Info: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/4583624697

Contents

- Take Me Away

- Yuzuru Hanyu: Toward a New Legend.

- Yuzuru Hanyu

- Special Interview

- “I Really Do Love Skating.

While I Was Taking a Break, I Was Able to Realize That.”

- Reporting from Toronto

- “There’s No Anxiety. Not Anywhere.”

- What Lies Ahead!? Yuzuru Hanyu and Japan This Season

- Japanese Figure Skating: A Look Ahead at the New Season.

- COACH’S VOICE

- How Yuzuru Hanyu Will Evolve This Season.

- PLAY BACK

- Yuzuru Hanyu’s 2015–2016 Season.

- Yuzuru Hanyu and Edge Sharpener Toshinobu Yoshida

- Endless Thoughts and Feelings.

- Skate Canada Takes Place in October!

- Make the Most of a Trip to Canada This Fall and Winter.

* machine translation, inaccuracies may exist

Source: https://weibo.com/ttarticle/p/show?id=2309404039922460800282

Yuzuru Hanyu and Blade Sharpener Toshinobu Yoshida

Text/Shinichi Yamaguchi

Unlike coaches and choreographers, they rarely appear in the spotlight. Yet, without the skill and craftsmanship of these individuals, skaters would be unable to deliver their performances on the ice. In the world of figure skating, there are specialists who occupy this unique position. A blade sharpener is a technician who sharpens the metal blades attached to the bottom of a skater’s boots, known as the edges. Mr. Toshinobu Yoshida, the skate sharpener whom Yuzuru Hanyu trusts immensely, has built a bond with Hanyu that goes beyond the relationship between a skater and the person working behind the scenes to support him. Their connection has reached the place it occupies today.

The Microscopic Grooves Beneath a Skater’s Feet Can Make or Break Their Performance

As autumn turns to winter, each day passes in the blink of an eye for Toshinobu Yoshida, who runs the skate shop NICE in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. Once the competitive season begins, he faces a workload so demanding that even twenty-four hours a day seem insufficient.

Mr. Yoshida’s shop is located right next to Ice Rink Sendai. Although the shop stocks only figure skating-related products, its work extends beyond selling and displaying merchandise. What truly determines the shop’s reputation is Yoshida’s skill in sharpening skate blades.

A figure skating blade is approximately four millimetres thick. Depending on a skater’s preferences and abilities, a groove is ground into the blade as part of the sharpening process. The reason figure skaters can lean into their edges and execute spectacular movements on the ice—movements that would be impossible on land—is that the shape of the groove ground into the blade allows it to grip the ice effectively.

The depth of the groove varies according to each skater’s individual characteristics. Although factors such as body weight and skating quality also come into play, a deeper groove generally allows the blade to grip the ice more firmly. On the other hand, if the groove bites too deeply into the ice, it can place additional strain on the knees and ankles. A shallower groove can reduce the physical strain on the body. However, if the blade does not grip the ice sufficiently, it can potentially contribute to injuries and poor performance. Whether a groove, measured in microscopic increments, is precisely suited to a skater can determine the quality of their performance. This is why the more elite the skater, the more carefully they approach the sharpening of their blades.

Once the competitive season finally arrives, highly skilled blade sharpeners become much sought-after figures among skaters. Their clients include not only figure skaters but also ice hockey players.

Even sharpening blades alone is a time-consuming task, and a single day can easily be consumed by the work. In other words, the busier a blade sharpener is, the more likely it is that their craftsmanship is highly regarded.

Mr. Yoshida has been sharpening Yuzuru Hanyu’s skate blades ever since Hanyu was skating in Sendai, and he continues to do so to this day. In addition to this work, Mr. Yoshida is also responsible for managing equipment for figure skaters and ice hockey players across Japan, as well as the FREE BLADES, a top ice hockey team based in the Tohoku region that competes from summer through to the following spring.

During the season, the FREE BLADES travel from their home base in Hachinohe to compete in South Korea, Russia and China. When the team is not competing, Mr. Yoshida follows Hanyu to competitions within Japan. However, most of the time, the process is handled by air mail: Hanyu sends his skates to Mr. Yoshida, who sharpens the blades and mails them back. This back-and-forth arrangement has continued for several seasons.

“During the season before Yuzuru won his Olympic medal (2012–2013), we exchanged a lot of opinions about how his blades should be sharpened. Since then, though, the sharpening method has hardly changed. Basically, he leaves it up to me.”

The craftsmanship applied to a blade just four millimetres thick; the grooves ground into it with precision measured in microns. It is within this delicate world that Hanyu and Mr. Yoshida have forged their connection.

It is the work of a blade sharpener to bring out the full potential of a good pair of skates in ways that the skater cannot achieve through training alone.

