Figure Skating Life Extra "Yuzuru Hanyu PROFESSIONAL Season 4" (Fusosha Mook)

Release: October 28, 2026

112 Pages

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CONTENT (In blue: translated sections, work in progress)

Special Photo Shoot

1 – Yuzuru Hanyu

Photos & Column by Toru Yaguchi

In Search of an Unseen Clover: Yuzuru Hanyu Through the Viewfinder

Exclusive Interview

44 – Continuing to Pursue the Present: Gathering the Elements for Further Evolution

54 – Yuzuru Hanyu "notte stellata 2026"

Interview

Expressing a Life Lived with Strength, While Embracing Every Scar

Report

Moving Forward, One Step at a Time, While Carrying the Memories of the Disaster

64 – Yuzuru Hanyu "An Ice Story Project: REALIVE"

Report

Evidence of Yuzuru Hanyu’s Current Evolution and a Gateway to What Lies Ahead

Fumo-Fumo Column

A Journey of "Reincarnation": Discovering the Colors of the World, Descending into Black, and Returning to White — "prequel: Before the WHITE"

Interview

76 – Marihiko Hara: How Meeting Yuzuru Hanyu Inspired My Music

Special

82 – Yuzuru Hanyu × Yuzu: A Song Commemorating the Disaster — "Ikue" (Layers)

Interview

83 – Yuzuru Hanyu: With a Prayer for a Brighter Future

88 – Yuzu: The Beauty of the Sound of Blades on Ice—Experienced Only by Being Right There

Exhibition

96 – Couture on Ice

Report & Interview: Satomi Ito

Feature

104 – au Yuzuru Hanyu "HANEW EXPERIENCE”

Machine translation from Japanese to English, inaccuracies exist

[P. 43]

In Search of an Unseen Clover: Yuzuru Hanyu Through the Viewfinder

Spoiler -Collapse to display content

Toru Yaguchi

The rain that had been pouring down until just moments before lent an even deeper hue to the greenery of June—a month already hinting at the arrival of summer. The weather had been fickle, with heavy, sudden downpours coming and going since the morning, but by the time we began our shoot, bright sunlight occasionally broke through the clouds. Amidst this, Yuzuru Hanyu was searching for a four-leaf clover.

It had been about half a year since I last photographed Hanyu in a one-on-one setting. Our previous session took place at the end of last year at Xebio Arena Sendai, which we had reserved for the Couture on Ice shoot. There, on the cold winter ice, I captured Hanyu as he expressed himself through movement while dressed in his performance costumes. Now, with the seasons having turned, we found ourselves in a forest in early summer. When I asked him, "What has this past half-year been like for you?" Hanyu replied, "It feels like about three years have passed since then." That casual remark spoke volumes about the intensity of his daily life. Even on this day, he had carved out time for this interview and photoshoot, despite being in the thick of writing the plot for a new ICE STORY.

The location, the Miyagi Prefecture Youth Forest, features an old Western-style building—a structure originally built during the Meiji era and later relocated here. I had conceived a narrative for our shoot: a person born within this Western-style house, having grown up without ever knowing the outside world. Having spent their entire life honing their form of expression solely within these walls, this individual one day opens the door for the first time and steps out. When I explained this premise before we began, Hanyu simply nodded in silence.

Inside the building, he adopted poses and expressions in response to my requests; sitting on the floor, gazing into a mirror, standing by the window. Even without the need for many words, he grasped exactly what I was looking for, translating it into the direction of his gaze, the positioning of his fingertips, and the shape of his body.  Inside the viewfinder, I saw a character from a story I had conceived.

Eventually, he opened the door and stepped outside. After capturing a few shots in the rain-drenched forest, I intended to guide Hanyu toward the next location I had in mind. Instead, he walked in a different direction, his gaze fixed on the ground as he headed toward a patch of clover. He was searching for four-leaf clovers. Time for the shoot was limited; logically, I should have called out to him and moved on to the next spot. Yet, as he peered intently at the clover, Hanyu looked so relaxed that I felt it might be better to simply capture this moment as it was. Without a word, I pointed my camera from a short distance away. Hanyu crouched down, searching through the grass; he would stand up, walk a few steps, and then look down at his feet once more. An unexpected kind of shoot had begun.

"Actually, I’ve even found a seven-leaf clover before," Hanyu said, sounding a bit proud. Hearing this, I found it both charming and, in a strange way, quintessentially Hanyu. It wasn’t just a matter of being lucky enough to stumble upon something rare—it was the fact that he had searched that thoroughly, which struck me as so characteristic of him. Most people would be satisfied the moment they found a four-leaf clover, but Hanyu kept looking, believing there was something more to be found. That is how he came to discover a seven-leaf clover.

I have watched Hanyu approach figure skating many times over the years. Even after perfecting a particular form of expression, he never settles; he always pushes further. Whether as a competitive athlete or now as a professional skater, that has never changed.

Before long, he finished his search for clovers, and we returned to the shoot. A little while later, the expression on Hanyu’s face—as seen through the viewfinder—suddenly softened. Up until that point, I had been photographing Hanyu as he embodied the character from my story, responding to the parameters I had set. But in that fleeting moment, I saw the face of the Hanyu I know from our everyday conversations.  "Today, we truly faced one another for the first time," I remarked, pulling my face away from the camera's viewfinder. "Just take the picture already!" Hanyu shot back instantly. By the time the shoot concluded, the rain clouds had vanished, leaving behind nothing but the clear blue sky of early summer. "It cleared up because you all must have been living such virtuous lives," Hanyu said with a laugh.

