Long Shoreport incoming...
After finding my hotel in Nagoya on the 17th, my first destination was the Osu Kannon Temple. I honestly doubt Shoma visits the place much because there was a large flock of pigeons there! There was also a vending machine where you could buy pigeon food from. This would
never happen in America, where pigeons are often seen as a nuisance, so I was quite surprised! Two young women were feeding the pigeons near the vending machine, and a bunch of pigeons even landed on one of their arms! But the pigeons don't detract from the charm of the temple, in my opinion, and it wasn't crowded at all. Definitely worth a visit.
After that, I immediately went to the Nagoya Sports Center. My main impression of the rink is that it's honestly a little worn out and feels like an ordinary rink, even though it has produced extraordinary skaters like Shoma. The first room is a reception area. I wasn't sure whether I could get rental skates in my size, but the guy behind the counter actually understood American shoe sizes (I was speaking to them in Japanese, by the way) and was able to get me rental skates in the appropriate size. The area where you pick up rental skates is in the next room. To the right of the rental area are things such as trophies, autographs, and photographs of skaters who are related to the rink or have visited the rink. There are pictures of Shoma there, as well as an autograph and a pair of autographed skates. There is also a wall of recent Japanese newspaper articles relating to skaters on the opposite wall from the autograph area. Most of the articles are Shoma-related, though there are a few featuring other skaters such as Yuma Kagiyama, Yuzuru Hanyu, and Rino Matsuike.
Beyond the rental area is an area of 100 yen coin lockers and benches typical of any rink. There are many families with young children in this area. The rental boots are made out of stiff leather, they're not the hard plastic boots I usually find at American rinks. There's also a break room on one of the short ends of the rink that has vending machines that sell cup noodles and ice cream.
The ice surface itself was rather rough when I skated on it, but my blades were good enough to handle it. Large banners of the rink's most famous skaters hang above the ice (including Shoma) and there's one smaller banner congratulating him on his Beijing Olympic medals. There's also cute, anime-style caricatures of various Japanese skaters (including Shoma, of course!) printed on one section of the boards. Piles of shaved ice accumulated along the boards until a couple of rink employees wearing orange shirts showed up with brooms to sweep it away. One girl was even holding a small snowman made out of the shaved ice to show her friend! There were quite a few people skating on the ice. There were mostly children and young people but there was one old man and a couple of couples on dates there too. Seeing all the young people there makes me think that the future of Japanese skating is bright, especially after seeing some of the children doing double jumps, spirals, spins, even a besti squat! No cantilevers, though... I'm fine with just skating around the rink, swizzling, and doing tiny one-foot glides.
There were people of all skill levels there, even those who clearly hadn't skated much. I wonder if it's the youth-oriented nature of this place and the palpable sense of camaraderie here that created the environment for Shoma to succeed. I stayed on the ice for a long time. There was an an announcement, so I went off the ice, but people were still skating, so I went back on the ice until it was clear that everyone was moving back to the boards...everyone, that is, except for three young men (perhaps they were high school students) playing chicken with the Zamboni.
They got back onto the ice and stood near the boards on the short side while the Zamboni stopped in its tracks. Having clearly succeeded at this, they then quickly got off the ice. I suppose some things don't change, no matter where you go.
I hope Shoma didn't do such a thing when he was skating there, but it doesn't seem entirely out of the realm of possibility...
Last, but not least, I noticed a small pro shop by the reception area as I left. Among other things there was a pair of giraffe soakers...I wonder if they're the same kind Shoma uses...
Overall, it was a wonderful experience to skate at the Nagoya Sports Center, but don't come there expecting anything fancy. It is a typical rink that has produced atypical skaters. It is a good place for fans of Japanese skating in general, though it is particularly special for Shoma fans.
Will give more updates on my time in Nagoya after I check out of this hotel, I really don't want to leave.