Before the season begins, skaters decide which skates they will use for the coming season. In Yuzuru Hanyu’s case, the manufacturer sends him several pairs of boots, from which he selects the ones that best fit his feet. The blades are also selected separately from several options sent to him, then paired with the boots. These combinations will become the skates he uses throughout the season.

The setup of both the boots and the blades is finalised soon after he begins practising on the ice. First, the blades are sharpened according to established principles, with the edges and grooves ground to appropriate specifications. Hanyu then takes them onto the ice to test them himself. Through an exchange of feedback—“Please make the groove deeper here,” or “This part is too deep; I’d like it to be shallower”—the ideal blade profile gradually takes shape.

When it comes to his blades, Hanyu appears to feel little pressure. That is because this is Mr. Yoshida’s responsibility. It is up to Yoshida to determine what kind of sharpening will best reproduce the sensations Hanyu wants to feel while skating, and what adjustments will allow him to skate comfortably, both physically and mentally.

Perhaps most skaters have experienced this: freshly sharpened blades can bite too deeply into the ice, making it difficult to skate. However, Mr. Yoshida’s philosophy is that “after a blade has been specially prepared through sharpening, it should be in its easiest-to-skate state.” Rather than expecting the blades to gradually settle into harmony with the skater’s feet after a period of skating on the ice following sharpening, Yoshida believes that the blades should be at their easiest to skate on immediately after sharpening. That is the standard he strives to achieve.

“Skaters can train their bodies and build their physical fitness themselves, regardless of the circumstances. So how far can we help elevate their performance on the ice? That is precisely the job of people like us who work with equipment. Their skating performances are world-class, and if a skater falls because an edge fails them, I consider that my responsibility.”

When the conversation turns to Hanyu’s skates, Mr. Yoshida admits, “I’m afraid to watch him skate. If he falls while landing a jump or in the middle of a step sequence, I feel that it would be my fault.”

During the competitive season, the shop is exceptionally busy, so Mr. Yoshida has very few opportunities to watch Hanyu compete in real time. As mentioned earlier, even the chances for them to travel together to competitions are few and far between over the course of a year.

“Through our conversations, we came to the decision that it would be all right even if I didn’t go to the venue in person, as long as we could work together to create that ideal setup. However, this is only possible because he has several pairs of skates. I don’t think it would be possible if he had only one pair.”

Reuniting with Nanami and Meeting Her Student, Yuzuru Hanyu

Mr. Yoshida’s journey has been quite unique.

He initially played ice hockey at Sendai Ikuei High School in Miyagi Prefecture. After graduating, he went on to study at a music vocational school and spent some time performing in Tokyo as a bass guitarist. However, in his late twenties, he gave up his musical pursuits and returned to Sendai, where he joined former friends in a business involving imported vehicles.

For a while, it seemed that he had left the world of skating behind. Then, one day, Yuko Hongo, a figure skating instructor and a childhood acquaintance from their days at the rink (as well as the mother of figure skater Rika Hongo), came by to greet him. “Nanami-chan is about to return to Sendai after completing the Disney on Ice world tour. Since you’ve returned as well, Yoshida-kun, why don’t we get together with some of our old friends?” she suggested.

Mr. Yoshida had once had a family in Tokyo, but at the time, he was single. It was at that gathering that he reunited with Nanami Abe. Their reunion marked the beginning of their relationship, and they married a year later.

After beginning her career as a figure skating coach in Sendai, Nanami was extremely busy every day. In addition to coaching her students on the ice, she was also responsible for purchasing their skates and costumes, and even took care of sharpening their blades. Mr. Yoshida looks back on what Nanami’s life was like during that time.

“Back then, I suspect she was using tools she had never used before to adjust and set up the blades. In the world of figure skating at that time, coaches had to take care of absolutely everything for their students. She would spend the entire day standing at the rink, teaching skating, and then sharpen the skates of around thirty people at night. It was simply too exhausting. The coaches were already worn out, so I imagine the blade sharpening probably wasn’t always done as well as it could have been.”

What could he do for her as her husband? After giving it some thought, he decided that the two of them should run a skate shop together. Yoshida himself would become a skate sharpener.

After the shop opened, Nanami’s students gradually began bringing their skates to Mr. Yoshida for sharpening. Among them was a child with extraordinary talent: Yuzuru Hanyu. It was here that Yoshida and Hanyu began to forge the bond that would grow between them.

For Yoshida, sharpening the blades of a skater like Hanyu, who was expected to become an Olympic medallist in the future, was a tremendous responsibility.

“Fortunately, though, I was in a position where I could talk to Nanami every single day of the year. When the blades are in a particular condition, the skates will respond accordingly. So, the next time, we might try doing things a little differently. We could have conversations like that every day.”