I had prepared a narrative for this day—a story intended to capture his essence. Yet, I felt I came closest to the true Hanyu during a brief interlude when he stepped away from that script to search for four-leaf clovers. Even upon finding one, he wasn't satisfied; he kept searching, trusting that something more lay ahead. In his casual mention of having once found a seven-leaf clover, I saw a reflection of the time and effort Hanyu has invested throughout his career.

He never lingers at a single answer. Driven to surpass even the expressions he has already created, he constantly pushes further. It is this recurring process that has shaped the "Yuzuru Hanyu" we see today. And surely, even now, he continues his search for a version of himself that remains yet to be discovered.

PROFILE

Born in Yamagata Prefecture. After graduating from Sophia University, he worked as a photographer for Hochi Shimbun, covering events such as the Beijing Olympics and the World Championships. Since becoming a freelancer in 2023, he has focused on sports and portrait photography, capturing the unique appeal of his subjects. His published works include the photo books Yuzuru Hanyu: "Hane" (Wings) and Couture on Ice: Yuzuru Hanyu × Satomi Ito, among others.

Machine translation from Japanese to English, inaccuracies exist

[P. 44-53]

Exclusive Interview 

I want to keep pursuing the present state of things and continue gathering the elements that will allow me to evolve.

Text by Yumeko Yamamoto
Photos by Toru Yaguchi

During the photo shoot, Yuzuru Hanyu was searching for four-leaf clovers and smiling as he said that being out in nature made him feel as though he was “photosynthesizing.” But by the time of the interview in mid-June, he had already begun working on ICE STORY 4th. We spoke with him about the whirlwind of days following his maintenance period, and about what lies ahead, as he looks toward the future.

Spoiler -Collapse to display content

—Looking back, what kind of time was the maintenance period for you?

I feel like it wasn't all that different from usual. I'd been sprinting the whole time, after all. (laughs) In the end, it felt like a continuation of those busy days of practicing and studying, which just kept going.

—Even though you called it maintenance, I had a feeling you would still be keeping yourself busy.

As for the areas I'd injured, I do feel like I was able to let them recover a little. So, at least that problem is no longer there, which is better... Though whether I can actually feel that way about it depends on what I do from here on out, I think. (laughs)

—So you were busy with things outside the ice.

Yes. After all, there was a pretty long period when I wasn't allowed to get on the ice, so my jumping and physical stamina declined quite a lot. When I weighed the fact that the areas that had been hurting were healing against the technical issues with my jumps and the issue of my stamina, I still hadn't returned to where I was before entering the maintenance period.

So I really struggled over which to prioritize. But if I'd carried on as I was, I wouldn't have been able to skate, so I'd like to think that it was good that I went through with the maintenance period. Now, I am able to practice wholeheartedly, without holding back.

—Even after becoming a professional athlete, you have kept running nonstop. When you decided to take this maintenance period, what was your state of mind? Was it a positive decision, or was it more a case of having no other choice?

I suppose it was more the latter, where I didn't really have a choice. I'd continued skating while carrying these problems, letting things drag on, and I'd kept injuring my body to the point where I felt things probably wouldn't go well anymore if I continued like that.

In that respect, you could say it couldn't be helped. But I also thought that this wasn't something I could do at a time like my fifth anniversary, or something like that. It would cause trouble for the members and team who support my shows. So, if I was going to set aside a maintenance period, I felt that this was probably the very last possible point to do it, and I chose the fourth year.

—Having set aside this period, have there been any changes in your body or mind, apart from the injuries?

I think there have been changes. I did a lot of studying, of course, and I also tried various ways of training that I could do during the period when I couldn't skate. I think being able to do a lot of training that wasn't limited to figure skating has become one very important resource in my drawer [repertoire] for the rest of my skating life. And there's no doubt that the effects of having charged ahead nonstop ever since my competitive days had accumulated in my body. Being able to get rid of even a little of that has been significant.

—Have there been any changes in your daily habits?

No. (laughs) The time I spend training and things like that hasn't changed, so that part has stayed the same.

—Watching you skate, I also felt that the transitions between movements had become smoother. How does that feel to you yourself?

I'm grateful to hear that. But in terms of my own sensations, there are certainly things where I feel, “Ah, I can use this part now,” or “I can use that part now,” to a certain extent. However, if someone were to look at it from a specialist's perspective, I'm sure there would be things they'd say I could do more with, or places where I'm compensating by using a different part of my body to perform a movement. So I want to reach a point where even someone looking at my movements from a specialist's perspective can tell me, “You've learned to use your body beautifully.”

I still feel I have a long way to go. But one thing I realized when I had no choice but to step away from skating for a while is just how unusual the environment on the ice really is. I was reminded of how difficult the act of skating on ice actually is. And I also came to understand again just how many different muscles I'd been using, unconsciously, to maintain my balance and express myself on the ice. At the same time, I think there are things among those movements I've been performing unconsciously where I could do them better by relaxing more, and other things where strengthening them would make them work better. I feel that the vague experiences and sensations I've accumulated unconsciously, all the way from when I was four until now, have started to become something I can develop consciously.

—You've researched and pursued mastery of skating to this extent, Yuzuru Hanyu. And yet, there's still room for you to get better.

I think there are probably limits, to some extent, when it comes to things like explosive power and endurance, and I think there are fluctuations that come with age. But when I think about artistic pursuits, or dance, which is also a form of physical expression, there are people who want to keep pursuing mastery even when they're 80, even when they're 80, right? When I think about things like that, I feel that 25 years or so isn't nearly enough time to master something completely.

