Figure Skaters' Oasis♪ [KENJI's Room] KANA MURAMOTO & DAISUKE TAKAHASHI Part 1
Figure Skating Talk by J SPORTS Editorial Team
Kenji Miyamoto is a former ice dancer and world-renowned choreographer. He is well-liked by the top skaters and his humorous character has made him the big brother of Japanese figure skaters. Kenji welcomes Japan's top skaters to his 30-minute talk show!
This time, his guests are Daisuke Takahashi, who surprised the world by switching to ice dance, and his partner, Kana Muramoto. They talked about how they spend their time during the Corona pandemic and how they formed the couple/team.
About your second appearance
Takahashi: I haven't been on the show for a very long time, I think it was 2014. Since then, I retired, came back, became an ice dancer, and many things happened. I have a lot of things to talk about, so I'm going to talk a lot (laughs).
Muramoto: 5 years after his (Dai’s) last appearance, we formed a team and Dai-chan made a new start as an ice dancer. So I'd like to talk about many things with Kenji-sensei, who is also my senior ice dancer.
Memories of the last time on the show
Takahashi: I remember that Mr. Yamato (Tamura) intervened in the middle of the show (laughs). We were having fun.
My relationship with KENJI
Muramoto: I hadn't had a chance to communicate with Kenji since I switched to ice dance, but this year we had a lot of practice in Japan because of Corona, so I/we asked him to make our ice dance program for the first time. [アイスダンスに変わってからは賢二先生と交流する機会がなかったんですけど、今年はコロナの関係もあって日本で練習することも多かったので、初めてアイスダンスのプログラムを賢二先生に作ってもらったりしました。]
Takahashi: Between NHK Trophy and All-Japan, when we needed to fix something, it was hard to come up with ideas by ourselves, but Kenji gave us some ideas. He really helped us a lot, thank you very much.
The show starts!
KENJI: This is the second time for each of you to appear on KENJI's Room, but I'm a little surprised that you've come back like this. Oh, Dai-chan, are you tired?
Takahashi: I am a bit tired (laughs). But it’s going up from here!
KENJI: Kana-chan is looking killer, but Dai-chan is looking down, are you OK? [カナちゃんはキラーンとしてるけどさ、大ちゃんボヨーンとしてるけど、大丈夫？]
Takahashi: I think I'm a bit nervous.
Muramoto: I'll keep my head down too.
Takahashi: No, no, I think I'll keep it together. [いやいや、キュッとしとこうかな。]
KENJI: It must have been a different season because of the new Corona virus, but how did you spend your time?
Takahashi: First of all, the rink in America was closed. At first I thought it would be better not to go back.
Muramoto: Yes, we were very confused.
Takahashi: Because we might not be able to come back.
Muramoto: I didn't know what would happen. We were both pretty dark/down for about a week, weren't we?
Takahashi: We wondered what's going to happen... It was like that. But at that time, I don't know if it's right to say that Japan was more relaxed, but we heard from our friends that it was still less tense than in America, so we decided to go back home. If we were a couple/team, who had been together for a long time, we could train without skating for a month or so, but we thought it was important now to skate together, with or without a coach. We made that choice and decided to go back, and then the rink was closed for two months in America. We took the proper steps and were allowed to skate (in Japan), so it was the right choice there, wasn't it?
KENJI: How long were you able to skate a day?
Takahashi: We were able to skate for about 3 hours.
KENJI: So you were able to skate a lot?
Muramoto: Sometimes we would make time to practice remotely with coach Marina.
What you got into during the self-restraint period?
Takahashi: Kana-chan was watching "Crash Landing on You" a lot.
Muramoto: "Demon Slayer" too. It was the first time I got into anime.
Takahashi: I like anime.
Muramoto: He recommended it to me. Anyway, it was all about movies and dramas. Also, I don't know if this is a thing in Japan, but I cut down (pictures/reproductions of) paintings of famous painters, and they were like stickers, and if you put/piece them together, you could complete one famous painting. I used to do that all the time.