His wife provided instruction on the ice, while he maintained the skates to ensure they were best suited to her students, drawing on her feedback and expertise. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the presence of these two played a part in allowing Hanyu to develop and showcase his talent and strength.

However, on March 11, 2011, a massive earthquake struck northeastern Japan, with the Tohoku region at its centre. From that moment on, their lives were changed dramatically.

“Perhaps I would never have another chance to sharpen Yuzuru’s skates again.”

Following the Great East Japan Earthquake, Ice Rink Sendai was forced to close. Having lost his home rink and training base, Hanyu would go on to train primarily in Kanagawa and practice in ice shows across Japan.

Mr. Yoshida’s shop also suffered considerable damage in the earthquake.

“The shop itself was gone, so I ended up keeping the sharpening machine in the garage at home. It's only now that I can say this, but Nanami and I both felt that perhaps we should close the shop because of what had happened. We talked about it and said things along those lines. Running a shop costs money, and I had experience working in fields unrelated to skating equipment. But Yuzuru and many other skaters were relying on us to sharpen their blades. In the end, I simply couldn’t give it up. The garage where I kept the sharpening machine had a roof, and I also had a motorcycle. So I thought, why not use the motorcycle to transport the skates? As long as I could sharpen them and get them back into the skaters’ hands, that would be enough.”

Eventually, Ice Rink Sendai was able to reopen. Thanks to the kindness of Teruo Arai, who was the rink manager at the time, Yoshida was able to rent a small space inside the facility and reopen his shop next to Ice Rink Sendai.

Meanwhile, despite the extremely difficult training conditions, Hanyu reached the podium at the Japanese National Championships for the first time during the 2011–2012 season. That was not all. At his first-ever World Championships, he won the bronze medal. His "Romeo and Juliet" free skate, which earned him second place in the free, became an enduring topic of conversation among fans.

For some time after the World Championships in Nice, Hanyu did not appear before Nanami and Mr. Yoshida. The two assumed that he was receiving treatment for the pain in his foot. Then, one day, news began circulating online that Hanyu would be relocating his training base to Canada. The reports suggested that Hanyu would be leaving Sendai, which meant that his coach–student relationship with Nanami would come to an end.

Perhaps it is impossible to establish every detail of what happened and all the circumstances surrounding that decision.

Taking into account the accounts and opinions of various people, if I may be permitted to offer some subjective speculation and conjecture, I would say that, at this point in time, Yuzuru Hanyu was not yet in a position to determine his own path forward entirely according to his personal wishes. In other words, within the world of figure skating, he had not yet become the figure of such significance that he would later be.

Whatever the process behind the decision may have been, and whatever Hanyu himself was thinking and feeling, the path that Nanami, Hanyu and Mr. Yoshida had travelled together now diverged, at least for a time.

At the time, Mr. Yoshida thought, “Perhaps I’ll never have another chance to sharpen Yuzuru’s skates again.” About three months after Hanyu left for Canada, Yoshida finally came to terms with his feelings and made peace with the situation.

Even so, Hanyu would occasionally come to mind at unexpected moments. “Yuzuru has always been very particular about what he wants. I wondered whether it would be difficult for him to find a technician who could understand exactly what he meant and translate those wishes into the actual sharpening. To communicate such subtle nuances, you need to be able to express yourself to a certain degree in the same language.” No matter how much Yoshida worried about Yuzuru’s future, things had more or less already been decided. There was little he could do to help Hanyu, no matter how concerned he was.

During this period of time, Mr. Yoshida received the following message one day: “Long time no see. It’s Yuzuru. Actually, I’d like to ask you to sharpen my skates.”

Mr. Yoshida was very surprised and told Nanami without any hesitation, "I got this message from Yuzuru!"

"I hope you will refuse his request." At first, Mr. Yoshida thought Nanami would say that, but what Nanami said was the exact opposite.

“As a coach, I formed a bond with Yuzuru. And you formed a bond with him as a technician. Although my relationship with Yuzuru is now like this (no longer as a coach–student), it wouldn’t make sense for you to refuse his request. If he wants your skills and your help, shouldn’t you give him that support?”

“Honey, sharpen Yuzuru’s skates for him.” Yoshida remembers Nanami saying something along those lines.

“Perhaps Nanami was feeling several times more sorrow than I was. But this was how she expressed her feelings.”

Once he had made up his mind, Yoshida contacted Hanyu straight away. “How are your skates at the moment? For now, just bring them to the shop and let me have a look.”

Hanyu responded immediately to Yoshida’s message and brought his skates to him. But he did not send them by airmail. Instead, he boarded a plane himself and travelled all the way to Yoshida’s shop.