—Ideally, until about what age would you like to continue?

Hmm... I don't know! (laughs) But I suppose, for as long as I can. If I can do it, I'll do it. What has always remained unwavering as the core within me is that I think I'll stop the moment I can no longer feel satisfied with what I'm doing, or the moment I find myself thinking, “There's no point in showing something like this.”

—Whether you're able to give a performance that you yourself can be satisfied with.

I suppose it really comes down to whether I'm able to give a performance that I myself want to see. I've become quite strict when it comes to figure skating, so when I watch my own performance, or when I choreograph something, put together its composition, and look at the whole thing, if I find myself thinking, “If I'm going to do something like this, then someone else could do it just as well,” I think that would be the point when there would no longer be any need for me to work so hard. How far I can go with that. Rather than putting it off, how far I can properly continue pursuing mastery, I feel that really depends on me.

—Previously, Mansai Nomura spoke about how kyōgen has roles for old men (and therefore a direction in which one can continue to refine one's expression even as one's physical abilities decline), whereas figure skating doesn't have anything like that, and wondered how one continues to pursue mastery in figure skating.

I wonder how you do that. Even when I watch people like Kurt Browning, no matter how old they get, they haven't forgotten the enjoyment they had when they were just starting out in skating, have they? I think it's difficult to keep that feeling with you throughout your life and continue being involved in skating, but mentally, that's how I'd like to be.

If skating becomes something painful or burdensome for me, I'll probably fall into something like a slump. And I think it's precisely because those moments when I can think, “This is fun,” keep continuing that I'm able to get better, and that feeling of wanting to study more will emerge from there. For actors, as they grow older, there are roles for people of that age, but skating doesn't have that. I can only be myself, so in that sense, I'd like to do things that are appropriate for my age, in a good way, and also things that aren't appropriate for my age, in a good way. 

If I could have a genre: Yuzuru Hanyu, and an age: Yuzuru Hanyu, I think that would be the best thing. To achieve that, I have to keep researching and studying, while also continuing to make an effort. I don't think things will go well easily, so I'd like to work hard.

—While continuing to pursue enjoyment, too.

But it's not so easy that you can do it just because it's fun, is it? Ever since my competitive days, I've always said, “You can't be talking about having fun at competitions.” (laughs) That still hasn't changed. Honestly, I don't enjoy the time before a show, and I don't enjoy pushing myself to my limits, either. (laughs)

—You tend to push yourself too hard.

I take so much upon myself, so of course it's not fun. But as long as I'm skating in a way that makes me think, “I'm the only one who can do this,” I think I'll be okay.

“Happy End,” which can only be expressed through skating

—And then there's notte stellata 2026 this year. What kind of theme did you approach it with?

For me, Notte was an ice show where I had to skate while being in a situation where I wasn't satisfied with my own abilities, so there was a lot of tension for me personally. In particular, “Happy End” and “Yae no Sakura” were new programs, so I had this fear of how people would receive them, and anxiety because I hadn't been able to practice enough, and things like that. There was quite a lot of anxiety, really. Honestly, I'd been anxious about REALIVE the whole time, too, but I was even more anxious about Notte.

—Notte Stellata came first, after all. With “Happy End,” I felt as though I was seeing a new Yuzuru Hanyu, one who had come through the maintenance period.

I think the things I worked hard on during the maintenance period were put to use, too. But in a sense, including that period, it felt like a culmination of the time since I became a professional. I'd been taking dance lessons, doing jazz, contemporary, hip-hop, and various other things. But I really felt that just doing those things alone wouldn't have resulted in that performance. I feel that “Happy End” became a program that wouldn't be cool unless it was done on skates, and that couldn't be fully expressed without skating. So while I was creating the choreography, I had this feeling that, “This is something I have to continue to treasure from now on, too.”

—I was impressed by how you incorporated the traveling of a spin into the choreography. It felt like something only a professional could do.

You can't deliberately make a spin travel, you know. Even if you try to do it deliberately, it won't follow the trajectory you want, and you can't do it consecutively. After all, it's a movement that causes the rotational speed to drop, so inevitably, you end up stopping partway through. And if you only travel a little, in a half-hearted way, you don't move very far, either. You just look like someone who's really bad at spinning. (laughs) Even when I watch myself, all I can think is, “That spin's a little off its circle, isn't it?” That's about all it looks like. So that's one of the things I put quite a bit of thought into, or rather, one of the things I practiced.

—It was traveling that you could clearly recognize as choreography.

Movements like falling, movements that look like you're taking a tumble, movements where you stop, or slowing down to the point where it looks as though the spin might stop; these often don't look like choreography. I think that's because the technique isn't sufficient, but this is something I place a great deal of importance on. After all, I want the people watching to have a moment where they suddenly feel something catch their attention. Not in the sense of novelty, but because I want to communicate something as an accent in the choreography. I think a movement needs to be there because it's necessary for the story I'm trying to tell. But I also want there to be new discoveries in it. I want to convey that feeling of having watched something and thinking, “I saw something good.” So I try various things. But even with something like traveling, if the reaction is, “That movement just drifted a little, didn't it?” Or with “Notte Stellata,” if I slow down the speed of a spin and it comes across as, “The spin got slower because he was tired,” then that becomes a momentary distraction, and what I actually want to communicate doesn't reach the audience. That's why I really practice these things thoroughly. Of course, I think there are aspects of this that depend on a sense of artistry or instinct, too. But if I'm going to do something, I want to make sure it doesn't become unnecessary noise as much as possible.

—It does make you wonder, doesn't it, whether what you just saw was a mistake or part of the choreography.

