NHK Trophy Interviews: Welcome to Yutaka's Room!
You saw him crying for Mao,
Now hear him sing happy birthday for Charlie White!
UPDATE: NOW WITH TRANSLATION OF YUZURU & DAISUKE'S INTERVIEW
"Yutaka's Room" is a special interview program filmed live in the Kiss & Cry at the NHK Trophy, right before the gala and during the interval.
It has become a must-see part of the NHK broadcast, since the atmosphere is warm and the skaters show their true feelings about how they performed in the competition.
In case you're wondering, Yutaka Higuchi is a former singles skater who represented Japan at the Grenoble (1968) and Sapporo Olympics (1972).
He is now a well established coach/choreographer and official commentator on ice dance at NHK.
Now don't you dare call this man creepy. He just loves his skaters too much!
The Japanese fans call him onei (big sis) and I think you'll understand why :D
CAROLINA KOSTNER
TAKAHITO MURA & THE REEDS
MAO ASADA
TAKAHASHI/TRAN
KANAKO MURAKAMI
KIIRA KORPI & JEREMY ABBOTT
THE SHIBUTANIS
YUZURU & DAISUKE
TRANSLATION
Kariya: You fell and hit your head during your exhibition skate. Are you okay?
Yuzuru: I'm okay, I'm okay. I was just a bit tired.
Kariya: You were icing your head.
Kariya: How was the NHK Trophy for you?
Yuzuru: It made me nervous, but practicing with the top international skaters was a privilege for me and there were so many things to learn from the experience. It was a fun competition.
Kariya: Your quad was great.
Yutaka: The height and the flow were both very good.
*Watching Yuzuru's FS*
Yutaka: You didn't look nervous at all. But then again I guess everyone does, so...
Yuzuru: I was very nervous, really.
Yutaka: You had so much speed.
Kariya: It was the first time you landed [the quad] in a competition, wasn't it?
Yuzuru: Yes, it was. It was my first challenge and my first success.
Kariya: It didn't seem like that at all.
Yutaka: It was as if you're always landing them. Fantastic.
Yuzuru: I'm surprised too. When I look at the video now I think it looks better than I thought.
Kariya: Did you feel that you jumped it clean?
Yuzuru: I didn't hear any cheering from the crowd right after I landed it so I thought, "Was that a triple?"
Yukina: The crowd was in awe.
Yutaka: Yes, because it was so beautiful.
Yuzuru: I surprised myself too.
Kariya: After the plunge you felt the roar didn't you?
Yuzuru: Yes. I got goosepumps myself. I thought, "I'm so glad I did it!"
Kariya: It should give you a lot of confidence.
Yuzuru: Yes, it was my first challenge and my first success so I think it gave me confidence. I will practice it a lot more starting from this season.
Kariya: Were you a bit tired in the end?
Yuzuru: Yes, I was. I don't have enough stamina yet.
*Daisuke enters*
Kariya: Here's Daisuke Takahashi, please sit next to him.
Kariya: Now that we have these two together, please watch this clip.
*Daisuke's SP begins, Yuzuru does his LOL face in the crowd*
Daisuke: What kind of laugh was that?
Yuzuru: I laughed when the crowd went squee!
Kariya: Watch when exactly he laughs.
Yuzuru: Stop it! I was surprised! *laughs* You're repeating this too much!
Kariya: What was so funny?
Yuzuru: I was overwhelmed by the atmosphere, and I thought that the reaction of the crowd was so different.
Kariya: You saw that and was overwhelmed.
Yuzuru: Yes, yes. I was overwhelmed.
Kariya: It wasn't like you found it funny.
Yuzuru: No, no.
Daisuke: Thank you very much.
Kariya: I suppose it was that hot.
Daisuke: Yes, I think so, but I'm not quite there yet.
Kariya: You want to make it even hotter?
Daisuke: Yes.
Kariya: How was it like being in the same competition, watching him from a close distance?
Yuzuru: I thought that his expressiveness was great, he's got fantastic steps, and on top of that they're so accurate. There are so many things I want to imitate. I felt I wanted to better myself.
Kariya: How was it for you?
Daisuke: When I was 15 (to Yuzuru: you're 15 right?) I couldn't speak this coherently, I couldn't land the quad in a competiton. He was so calm during the competition and I was so impressed. He will gain a lot of experience from now on and although it's a bit awkward for me to say, I think he can aim for the top. When I remember myself at the age of 15, he's so made up. And he's going to improve a lot more. I think it's fantastic he was able to deliver a great performance in front of this massive crowd.
Yuzuru: Thank you very much.
Kariya: Remember, this is Yutaka's room. *laughs*
*Watching Yuzuru's quad*
Yutaka: This quad has so much height and flow after landing.
