[2026.02.17] Dear Yuzuru Hanyu

[yuzurujenn]

Info: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/4635340546

 

"A human life can be taken away quite easily. That's why I want to continue performing in a way that will guide people, even if only a little, in the direction of life."
- Yuzuru Hanyu (from the text)

 

Since turning professional, Yuzuru Hanyu has continued to evolve, successfully holding one solo ice show after another. Drawing on in-depth interviews with renowned coaches and skating insiders, as well as the author's own experiences as a spectator, this book unravels the depths of Hanyu's skating. It also includes an exclusive, long interview with Hanyu!

 

Why is Yuzuru Hanyu's skating so beautiful and so moving to the souls of those who watch? This is a collection of essays from the author, captivated by the "absolute champion"! This book includes additions and revisions to essays originally published in Shueisha Shinsho Plus's "Naoko Utsunomiya Talks Skating" and Yama-to-Keikokusha's "Quadruple Axel," as well as a significant amount of new material.

 

●Over 20,000 Words! An Exclusive Interview with Hanyu!
A massive, over 20,000-word interview with Hanyu! This interview delves deeply into Hanyu's outlook on life and his sense of happiness, including his efforts during maintenance, his pride as a professional athlete, the meaning of life, why he skates, and his thoughts on the earthquake disaster. We delve into the depths of Hanyu from the unique perspective of a non-fiction writer. Also includes beautiful photos, including unpublished ones!

Included are beautiful photos, including unpublished ones, from "Hanyu Yuzuru notte stellata 2025," "The First Skate," and "Yuzuru Hanyu ICE STORY 2nd "RE_PRAY" TOUR"! The cover, front cover, and opening photos are works by Yoshiki Kogaito. Enjoy these precious photographs that capture the beauty of a moment.

■Contents
-Photo Gallery

-A Very Short Preface

 

-Chapter 1: In the Footsteps of a Champion

A Hymn to Him / Act Two Begins

 

-Chapter 2: From Russia with Love

My First Steps / Two Heavyweights

 

-Chapter 3: Words from Tsuzuki Shoichiro

No Need to Worry / Absolute Champion / Exceptional / Stockholm Story / One-Eighth / Merry Christmas / The Realm of God / A 9-Year-Old Boy / Where Artists Go / Where to Grow / RE_PRAY

 

-Chapter 4: One-of-a-Kind

GIFT / Piercing the Heart / Echoes of Life

 

-Chapter 5: Yuzuru Hanyu Speaks
I Can't Help It Because I Want to Get Better / Where Do I Go From Here? / Searching for Happiness / I've Worked So Hard
To Get Better / Thinking About Expression / The Great East Japan Earthquake / Let's Live Tomorrow Too

 

-Chapter 6: Dedicated to the Explorers
Xebio Arena Sendai / The First Skate / One Centimeter

 

A Very Short Afterword
 

[yuzurujenn]

*Machine translation, inaccuracies exist. Please do not reply in this thread.*

 

*** IN PROGRESS, CHECK BACK LATER ***

 

Chapter 5: Yuzuru Hanyu Speaks

 

I'm in a conference room in Yokohama. My laptop in front of me, and beside it are my notebook and a pencil case. The recording equipment is ready as well.

 

I've been doing this job for a long time. Over 30 years. During that time, I have interviewed many people. So many that I can’t even count them. Famous actors, politicians, doctors, athletes, and even foreigners. So, I should be getting used to it by now, but I'm not at all. Even now I’m nervous, and my fingertips are so cold they almost hurt. I'm about to conduct an online interview. This is my first time doing so.

 

When the appointed time arrives, the screen suddenly flickers. Yuzuru Hanyu appears, dressed in his black training clothes. We exchange greetings and the interview begins. Hanyu speaks fluently throughout, smiling pleasantly from time to time. Needless to say, he's a wonderful person. And very intelligent. I ask him about his outlook on life and his sense of happiness.

 

Spoiler

“It can’t be helped, because I want to get better.”

 

— Thank you very much for taking the time to speak with me today.

Hanyu: Thank you for having me.

 

— I feel that you always practice a “no cutting corners” approach in everything you do. How did you develop such a sincere approach to things? And does living that way bring you satisfaction?

 

Hanyu: The expression “does it bring you satisfaction” doesn’t quite sit right with me… how should I put it? I think it’s more accurate to say that I don’t know any other option. For example, the mindset of “I have to give it my all” or “I won’t compromise on anything” isn’t something I consciously choose. It just happens naturally when I’m being myself, and that feels more accurate to me.

 

— That’s a very interesting way to put it. The other day, I attended the final performance of 'Yuzuru Hanyu ICE STORY 3rd “Echoes of Life” TOUR,' and the entire venue was on its feet in a frenzy of joy. How does “Yuzuru Hanyu, who strives for perfection,” receive those voices praising you?

 

Hanyu: To put it simply, I’m happy, of course. Since turning professional, I’ve been in a world where “expression” is given great importance. At the same time, physical and technical aspects such as jumps, spins, and skating skills are also extremely important. I’ve come to realize again that “expression” is only possible on top of those skills.