Exactly. I do think you need a kind of ability to recover, too; to have the technique to make people wonder, “Was that choreography?” But I'd like to reduce the noise as much as possible, right? I feel like that's why I keep practicing all the time.

The professional-level skill possessed by the Tohoku Youth Orchestra

—“Yae no Sakura” is a program that continues on from “Heaven and Earth,” your final program in competition. Looking back on it now, what do you feel it has become?

I don't yet have the feeling that I've skated it all the way through, so maybe I'll perform it somewhere again before long. I feel like I haven't fully worked it through yet, and I do have the feeling that I want to skate it more. Of course, the same goes for “Happy End,” but with David (Wilson)'s programs, the flavor doesn't really emerge for me until I've skated them through many times.

“Happy End” was so overwhelmingly powerful that, to some extent, I feel a little frustrated myself that “Yae no Sakura” has ended up getting buried beneath it. (laughs) I had a really strong sense of achievement with “Happy End” myself, too, so perhaps what I have more of are reflections on how I need to practice so that I can properly deliver what “Yae no Sakura” has to offer as well.

—Then there may be another opportunity to see it...

There might beee.

—I'll look forward to it. The Tohoku Youth Orchestra's “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence” also really struck me deeply. Is that the power that sound possesses?

I think that's part of it, too. But, after all, human beings are constantly adding some kind of added value to things, whether we intend to or not. That includes things we absolutely cannot separate from ourselves, such as our memories, our hearts, and our past. And I think the background of the performers and artists inevitably has an effect on us once we know about it. The Olympics are where I feel that particularly strongly, and I think that without it, we probably wouldn't be able to feel moved. I think the earthquake disaster is an enormously significant part of what the members of the Tohoku Youth Orchestra carry with them and have borne. But I also think that carrying the person Ryuichi Sakamoto with them is tremendously significant. I could feel the pride they have as professionals. And I think what makes them so remarkable is that they also have the ability to deliver all of that to everyone properly as sound. I think the background and added value I mentioned earlier are really important, too. But if the technical skill were lacking in comparison with those things, everything ends up mismatched. So I think it's truly remarkable that they have the skill to accept all of these very weighty things, overcome them, and then deliver all of it.

Bringing the sense of achievement gained through Echoes of Life into REALIVE

—First of all, I was surprised by how short the intervals between individual pieces were in REALIVE.

Yes, we'd been trying various things through trial and error. During Echoes of Life, we made the interval between “Poem” and “Eclipse/blue” (STEINS;GATE — GATE OF STEINER -Aesthetics on ice-) really short. We tried it once with an interval of about one minute, skating straight through without changing costumes. That gave me a strong sense that it had worked, both personally and for the team.

Originally, with ice shows, there are inevitably times when you have to change costumes, and sometimes you have to connect those moments with video. I think that can be effective in terms of changing scenes, but I'd been concerned for a long time that there were too many of those transitions, and that the whole thing could end up feeling a little mismatched. We'd all been thinking about how to reduce those moments as much as possible. Then we tried it during Echoes, and it worked well. So we thought, “Then why don't we try connecting about one song?” and joined “Megalo” (MEGALOVANIA) and “Mass Dis” (Mass Destruction -Reload-). We also devised the costume mechanism to make the quick change work, so that I could take one costume off in a flash and put the next one on immediately, without any time to rest. This had been an issue I'd been working on for a long time. And particularly with REALIVE, unlike Prequel (the second part, Prequel: Before the WHITE), there isn't a story. So if we were to create all the material for something without a story through the videos between songs, that would be quite difficult. That's why we worked hard to make the intervals as short as possible wherever we could. Although “Megalo” was already a pretty grueling piece on its own, and “Mass Dis” was pretty grueling, too. (laughs)

—That's a tremendous amount of physical exertion.

Right! I'd completely forgotten. (laughs) When I actually tried doing it, I thought, “Ah, it was this hard!” I really regretted it. (laughs)

—I wondered whether the intervals could really be that short when the programs themselves were so demanding.

I really do think that, too. (laughs) But the programs don't include jumps, either. And above all, the main theme of REALIVE was for everyone to enjoy themselves together and get excited, so as long as that remained the central focus, I also wanted to pile one thing on top of the other, from “Megalo” at the beginning straight into “Mass Des.”

—So you really got the audience fired up in Part One, and then in Part Two, we were thrown into the world of Prequel without any prior knowledge. We were left thinking, “Huh? A new work? What is this?” Was that what you were aiming for?

Yes, I wanted to do it that way from the very beginning.

—What was your intention in approaching it that way?

Originally, I thought, “Shall I write one whole story?” I was going to write a standalone piece that served purely as a prequel, but then I thought, “Wait, what was the point of putting in a maintenance period, then?” (laughs) Also, this time, the show was being held at only one venue, so making an entire story from beginning to end would be a lot of work. (laughs) Actually, Prequel was the one for which I'd worked out the structure first.

—Before REALIVE?

Yes. As far as the script and structure were concerned, Prequel was completed first. The videos took quite a long time, but since the script and structure were ready first, I was thinking, “Maybe we can just do Prequel on its own.” But then... well, I thought, “Let's do it,” and added REALIVE afterward. (laughs)

— Ah, so that’s how it was!

Rather than putting out the title Prequel first, I really wanted to announce REALIVE first and then bring out Prequel as a surprise. So I thought, well, I should give REALIVE a proper title, and if things went well, maybe I could turn it into a series. I wanted to give it a proper title of its own, separate from Ice Story, so I named it REALIVE.

