulate he is starting from a very young age. And about olympic gold as a beginning ♥. Thank you so much for the translation :)

[teeannroo]

How have I not seen this? Thanks for this, Yuzu is cute yet mature at the same time.

[Dara]

I don't actually know the name of this program (though I know it's a rather regular one) so if someone could enlighten me, I'll gladly edit the name of the thread.

It's Houdou Station aired 2011/11/07. There is related post in blog on Matsuoka's official site (pic included): http://www.shuzo.co.jp/blog/2011/11/column_304.html

I really love this interview, watched it several times. So great to see it translated!

[Neenah]

Where was this before and why haven't I seen it before :omg:

 

Thank you very much for sharing, I hope we can get a link for the video as well.

[steemsprite]

Dara said:

It's Houdou Station aired 2011/11/07.

 

found it thanks to your info: http://bilibili.com/video/av1058310/

 

Lispy Yuzu is cute, but the things he says... so deep it's scary *shudders*

 

ETA: and the giggles are killing me.

[¯\_(ツ)_/¯]

Lispy Yuzu is cute, but the things he says... so deep it's scary *shudders*

ikr? must be during the period when he was having minor dental work done xD this isn't actually as obvious as some of his earlier interviews in the same year. lol.

[Hydroblade]

It's Houdou Station aired 2011/11/07.

 

:bow: found it thanks to your info: bilibili.com/video/av1058310/ (sorry for the format, I can't post links since it's my first post)

 

Lispy Yuzu is cute, but the things he says... so deep it's scary *shudders*

 

ETA: and the giggles are killing me.

He was <3 i love it

And thank you so much for this! This is the first time i see it. I've said it many times but i LOVE LOOOOOOVE how articulate he is and how he is always thinking ahead.

Also Yuzu, you said skating for ten more years?? hmmm? HMMM?! I wish he keeps that mindset after PC

[freeyafanfan]

aww thankyou very much for this I love it! This is one I've never seen before :grin: wonder where it is hidden all this time

[moni]

Thank you so much for this, I havn't seen it before. It's amazing that at the age of 16 he could think like this.