Skaters on Team Japan | Page 95 | Golden Skate

Skaters on Team Japan

ioanna

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 25, 2014
Heartwarming interview with Takahiko Kozuka
http://ohlovesosweet.tumblr.com/post/149035331691/what-would-you-say-is-your-best-memory-from-your

You shared a long, competitive career together so they must have a special place in your life.

Taka: Yes. of course, Takahashi-kun and Oda-kun are important. But, starting with Suzuki Akiko-chan all the way down―we’re all one year apart from each other. Takahashi-kun, Oda-kun, Ando Miki-chan, myself, (Machida) Tatsuki, (Asada) Mao and Mura (Takahito)-kun―all in one line. All unique, with our role, with our own different styles. I realize I skated during an amazing era.
 

Barb

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 13, 2009
Heartwarming interview with Takahiko Kozuka
http://ohlovesosweet.tumblr.com/post/149035331691/what-would-you-say-is-your-best-memory-from-your

You shared a long, competitive career together so they must have a special place in your life.

Taka: Yes. of course, Takahashi-kun and Oda-kun are important. But, starting with Suzuki Akiko-chan all the way down―we’re all one year apart from each other. Takahashi-kun, Oda-kun, Ando Miki-chan, myself, (Machida) Tatsuki, (Asada) Mao and Mura (Takahito)-kun―all in one line. All unique, with our role, with our own different styles. I realize I skated during an amazing era.

SOOO true!!
 

yhmafan

Medalist
Joined
Apr 22, 2014
I am so happy that a lot more ladies are trying the 3A!
To be quite honest, ladies skating been less exciting for me since nearly everyone has almost similar layout and it is just a matter of who got the biggest PCS (and clean) who will win now (applies to both junior and senior). It is refreshing and exciting to see that some of these junior ladies are willing to take risk, and you know, shake things up a bit! :biggrin:

:2thumbs:

These juniors will carry on Midori and Mao’s challenging spirits!! that’s really exciting makes me almost tears up though seems that everyone’s still struggling to land it as Nobunari Oda sometimes said that 3A is a difficult jump even for men.

Also, I thought that Mao will be the only lady in the sport history who has landed triple axel for over 12 years, at least there will never be in 50 years but I might have to re-think about that. :coffee:
 
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mikaboo

Medalist
Joined
Mar 6, 2014
Since Koshiro is competing at JGP this week, I thought I’d post an interview his Coach Kotoe Nagasawa had with Coach Nagamitsu (Daisuke’s former coach). I just translated the parts where they talk about Koshiro and Sena Miyake which ended up being most of the interview.
http://www.fujitv.co.jp/sports/skate/archive/2016070601/index.html

