The First Skate | Jul 5, 2025 | Page 6 | Golden Skate

The First Skate | Jul 5, 2025

Now this is pretty amazing! This photo was taken today (Sunday, July 6), the first day of "normal" operation of the newly rebuilt Xebio Arena. Yesterday it was an olympic / international competitions size rink. Today it was open for public sessions, subject to booking time slots, I think they also had group coaching sessions for beginners, but - half of the rink was covered with plastic floor, the barriers were put in place and while half of the rink was used for public skating sessions, basketball was played on the other half of what is a permanent ice rink. Double use of the space depending on the needs and demands divides the financial burden between different sports. The same space can also be used for non-sport events, like concerts and the like.
This is pretty cool and financially sound solution!
I knew they were going to share but I never thought they were going to share simultaneously, literally side by side! Awesome at the times when maintaining ice rinks gets more and more expensive.

 
Magill said:
while half of the rink was used for public skating sessions, basketball was played on the other half of what is a permanent ice rink. Double use of the space depending on the needs and demands divides the financial burden between different sports. The same space can also be used for non-sport events, like concerts and the like.
Click to expand...
Excellent idea!
 
And from Rika Hongo's IG :love2:
She published the same group selfie taken by Yuzuru and posted originally by Akiko right after the show, then reposted everywhere.
She also shared memories of the time when Sendai ice rink had to be closed, and she had to travel to a different city to train, being in a 3rd grade only, or give up training at all, pointing out how important the new rink is to the local skating community.
Yuzuru finally posted this selfie too as an IG story (making use of his very rarely used IG account) with the thank-you message to Nanami Abe, his old-times coach who choreographed The First Skate group numbers and is on the photo too :love2: (but I don't know how to link an IG story, sorry, so just a fan repost on X).



 
Magill said:
And from Rika Hongo's IG :love2:
She published the same group selfie taken by Yuzuru and posted originally by Akiko right after the show, then reposted everywhere.
She also shared memories of the time when Sendai ice rink had to be closed, and she had to travel to a different city to train, being in a 3rd grade only, or give up training at all, pointing out how important the new rink is to the local skating community.
Yuzuru finally posted this selfie too as an IG story (making use of his very rarely used IG account) with the thank-you message to Nanami Abe, his old-times coach who choreographed The First Skate group numbers and is on the photo too :love2: (but I don't know how to link an IG story, sorry, so just a fan repost on X).

Click to expand...

... and now Yuzuru has just answered Rika on her Instagram!
"Rika-pon, thank you so much. Back then, it was really tough and sad, and I couldn’t stop crying, and I cried so hard when it closed...I hope fewer kids have to go through those feelings... Your attitude of always giving it your all until the very end, even during rehearsals, is so cool!Keep it up! …Yuzu"
Worth noting, he used -pon, a most playful and cute suffix, not a more traditional honorific :)
Of course, Yuzuru also knows very well what Rika is talking about! He also had to travel to a far away rink as a child, for two years I think, when his home rink in Sendai was closed. It affected the speed of the development of his skating to the extent that he felt he was dragging behind his peers from other Japanese cities that he had been ahead of earlier, which to this day he recalls as a toughest moment of his long career!


GvO_7Tga4AAGbwk



 
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News-every has just published their story on the First Skate featuring their Special Messenger for disaster stricken areas in his much more typical role :)
KHB TV also posted more extensive report today including bits of the official opening ceremony and lots of fan shots and interviews :)



 
Summarizing the show which took place on Saturday, World Figure Skating web posted an extensive report on the First Skate today, with many photos, a lot of details, and a full transcript of the press conference.
Apart from Yuzuru's video message welcoming everyone, there were 3 other video messages displayed: from Mone Chiba, Shun Sato and Shizuka Arakawa, all from Sendai, who could not take part in the show in person, Mone and Shun because it collided with the National Team Training camp, so important for them at the start of the Olympic season (after all, Shun did not take part in the camp either because of injury), and Arakawa because it collided with her other assignments.
As for those who took part, Rika Hongo skated to "Love Never Dies", Akiko Suzuki to "Moonlight", Yuzu to "Haru Yo Koi" and Takeshi Honda to "Riverdance" - plus group numbers of course. They all explained their choices in detail during the press conference, where they also spoke of their feelings about the show and the new rink in Sendai.
More detail in the 3-page report linked below.

https://worldfigureskating-web.jp/news/13943/

 
Another extensive report on the First Skate, with lots of new photos and post-show interviews, will be published by S-Style magazine. The issue goes on sale on Friday, July 25, available for pre-orders on Amazon Japan etc. More details in the post below (you may need to use the "Translate post" function by X :) )

 
This picture (from your post) does seem to be a favourite, I see it all over. Not surprising because it is breathtakingly beautiful.

GvPw32LWIAELZ2E
 
TallyT said:
This picture (from your post) does seem to be a favourite, I see it all over. Not surprising because it is breathtakingly beautiful.

GvPw32LWIAELZ2E
Click to expand...
Actually it seems that Taichi Kaizuka, the photographer behind it, organized a voting on X for people's favourite First Skate photograph of his.
39 pics took part - and yes, this one won !
Here is the Top 5 !

