Some Yuzuru News
For the Stricken Areas, A Dance of Courage; 16 year-old Figure Skater, Yuzuru Hanyu
(translated by mot from the goldenskate.com forums - I'll take this down if it's not allowed; sorry!)
‘I was on the ice. I could barely remain standing. When the shake subsided a little, we went outside. I still had my skates on and forgot to put on the blade guards.’
March 11, when the earthquake struck, Yuzuru Hanyu, who won the World Junior title last year and the silver medal at the Four Continents Championships this year, was practising in Ice Rink Sendai.
Once stepping on the ground not covered by rubber or soft fabric, the blades get damaged and you won’t be able to use them again. It is a long-term habit to put the guards on when stepping outside, but he forgot about it then.
The skaters, who were at the rink, including Yuzuru and his coach Nanami Abe, all survived. But when they went back to the rink later, the ice melted and was covered in water. They were informed of the damaged pipework, but not much more. The rink is now inaccessible. Yuzuru’s home, located close to the rink, was also affected. Without electricity, gas and water supplies at home, he and his family spent 4 days in the evacuation centre.
‘They provided water and food for us there. I realized that we were supported by many people.’ They moved back home once electricity supply was reconnected, but it was only this month that gas supply was resumed.
Once settled down a little, skaters felt they should start skating again, but they had no ice to skate on. Ice Rink Sendai was the only all-year round rink not only for the skaters in Miyagi Prefecture, but also for those in surrounding Akita, Iwate and Yamagata Prefectures. They had no means of transport to go to rinks afar. Some rinks in Kanto region (around Tokyo) are also affected by the earthquake.
Kasamatsu ice rink in Ibaraki Prefecture is part collapsed and closed for indefinite period. Parts of walls and ceiling have collapsed at Jingu Gaien in Tokyo; they are carrying out checks and repairs and hoping to reopen in June. Aqua Rink Chiba (Chiba Prefecture) was finally reopened in April 9.
10 days after the earthquake, Yuzuru went to Yokohama with his mother on the highway bus. He first bought new boots and blades, to replace the ones damaged during the evacuation, and began practicing in Yokohama. On April 4, the rink in Hachinohe (Aomori Prefecture) reopened as the electricity shortage was overcome, and 30 skaters coached by Nanami Abe, including Yuzuru, held a training camp there. Once the camp was over, he moved once again to Yokohama.
Moving from one rink to another, he felt unmotivated and often could not bring himself to show up even time was booked for him in the morning and evening. It was said that he locked himself up in the hotel room when not practising. [;___; *hugs him forever*]
The change came when he saw Tohoku High School’s baseball team play in National Tournament on March 28. The team lost 0-7 to Nichidai-Ogaki, but watching his classmate on TV gave him energy.
He still experiences ups and downs; he became depressed when he heard about yet another blackout in Sendai due to aftershocks.
What gave him a chance to smile was cheer from the audience. On April 9, he shared the ice with other skaters, such as Daisuke Takahashi and Shizuka Arakawa, for the charity ice show in Kobe.
Nowadays, Nagoya is perceived as a Mecca of figure skating, but Sendai was another centre of Japan’s figure skating around the time of 1998 Nagano Olympics. Some skaters who were based in Sendai in those days now belong to Kansai University Skating Club; Takeshi Honda (from Fukushima Pref.) and Yamato Tamura (from Aomori Pref.) are both alumni of Tohoku High School and coach at Kansai University. It was Sendai where Daisuke Takahashi first met his long-term coach Utako Nagamitsu.
It was those people now based at Kansai University and a few others, who first came up with the idea of and realized the charity show in Kobe. 2700 tickets, including those for stand-up only, were sold and over ¥13million was collected as cash donations and by charity auctions held on the day.
Kobe was a victim of the Great Hanshin Earthquake in 1995. Seeing Kobe now, Yuzuru could not believe it was the city once destroyed by the earthquake. ‘I felt mortified watching my home town getting destroyed, but now I believe we could rebuild it if we put our efforts together.’
He skated the programme he is used to skating, ‘White Legend’, this season’s SP, and ‘Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini*’ from last season for encore. (*the original article is erroneous and thus corrected by the translator). He gave all he had and his heartfelt performance brought the audience to their feet. Nanami Abe, his coach, said of his performance ‘moving and brought me to tears.’
Yuzuru went back to Seindai to attend the ceremony to mark the beginning of new academic year at school, but he is going to be in Hachinohe from the 18th. From May onwards, he’ll be in Yokohama, Hachinohe, Yokohama again, Kanazawa, then Tokyo... He’s appearing in ice shows in those cities and planning to ask for the use of rinks there before the shows to practice. ‘Figure skating is all I have got and can do. I am hoping to show my perseverance and give courage to as many people as possible.’
Yuzuru is one of the elite athletes classified so specially by the JSF, so he could have an access to use of National Training Centre (Chukyo University Ice Arena). And the sports club in Nagoya, where coach Hiroshi Nagakubo is based, is making special arrangement for him to use their rink. (Nagakubo used to be based in Sendai.) Some connection outside Japan is also offering him an opportunity to practice abroad. However, he has no intention of moving his base from Sendai.