KENJI: The work is simple, but it sounds fun.
How the couple/team was formed
Takahashi: At first, Kana-chan was looking for a partner. At that time, Mr. Yamato (Tamura) pushed me a lot like "Aren't you interested in dancing?” But I was like "No, no, no, I can't do that" for about a season. To be honest, I wanted to do ice dancing too, so I was like, "Well, maybe not.” [正直アイスダンスをやりたい気持ちもあったんで「無くもないかな」みたいな。] That was the season when I came back. But in the end, nothing happened. But then in January [2019], Kana contacted me.
Muramoto: It was a combination of timing, but I had heard from others that Dai-chan was interested in ice dancing, but not from him, so I wanted to ask him how he really felt about it. I was also looking for a partner when he came back, so I was not sure if it was right to ask him right after he came back. But then I happened to go to see a play/performance, and he was there too.
Takahashi: In the middle of the play, there was a part where they invited the audience to come and do something, and I was chosen to do it, so I was sent up on stage.
Muramoto: (watching it) “What? Dai-chan?” Like that. I was like, "What?” But I didn't have Dai-chan's contact information at that time, so I asked my sister Sacchan (Satsuki Muramoto) to give me Dai-chan's contact information and I contacted him right away. At that time, he had already left, but we decided to arrange an appointment and talk, and that was in January.
KENJI: Were you two close to begin with?
Muramoto: We used to practice together at Kansai University, but we just said hello to each other.
Takahashi: I talked with her sister, but I never talked much with Kana.
KENJI: How did you feel when Dai-chan said yes?
Muramoto: I was so nervous when I first met him (laughs).
Takahashi: I was nervous too.
Muramoto: The decision was made in July, and I was nervous all the time for about half a year. The decision was made during the rehearsals for Hyoen. I hadn't talked to Dai-chan after he skated in the tryouts, he was too busy. I was wondering what happened, but I didn't say anything. But during the rehearsal, Dai-chan called me to the seaside/beach and said, "Would you like to talk?” I thought, "Oh my God! He's here!”
KENJI: This is not a story about a high school student's first love, is it?
Muramoto: "What should I do! What should I do?” And then he was like, "I'd like to try it, Kana-chan, what did/do you think?” When I heard that, I was really excited, and I was like "Oh no!” But it didn't come out, did it? (I didn’t say it aloud, did I?) 「どうしよ！どうしよ！」と思ってたら「僕はやってみたいと思ってる、カナちゃんはどうだった？」みたいな話になって「是非、私もやりたいです」みたいな感じで。それを聞いたときは、自分の中ではすごいテンションが上がっていて「ヤバイ！ヤバイ！」ってなったんですけど、表には出てなかったんだよね？
Takahashi: Not at all. You just said "Oh right, let’s do our best!" But I was still in singles, so I felt like I was going to do singles that year too, so I think that was part of it/the case too. [全然出てなかった。普通に「あ！そっか、頑張ろう」みたいな。でも僕はまだシングルだったので、その年もシングルでやる感じだったので、それもあったと思うんですけど。]
KENJI: What made you decide to try ice dancing?
Takahashi: You're so wonderful in ice dance, aren't you, Kana? I thought that if she teamed up with a taller and better dancer from abroad, she could be more successful in the world, so to be honest, I wasn't sure about that. I told her everything honestly, and she said that she still wanted to do it, and I also felt that I needed to work/team up with other people to perform for the rest of my life. I wasn't thinking about going to the Olympics at all. To be honest, I was a bit bewildered by the idea of doing it as an active athlete, but I thought it would open up a whole new world for me if I went that far. If it didn't work out, I'd apologise in the end and say "Sorry!”
Difficulties after switching to ice dance
KENJI: Singles and ice dance are two totally different disciplines, did you have difficulties at first?
