[2026] REALIVE - ICE STORY project

[Wintek]

*Machine translation, inaccuracies exist* 

 

2026.05.19

Sponichi Special interview with Yuzuru Hanyu: 4 parts in total

 

Source: https://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2026/05/19/annexz/20260519s00079000142000c.html 

Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20260519172439/https://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2026/05/19/kiji/20260519s00079000142000c.html 

[Yuzuru Hanyu, Restart (1)] “I Want People’s Hearts to Move” — A Restart Performance Filled with That Wish
May 19, 2026, 17:00

Figure skater and two-time Olympic champion in men’s singles Yuzuru Hanyu (31), now active as a professional, recently gave an exclusive interview to Sponichi. After going through a “maintenance period” beginning last August, he completed “notte stellata” in March and “REALIVE” in April. The solitary skater, carrying the determination to “continue seeking an even greater best,” spoke about the present, the past, and the future. In this first installment, he looks back on his most recent performances, which marked a new departure. (Interview/Text composition: Hiroaki Yamato)

Spoiler

Having finished the hectic yet dense performances of March and April, he began speaking with a calm expression. In August 2025, he announced that he would establish a “maintenance period” in pursuit of further evolution. After a time of lying low, he returned to the ice. The reconstruction ice show “notte stellata,” held at the 15-year milestone since the Great East Japan Earthquake, and “REALIVE,” his first solo performance in one year and two months, both closed to great success.

“The ‘Happy End’ that I skated in notte stellata was, even among my own works, quite dance-oriented, while at the same time being a piece that could firmly focus on the expressive side of skating. Within myself, I feel that I was able to fuse them together quite well. Up until now, when creating programs, I had been thinking of choreography as either figure-skating-like choreography or dance-like choreography, separating them into one side or the other, but I had the feeling that that boundary line had started to blur. I feel that PREQUEL was a more complex blend of those styles, and that both were achieved at a high level. I had a sense of confidence regarding that point.

“However, to arrive there, dance technique alone was still not enough after all, and I also couldn’t neglect figure skating. It’s not as though people are only coming to watch dance, and I myself have continued for many years as a figure skater. Because I have figure-skating technique, including high physical ability, I can do that — and it made me think once again that I want to keep aiming to achieve both at the same time.”

“REALIVE,” which compiled together songs from the Ice Stories he has walked through until now as an archive. A further evolved Hanyu performed seven songs from the past, and in terms of production as well, entertainment elements were strongly reflected, such as drawing laughter from the audience with narration. The source of inspiration behind the ideas he takes on as producer and general director is live performances, from which he himself also receives energy. Those once-in-a-lifetime encounters with works and spaces connect as well to figure skating.

“I myself really love live performances. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve actually been able to go see live shows or concerts by artists I like, but I really love watching live DVDs and videos. Because in those moments I myself am really enjoying them, crying, and receiving all kinds of emotions, I always hold the feeling that I also want to be that kind of existence.

“Figure skating, in particular, isn't something you can just listen to, and the pieces aren't the kind that can be constantly present as background music in everyday life. It absolutely needs to be perceived as visual information. Since I’m allowed to occupy the time and vision of the people who come watch, I feel a sense of duty that, at least for that time, it has to be something that burns itself into memory or moves emotions. That applies to enjoyment as well; I don't use the phrase "I want you to be moved," but I very strongly want people’s hearts to move. I think there are many directions in which hearts can be moved. There’s the direction of enjoyment, the direction of being emotionally moved, the direction of sadness as well. There are all sorts of complicated directions, but whichever direction it may be, I very strongly hope it can become a trigger for people’s hearts to move.”

At “REALIVE,” a happy surprise had also been prepared. He announced the fourth installment of his Ice Story series, and performed ten songs as “PREQUEL Before the WHITE,” which serves as its prequel. He also showed a collaboration with Marihiko Hara, who is in charge of the music for the hit film Kokuho (“National Treasure”).