 
Following the First Skate's success, professor Kato and four students from the Kato Laboratory of Yamaguchi University's Faculty of Economics examined the economic effects of Yuzuru Hanyu's hypothetical two-day solo performance at Sendai's newly opened Xebio Arena's rink on the local and national economy - Tokyo Sports is reporting today (but you'll need an online translation tool to read it). sparkling discussions if the new arena is too small to host such a costly and demanding show like Yuzuru's ice story, or would it be possible taking into account that permanent rink makes the show less expensive as you do not need to make the ice which is costly both in terms of money and time .

https://www.tokyo-sports.co.jp/articles/-/351251



 
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Magill said:
Following the First Skate's success, professor Kato and four students from the Kato Laboratory of Yamaguchi University's Faculty of Economics examined the economic effects of Yuzuru Hanyu's hypothetical two-day solo performance at Sendai's newly opened Xebio Arena's rink on the local and national economy - Tokyo Sports is reporting today (but you'll need an online translation tool to read it). sparkling discussions if the new arena is too small to host such a costly and demanding show like Yuzuru's ice story, or would it be possible taking into account that permanent rink makes the show less expensive as you do not need to make the ice which is costly both in terms of money and time .

https://www.tokyo-sports.co.jp/articles/-/351251



Click to expand...

It remains mere ifs. I don't think that Yuzuru Hanyu is going to have solo shows in this arena, because they are very space demanding and there would be much less than three thousand people, if it could be at all; Sekkisui Heim Super Arena in Rifu is a "small but possible venue" near Sendai, there are shuttles from Sendai station and I believe that the economical effects are the same as if the venue was in Sendai, just with twice more seats. People sleep and eat (except from street vendors by the venue) and buy in Sendai just the same. So, I believe that if there is to be a Miyagi stop in his next tour, it's more likely to be in Rifu. Notte Stellata too of course, as Rifu bears particular significance (having been a temporary morgue after the Great Eastern Earthquake). I believe that future shows at the Xebio Arena would be simpler shows? Probably not solo shows?
 
DizzyFrenchie said:
It remains mere ifs. I don't think that Yuzuru Hanyu is going to have solo shows in this arena, because they are very space demanding and there would be much less than three thousand people, if it could be at all; Sekkisui Heim Super Arena in Rifu is a "small but possible venue" near Sendai, there are shuttles from Sendai station and I believe that the economical effects are the same as if the venue was in Sendai, just with twice more seats. People sleep and eat (except from street vendors by the venue) and buy in Sendai just the same. So, I believe that if there is to be a Miyagi stop in his next tour, it's more likely to be in Rifu. Notte Stellata too of course, as Rifu bears particular significance (having been a temporary morgue after the Great Eastern Earthquake). I believe that future shows at the Xebio Arena would be simpler shows? Probably not solo shows?
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I agree. He may and probably will do appearances in the new arena, which is clearly something he cares about and contributed towards (and the appeal of helping Sendai's economy must be there, he loves his home), but his own shows as we see them at the minute are simply way too much, they won't fit.
 
Magill said:
... and now Yuzuru has just answered Rika on her Instagram!
"Rika-pon, thank you so much. Back then, it was really tough and sad, and I couldn’t stop crying, and I cried so hard when it closed...I hope fewer kids have to go through those feelings... Your attitude of always giving it your all until the very end, even during rehearsals, is so cool!Keep it up! …Yuzu"
Worth noting, he used -pon, a most playful and cute suffix, not a more traditional honorific :)
Of course, Yuzuru also knows very well what Rika is talking about! He also had to travel to a far away rink as a child, for two years I think, when his home rink in Sendai was closed. It affected the speed of the development of his skating to the extent that he felt he was dragging behind his peers from other Japanese cities that he had been ahead of earlier, which to this day he recalls as a toughest moment of his long career!


GvO_7Tga4AAGbwk
Click to expand...
In the endearing public exchange between Yuzuru and Rika Hongo in the comments under the show's cast selfie on Rika's Instagram, now Rika answered Yuzuru :)
Here's her answer translated:
"It's me who should be thanking you! I'm grateful that you shared your journey continuing to challenge yourself despite everything that you've been through. I will keep following in your cool footsteps.... whether you want me to or not - so brace yourself! I will do my best so we can skate together again some day!"
Earlier messages and translator's notes in X-post below and in my earlier posts above.:love2::rock:




 
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Going back to the discussion on the economic impact of Yuzuru's shows and his possible involvement with the new rink a few posts above, here is what Yuzuru said himself on this topic some two years ago, I think, on a very popular national TV show, when the very idea was discussed and promoted. I agree we could possibly expect he would perform there from time to time but not necessarily stage ice stories there as that could be just too big a venture for the venue, and Rifu is just a short drive away.
BTW I love how he's sure his fans would follow his lead if he's choosing to get involved ... At this point his trust in his fan community is established and enormous, and they have become a predictable market force, it seems :rock:
Still, it is nice to know that the policy on a separate lottery just for Sendai residents worked and there were quite a lot of first-time viewers next to the dedicated fans in the stands.

 
Magill said:
Following the First Skate's success, professor Kato and four students from the Kato Laboratory of Yamaguchi University's Faculty of Economics examined the economic effects of Yuzuru Hanyu's hypothetical two-day solo performance at Sendai's newly opened Xebio Arena's rink on the local and national economy - Tokyo Sports is reporting today (but you'll need an online translation tool to read it). sparkling discussions if the new arena is too small to host such a costly and demanding show like Yuzuru's ice story, or would it be possible taking into account that permanent rink makes the show less expensive as you do not need to make the ice which is costly both in terms of money and time .

https://www.tokyo-sports.co.jp/articles/-/351251

Click to expand...

There is now contestation on another side, with this poster remembering an estimate by this same Pr Kato of the economical effects of RE_PRAY in Saga, which seemed to be underestimated (but maybe he took note of the remarks and changed his estimation method?):
 
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