Takahashi: It was very difficult. (Usually) I'm pretty quick at learning choreography, aren't I?
KENJI: Fast, fast.
Takahashi: But I couldn't remember it at all. And I was in such a hurry. Kana-chan taught me too, but that made me even more impatient. To be honest, I didn't remember anything in the second half of the practice.
KENJI: Which element is the hardest?
Takahashi: Spins. There are still many parts I can't feel, such as the degree of strength of the other party/my partner. Maybe I'm thinking too much and putting too much effort into it, and it seems that (Muramoto) is losing power and that feeling is still difficult. [相手の力加減とか、まだ感じきれない部分が多いです。たぶん僕が考え過ぎて力が入り過ぎて、なんか(村元選手が)力負けするみたいになってるようで、その感じも今だに難しいです。]
KENJI: In lifting, strength is important and balance is also important. Did you change your diet?
Takahashi: Kana-chan said "Eat! Eat!” from the beginning, and I thought I was eating well, but I wasn't/it wasn’t enough. I didn’t get injured, but it was a bit of a problem, and our coach told me that I should change my diet.
KENJI: I asked you if I could eat the boiled egg on the rink side. You were really angry, weren’t you?
Takahashi: It's my food. (laughs) It was like I was eating, sleeping or skating. My trainer makes a menu for me, and I usually have 4 meals, and then protein. I never drank protein before. I have like a protein midnight meal/snack. I make pancakes with 1.5 cups of cottage cheese, 3 eggs and oat, and I have a hard time eating them....
KENJI: What about twizzles?
Takahashi: Twizzles are fine. I couldn't do them in competition though.
Muramoto: I tend to think too much in a competition. I think I keep my eyes open when I dance, but when I heard that in singles I kept my eyes closed when I spun, I thought "Wow!” But in ice dance, you have to look at each other and feel each other (even) while you are twizzling.
Takahashi: That's why I was dizzy at first. Since I was closing my eyes (when I was a singles skater), I couldn't see the scenery around me. But in ice dance, you have to open your eyes, so at first I was dizzy.
Muramoto: But your twizzles are still fast. They're fast and it's amazing.
Question for KENJI
Muramoto: I wanted to know what Kenji-sensei thought when he heard that Kana and Dai-chan were going to form a couple/team.
KENJI: I really didn't know anything, and suddenly I got a phone call from Dai-chan and he said "I'm going to do ice dance. I'm going to do my best." At first I was like "What?", but then he said "I'll do my best", so I said "Good luck, I'll support you", that's all. When I heard it in words, I was really surprised that it was true. I was worried about a lot of things, but at that time I was just cheering without thinking about anything. When I heard that his partner was Kana, I was so happy. I asked her what she was going to do.
Muramoto: Yes, he was asking me so much.
KENJI: I was talking to Sacchan [Kana’s sister] and she said, "This is a top secret, Kana-chan said she would tell you herself.” “But I've been waiting for it for a long time, but I haven't heard it (from her) yet. Will the secret weapon remain a secret?” I wondered.
Muramoto: Anyway, the coach asked me, "What are you going to do? What are you going to do?” I'll tell you again... Like that. [とにかく先生から「どうするの？どうするの？」って聞かれていて「また言います...」みたいな。]
KENJI: Like Dai-chan, I’ve been choreographing for Kana-chan since she was a little girl, so I was worried about her, and I wanted to support her.
Muramoto: That's why I'm teaming up with Dai-chan for ice dance!
youtube.com
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) There's Steph holding up a cake, which was baked by Deniss (the latter is holding a bowl with leftover dough), Koshiro to Steph's right doing a jumping jack, above him is Rika, above her Shoma cooking some meat over a campfire and Nobu is on the right with a plate and a fork, ready to be the first to try the cake. 
(Unfortunately it's blocked in some regions):
15 May (Sat) to 17 May (Mon), 2021
Yokohama Arena
The post links to a website, specifically designed for "LUXE":
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