Angelic Yuzuru

[Angelic Yuzuru]

Prayer On Ice
Great East Japan Earthquake 5 years on
NHK Trophy Figure Skating Special Exhibition Off-stage (Yuzu-focus)

[from 4:45 of video]
2 days before the show, Hanyu visited Otsuchi in Iwate prefecture, a town that was severely hit by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.  Hanyu has been helping to garner support for its recovery since the disaster.  But he has not had a chance to visit til now.

[In the van]
Yuzu:  The people living here… how are they living now, what kind of expressions and feelings are they living with…. I probably won’t be asking them directly, but through their words and the mood, I want to get a bit of the feeling.

[Yuzu prays at an area near the sea where many people lost their lives.]
Y:  Every time I come to the areas that were hit by the disaster, the tsunami, I feel many emotions which are hard for me to express.  We are all outsiders actually.   There is a part in everyone’s hearts that no one can touch.
[looking out of window of van]
When I see this kind of scene, my thought is, really, what can I do? The song ‘Hana wa Saku’ also has this in its lyrics – “what did I leave behind” (nani o nokoshita darou) So in this time that we are living, what can we leave behind?  It really makes me think about that.

[Yuzu arrives at a school. It is made up of 4 elementary and junior high schools. They are combined as one school, and 3rd grade of junior high is called 9th grade.]
Yuzu: So you call yourselves 9th grade students?
Student: Yes.

[In an elementary classroom]
Yuzu: [looking at chairs and tables]  So small!  Sit? I think I can’t sit…. so small! ^^

[library]
Yuzu: This is the library for elementary students?
Student: Yes.  When we have a new school building, we will have better facilities.  We are looking forward to that.
Y: When will the new school be built?
S: Around next year September.
Y: Oh so it’s just a bit more. You can have a new school life in a new building.
S: Yes.

[Children’s room– this place takes care of children whose parents are working.]

[Back in van]
Y: They have gone through something so painful and difficult.  Seeing these people from the affected areas, it may be just for a short moment, seeing their smiles, hearing their voices, I can feel they are working hard and trying their best.

[from 13:18]
Shizuka Arakawa, Takeshi Honda, Akiko Suzuki and Yuzuru Hanyu will perform the recovery-support song, ‘Hana wa Saku’.
Before this, Arakawa had skated to it in 2012, Hanyu in 2014.

These 4 skaters have a connection to Tohoku and this was the impetus for the performance.  Honda was born in Fukushima, Suzuki graduated from a university in Sendai, Arakawa and Hanyu were born in Sendai.  
The programme is choreographed by Nanami Abe who is based in Sendai.

Shizu: It’s the first time that 4 of us are skating as a group.
Akiko:  Yes.  We are all from slightly different generations.
Yuzu:  We are really enjoying it while working on the choreography.
Shizu:  I am the mother.  Me and…
Honda:  I am Father.
Akiko:  I am big sister?
Yuzu:  Yes big sister.  I am younger brother.
[laughter]
Yuzu:  We are all single skaters.  We seldom get a chance to skate like this. So it is very enjoyable.

[@17.44] The girl who sang the song for this performance is watching the rehearsal, together with composer Yoko Kanno.   She is 19 year-old Misaki Usuzawa, from Otsuchi, the town that Yuzu visited before this.   She said it felt like a dream to be there watching the skaters skating to this song.

[@23:10]
Yuzu:  Above the title 'NHK Trophy Special Exhibition’, it is written 'Earthquake, 5 years’. Seeing that, my biggest thought this time is–  as a person from the Tohoku region which has suffered severe destruction, I feel very proud and happy that I can do this performance. Plus, doing something that only I can do, related to the disaster area, among the current top skaters, I was nearest the earthquake when it happened, as a person who was near the place that suffered the greatest harm, there is a performance that I can do. I hope I can do that performance and leave something of it in everyone’s hearts.

(my partial translation with paraphrasing in some parts)

Alternate video with Chinese subs: v.youku.com  (thanks to uploaders for the videos)

Update on 15 March: 10-min English-subbed video by NHK World TV.

[Angelic Yuzuru]

‘Hana wa Saku’ at NHK Special Exhibition (9 Jan 2016) ~talk and performance~

‘Hana wa Saku’ (Flowers Will Bloom) is the song for recovery from the Great East Japan (Tohoku) disaster.  Shizuka Arakawa and Yuzuru Hanyu have performed to this song before.  This time, it will be performed by Takeshi Honda, Arakawa and Hanyu, all 3 were born in Tohoku, and Akiko Suzuki who lived in Miyagi prefecture (a part of Tohoku) during her university days.