“Within our team, this time’s REALIVE had the aim of completely steering things toward PREQUEL. That’s why, all the more, regarding the REALIVE portion, we wanted people to simply enjoy themselves. While making it a composition where people could thoroughly enjoy themselves, I also wanted them to come into contact with the breadth of Yuzuru Hanyu’s performances. With Otonal, I wanted them to experience the feeling of competition skating; with Megalo (Megalovania), the coolness; with MasuDisu (Mass Destruction), the feeling of everyone enjoying things together. And then in the end, it settles naturally with SEIMEI, something like that. Showing all the different sides of the current Yuzuru Hanyu, plus, toward PREQUEL, thinking ‘we really want people to have a ton of fun here’ — with that in mind, MIKIKO-sensei worked out many different ideas for us.”

 

[Wintek]

*Machine translation, inaccuracies exist* 

 

2026.05.19

Sponichi Special interview with Yuzuru Hanyu: 4 parts in total

 

Source: https://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2026/05/19/annexz/20260519s00079000148000c.html 

Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20260519172951/https://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2026/05/19/kiji/20260519s00079000148000c.html

 

[Yuzuru Hanyu, Restart (2)] “Upgrade” — Rewriting the “OS” During His Maintenance Period
May 19, 2026, 17:00

Figure skater and two-time Olympic champion in men’s singles Yuzuru Hanyu (31), now active as a professional, recently gave an exclusive interview to Sponichi. After going through a “maintenance period” beginning last August, he completed “notte stellata” in March and “REALIVE” in April. The solitary skater, carrying the determination to “continue seeking an even greater best,” spoke about the present, the past, and the future. In this second installment, he talks about how he spent his maintenance period. (Interview/Text composition: Hiroaki Yamato)

As he revealed during interview opportunities after each performance, during the maintenance period he deeply confronted both his body and mind. So that he could pursue expression more strongly and for longer, he refined the way he used his body and sharpened his physical sensations through biomechanics and kinesiology.

Spoiler

“I really came to understand just how much I had been doing figure skating in my own way. More than theory, I had been moving based on things coaches had somehow told me, or from my own accumulated experience — like, ‘it’s probably better to move this way.’ Of course, up until now I had studied a great deal in my own way, and I’d thought about my body in many different ways too. But it felt like knowledge unrelated to figure skating and knowledge that existed only within figure skating had been separated from each other. My figure-skating knowledge was based only on experience, while knowledge about muscle movement or mental aspects, as an added layer, wasn’t specialized for figure skating — it was more like general theories saying, ‘this is how it works.’ Those things existed inside me as knowledge, but they hadn’t fused together.

“So I started reexamining my body from the ground up, taking in all kinds of knowledge again, and searching for what is truly necessary for figure skating — not just things based on experience, but things that are necessary for figure skating as actual knowledge. And not just, ‘this is something I picked up through experience’; the most important thing was that I diligently searched for a truly rational way to build my body and rebuilt it from scratch.”

From his days as a competitor up to the present as a performer, he has continued piling up moments of complete devotion with his whole body and soul. During this maintenance period, when he finally had a stretch of time available, did he still spend it in the same stoic way? Or did he set aside the existence of “figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu” and take time to quietly look down on his life from a broader perspective?

“In the end, I don’t think I ever really set it aside. It felt like I was just running full speed the whole time. The word ‘maintenance’ itself gives the impression of resting a little, but I was constantly thinking about all kinds of things, studying, taking in knowledge, adjusting my body, training — I was always doing something.

“Originally, during Echoes (Echoes of Life), I had an opportunity to start learning training methods for how to use the body. From there, I kept learning various things at the same time, but trying to learn everything simultaneously didn’t always work well. So during this maintenance period, I studied intensely, because up until then, my skating experience, movement techniques, and knowledge about how the body moves and how muscles should be used all existed separately. What I kept doing, over and over, was the work of ‘bringing everything together.’”

Rather than being a period of rest, it was an introspective stretch of time that connected the present and future while revisiting threads from the past. Reset, update, tuning… Among many possible expressions, he summarized it with the word “upgrade.”

“In the end, it was only about as long as a period where I wouldn’t be competing in the Grand Prix Series, so it’s not like I actually had that much time. Even without an Ice Story tour, I was already active again from March onward. I don’t really feel like I had an enormous amount of time. Still, while it exists on an extension of everything up until now, rather than simply continuing forward directly from Echoes, before extending things further, I wanted to reconsider whether this direction was really the right one, whether I could keep growing if I continued as I was. I carried the theme of rebuilding my body so that I could continue to grow properly and skate for a long time going forward. It was an upgrade. There’s a major difference, like rewriting the OS.”