‘All I want to do now is to skate, and pour whatever I feel now into skating.’ He said, once it is done, he’ll then think of what to do in the future.
translation
original
;__________; Poor bb. ILH so much <33
(translated by mot from the goldenskate.com forums - I'll take this down if it's not allowed; sorry!)
‘I was on the ice. I could barely remain standing. When the shake subsided a little, we went outside. I still had my skates on and forgot to put on the blade guards.’
March 11, when the earthquake struck, Yuzuru Hanyu, who won the World Junior title last year and the silver medal at the Four Continents Championships this year, was practising in Ice Rink Sendai.
Once stepping on the ground not covered by rubber or soft fabric, the blades get damaged and you won’t be able to use them again. It is a long-term habit to put the guards on when stepping outside, but he forgot about it then.
The skaters, who were at the rink, including Yuzuru and his coach Nanami Abe, all survived. But when they went back to the rink later, the ice melted and was covered in water. They were informed of the damaged pipework, but not much more. The rink is now inaccessible. Yuzuru’s home, located close to the rink, was also affected. Without electricity, gas and water supplies at home, he and his family spent 4 days in the evacuation centre.
‘They provided water and food for us there. I realized that we were supported by many people.’ They moved back home once electricity supply was reconnected, but it was only this month that gas supply was resumed.
Once settled down a little, skaters felt they should start skating again, but they had no ice to skate on. Ice Rink Sendai was the only all-year round rink not only for the skaters in Miyagi Prefecture, but also for those in surrounding Akita, Iwate and Yamagata Prefectures. They had no means of transport to go to rinks afar. Some rinks in Kanto region (around Tokyo) are also affected by the earthquake.
Kasamatsu ice rink in Ibaraki Prefecture is part collapsed and closed for indefinite period. Parts of walls and ceiling have collapsed at Jingu Gaien in Tokyo; they are carrying out checks and repairs and hoping to reopen in June. Aqua Rink Chiba (Chiba Prefecture) was finally reopened in April 9.
10 days after the earthquake, Yuzuru went to Yokohama with his mother on the highway bus. He first bought new boots and blades, to replace the ones damaged during the evacuation, and began practicing in Yokohama. On April 4, the rink in Hachinohe (Aomori Prefecture) reopened as the electricity shortage was overcome, and 30 skaters coached by Nanami Abe, including Yuzuru, held a training camp there. Once the camp was over, he moved once again to Yokohama.
Moving from one rink to another, he felt unmotivated and often could not bring himself to show up even time was booked for him in the morning and evening. It was said that he locked himself up in the hotel room when not practising. [;___; *hugs him forever*]
The change came when he saw Tohoku High School’s baseball team play in National Tournament on March 28. The team lost 0-7 to Nichidai-Ogaki, but watching his classmate on TV gave him energy.
He still experiences ups and downs; he became depressed when he heard about yet another blackout in Sendai due to aftershocks.
What gave him a chance to smile was cheer from the audience. On April 9, he shared the ice with other skaters, such as Daisuke Takahashi and Shizuka Arakawa, for the charity ice show in Kobe.
Nowadays, Nagoya is perceived as a Mecca of figure skating, but Sendai was another centre of Japan’s figure skating around the time of 1998 Nagano Olympics. Some skaters who were based in Sendai in those days now belong to Kansai University Skating Club; Takeshi Honda (from Fukushima Pref.) and Yamato Tamura (from Aomori Pref.) are both alumni of Tohoku High School and coach at Kansai University. It was Sendai where Daisuke Takahashi first met his long-term coach Utako Nagamitsu.
It was those people now based at Kansai University and a few others, who first came up with the idea of and realized the charity show in Kobe. 2700 tickets, including those for stand-up only, were sold and over ¥13million was collected as cash donations and by charity auctions held on the day.
Kobe was a victim of the Great Hanshin Earthquake in 1995. Seeing Kobe now, Yuzuru could not believe it was the city once destroyed by the earthquake. ‘I felt mortified watching my home town getting destroyed, but now I believe we could rebuild it if we put our efforts together.’
He skated the programme he is used to skating, ‘White Legend’, this season’s SP, and ‘Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini*’ from last season for encore. (*the original article is erroneous and thus corrected by the translator). He gave all he had and his heartfelt performance brought the audience to their feet. Nanami Abe, his coach, said of his performance ‘moving and brought me to tears.’
Yuzuru went back to Seindai to attend the ceremony to mark the beginning of new academic year at school, but he is going to be in Hachinohe from the 18th. From May onwards, he’ll be in Yokohama, Hachinohe, Yokohama again, Kanazawa, then Tokyo... He’s appearing in ice shows in those cities and planning to ask for the use of rinks there before the shows to practice. ‘Figure skating is all I have got and can do. I am hoping to show my perseverance and give courage to as many people as possible.’
Yuzuru is one of the elite athletes classified so specially by the JSF, so he could have an access to use of National Training Centre (Chukyo University Ice Arena). And the sports club in Nagoya, where coach Hiroshi Nagakubo is based, is making special arrangement for him to use their rink. (Nagakubo used to be based in Sendai.) Some connection outside Japan is also offering him an opportunity to practice abroad. However, he has no intention of moving his base from Sendai.
‘All I want to do now is to skate, and pour whatever I feel now into skating.’ He said, once it is done, he’ll then think of what to do in the future.
translation
original
;__________; Poor bb. ILH so much <33