— So, with Prequel, you wrote the prequel with the fourth Ice Story already in mind, right?

I had started writing the fourth one first. Around that time, various symptoms were starting to appear, so the order of things was that I finally had to think about my body and enter the maintenance period. So I was writing the fourth one before the maintenance period. It’s not as though I had decided everything and written it all out, but I had written down something like the concept at the beginning. The concept was already there, so writing the prequel itself wasn’t that much of a struggle, I suppose.

— The way you used the mesh LED screen was also so new and overwhelming.

With that sort of thing, I more or less just leave everything to MIKIKO-sensei. (laughs) I have complete trust in her. Before going onto the rink, we do what’s called a preliminary assembly, where we experiment with the equipment, try out the staging, do rehearsals, and various other things. I’d already imagined how it would be, so I wouldn’t say I myself was overwhelmed with astonishment! I know about the very existence of that kind of LED screen because I study these things too. But when it comes to thinking that clearly about how to use it for skating, and then working out the details and making it happen, I feel MIKIKO-sensei is the only one who can do that.

— I think Prequel is a story about coming to know the contours and colors of the world through journeys and encounters. In keeping with Prequel, what color would you say you are at this point in your life?

Right now, I’m a little… I don’t think I have a color. (laughs) At the moment, I’m busy with the “Fourth”, and of course I think about colors too. I’m really digging deep into my own inner self and my life, thinking about the future, and doing all sorts of things. So it’s all a mess. (laughs) It feels like all kinds of colors have mixed together and become a mess.

A Sense of Achievement and Reassurance Gained Through Original Music

— I imagine you’re beginning preparations for the fourth Ice Story with all those different colors within you. What sort of ideas are you currently considering for the “Fourth”?

The “Fourth”  is… a secret! It’s still a secret. (laughs)

— From the first one through the second and third, you’ve brought in all kinds of different images and ideas. What kind of state of mind do you want to approach the fourth with? Without touching on the content itself.

In terms of how I feel, I think I’ve developed a little more ability to write. I do feel that, in terms of the muscle for it, I’ve gradually been building myself up. But then, when I actually start writing, letting things burst out from inside me, all sorts of things I don’t need come out. (laughs) It’s just one thing after another that makes me think, “I can’t use this!” (laughs) I’m struggling quite a bit with it. So, in that sense, the first one was easier. With GIFT, I just had to write about myself, completely. I was turning myself into fiction and writing about myself as a story, so honestly, it was really easy. I wrote RE_PRAY with something like a short-story collection in mind, and it was more or less just monologues, one after another. With Echoes of Life, I properly built a story. It gets harder year by year, but through doing Prequel this time, I also gained a sense that certain things were working, and a feeling of accomplishment. In particular, being able to increase the amount of original music so much gave me a kind of reassurance. I felt, “Expressing things using original music is this much fun,” and, “It really can be made to work as a story.” I hope I can keep doing that sort of thing from now on, too.

— Between last year’s interview and this one, were there any books, words, subjects, or other things that might become key to the fourth Ice Story?

There are, but I can’t say yet. (laughs)

— Right, of course! (laughs) Apart from that, was there anything else that made an impression on you, or anything you found interesting?

Right now, because I’m making an art museum [within the fourth Ice Story], this is particularly on my mind, but there was an Italian artist called Titian (Tiziano Vecellio)[1]. He described his own paintings as poetry. Of course, people in later generations might say of someone’s work, “So-and-so’s work is poetry,” but I thought it was really groundbreaking that the artist himself could say of his own work, “My paintings are poetry.” I felt that this was very much the same for skaters and our programs, too. We often skate to instrumental music, and of course we also skate to songs with lyrics, but the sources we draw from are things like classical music and ballet music. And when we express those through skating, there are no words there, and physical expression is also something that can be very difficult to understand. If you ask whether people can directly receive the message, I think it’s something that is, after all, difficult to receive.

I’m sure painting is the same. You put all kinds of stories into it, but it isn’t something expressed through words, and it can be received in completely different ways depending on the person receiving it. Our skating is like that, too. And precisely because it’s like that, I feel it has to be beautiful. It’s skating, but it also has to be music; it has to be dance; and, in a sense, it also has to be something like recitation[2]. I was made to think that we have to consider whether it holds together as expression from whichever aspect you look at it from, whether it becomes all these different forms of expression.

Layer Upon Layer, Bridging the Fifteen Years from Then to the Present Self

— Could you also tell us what you felt through collaborating on Ikue, the song that passes on the memory of the disaster?

Because it concerns the disaster, it’s difficult, after all, to know how to face it. I really had to dig into myself, and at the same time, it couldn’t just be self-satisfaction. Especially when I thought about the people Ikue would reach, the fact that it could reach a much wider range of people meant that I had to extend my care much, much further than just the people I had wanted to be close to and accompany. Since it’s a song with lyrics, the balance of how far I should draw close to the lyrics and the sound, and how much I should express them; that sort of balance was, after all, extremely difficult. I struggled quite a lot with it.

— In terms of the choreography, the forward roll in the middle was particularly striking. What intention did you have in putting it in?

There was a point where I wanted to express something like the passage of time, moving from the past toward the present. When I was taking jazz lessons, we were doing forward rolls. But doing a forward roll on skates is quite difficult. (laughs) But if I did it there, it would change the atmosphere of everything up to that point all at once, or rather, it would suddenly shift the atmosphere. The audience’s emotional state would also switch over sharply. The burasu [the brass section]—and sitting with my knees drawn up, closing my eyes—those were also things I created with the image of having crossed, layer upon layer, from myself fifteen years ago to myself fifteen years in the future.