 

[Wintek]

*Machine translation, inaccuracies exist* 

 

2026.05.19

Sponichi Special interview with Yuzuru Hanyu: 4 parts in total

 

Source: https://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2026/05/19/annexz/20260519s00079000152000c.html  

Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20260519173404/https://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2026/05/19/kiji/20260519s00079000152000c.html

 

[Yuzuru Hanyu, Restart (3)] “A Frog in a Well” — Opening Up a “New Genre”
May 19, 2026, 17:00

Figure skater and two-time Olympic champion in men’s singles Yuzuru Hanyu (31), now active as a professional, recently gave an exclusive interview to Sponichi. After going through a “maintenance period” beginning last August, he completed “notte stellata” in March and “REALIVE” in April. The solitary skater, carrying the determination to “continue seeking an even greater best,” spoke about the present, the past, and the future. In this third installment, he reflects on the road he has traveled and the new possibilities he has discovered. (Interview/Text composition: Hiroaki Yamato)

How does the skater who has experienced so many turning points and changes throughout his life view this latest restart? Unlike past turning points, which involved emotional or mental changes, this was a different kind of transformation.

Spoiler

“The restarts I’ve had until now may have involved emotional changes. After the earthquake, when the rink collapsed when I was in fourth grade, after going to Canada — at all those different turning points, there were emotional shifts, and in a sense, a kind of maturity. But I’ve never had days where I continued facing my body this deeply. You can’t do that without having a goal, so first I formed a clear vision within myself of what kind of body I wanted to have and what kind of performances I wanted to give. Then, from there, I worked backward to figure out how to build my body.”

While continuing to seek out challenges and change, it is difficult to keep hold of oneself. At the press conference after the 2022 Winter Olympics, he once said, “Protecting is also a challenge.” During the maintenance period, he also spent time deeply reexamining himself in order to “protect” his everyday self.

“Right now, I don’t really feel like I’m trying to protect anything. It’s more like I’m constantly being updated... If I don’t keep updating myself, I can’t entertain everyone, and I can’t surpass expectations either. I think my role is one where I constantly have to keep updating. Back during the Beijing Olympics, what I meant was that I’m not someone extraordinary, and I think everyone is taking on different challenges in their everyday lives, so protecting something is also a challenge — that was the meaning of what I said.

“In that sense, I do feel like I continue protecting the self that exists within everyday life. If things became completely chaotic, then the very person called Yuzuru Hanyu, who does skating, probably wouldn’t be able to keep updating either. I was thinking about those kinds of things during the maintenance period too. After the Beijing Olympics ended, I immediately moved straight into becoming a professional, and I never really had the chance to reexamine myself. Things were far too hectic, and I just kept moving nonstop, so I think I did revisit those aspects a little as well.”

It has now been a full four years since he entered the professional world, with July marking the milestone. Looking at figure skating itself from a broader perspective, he spoke about where he stands now and how he sees the future.

“The people involved with me all have an unbelievably broad view of the world. Since I myself started working with MIKIKO-sensei and the Ice Story team, the people handling the visuals and direction, and the directors overseeing the video production, are all extremely global. I really came to understand just how narrow the world I’d been in until now was — how much I had been like a frog in a well.

“The figure skating I’m doing now is figure skating, but at the same time, it isn’t figure skating. Rather than being one genre within figure skating, it’s a new genre of entertainment that uses figure skating. Somewhere in my mind, I’m faintly thinking that I want to position myself that way. It feels like I’ve swallowed figure skating whole.”

The expression “swallowed whole” came precisely because he has pursued figure skating so thoroughly. Within those words are the pride of someone who has continued running as a world-class athlete, the new possibilities he believes he must now show, and also a signpost for the path he must return to.

“It’s not like I don’t have the desire to create a new form of entertainment, I do, and I think that’s fine in itself. However, as I said earlier, I'm a figure skater. I’ve spent more than twenty years doing figure skating, cultivating it, continuously winning, and continuously polishing my technique. Compared to people in fields that are called craftsmanship, not just athletes, I think twenty-something years is still only ‘just’ that much. Those people called artisans have devoted decades and decades to their craft, haven’t they? Compared to that, twenty-something years is overwhelmingly short. Though within my own life, it feels incredibly long.