Daisuke: It's beautiful. It was airy.
Yutaka: Your body is so slim.
*Watching Daisuke's quad*
Daisuke: That was a bit dangerous.
Yuzuru: No, it's still beautiful. It's incredible how you can fix it in the landing.
Yukina: This was your best quad including those at practice, right?
Daisuke: This was the only one I landed clean. *laughs* It's a miracle.
Kariya: I was talking to Honda-san earlier and he mentioned that too. You didn't land any at practice and you made it in the competetion.
Yukina: Good luck is part of your strength too.
Kariya: It's opposite from how you used to be before.
Daisuke: Yes. I think so too.
Kariya: You used to land them in practice and you missed them in competition.
Daisuke: Yes, I used to do that a lot. People always said I'm good at practice.
Kariya: Isn't it because you've been through so much hard times that you became a lot stronger at competitions?
Daisuke: I don't know...
Kariya: You have nothing to fear don't you?
Daisuke: Yes...well no. Compared to the last season.
Yutaka: You look a lot calmer.
Kariya: Yutaka-sensei, I thought as I was watching him skate he's finally got to the realms of skaters like Yagudin and Plushenko.
Yukina: His performance is so sophistiated.
Yutaka: I think he might have even more style. I thought your performance was fantastic.
Kariya: There was no sign of nervousness or stiffness. You went out there and just did it.
Yutaka: I was so drawn in to your performance.
Daisuke: Really? Thank you. But I could only do about half of what I do in practice...
Kariya: Only half?
Daisuke: In terms of performance. The jumps you only know when you're out there, but in terms of performance I can do a bit more, so I have to practice.
Kariya: We had you write down your goal for this season on a cardboard... No you didn't have the time. Can you just say it out loud?
Yuzuru: For me, I need to concentrate on my skating. In this competition I felt it's important not to get carried away by the others, so I just need to focus on myself. Plus I want to incorporate the good things I see, like Takahashi-san's steps.
Daisuke: I've been saying this all along but since I have the chance to defend my world title this year, I'll be aiming for it. That's not all though. The first priority is to polish up my performance, but since it's good to have an obvious goal, I'll say I want to achieve my second consecutive win at the World Championships.
Kariya: If you keep on going like this you might even win the gold at Sochi!
Daisuke: *laughs* It's too early to say.
Kariya: Thank you very much for coming.
Yutaka: Have a great skate. You were really fantastic today.
YUZURU ♥ KANAKO TYFYT :)
Now hear him sing happy birthday for Charlie White!
UPDATE: NOW WITH TRANSLATION OF YUZURU & DAISUKE'S INTERVIEW
"Yutaka's Room" is a special interview program filmed live in the Kiss & Cry at the NHK Trophy, right before the gala and during the interval.
It has become a must-see part of the NHK broadcast, since the atmosphere is warm and the skaters show their true feelings about how they performed in the competition.
In case you're wondering, Yutaka Higuchi is a former singles skater who represented Japan at the Grenoble (1968) and Sapporo Olympics (1972).
He is now a well established coach/choreographer and official commentator on ice dance at NHK.
Now don't you dare call this man creepy. He just loves his skaters too much!
The Japanese fans call him onei (big sis) and I think you'll understand why :D
CAROLINA KOSTNER
TAKAHITO MURA & THE REEDS
MAO ASADA
TAKAHASHI/TRAN
KANAKO MURAKAMI
KIIRA KORPI & JEREMY ABBOTT
THE SHIBUTANIS
YUZURU & DAISUKE
TRANSLATION
Kariya: You fell and hit your head during your exhibition skate. Are you okay?
Yuzuru: I'm okay, I'm okay. I was just a bit tired.
Kariya: You were icing your head.
Kariya: How was the NHK Trophy for you?
Yuzuru: It made me nervous, but practicing with the top international skaters was a privilege for me and there were so many things to learn from the experience. It was a fun competition.
Kariya: Your quad was great.
Yutaka: The height and the flow were both very good.
*Watching Yuzuru's FS*
Yutaka: You didn't look nervous at all. But then again I guess everyone does, so...
Yuzuru: I was very nervous, really.
Yutaka: You had so much speed.
Kariya: It was the first time you landed [the quad] in a competition, wasn't it?
Yuzuru: Yes, it was. It was my first challenge and my first success.
Kariya: It didn't seem like that at all.
Yutaka: It was as if you're always landing them. Fantastic.
Yuzuru: I'm surprised too. When I look at the video now I think it looks better than I thought.
Kariya: Did you feel that you jumped it clean?
Yuzuru: I didn't hear any cheering from the crowd right after I landed it so I thought, "Was that a triple?"
Yukina: The crowd was in awe.
Yutaka: Yes, because it was so beautiful.
Yuzuru: I surprised myself too.