Yuzu:  We are all single skaters.  It is rare to have a chance to perform in a group like this together.  Moreover they are my senpai (senior).  I feel very happy and blessed skating with them.
Because it’s a group, so it’s 4 persons’ thoughts and feelings becoming one. The illumination is also very beautiful.  So I hope everyone will enjoy it.

[At the end of talk,]
Yuzu:  This is a programme where we can become one with everybody here.  So please watch and enjoy it. ^^

[performance of ‘Hana wa Saku’ by 4 skaters]

(sorry, I have only translated Yuzu’s talk)  (thanks to yuzuemon1207 for the video) (performance was so beautiful…..)

[Angelic Yuzuru]

Yuzuru’s new interview on “Hana wa saku” (flowers will bloom), aired on NHK this afternoon (2nd July 2015).
=====
Even though I am not singing the song “hana wa saku”, I feel as if I am singing as a skater.  
I think that I am expressing through my body expression, the smoothness and jumps.
So, as an artist, I have a feeling of achievement by being able to take part in the project “hana wa saku”, by which I myself was also very much encouraged.  
In the hopes that I would like to do something (for the areas affected by the disasters) and that I would like to do something through myself, I did it [participated in the project].
If there is anything that speaks to your mind, I would be very happy.

Translated by Sophie Moroi (on FB, YH International Fan Group)

[Angelic Yuzuru]

Yuzuru’s new interview on “Hana wa Saku” [”flowers will bloom”], aired on NHK this morning in Japan (28 June).

(Narration:  Our next interviewee is Mr. Yuzuru Hanyu, the gold medalist of the Sochi Olympics, who comes from Sendai City.  It’s been just a year since he skated to the song to support reconstruction “Hana wa saku” [for the first time in June 2014].  He talked about the thoughts he put into his skating to that song.  His victory at the Sochi Olympics conferred huge encouragement to the affected areas as well as to the entire nation.  But, he said that his thoughts were complicated.)

Yuzuru: At that time when I received the Olympics gold medal, I wondered what on earth I was able to offer.

(Narration: Wondering what he could offer, Mr.Hanyu performed a story of hope for reconstruction, through the song “Hana wa saku.”  He first performed “Hana wa saku” at the Icerink Sendai where he was training since his childhood. He was there at the time of the [3.11] earthquake.)  

Yuzuru: I myself was hit by the earthquake.  While the building didn’t collapse, I witnessed big cracks and the rink in pitch dark.  That’s why I was able to put my special emotion [into the programme] when the rink was light up, remembering that I had been hit by the earthquake and had scary experience.  As the song gradually went to the climax, the scene [i.e. the rink] also became clearer.  I was skating to the song, feeling that I am so blessed to be able to skate and that the reconstruction of many facilities progressed this much thanks to so many people’s efforts.    

To be sure, I would like to convey a message to those affected populations. But, at the same time, by expressing my own experience, I would be happy if audience can feel something in their heart, by watching me as I am.

(Narration: Lastly, he gave a message to those affected populations.)  

Yuzuru:  [Yuzuru wrote ARIGATOU (thank you) on the board.]  One of the meanings is that I thank all the cheering and support for my skating.   It also refers to the thank-you messages that I have always received from my fans.  As those two “thank you” messages overlap, it would be great if fans and I can be united into one and achieve something together.  In addition, I am sure fans will continue supporting me, so “thank you” to such continuous support from now on, too. 

Translated by Sophie Moroi on FB (YH International Fan Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/1610393525875114/)

[Angelic Yuzuru]

Yuzuru Hanyu X Fumiya Sashida  X ‘Hana wa Saku’ 

In this programme ‘Spring Song 2015’, Sashida said that he and Yuzuru collaborated on one of his songs previously (’Hana ni Nare’) for an ice show and they became friends.  The two talked about what they could do for the recovery of Tohoku and this came about – Sashida singing and Yuzu skating to 'Hana wa Saku’ (meaning ‘Flowers will Bloom’). They wanted a simple arrangement that would convey their thoughts and feelings.  [my rough translation] 

2014 ‘NHK World’ video, Yuzu skating ‘Hana wa Saku’, with ENG SUBS for the song: https://www.dailymotion.com/…/x22pcw7_hana-wa-saku-flowers-…  

July 2014, making-of ‘Hana wa Saku’: https://www.dailymotion.com/…/x21c64n_140712-yuzuru-hanyu-h…