“When I think about those things, I still feel immature when it comes to figure skating. But as long as I’m doing figure skating, if I don’t keep technically updating myself, then it becomes, ‘wouldn’t dance alone be enough?’ or ‘wouldn’t theater alone be enough?’ What I mean by ‘swallowing it whole’ is that while this may be a new genre, at its foundation there is properly the figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu. Unless I do this while being extremely skilled at figure skating, then it won’t become something truly new or truly good. That’s something I’ve always kept within myself as a kind of admonition.”

 

[Wintek]

*Machine translation, inaccuracies exist* 

 

2026.05.19

Sponichi Special interview with Yuzuru Hanyu: 4 parts in total

 

Source: https://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2026/05/19/annexz/20260519s00079000155000c.html

Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20260519173716/https://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2026/05/19/kiji/20260519s00079000155000c.html

 

[Yuzuru Hanyu, Restart (4)] “The Form an Artist Ought to Have” — Risking His Life for Every Expectation
[May 19, 2026, 17:00]

Figure skater and two-time Olympic champion in men’s singles Yuzuru Hanyu (31), now active as a professional, recently gave an exclusive interview to Sponichi. After going through a “maintenance period” beginning last August, he completed “notte stellata” in March and “REALIVE” in April. The solitary skater, carrying the determination to “continue seeking an even greater best,” spoke about the present, the past, and the future. In this final fourth installment, he talks about the philosophy by which he continues protecting the course he has chosen for himself. (Interview/Text composition: Hiroaki Yamato)

Even while forging ahead on a path no one has walked before, continuing to stay true to oneself is not easy. In today’s world, it’s easy to get swallowed up in the swirl of information and lose sight of what is truly necessary. Even so, he continues preparing himself for everyone who waits eagerly for his performances.

 

Spoiler

“I’m always being chased by something: time, deadlines, one thing or another. For example, when an ice show is arranged for me, the venue for that period has already been secured far in advance, so for that sake I have to think through many things and adjust myself to peak at the right time. Simply put, it feels the same as preparing toward the Olympics. Constantly, constantly, there’s something set here and I’m told, ‘please make this happen,’ and together we build it up. So as long as I continue skating, I’ll always be chased by something.”

“Within that, all kinds of information constantly come into view, and there are also many things that are considered ‘good.’ In this era, there’s also a huge amount of criticism and condemnation, and I feel we live in a world where both praise and criticism are very easy to see—both the good and the bad. Some people keep flowing toward what they think is good, while others will very easily start attacking what they think is bad, not to the point of literally ‘if everyone crosses on a red light…’[1]  or anything like that, but it can feel surprisingly easy for people to pile on criticism. I think that’s the world we live in now. It’s not just the internet, within those kinds of waves, it’s really hard to keep your own balance. But as long as there are deadlines —as long as there are set moments when everyone comes to watch— then regardless of all that, I can only keep delivering what I myself believe is good. For that, I have to keep existing in this space all the time, and honestly, if I’m not constantly working on myself, I won’t make it in time.”

Going forward as well, he will likely continue to perform with passion. The Ice Story productions that have already been announced — and whatever lies beyond them — will continue captivating those who watch. As long as “expectation” continues to exist there.

“With PREQUEL this time, I feel that I was able to raise both my figure-skating technique and my dance technique by another level. I also have a sense that the fusion between them has finally started to reach quite a high level. Of course, I’d like to keep raising all of that further. That applies to the programs I’ve used until now, and also the programs I’ll encounter from here on. I came to feel that there are still many more things I can do, so I want to continue challenging myself in many different ways.

“Responding to expectations is difficult. Up until now, the expectations placed on me were mostly one of two things: whether I could give a good performance, or whether I could achieve results. There are also many people who tell me, ‘I just want Hanyu-san to be happy.’ But at this stage, like I mentioned earlier, there’s also a lot of praise and criticism, and many different tastes. I think we live in a world where people can easily say about any artist, ‘I like this song, but this one’s a miss.’ Even so-called B-side tracks[2] , I think everyone creates them with the intention that they are ‘singles’. I do as well. When I create choreography, whether I’m making programs myself or receiving them, I approach every single one as if it’s a ‘single’. I don’t have programs that are like “filler” or palate cleansers.