— Finally, is there anything you want to start doing now in order to create the Yuzuru Hanyu of the future?

I suppose, to keep pursuing the present state of things. After all, there are far too many things I don’t understand about my body as it is right now, and about my skating as it is right now. There are lots of things I can do somehow, and lots of things I’ve been doing just somehow, without really thinking about them. I want to properly analyze those things. If I properly understand what my strengths are, and what it was that I was able to do that allowed me to become the way I am now, I’m sure I can develop further. And conversely, if I understand what I couldn’t do, and what it was that meant I could only get this far, I think I can increase what I’m capable of beyond where I am now. I want to keep looking at that present state of things all the time, and keep gathering the elements that will allow me to evolve, from all kinds of different perspectives.

NOTES

[1] Tiziano Vecellio, known in English as Titian, called his famous series of mythological paintings poesie ("poetry in paint"), meaning that his brushwork aimed to produce the same emotional and sensory impact as written verse. More information.

[2] 朗読 evokes the act of conveying words or a text through the voice, even though skating has no spoken words.

Machine translation from Japanese to English, inaccuracies exist

[P. 104-111]

HANEW EXPERIENCE

“Turning Yuzuru Hanyu’s new challenge into an experience for everyone.”

HANEW EXPERIENCE

Produced by au

au × Yuzuru Hanyu 

A new project bringing KDDI and Yuzuru Hanyu together: HANEW EXPERIENCE. We spoke with Shōmin Kōda of KDDI’s Media Strategy Department and Kanako Higashi of Dentsu’s 6th Business Produce Bureau about the thoughts behind this new challenge and the behind-the-scenes process of creating it.

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⸺What kind of project is HANEW EXPERIENCE?

Kōda: Mr. Hanyu has now entered his fifth year as a professional athlete, but he has a side as an artist as well as, of course, as an athlete. The starting point for this project was the question of whether we could do something to support his new challenges going forward by combining them with KDDI’s technology.

The skills and expressive abilities that Mr. Hanyu has cultivated up to now, and his attitude of challenging his own limits. I think that by combining those with the technology we have, we can deliver moving experiences to our customers. Also, rather than having the experience end with the video alone, we want to deliver it through multiple kinds of content and events. In that way, people can come into contact with the world of the work in various forms, and we hope to offer new ways of experiencing [feeling/ perceiving] and enjoying it.

⸺Will the content and events be intended for au users?

Kōda: This time, we made the announcement through au’s X account, but we’ve also prepared content that people can enjoy regardless of which mobile phone company they use. The people eligible and the conditions for participation will differ depending on the project, but we want a broad range of people to be able to enjoy it.

⸺I think a lot of fans must have felt relieved to hear that.

Kōda: We’ve had quite a lot of customers comment on social media that they’re glad they use au. While also valuing our gratitude to those who use au in their daily lives, we want people who don’t use au to be able to enjoy it, too.

⸺The first visual showed only an arm. I imagine many people guessed what it was through the hashtag. What kind of response did you receive?

Kōda: We received a very big response. Together with everyone on the project team, we were thinking about how to deliver the information so that people could enjoy letting their imaginations run while waiting for the project announcement.

July 19 was also an important anniversary marking the day Mr. Hanyu began his journey as a professional athlete, and we released the visual showing only the arm on that very day. From then until the key visual was unveiled in August, people sent in all kinds of impressions and theories. I feel grateful that everyone took an interest and watched over the project with such attention.

“A new challenge on the ice: VR video filming”

⸺What does Mr. Hanyu’s new challenge involve?

Kōda: He has held ice shows every year up to now, and I think he is constantly updating both his visual expression and his skating technique. This time, we’re combining our technology with that expression to deliver an immersive experience. At the heart of it is a way of presenting the video that makes it feel as though the audience is there on the ice rink together with Mr. Hanyu. I think that itself is also part of the challenge. For that purpose, we filmed VR footage this time.

We were there for the filming, too, and rather than using the kinds of camera positions normally used to film him, the question was how close we could get. While taking into consideration the distance between the performance and the camera, as well as safety, the entire production team went through repeated trial and error.

⸺Did you ask a cameraman who could skate?

Kōda: The cameras were fixed in place. We suspended them, brought in a crane, and used some slightly unusual cameras.

⸺An immersive experience sounds exciting.

Kōda: We’re also planning an opportunity for people to experience the footage ahead of its wider release. We’d really like people to put on VR goggles and enjoy this special experience of entering the space of the skating rink together with Mr. Hanyu.

⸺Was there anything that particularly stayed with you from the filming?

Kōda: There were many moments that took shape in a single take.

Higashi: Yes. Mr. Hanyu himself understood how things would look, and he made suggestions such as, “Wouldn’t it feel more immersive if the ice spray flew toward the camera?”

Kōda: We had only a limited amount of time for filming that day, but because we had made repeated preparations beforehand, things proceeded almost according to schedule.

With VR filming, you need to make adjustments to things like how the image looks from the camera and where people stand, but Mr. Hanyu understood very well how things would look from that perspective. It was almost as if he could already see the image we were going to create. He also gave us concrete ideas from the perspective of how the footage would reach the people watching it. After filming, we checked the footage right there and proceeded while sharing our image of the finished result with the director and Mr. Hanyu.

⸺This was Mr. Hanyu’s first time filming VR footage, too, wasn’t it?