Kariya: After the plunge you felt the roar didn't you?
Yuzuru: Yes. I got goosepumps myself. I thought, "I'm so glad I did it!"
Kariya: It should give you a lot of confidence.
Yuzuru: Yes, it was my first challenge and my first success so I think it gave me confidence. I will practice it a lot more starting from this season.
Kariya: Were you a bit tired in the end?
Yuzuru: Yes, I was. I don't have enough stamina yet.
*Daisuke enters*
Kariya: Here's Daisuke Takahashi, please sit next to him.
Kariya: Now that we have these two together, please watch this clip.
*Daisuke's SP begins, Yuzuru does his LOL face in the crowd*
Daisuke: What kind of laugh was that?
Yuzuru: I laughed when the crowd went squee!
Kariya: Watch when exactly he laughs.
Yuzuru: Stop it! I was surprised! *laughs* You're repeating this too much!
Kariya: What was so funny?
Yuzuru: I was overwhelmed by the atmosphere, and I thought that the reaction of the crowd was so different.
Kariya: You saw that and was overwhelmed.
Yuzuru: Yes, yes. I was overwhelmed.
Kariya: It wasn't like you found it funny.
Yuzuru: No, no.
Daisuke: Thank you very much.
Kariya: I suppose it was that hot.
Daisuke: Yes, I think so, but I'm not quite there yet.
Kariya: You want to make it even hotter?
Daisuke: Yes.
Kariya: How was it like being in the same competition, watching him from a close distance?
Yuzuru: I thought that his expressiveness was great, he's got fantastic steps, and on top of that they're so accurate. There are so many things I want to imitate. I felt I wanted to better myself.
Kariya: How was it for you?
Daisuke: When I was 15 (to Yuzuru: you're 15 right?) I couldn't speak this coherently, I couldn't land the quad in a competiton. He was so calm during the competition and I was so impressed. He will gain a lot of experience from now on and although it's a bit awkward for me to say, I think he can aim for the top. When I remember myself at the age of 15, he's so made up. And he's going to improve a lot more. I think it's fantastic he was able to deliver a great performance in front of this massive crowd.
Yuzuru: Thank you very much.
Kariya: Remember, this is Yutaka's room. *laughs*
*Watching Yuzuru's quad*
Yutaka: This quad has so much height and flow after landing.
Daisuke: It's beautiful. It was airy.
Yutaka: Your body is so slim.
*Watching Daisuke's quad*
Daisuke: That was a bit dangerous.
Yuzuru: No, it's still beautiful. It's incredible how you can fix it in the landing.
Yukina: This was your best quad including those at practice, right?
Daisuke: This was the only one I landed clean. *laughs* It's a miracle.
Kariya: I was talking to Honda-san earlier and he mentioned that too. You didn't land any at practice and you made it in the competetion.
Yukina: Good luck is part of your strength too.
Kariya: It's opposite from how you used to be before.
Daisuke: Yes. I think so too.
Kariya: You used to land them in practice and you missed them in competition.
Daisuke: Yes, I used to do that a lot. People always said I'm good at practice.
Kariya: Isn't it because you've been through so much hard times that you became a lot stronger at competitions?
Daisuke: I don't know...
Kariya: You have nothing to fear don't you?
Daisuke: Yes...well no. Compared to the last season.
Yutaka: You look a lot calmer.
Kariya: Yutaka-sensei, I thought as I was watching him skate he's finally got to the realms of skaters like Yagudin and Plushenko.
Yukina: His performance is so sophistiated.
Yutaka: I think he might have even more style. I thought your performance was fantastic.
Kariya: There was no sign of nervousness or stiffness. You went out there and just did it.
Yutaka: I was so drawn in to your performance.
Daisuke: Really? Thank you. But I could only do about half of what I do in practice...
Kariya: Only half?
Daisuke: In terms of performance. The jumps you only know when you're out there, but in terms of performance I can do a bit more, so I have to practice.
Kariya: We had you write down your goal for this season on a cardboard... No you didn't have the time. Can you just say it out loud?
Yuzuru: For me, I need to concentrate on my skating. In this competition I felt it's important not to get carried away by the others, so I just need to focus on myself. Plus I want to incorporate the good things I see, like Takahashi-san's steps.
Daisuke: I've been saying this all along but since I have the chance to defend my world title this year, I'll be aiming for it. That's not all though. The first priority is to polish up my performance, but since it's good to have an obvious goal, I'll say I want to achieve my second consecutive win at the World Championships.
Kariya: If you keep on going like this you might even win the gold at Sochi!
Daisuke: *laughs* It's too early to say.
Kariya: Thank you very much for coming.
Yutaka: Have a great skate. You were really fantastic today.
YUZURU ♥ KANAKO TYFYT :)