For different people, there are surely programs they prefer, ones they’re less interested in, or ones they keep coming back to more than others. That’s bound to happen when I work across such a wide range of genres, and that can’t be helped. I think there are many different kinds of expectations people have. Expectations like, ‘I want to see this kind of program,’ or ‘I want you to go in this direction.’ But anyway, taking all of those expectations into account, I want to respond to all kinds of expectations. All of them. Every single one.”

The unprecedented skater known as Yuzuru Hanyu is always met with eyes full of expectation. And to be able to answer those expectations — that is what it means to be a professional. That philosophy does not waver.

“It’s not about saying, ‘I want to do it this way because that’s what I want.’ I want to be able to properly deliver what people are expecting from me. And in order to do that, I feel that my current abilities still aren’t enough. That’s why I have to practice intensely, become even better than I am now, and sincerely respond to the visions people hope to see from me. Of course, all of them. I think that’s the form an artist ought to have. I’m not skating for self-satisfaction. So many people place expectations on me, and find purpose and meaning through my performances and through my existence itself. If people are finding purpose through me, then I strongly feel that I, too, have to approach this with my life on the line.”

At the foundation of the athlete called Yuzuru Hanyu lies a powerful desire to respond to expectations. Going forward as well, he will likely continue dedicating his limited time in life to skating.

“Compared to what everyone thinks, I’m actually very simple. The center of my heart hasn’t changed — it’s just the way I phrase things that’s different. At my core, I think I simply want to be of help to someone. I think that’s probably the only thing that can become my reason for living.”

= End =

NOTES:

[1] “赤信号みんなで渡れば…” is an idiom to point to group behavior / pile-ons / herd mentality.

[2] This is a reference to single vs B-side in music culture (B side as in cassettes). Single = main track, promoted, expected to stand on its own. B-side (coupling song) = secondary track, often treated as less important or experimental. In Japanese pop culture, B-sides can also include bonus tracks, for fans only tracks.

[Wintek]

“Challenge Without Limits”, Sunday Charge, KHB 

Special program dedicated to Yuzuru Hanyu

 

Machine transcript & translation @ pep_on_ , reviewed & revised by @ 806coco , subbed by @ yuzurujenn

*Please credit if you use this transcript for translation in other languages*

 

2026.05.10

 

On May 10, 2026, KHB broadcast a special program titled "Challenge Without Limits" during "Sunday Charge". The Special Program was dedicated to REALIVE and Yuzuru's work and impact in Miyagi. This 1-hr Special Program has 5 parts: 

1. Exclusive Interview with Yuzu on REALIVE, the maintenance period and his current thoughts;
2. The "sacred placed" related to Yuzuru with a special visit to Akiu Shrine;
3. Interview with Mone Chiba where they also talk about Yuzuru; 
4. Yuzuru's donation to Bell Sunpia Arena in Miyagi and its impact; 
5. Interview with Yuzuru about his love for Sendai and Miyagi.

The full transcript in Japanese, translation in English, and other relevant information are available on this link:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vRRG34bA1JBEZLAbJEcmnC6-8iBlQ2SCn6cP4iTf6QbsVZBfPq39G0jhWq26OG1tsGY3zE1cHs8Axyq/pub

[Wintek]

*Machine transcript and translation by @pep_on_ (Wintek), reviewed and revised by @806coco (Japanese fan, fluent in English)*

Please credit accordingly if you use this translation for subs or to translate in another language. It helps to keep track of the source :-)

 

2026.05.17

 

On May 10, 2026, KHB broadcast a special program titled "Challenge Without Limits" during "Sunday Charge". The Special Program was dedicated to REALIVE and Yuzuru's work and impact in Miyagi. The Special Program was more than 1 hour long and contained 5 parts: (1) Exclusive Interview with Yuzu on REALIVE, the maintenance period and his current thoughts; (2) the "sacred placed" related to Yuzuru with a special visit to Akiu Shrine; (3) Interview with Mone Chiba where they also talk about Yuzuru; (4) Yuzuru's donation to Bell Sunpia Arena in Miyagi and its impact; (5) Interview with Yuzuru about his love for Sendai and Miyagi.