 

I can’t perform flawlessly at every single show. But even if I don’t, there’s a story being conveyed, a mental or emotional landscape being drawn. Naturally, my own emotions as the performer also change each time. They change depending on success or failure, my condition that day, the weather, the atmosphere of the day. My emotions keep shifting because of all those factors.

 

— I see.

 

Hanyu: So, I do feel a kind of satisfaction in knowing that people are able to receive what I’m expressing. It’s completely separate from being a “perfectionist” or feeling that I “have to give it my all.” Of course, I want to perform without mistakes and I truly want to deliver something technically perfect every time. At the same time, there are moments when I think, “That wasn’t perfect.” But it's in those imperfections that the humanity, the story, or in the case of "Echoes," something like "Nova-ness" is born, so I do feel a sense of accomplishment that people were able to feel it.

 

— Even when you make a mistake, it sometimes feel as if that is also part of the performance. You often say, “I want to get better.” How good would you have to become to feel satisfied? How far do you want to improve, both in terms of expression and technique, as you were just talking about?

 

Hanyu: I haven’t really thought in terms of “how far” I want to go. I do, however, set short-term goals, like “I’ll do this by next week” or “I want to reach this point by next month.” By having those goals, I can spend each day working toward achieving them, and I create my practice and training plans by working backward from them. So in that sense, short-term ideals do exist. But when I think more broadly, in the long term, about “how far I want to go,” I wonder if it’s even right to try to decide that. I feel like… maybe that’s not quite the way to approach it.

 

— Why is that?

 

Hanyu: The “ideal skater” I imagine right now, or the “ideal Yuzuru Hanyu,” will probably be different tomorrow. And I think the fact that it keeps changing is very typical of me. So if I answer in an interview like this and say, “I want to get this good,” putting it into words might end up fixing my future image in place. And somehow, that feels like a waste to me.

 

— That’s a fascinating way to think about it. A waste?

 

Hanyu: Isn’t that a bit of a waste? For example, if it’s an Olympic gold medal as the result, then as a goal you can say, “I want to reach this point.” But you can’t really say in advance what the performance itself will be like. Is it “I want to land a quadruple Lutz and win gold,” or “I want to win even if I leave out the quad Lutz”? Depending on the situation at that time, the performance itself, or even my own ability, would be completely different. I’d be a different version of myself.

 

Right now, since I’m no longer in a situation where results (scores) are the primary concept, I can think about my “ideal form” more freely. I set small goals, like, “I reached this point this month, so next I’ll aim a little higher,” and I want to spend my life looking forward to seeing just how far that ladder can go. Of course, as a professional skater, I have to perform shows and think about numbers and the like, but let's put that aside for now.

 

— That’s wonderful. Is that something like a destiny you carry as Yuzuru Hanyu? Or a responsibility?

 

Hanyu: It’s probably just my personality. It’s not because I became Yuzuru Hanyu or anything like that. I’ve been this way since the moment I was born (laughs).

 

— When I once spoke with Coach Alexei Mishin, he praised you very highly. He also said, “Yuzuru Hanyu lives in a way that is like walking on the edge of a blade—dangerous, in a sense.” What do you think of those words?

 

Hanyu: I don’t feel like I’m walking on the edge of a blade (laughs). It’s not like I chose to walk on a blade. But when I look back, maybe it’s turned out that way… how should I say this? Since I was little, I’ve been the type of person who seeks maximum efficiency.

 

— What do you mean by that?

 

Hanyu: For example, something another skater might master in about ten tries—I feel like I have to do it fifty times before I’ve mastered it.

Of course, from someone else’s perspective, they might say, “You’ve already done it better than average in ten tries.” But for me, the quality level at which I feel I’ve truly “mastered” something is probably higher than for most people.

 

So when others say, “If you can do it this well in ten tries, that’s a success,” I think, “I can’t do it at all in ten,” and I end up doing it fifty times.

Because I’ve done those fifty repetitions, I’ve been injured many times. I’ve pushed my body to the point of breaking. I was born with asthma, so even though I push myself harder than others, there were times I couldn’t push through completely.

 

Since I was little, I’ve constantly thought about “how can I grow faster?” and “how can I get better more quickly?”

Part of that was because I had an older sister and always wanted to catch up to her. And I moved from junior to senior at a relatively young age, so I felt, “I have to catch up to the older skaters quickly. If I don’t improve fast, I can’t compete in this world.”

I think that’s why I’ve always sought maximum efficiency.

 

But maximum efficiency has both merits and drawbacks. For example, there may be a training method that dramatically increases your success rate if you can complete it. But that same method might also mean that one wrong step leads to immediate injury.

When it comes to balancing those things, I might be more likely than others to disregard the disadvantages, like injuries. Or rather, maybe I can’t think about anything except “I want to get better.”

From the outside, I probably look like someone walking on a blade, or someone rushing through life in a nerve-wracking way. But for me, it’s simply—“It can’t be helped, because I want to get better.” (laughs)

 

— I think that way of thinking is amazing. As I asked earlier, is it a proof of being a champion, or is it pride?