U = Utako Nagamitsu, N = Kotoe Nagasawa
U) Okayama has a lot of good skaters. Tatsuki Machida was there when he was in high school, Takahito Mura, Keiji Tanaka, Sena Miyake and Koshiro Shimada! The boys are strong there.
N) The environment is good. There is an ice rink that is open throughout the year. (At other places), there are rinks where skaters aren’t allowed to do jumps when they’re open to the public but (at the rink in Okayama) the skaters are allowed to jump as long as they are within the designated areas during public hours so they’re able to practice anytime.
U) It’s also a good thing that the top skaters and junior skaters can practice together.
N) Yes, Sena and Koshiro were motivated by watching Yoji Tsuboi’s triple axel and thought they could do the jump too.
U) What are Sena and Koshiro’s personalities like?
N) They’re both diligent. They’re in the same grade at school and are on the same skating level and are friendly rivals with each other.
U) Are they of a similar type?
N) Koshiro’s more of a fast learner and Sena is a hard worker. But in Sena’s case, he works too hard that he becomes hasty.
U) Like once he starts practicing, he doesn’t stop?
N) Yes. With Sena, once he thinks “I want to jump!” he’ll practice the lutz for 1 hour or even 2 hours. So I make him stop by telling him that if he keeps on doing the same thing, he’ll lose his physical balance and end up hurting himself. With Koshiro, he’s experienced a bad injury so he’s very careful. He’s able to stop as soon as he feel pains somewhere.
U) He knows himself well even though he’s young.
N) But both of them hate to lose more than a regular person. 2 years ago, when Yoji Tsuboi entered an international competition, I told them that if they can place 1st and 2nd at the National Novice Championships, they can go with him. So they worked really hard and actually placed 1st and 2nd.
U) All 3 of them are so diligent, I envy you.
N) They really are. When I think about how I was as a competitor, I think they should slack off a bit.
U) Do they get along outside the ice rink?
N) Yes, they get along on the ice too but they have fun going to see shows together. They know they are each other’s rivals but they normally get along.
U) Change of subject, but were you the one who chose Sena’s “Madagascar” exhibition?
N) That was him. He brought it and told me he wanted to do it.
U) Really!? I was surprised the first time I saw it. He had a wig on and did that comical dance.
N) I want them to be able to dance to various types of programs while they’re young. Koshiro is doing a baseball themed exhibition this season. The choreographer is Misao Sato. She is the choreographer for Hiroaki Sato’s “Bolero”. When she first came to us, she asked if he wanted to be an alien. She brought lots of music with her.
U) When Daisuke was at that age, there weren’t many shows back then. He had show numbers made when he started to get invited to shows. I look forward to seeing skaters bring out different aspects of themselves.
N) They’re lucky that they’re getting invited to shows from 13 to 14 years of age. Sena’s “Madagascar” impressed Nobuo Sato sensei.
U) It’ll be difficult to do when he grows up and develops a sense of self-awareness.
N) I don’t think they’ll be able to do them once they become conscious of girls, so I’m getting them to do them now.
U) Both of them seem quiet but they change drastically once they’re on the ice.
N) Sena is especially shy. But once he puts his wig on, he changes drastically. With Koshiro, when there aren’t many spectators at a competition or a show, he looks disappointed and says things like “There aren’t many people in the audience today.”
U) Koshiro came to Okayama from Ehime didn’t he?
N) That’s right. When the ice rink in Okayama closed due to renovation during the summer, I took my students to train at the ice rink in Takamatsu. I met Koshiro there. He watched Sena’s practice and thought he wanted to be as good as that. Koshiro asked me if he could come to me to train so I told him, “You can come but it’ll be difficult to commute from Ehime.” So when the summer holidays were over, he moved to Okayama and I thought I had a big responsibility towards him.
U) When we had a training camp at Hachinohe, Koshiro came with us.
N) He said that he really wanted to train with Daisuke Takahashi so I told him that Daisuke may not be there but he really wanted to go regardless. He was really happy that he was able to train with him!
U) About that… Daisuke wasn’t scheduled to join but I told him to come even for a day or two because Koshiro was looking forward to practicing with him.
N) Really!? What a genuinely nice person he is!
U) The level of figure skating is going upwards as a whole. Are you having any difficulties teaching them?
N) I don’t think I’ve changed the way I teach, but even the juniors are doing triple axels and quads like they’re the norm now. It’s difficult to be on the podium without them so there are things I need to consider.
U) When the level increases, not only does the training menu change, but it’s also important to be mindful of the mental aspects too.
N) I don’t want to make them work too hard before their bodies are fully developed but they are competing at a high level and carrying loads of expectations so they might be feeling hasty. It’s difficult to find a good place for them to compromise with all things considered.
U) To have a long competitive career, it’s not always good to work too hard when they’re young.
N) I want them to understand that it’s not all about training frantically.
U) For girls, their times as competitors might be limited but for boys, they can develop even after they’re 20 years old so I hope they don’t rush.
N) Growth period is hard for both boys and girls with their bodies changing. If they rush into training during those periods, they tend to get injured.
U) Both Sena and Kushiro grew a lot since last year.
N) They both grew about 10cm in 1 year. So I think they’re feeling discomfort. Their eye levels have changed. If the eye level changes by 10cm, landing jumps would be frightening too.
----------

Koshiro's ISU bio was updated recently. He is 163cm now.
http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00014685.htm
Good luck to Koshiro, Rin and Kaori this week :hap10:
 

mikaboo

Medalist
Joined
Mar 6, 2014
A sneak peek of Rika Hongo and Ryuju Hino’s costumes from Kita-Kyushu Open Figure Skate Competition on August 4-7. The competition is going to be broadcasted on a local channel.