Several months later, Mr. Yoshida sharpened Hanyu’s skate blades once again. After taking them onto the ice and trying them out, Hanyu said: “Just as I thought, Mr. Yoshida’s work is still the best. Your way of sharpening my blades is my absolute favourite.”

From that day onward, Mr. Yoshida resumed responsibility for sharpening Hanyu’s skates. And he continues to do so to this day.

Canada is a figure skating nation, and Toronto is even known as a skating town. There are plenty of skate shops and blade-sharpening specialists throughout the city. Yet, none could match Yoshida’s craftsmanship, honed through years of repeated trial and error. After trying the services of several shops, Hanyu ultimately chose to return to Yoshida.

Thus began a routine in which Hanyu’s skates were transported by airmail, with each delivery taking several weeks to arrive. Whenever Hanyu returned to Japan, he would sometimes visit Yoshida’s shop before even going home. There, he would have his blades sharpened and spend time talking with Yoshida. And when it was time to return to Canada, he would stop by the shop on his way from home to the airport. He would have his blades sharpened, talk with Yoshida, and only then set off on his journey. Just as Nanami had hoped, Hanyu and Yoshida continued moving forward together, each fulfilling his own role as skater and technical specialist.

No Matter How Far Apart They May Be, Their Love for Yuzuru Hanyu Knows No End

Mr. Yoshida and Nanami have three children: a daughter in her third year of elementary school, a son in his fifth year of elementary school, and a twenty-one-year-old eldest son. Hanyu happens to be of the same generation as their eldest son.

“I’ve been asked about this in many interviews. Back when he was in Sendai, Yuzuru was just an ordinary high school student, and even now, he’s still just an ordinary 21-year-old young man. We talk about video games, headphones, which he’s interested in as a hobby, and all sorts of other things that boys his age would normally talk about.”

“Speaking as a man, from my own perspective, Yuzuru really is a good person. Seriously, he’s a really good guy. Although saying it like this might be a bit... well, it might be a little different from the image people see in the media."

Another aspect that piques one's curiosity, meanwhile, is the relationship between Hanyu and Nanami.

“Nowadays, Yuzuru and Nanami have opportunities to work together at ice shows. I can’t remember exactly when it was, but I believe there was an occasion when Yuzuru asked Nanami something along the lines of, ‘This is how my jumps and my condition feel at the moment. Could you take a look for me?’ Nanami apparently replied, ‘You’re Orser’s student now. Unless Orser asks me to, I can’t coach you.’ There seems to have been an episode like that.”

Whenever Hanyu’s competitions are broadcast live, Nanami sits glued to the television screen, watching intently. As she watches, she quietly murmurs something to herself. What exactly she says, even Mr. Yoshida doesn’t know.

“Nanami and I usually finish work and get home quite late, so we rarely get the chance to watch the competitions live. But you could almost say it’s a certainty that we’ll watch recordings of Yuzuru’s performances. Then the two of us would drink together for hours, talking as we drank. We’d discuss things like the way he executed his jumps… I’d say things like, ‘Yes, it does seem like the blade of his skate scraped the ice there. I wonder if he’s developed some strange habit?’ That’s the sort of thing the two of us would talk about together.”

As though their own child had gone to live far away, the two of them sit together late into the night, drinks in hand, pouring one another another glass and talking as if they could go on forever.

Whenever Hanyu returns to Japan, the first thing he does is stop by Mr. Yoshida’s shop to see him. As mentioned earlier, he usually tells Yoshida about what has been happening in his life. “Yuzuru, rather than telling me all this, you should tell Nanami!” And Hanyu will usually laugh and reply, “No way! You absolutely can't tell Nanami-sensei!”

Mr. Yoshida understands perfectly well that when Hanyu says, “Don’t tell Nanami,” what he really means is, “Please make sure you pass all of this on to Nanami-sensei.”

Yuzuru Hanyu has now built a strong bond of trust with Brian Orser, and last season, he broke the world record twice. The strength of their coach-student relationship and Hanyu's growth are undeniable.

At the same time, there is no question that Hanyu remains connected by a bond of mutual affection with Mr. Yoshida and Nanami, too.

At the end of the interview, Mr. Yoshida said: “Both Nanami and I love Yuzuru and think of him as a dear, precious child. Those feelings have never changed, from the time he was in Sendai until now.”

Without the grooves carved into his skate blades, Hanyu’s jumps, spins and steps would not be possible in the way we see them today. Ground into a mere four millimetres of metal, those microscopic grooves carry within them the love of Toshinobu Yoshida and Nanami Abe for Hanyu, as well as the deep affection and longing that connect all three of them.

All their feelings are held within that thin strip of metal.