 

Hanyu: I guess that’s also part of my innate personality?
Of course, I think there’s also an acquired side to it. As I said earlier, I was in an environment where I had to catch up to my seniors quickly, and from a young age, I had my sister as a goal. So “I want to catch up quickly” and “I want to be able to do the same things quickly” have been ongoing since I was born.

As a result, I think it ended up feeling something like, “It doesn’t matter if I get injured or anything! I will definitely get better!”

At the same time, after winning gold medals, there were times when I thought, “There are so many people who are happy for me” or “Because there are so many people cheering for me, I have to get even better.”

That wasn’t pride or ego—it was more like pressure.

 

— Pressure?

 

Hanyu: Yes, definitely. The feeling of “I really hate that I can’t do it even though everyone is cheering for me” was very strong.

 

— But weren’t you able to perform well?

 

Hanyu: I always aim for a clean, mistake-free performance, so it’s frustrating when mistakes happen.

And there were also competitions I didn’t win. In those cases, I didn’t want my fans to feel the frustration of “he couldn’t win.”

 

— Thank you for thinking that way.

 

Hanyu: In this sport, you fight alone on the ice, and I think all responsibility lies with yourself.

But it’s undeniable that we put our effort into it together with the fans who support us. Everyone faces competitions with a lot of different emotions, right?

And I really feel the moment when all of that energy comes together onto me. So the frustration and the sense of responsibility I feel when I can’t achieve it have always been there—and I think they still are.

 

— Those feelings make your skating increasingly beautiful, don’t they? In this book, I wrote about you, “Is he even human?” It’s so beautiful, it almost doesn’t seem human.

 

Hanyu (modestly): Thank you.

 

— When you step onto the ice, your beauty is breathtaking.

 

Hanyu: But please remember to breathe (laughs).

 

— Thank you (laughs). Since turning professional, I feel that even more strongly. What do you think has changed most in yourself compared to your competitive days?

 

Hanyu: Hmm… what has changed…

When I was competing, I always had to score points, and there was always the feeling of “if I compete, I want to win.”

Of course, I think everyone’s support is for when I perform cleanly and reach my goals. But there was always this sense of “fighting” as a foundation for everything I did.

So I had many rules: “I have to do this movement,” or “I have to skate this way,” and within that framework, I thought a lot about “what do I want to express?” Looking back, I really feel that now.

Now, especially when I perform solo ice shows, I feel like I can finally express all the different aspects of my skating. I can use everything I have—both strong moves and weaker moves—and deliver it all to the audience. As an artist, that’s the most enjoyable thing for me now.

As I said earlier, back then, my expression was built on a foundation of “fighting,” so conversely, there were many things I didn’t have to practice. I only needed to sharpen my “blade for battle,” so I didn’t need other tools.

But now, to express different things, I have to practice a lot of different things. Including training methods, that’s something that has really changed.

 

— I’ve noticed that your dance precision and ballet-like beauty have increased so much. Do you feel there are parts of yourself that have improved?

 

Hanyu: Looking back at my performances through the Beijing Olympics, honestly, there are parts where my use of the body was clumsy.

It’s hard to explain in words exactly “what got better,” but, for example, the positioning of my center of gravity while standing is completely different.

In the past, I was basically imitating forms: I wanted to create a certain shape and worked on it. But gradually, I started to realize, “Oh, if I use my body this way, it works like this,” and I can do it naturally. I think that’s a major difference from when I was competing.

 

— Coach Shoichiro Tsuzuki said, “Since turning pro, Yuzuru has become even more beautiful. There’s no one in the world who can perform with the same technical level as in his competitive days. He’s a god.”

 

Hanyu: For me, the ideal skating I still want to achieve—the “skating I want to do”—is rooted in the image I had in fourth grade.

Of course, my body control was still poor, and my edge work wasn’t great yet. But at that time, I practiced the basics thoroughly. I focused on extending every cross step, precise edge control, and polishing those elements carefully.

Back then, I was just doing skating with full effort. Even now, I want to perform with that same level of effort, but with my upper body completely free, in a state where “I can move anything.”

So I still feel that I really love Coach Tsuzuki’s skating. Even now, there are many things I think I still can’t do (laughs).

 

— Your performance of From Russia With Love at Jingu (2004 All Japan Novice Championships / Meiji Jingu Gaien Ice Skating Rink) was wonderfully clean, your skating extended beautifully with your suit. You had speed, beautiful spins, original positions. You were really good even back then.

 

Hanyu: After being coached by Tsuzuki until fourth grade, the judging system changed in fifth grade—from the 6.0 system to the current new scoring system. That led to a period when skating itself was largely neglected.

No matter how much effort you put in, skating skills don’t improve easily. And since jump and spin points became clearly quantified, those aspects naturally got more attention.

That led to a time when “if you don’t land jumps, you can’t win.”

As a result, from fourth grade through upper grades, middle school, and high school, as my body stiffened and my range of motion decreased, I spent that time immersed in jumps.

 

— I see.

 

Hanyu: So, honestly, I always felt that my skating skills gradually declined from that point.

Even now, when I watch the Jingu All Japan Novice performance from fourth grade, I still think, “Wow, that kid was really good.” I think, “It would be tough if a kid like that came out” (laughs).