Kōda: Yes, I’ve heard it was his first time. I’d also heard that he was knowledgeable about filming equipment, so we were able to share our images of the expression we were aiming for in concrete terms. Even during our meetings, ideas kept coming one after another. Beforehand, he made a V-conte himself [video storyboard that shows the structure of a video through images]. It was also something we were grateful for that we could exchange opinions directly and share the expression we were aiming for.

⸺When he watched the VR footage there on the spot, what kind of impressions did he express?

Kōda: As he watched the footage, he exchanged opinions with the director in a positive, forward-looking way. Of course, he and the director also discussed things like, “Wouldn’t it be better to do it this way?” and there were times when we filmed again to make some slight adjustments, but overall, things proceeded smoothly.

⸺The key visual has a pop, cyber-like atmosphere.

Kanako Higashi: Since we were placing emphasis on the idea of a new experience this time, from the beginning we wanted the key visual to convey a new side of Mr. Hanyu as well. Since the project includes content such as VR, we also wanted the world it presents to convey the idea of expanding the real world.

Kōda: I heard that when we explained the project concept to Mr. Hanyu, he was convinced by it and said, “That’s really good.”

⸺What kinds of ideas did Mr. Hanyu contribute?

Kōda: Of course, there were ideas about the structure of the VR, but also about new performances and forms of expression in figure skating. He wanted to value movements that would feel familiar to people who have supported him up to now, as well as the appeal that is unique to figure skating.

Also, since we had an original piece of music made for this project, Mr. Hanyu created choreography that suited the music. And then there was the costume, too.

Higashi: He told us, “Let’s make something new.”

Kōda: We were really grateful for that.

⸺I heard that Toshihiko Sakurai made the costume. Was the design based on ideas from both Mr. Hanyu and Mr. Sakurai?

Higashi: Yes, it was based on the image of the music this time.

Kōda: It’s a costume that fits the world of the music and choreography. It also has a chic impression, and we hope fans will look forward to that as well. We’d like people to pay attention to the length of the costume and the cape, too.

⸺When the design illustration was released, it gave us plenty to speculate about: “Could this be the designer?”

Kōda: That’s right. People looked closely at even the small details of the design illustration and sent in all kinds of impressions and theories. Even with the first visual showing only the arm, people paid attention to things like the pose.

We’re very grateful that people look carefully at the content and information we release, and take it in so thoughtfully.

⸺Those reactions really are something to be grateful for. So you had been creating this together with Mr. Hanyu since before the filming.

Kōda: This kind of initiative is a first for us, so in a sense, it’s a challenge for us, too. Perhaps that’s also why Mr. Hanyu said, “Let’s create it together.” I feel that we’ve been creating it together while exploring new forms of expression, valuing his own ideas and wishes.

⸺What first gave you the idea of working with Mr. Hanyu on a project?

Kōda: It began with the sponsorship of Mr. Hanyu’s ice shows through the video-streaming service TELASA. Through that connection, we thought that by bringing together the technology KDDI possesses and collaborating with TELASA, Lawson, and others, we might be able to deliver Mr. Hanyu’s new forms of expression in various ways.

⸺Is there anything you’d like people to look forward to from here on?

Kōda: We’d like people to look forward to the sense of presence that is unique to immersive video. We’re aiming to create a work that makes you forget the passage of time and want to experience it again and again.

At au stores, we’re also preparing opportunities for people to encounter the world of the work through things like posters, as well as the provision of novelty items depending on the applicable conditions. We’re planning to sell original smartphone-related goods, too. In our collaboration with Lawson, we’re also planning goods featuring the key visual, as well as bromide photo prints through Lawson Print. And then there’s the documentary. We’ll deliver it exclusively through TELASA, as a documentary showing how we’ve continued meeting with Mr. Hanyu since around May, along with behind-the-scenes footage of the filming on the rink.

⸺Please tell us about the conditions for receiving benefits and participating in events, too.

Kōda: The eligible people and participation conditions differ depending on the individual initiative. Ponta Pass is a paid membership service that people can join even if they don’t use au, and we’re planning things such as giveaway campaigns for members this time as well. We’re also planning an advance event at KDDI’s brand experience facility, GINZA 456 Created by KDDI. For details such as what will be offered, the application requirements, and the application period, we hope you’ll check the official announcements.

⸺This is a major project.

Kōda: I feel that this is a project in which we’re giving shape to a single experience together with people from a variety of fields.

⸺What are the difficult aspects of moving forward with so many different initiatives?

Higashi: After all, with HANEW EXPERIENCE, the part about creating a new experience is, it’s about making immersive content the core, while also allowing people to encounter the work in various settings. Also, we’re not proceeding only with KDDI; we’re working separately with several partner companies as well. The scale and the number of initiatives are both large, so I feel that this is a major project.

Kōda: We’ve discussed things one by one: what we want to deliver through each initiative, whether it’s the video, events, some au stores, or our collaboration with Lawson. We want people to be able to enjoy the world of this project no matter which point of contact they encounter it through. I’d be happy if people could come across Mr. Hanyu’s new forms of expression in all kinds of everyday situations. We plan to announce future developments as they come along, so I hope you’ll look forward to those, too.

Higashi: For me, I’m looking forward to the VR the most.

Kōda: We’ve already got a sense that it’s going to work from the footage we saw during filming. I’m looking forward to everyone being able to experience it.

⸺You’ve certainly raised our expectations quite a bit.

Kōda: Your expectations are an encouragement to us, and we want to deliver an experience that you’ll enjoy.

⸺Are there any other behind-the-scenes stories from the filming you could share?