 

Later on, KHB made available a special edited version (~15 min) of the interview with Yuzuru. Below is the translation of that part.

 

"Challenge Without Limits"- Translation of the interview with Yuzuru posted by KHB on their official YouTube Channel

 

Spoiler

The translation is also available as a 4-part comment thread under the official video:

Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZ3WywFjs0w&lc=UgxKxnAVOPpGCxkEglx4AaABAg

Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZ3WywFjs0w&lc=UgxKxnAVOPpGCxkEglx4AaABAg.AX0hXRUsG0JAX0hn-eI6Mt  

Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZ3WywFjs0w&lc=UgxKxnAVOPpGCxkEglx4AaABAg.AX0hXRUsG0JAX0i0UDANn5 

Part 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZ3WywFjs0w&lc=UgxKxnAVOPpGCxkEglx4AaABAg.AX0hXRUsG0JAX11WxUf-1j 

 

Full translation:

E= Shintaro Ejiri

Y= Yuzuru Hany

 

00:01 E: Yes.

Y: Excuse me. Thank you for having me.

E: I’m looking forward to speaking with you.

Y: Please.

E: It's been a while! 

Y: It's been a while! 

E: Thank you for all your hard work over these two days.

Y: Thank you for all your hard work. Thank you.

E: Actually, which was better, the first day or the second day?

Y: Oh, definitely the second day. I was really, really nervous.

E: Yeah, I see.

Y: Like my first professional pitching appearance.

E: Right, right.

E: Well well well well

Y: Truly, I was that nervous.

E: About that… well… honestly, I don’t know what to say when you use that analogy first…

E: First of all, congratulations on completing the two days of REALIVE.

Y: Thank you very much.

E: You get the sense that these must have been two incredibly grueling days.

 

00:48 Y: I’m exhausted, but at the same time I really feel like I gave it my all, so alongside the fatigue there’s also a huge sense of accomplishment.

E: I heard that during the spins, you even ended up with bruising in your face…

Y: I bruise very badly, and the stress and pressure are honestly immeasurable, so my (facial) skin really suffers too.

 

01:15 E: Still, since this was your first solo performance in about a season, I imagine you once again had to confront just how demanding it is to carry an entire show by yourself.

Y: Since the structure was a bit different from what I’d done before, and because I’d had about a season-long maintenance period where I wasn’t consistently doing tours, I’d completely lost my sense for things like stamina management and pacing during solo performances. On the first day, I think I’d gone too hard right from the beginning. Overall it felt like I was rediscovering and re-experiencing a lot of things all over again.

 

02:00 E: I see. It’s like you don’t know how to pace yourself if you are running a marathon for the first time in a year

Y: I really had no idea. Trying to adjust things was exhausting, but at the same time, with everyone looking forward to it so much, I felt like, “What’s the point of pacing myself?” 

In the end, though, I was able to give it my all on the second day. Well, I definitely thought solo performances are tough.

 

02:31 E: There was a “maintenance period” from August 2025 to March 2025, I imagine a tremendous amount of damage must have built up in your body.

Y: I had the feeling there were probably ‘ticking bombs’ [hidden issues] everywhere in my body. Fortunately, none of them turned into a major “explosion”, and honestly I kept going only by continuously treating and sort of managing around them. 

E: It is said that there was a period when you had no choice but to step away from skating, it shows how tough it is, no?

Y: I felt that if I just kept skating continuously, I probably wouldn’t recover properly, so I really needed to reexamine every part of my body. Together with doctors, I carefully evaluated how much damage had actually accumulated, and based on that, decided how long the maintenance period should be.

 

03:33 Y: During this maintenance period, having been given that time, one thing I realized through studying and learning was. Even without being massively muscular, there are batters who can hit huge numbers of home runs, and pitchers who can throw incredibly fast. But then there are also really muscular people who throw these amazing slow curveballs too. There are all kinds of people, right? But surely every person has different physical characteristics unique to them. There may already be a certain amount of evidence about things like muscular explosiveness and where those physical peaks are. But if you ask whether those data were actually taken by people trained in biomechanics, I don’t think that’s really the case. I think those studies are basically done by lining up average men in their 40s or 30s and saying, “Okay, do a vertical jump,’ or ‘Run 50 meters.” When I think about it that way, I feel like my physical peak is probably still ahead of me. Ejiri-san might still unexpectedly be able to throw 164 km/h.