Some of the programs from the Kita-Kyushu competition (Iizuka Cup) have been uploaded on YouTube but it’s not set on public so I’ll leave the twitter links here.

Rika Hongo
SP
FS

Ryuju Hino
FS

Sei Kawahara
SP
FS
 
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Marin

"Efforts tell lies, but it will not be in vain."
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 10, 2015
Some of the programs from the Kita-Kyushu competition (Iizuka Cup) have been uploaded on YouTube but it’s not set on public so I’ll leave the twitter links here.

Rika Hongo
SP
FS

Ryuju Hino
FS

Sei Kawahara
SP
FS

Oh wow... Rika's LP is so underwhelming ..I am disappointed :sad21:
 
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Plumededragon

Medalist
Joined
Feb 12, 2015
I'm in St Gervais for the JGP, and while doing a little grocery shopping, I saw Koshiro with Rin and Kaori there as well. Of course I didn't disturb them, but they looked well and happy! :) Hopefully it will be a good sign for the JGP in 2 days.
Tomorrow is practice only, I don't think it's open to public.
EDIT: ok nevermind, it IS open to public (I asked on the FFSG FB and they said yes), so I might go and see how things are.
 
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mikaboo

Medalist
Joined
Mar 6, 2014
I'm in St Gervais for the JGP, and while doing a little grocery shopping, I saw Koshiro with Rin and Kaori there as well. Of course I didn't disturb them, but they looked well and happy! :) Hopefully it will be a good sign for the JGP in 2 days.
Tomorrow is practice only, I don't think it's open to public.
EDIT: ok nevermind, it IS open to public (I asked on the FFSG FB and they said yes), so I might go and see how things are.

Oh wow, have fun. I hope you’ll share with us about your experiences there!



Beautiful photos by Saya as always :luv17:

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http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/japanopen2016/skater.html
Machida and Papadakis/Cizeron having been added as guests at Japan Open (Machida was already in COI). And I promised myself I'm not going because I'll only be able to get tickets where skaters will look about the size of peas :sad46:
 
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alia jackson

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 25, 2014
Could I check is Yuzu the only Japan men skater that does not have any website or SNS (fb, twitter, instagram etc.)?

The rest Nobu, Dai, Machida, Shoma, Kozuka, Keiji, Rjuji (spelling?), Sato, Mura have at least a website or SNS account.
 

Plumededragon

Medalist
Joined
Feb 12, 2015
Koshiro, Rin and Kaori all practiced their FP today.
Koshiro popped his 3A entrance into 2A, but otherwise looked quite solid (and happy during training :)). The music cut reminds me so much of Yuzu, lol! It was a bit strange to watch at first. 😆 His strangling ending pose is a bit weird, indeed...
Rin looked a bit slow today, otherwise hit her jumps. Need more stamina. Kaori had her speed, but had one pop and a fall. Nothing too bad but she needs to be careful. Solid 3-3 combo as well.
 

mikaboo

Medalist
Joined
Mar 6, 2014
Could I check is Yuzu the only Japan men skater that does not have any website or SNS (fb, twitter, instagram etc.)?

The rest Nobu, Dai, Machida, Shoma, Kozuka, Keiji, Rjuji (spelling?), Sato, Mura have at least a website or SNS account.

If you mean just the top senior skaters, then I think so… From the top juniors, Koshiro’s is set on private and I don't think Taichiro Yamakuma has one. Some of the new junior boys (Sasaki, Tsuboi) don’t have one either although you probably don’t want to know that far down the list.

Koshiro, Rin and Kaori all practiced their FP today.
Koshiro popped his 3A entrance into 2A, but otherwise looked quite solid (and happy during training :)). The music cut reminds me so much of Yuzu, lol! It was a bit strange to watch at first. 😆 His strangling ending pose is a bit weird, indeed...
Rin looked a bit slow today, otherwise hit her jumps. Need more stamina. Kaori had her speed, but had one pop and a fall. Nothing too bad but she needs to be careful. Solid 3-3 combo as well.

Thanks for the updates! So Koshiro is trying the 3A. I wish him all the luck in the world :drama:
 
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