Kōda: Mr. Hanyu came twice, once for the rehearsal and once for the actual shoot, but in order to make sure everything went well on the day of the actual shoot, we carried out four technical rehearsals in total. For the first one, we invited people who were willing to help us with the camera tests, and started with figuring out how to shoot the footage and deciding on the composition. We then had Mr. Hanyu look at what we’d filmed.

We also sent Mr. Hanyu the equipment so that he could experience what VR was like. I think things went well on the day of the actual shoot because of all that preparation beforehand, as well as the ideas Mr. Hanyu contributed.

Higashi: Even during the actual shoot, he didn’t simply skate and finish. Each time, he put on the VR goggles and checked how what he’d done actually looked. What left an impression on me was how concretely he envisioned how the experience would reach the people who would try it. He looked carefully every time and checked whether what he had in mind had actually been achieved. I thought that was amazing.

Kōda: This time, I really felt that we were creating it together with Mr. Hanyu. Each time, he gave us concrete feedback, and the production team was able to proceed while sharing the expression we were aiming for. Being able to speak directly with Mr. Hanyu was also a great source of encouragement for the production team.

Higashi: When it came to how to present figure skating, he made suggestions based on his own knowledge of the sport and combined that with ways of presenting it through VR. For example, he suggested that it might be interesting to show the skater approaching from far away, or that showing something in a particular way could convey the appeal of figure skating even more. I think he was always conscious of how to convey the appeal unique to figure skating, while also making the experience itself interesting.

Kōda: Something I realized while Mr. Hanyu was talking was that, with figure skating, the audience is positioned in various directions, isn’t it? He pays attention not only to how he’s seen from the front, but also to how his back is seen. He told us that expression and technique are involved in that, too. So I felt that there was a connection between Mr. Hanyu’s way of expressing himself, which takes into account being viewed from different directions, and the way VR presents things.

Higashi: Normally, cameras in figure skating follow the skater. But this time, because Mr. Hanyu skates toward the camera from far away, I think we can convey things like the sense of speed and even something like the sound in a way that comes from his ideas.

Kōda: He also gave us ideas about the sound of skating and the sound of the blades cutting into the ice. When I actually went to see REALIVE, the distance to the rink was quite close. It was my first time seeing it live, and I felt that the sound of the ice was pleasant. Mr. Hanyu also gave us ideas about valuing those kinds of sounds, and there were scenes we filmed with a focus on them.

Higashi: The sheer amount of thought he puts into things is incredible. He has so many ideas, like, “We could do it this way, or we could do it that way.”

Kōda: I think even people who are seeing figure skating for the first time will really enjoy it. During filming, all of us were standing and watching the whole time.

Higashi: We wanted to watch, and his intensity was so incredible that it didn’t feel like the kind of atmosphere where you could casually chat. It was a very serious set, but the atmosphere was good. It had the feeling of everyone creating something together, with everyone participating.

Kōda: Mr. Hanyu is an important partner in creating this project together. We want to deliver Mr. Hanyu’s new challenge as an experience that everyone can enjoy. I’d be happy if, through that experience, people could also feel a sense of familiarity with KDDI and au. I really hope everyone will look forward to it.

An Interview with Costume Designer Toshihiko Sakurai

The costumes for "HANEW EXPERIENCE" were created by Toshihiko Sakurai, who also designed the costumes for “Utai IV ~Reawakening~” and “Mass Destruction -Reload-”. We asked him about the creation process for these latest costumes.

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— What kind of costume concept did you envision for "HANEW EXPERIENCE"? The glimpses of the design sketches that have been released suggest there might be multiple versions.

When designing these costumes, my primary focus was to amplify the beauty and power of Yuzuru Hanyu’s performance—a performance that seems liberated from constraints like speed and gravity. Furthermore, I drew upon the unique perspective I gain while standing rink-side: the heavy sound of his skates striking the ice, the breeze I feel as he passes, and the sheer force with which he cuts through the air. To answer your question—yes, there are multiple designs!

— Could you tell us about your specific choices regarding the designs and materials? It’s our understanding that you collaborated closely with Yuzuru Hanyu during the creation process; what kind of requests did he have?

Since these costumes were intended for a visual experience unlike any before, I focused not only on "speed" and "gravity"—elements I’ve always prioritized in his previous costumes—but also on "distance." I’ve incorporated intricate, delicate details, which I hope will come across well when viewed on screen.

My process involves stepping into Yuzuru Hanyu’s imaginative world, then designing and proposing concepts that align with that vision. From a technical standpoint—covering everything from pattern-making and sewing to the choice of materials—I ensure that every proposal is thoroughly vetted to guarantee it won’t hinder his performance. As for the creative vision, Mr. Hanyu provided a clear direction, which we then refined together. I’ll keep the specific requests he made to myself, but I believe I’ve woven the answers to those requests into the costumes—so please take a look! I truly hope these designs serve as a bridge to the world he envisions.  

—Could you share your impressions from being present at the shoot. Specifically, how Mr. Hanyu wore the costumes and performed in them?

It’s not just this time; the moment Mr. Hanyu picks up a costume and puts it on, he seems to intuitively grasp exactly how it should be handled. After he puts it on and skates a few laps around the rink—as if to get a feel for it—it’s as though he has already completely mastered the costume. If I may say so, he truly makes it his own.

—You have also been in charge of the costumes for previous "ICE STORY" productions. What are your thoughts on how Mr. Hanyu presents himself on the ice?

He truly brings the costumes to life. As someone who designs and creates them, I am deeply grateful. He possesses such a broad, receptive nature—he embraces even the most ambitious new challenges in costume design—which makes the creative process a genuinely enjoyable experience for both me and the entire staff.