 

[Here we go again, baseball analogy (captions)]

 

You might switch to being a two-way player now and start throwing 164 km/h — 100-mile fastballs.

 

04:44 E: Really…? When Hanyu-san says it, I feel like I have no choice but to answer, “Alright, I’ll do it…”

Y: The artistic side has limitless possibilities, doesn’t it? And that’s true, absolutely. But the athletic side does too. For example, maybe at some point you could land quadruple jumps, or a quad Lutz, or throw 160 km/h fastballs… Maybe there are times when you gradually become unable to do those things anymore, but I feel like a lot of that may just be assumptions we impose on ourselves. Maybe it’s simply that people stop studying, and stop updating themselves. So I think the possibilities on the athletic side are probably limitless too.

Y: Fundamentally, I feel like my entire body has become much more supple. I’ve started to develop this feeling that I can carry my body farther and farther toward the points where I want to jump, even when it comes to increasing jump height. Up until now, I was relying on leg strength and glute muscles to power myself sharply upward, but now I’m able to do it more efficiently by using things like centrifugal force and the interconnected movement of the body. The fact that I’m able to jump this way has a major effect on skating and on the more fundamental elements too. Of course, there are probably aspects that people can’t immediately notice at a glance, but in terms of how my body actually feels to me, it’s completely different.

 

06:15 E: I was wrong. The reason is that I’d assumed that, because Yuzuru Hanyu had already reached the pinnacle as an athlete, from here on he would shift toward the artist side. I thought perhaps that is where the depth lay, until just before doing this interview, I’d almost forgotten that he’s still aiming for even greater heights as an athlete.

Y: So maybe from now you can still throw 164 km/h…

E: No, no — I’d really like to set that idea far off to the side. Really far away. About as far away as Nagamachi Station.

Y: That’s close!

 

[ KHB to Nagachi station is 5 minutes (caption)]

 

Y: Not that far. Not nearly as far as you made it sound.

Y: Maybe, it’s because, at my core, I’m fundamentally a sports-and-grit person.

E: Right.

Y: You can’t forget that part.

E: Right.

 

07:01 Y: People always end up turning it into one or the other [artistry o athleticism]. Of course, if you want to land jumps, you practice jumps. But if you only practice jumps, other areas gradually start getting neglected. And I’ve experienced that myself. But I’m a professional, and I pride myself on not being at the same level as an amateur [i.e. accept simplistic tradeoffs]. When people see growth in the expressive/artistic side, they tend to assume I’ve given up on the athletic side. But actually, I’m pursuing both simultaneously, and I’m in the middle of working unbelievably hard at that right now.

E: This time, the people who came to the venue were all saying they receive energy from you, courage from you, strength from you… Well, of course they did.

Y: You say “of course”? Oh (laugh)

 

[*Translation Note: Ejiri-san’s 「そらそうですよね」 likely reminds Yuzuru of Akinobu Okada, a famous baseball manager of the Hanshin Tigers strongly associated with the catchphrase 「そらそうよ」]

 

07:49 E: Really — of course they did. It’s not easy. It really wasn’t easy. 

Y: It was far beyond anything that simple.

E: It really isn’t easy.

Y: If I were focusing only on the expressive side, my face wouldn’t end up this battered.

E: It wouldn’t, would it. That’s exactly why.

Y: Yeah. It’s incredibly demanding.

 

08:12 Y: I already have the concept in mind, but the music hasn’t been decided yet. But this time, the piece I performed as a kind of prequel, I did something where, without retreating backstage even once, I stayed on the ice almost continuously for twenty-five minutes. Of course, on the surface it looks like spins and steps are the main focus, but actually, I was weaving in doubles, singles, one-and-a-halfs, double axels—various jumps—in fairly complex ways, making them not really look like “jumps.” I’ve been trying various things where the foundational technical elements are slipped in subtly, almost without people noticing. The feeling that figure skating is about jumps and technical elements, but even for people who weren’t very interested in ballet, stage productions, or theater, as a new genre, it contains both sides. I do feel, just a little, that I’ve managed to establish a new genre. Just a little.

