It all started when Yuzuru Hanyu said he was a MOTHER 2 fan on a TV program. This brought about the kind of discussion you only dream about. Not in a cliche way, but really and truly an amazing thing. Last December, Yuzuru Hanyu and Shigesato Itoi met in a studio in Sendai and talked about all kinds of things for two hours. We’re pleased to be able to bring you that discussion.
Yuzuru Hanyu
Born in 1994 in Miyagi Prefecture. Began figure skating at 4 years old and became world junior champion at age 14. Later won four consecutive Grand Prix Finals and four consecutive Japan Figure Skating Championships. Also won two gold medals in a row at the Sochi and Pyeongchang Olympics. Became a professional figure skater in July 2022. Currently concentrating on producing and starring in an ice show.
Boyhood／Mirror Neuron／Heaven and Earth／Mr. Saturn／
Ballet／Timeline／Homesick／Universe／Johnny Weir／
Reset／Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami／Picasso／Sprain／
Parallel Universe／Heroic Sword and an Evil Sword／Produce／
Astro Boy／Music／Ness／Fifteen-year-old／
Romeo and Juliet／Goldfish／Nap／Athlete／Millennials／
Elder sister／A Beatles song, XXXterday／
Score／Vinyl／Death／Youngest child／
That／Hip hop／Mozart／Dilemma／Ice Show
- Itoi
- It must be hard to practice figure skating when it requires access to ice.
- Hanyu
- Yeah. And Japan has a relatively short season where you can go on the ice, so that makes it hard to improve at skating—or at least to have the necessary conditions to be able to train on ice.
- Itoi
- If you’ve got such a long stretch of time when you’re unable to train, that must mean you’ve got all the more time to think.
- Hanyu
- That could be true. I don’t consider it having a long time to think, but rather that I’ve got a very limited amount of time to practice. I probably think exponentially more than other people, though.
- Itoi
- That’s the impression I get.
- Hanyu
- I feel like kids who do figure skating nowadays see it as more of a sport. Like they’d see how many variations they can jump. When it comes to jumps, you can’t necessarily just think about it forever—at some point you’ll face the answer to what you can do. Expression is a whole different story. It’s more philosophical, so you can think about it forever and ever and never reach a true answer. Jumps, however, have a set definition of success and there’s an actual correct answer for it. So to some extent, there’s only so much you can think about it.
- Itoi
- In other words, it’s easy to assume if you practice jumping a lot you’ll be able to do it. People tend to see that as a matter of hard work, but that might be something that actually makes it easy in the end—all you have to do is try it over and over again.
- Hanyu
- Ah, that’s true.
- Itoi
- There’s a sense of accomplishment behind doing something a ton of times. It seems like that approach stands in the way of people nowadays, though. But listening to you, because you’re not able to do it very often, each and every practice you hold atop the ice seems like a very precious moment you have to take seriously.
- Hanyu
- That’s exactly it. It’s a precious opportunity, and I don’t think it’s limited to figure skating. No one’s going to teach you how to make the best of each of those opportunities. It’s not like school, for example, where you’re told to write a kanji ten times to memorize it.
- Itoi
- Right.
- Hanyu
- I’m sure that kind of teaching style is gradually changing over time, but I think what’s important is someone’s ability to fit quality learning into a short period of time. That one’s crucial for figure skating.
- Itoi
- I see figure skating practice is hard enough to get you thinking that deeply about it.
- Hanyu
- It is. (Laughs)
- Itoi
- There are less places to skate on the ice than when compared to pools and such.
- Hanyu
- Yeah. There’s really very little ice in Japan, so it can be a scramble to get a spot to practice. When I was in junior high school, I couldn’t skate any more than 45 minutes a day. And it’s extremely important to practice figure skating while playing music, but when I was finally able to get some time on the ice, I was rarely able to play the song that was for my own program. That’s when I started to wonder what I could do in order to improve.
- Itoi
- Has that changed now that you’re done competing and are performing in ice shows?
- Hanyu
- It’s basically the same situation. I’ve always loved the sports aspect of figure skating, so when I’ve got time to practice, I work on jumps and spins and really pour my physical energy into it. But lately, I’ve been making sure to set aside time to reset because I’ve used up so much energy. I’ll play games and read manga and stuff when I’m not skating. Now that I’m producing my own ice show, though, I’ve always got on the back of my mind questions about what kind of story I want to tell. So even when I’m relaxing with a manga or game, I’m thinking about what I can incorporate into my ice shows, and it gets tiring. (Laughs)
- Itoi
- Ah. (Laughs) So you’re a producer now, through and through.
- Hanyu
- Yeah. It’s not just about coming up with ideas for how to portray the world I want to express, it’s also about taking actual steps to do so. I’ve got a lot to learn, and I feel like I need to absorb a lot of things and increase my skills and vocabulary to properly convey the image I want to express. It’s tough.
- Itoi
- There’s never an end to things like that, and that’s what’s so fun. However, if you get too caught up in your own world or imagery, you’ll push away the audience.
- Hanyu
- No matter how cool or pretty of imagery you’ve come up with, you need to have a desire to express its essence to the audience. If you don’t get that image across to the audience, you’re losing sight of what you need to prioritize. So you need to make things easy to understand. But at the same time, if you don’t focus on things that you personally want to focus on, you’ll lose your motivation to do it in the first place. I make sure to maintain that balance.
- Itoi
- Do you have anyone to talk to who feels the same way about that? It seems like you’d be stuck going in circles if you had to do that by yourself.
- Hanyu
- There’s someone I call Mikiko-sensei who handles direction for the show, and I talk to her a lot. But in the end, I do have the responsibility to create it myself.
- Itoi
- Yeah.
- Hanyu
- Sure, there are times I kind of get stuck in the mud, but fortunately, it’s easy nowadays to access all kinds of information and get hints on what to do. But on the other hand, with all that information, the things we make are all the easier to discard and consume. Even if we make something good, people will take it, say “Hey, that’s nice,” and then tuck it away in some corner somewhere. So I think about how we should portray things in such a disposable age we’re in now. If something disappears, we still need to make something new. It’s a bit tough, but I think there are a lot of clues for us to work from.
Boyhood／Mirror Neuron／Heaven and Earth／Mr. Saturn／
Ballet／Timeline／Homesick／Universe／Johnny Weir／
Reset／Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami／Picasso／Sprain／
Parallel Universe／Heroic Sword and an Evil Sword／Produce／
Astro Boy／Music／Ness／Fifteen-year-old／
Romeo and Juliet／Goldfish／Nap／Athlete／Millennials／
Elder sister／A Beatles song, XXXterday／
Score／Vinyl／Death／Youngest child／
That／Hip hop／Mozart／Dilemma／Ice Show
（To be continued）
2024-03-07-THU
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Photography: Toru Yaguchi
Clothing: tk.TAKEO KIKUCHI