 

09:47 E: Amazing... You say the next production is still far from complete, but if you were to express it as a percentage, how far along would you say it is?

Y: About 0.1%.

E: 0.1%! Wow… that might actually be the perfect answer.

Y: There is one thing that’s already complete in my head, but now I’m at the stage of figuring out how to give it concrete form. Including the sense of confidence and possibilities I gained from REALIVE, as well as the reactions from the people who watched it, I’m exploring how I should move forward, and whether there’s something even more interesting I can create. And on top of that, I’m the kind of person who always wants to keep challenging himself, so I want to keep showing more strength as an athlete too. I want to keep improving. I still feel like I’m in a stage of growth. Someday, I think all of it will come together, and people will be able to say: “So this is the form it ultimately became.”

 

10:59 E: Speaking of connections within Miyagi, there are places like “Yuzu Sakura” and “Bell Sanpia,” and lots of people come to this “khb” as well...

[Bell Sunpia: ice rink located in Sendai, which was recently renovated thanks to a donation made by Yuzuru]

Y: Yes, right now at the Guriri Cafe…

 [KHB station has a coffee shop called “Guriri Cafe”]

E: That’s right, there are actually a lot of people there. 

Y: Hello… hello 

[“Guriri Cafe” is on the first floor of KHB (captions)]

E: a lot.

Y: Which direction? Which way? Down? Up? Side? Down, I guess. [As if waving towards the Cafe]

E: Something pretty crazy is about to happen 

[Maybe Ejiri-san means if Yuzu actually says hello in person, people would go crazy]

 

11: 20 E: You’re aware that so many people are coming to places connected to you, Hanyu-san, in that way, right?

Y: Yes. I check SNS myself, so when I see things like, “Oh, the Yuzu Sakura is finally blooming!” I get a little warm and fuzzy inside.

E: It’s very touching to see so many people coming to this local area to support Yuzuru Hanyu… Once again, how do you feel about so many people coming to Miyagi to follow Hanyu Yuzuru, or visiting places considered your “sacred sites”?

Y: Honestly, it simply makes me happy. You know, I honestly think promoting your hometown is really difficult. Even when I watch various news programs, I feel that. Usually it’s things like going on location shoots and saying, “I like this.” There are many people promoting places through different kinds of media like that, but it’s rare for people to say, “Hanyu went there, so I’ll go too,” or “He happened to be connected to it somehow, so now I want to visit.” It’s something that naturally inspires people to take action on their own. Precisely because people have given me that kind of privilege, I feel a sense of responsibility to be someone Miyagi residents can be proud of—to become a person they can proudly claim as one of their own.

 

12:41 E: Why do you feel that way? Of course, people casually say “love for one’s hometown,” but was there some deeper experience or trigger behind those feelings?

Y:  Not really. Well… because I was born here. That’s all.

E: Right.

Y:  But if there’s maybe one more reason, it would be that after the earthquake, during the period when I was constantly moving around for ice shows and such, the amount of time I could actually stay in Sendai became very short. In that sense, I did have feelings that maybe I had somehow run away from the disaster-stricken area myself. Also, in 2012 I moved my training base to Toronto, Canada, and I think that being separated from my hometown then as well—probably made my feelings toward my hometown grow even stronger.

 

13:37 E: You continue to speak out for Miyagi and take concrete action for it as well, and I think everyone hopes you’ll keep doing even more going forward.Y:  I really do love my hometown. There are so, so many wonderful things here, and somehow, there’s this balance of urban life and greenery that you can only experience here, and also this strong feeling of the four seasons. It’s not like there’s an overwhelming amount of snow, and summers aren’t unbearably hot either… though recently it has gotten hotter.

E: It really has been hot lately.

Y: Yeah, lately it’s been hot. But even during the rainy season, it’s not like there’s torrential rain all the time, and overall it’s just a very comfortable place to live, isn’t it? And the calmness of the people who live there is something really wonderful too, so I’d be happy if people could experience even just the atmosphere of this place. And if, somehow through me, money circulates to different places and helps enrich the prefecture, there’s nothing better than that.E:  Thank you very much. Please keep enriching Miyagi even more.

[Meeting with Guriri. Yuzuru s doing some steps of the “Guriri dance”]

14:58 Y: I was surprised, nice to meet you big kid (Guriri)