Re the question above..I am from the USA..am 73 yrs old and have been a skating fan since I was tiny..and a fanatic for about 42 yrs..I tend to categorize skaters..and those that have the IT factor tend to win my heart. There are many great skaters who do not have the IT factor..and lesser ones who have IT in spades..Kazuki falls into the latter category for me..While he doesn't have the following or the resume of a Hanyu..or Shoma..or the ease of jumps like Yuma..he has charisma, spark..can skate to any type of music and is performative..I fell in love w him in 2018 at Worlds..and this season..I see on my Twitter feed that he has a growing fan base in the USA.Both Jackie Wong, The Skating Lesson, Ashley Wagner, Mark Hanretty, Ted Barton, Chris Howarth..all commentators in English sang Kazuki's praises this season..He is everything that I love about men's skating..and he has an adorable social media presence..and is so appreciative of the support of his fans. I was a high school teacher for 30years and I can imagine how much fun it would have been to have Kazuki in my class!
Thank you so much for this, I'm so happy to know Kazuki has a growing fanbase in the U.S.
He was in California in summer 2019, training with Misha Ge and getting his SP 'The Hardest Button to Button' choreographed by Philip Mills. After he spent some time with Philip Mills in his rink, the staff of the rink posted a message on Facebook saying that they were very happy to have had Kazuki there, he was very polite and appreciative of everything, he even thanked the zamboni person. He is such a class act and just overall adorable.
I really hope he gets to go to California again this year. He seemed to have a blast when he was there, and he hasn't seen Misha Ge in such a long time.
I’m sure Yuzuru is completely use to it because he has been dealing with it for years but that’s just awful that the media doesn’t give him a break. To be followed pretty much everywhere jeez that sounds pretty rough. I think when he was skating his short program at the Olympics this year, John Weir said something like Yuzuru is unable to live at home because the media knows where he lives. Hopefully one day when he decides to retire the media will finally leave him alone. I really hope it doesn’t get to be that bad for Shoma and Kazuki. It must make it really hard for anyone who is an athlete at a level like they are to be able to make friends outside of their sport and for others to like them and accept them for who they are and not because of the sport they take part in.
Indeed. What makes it even harder for Yuzuru is that he is based in Sendai (north of Japan), while most Japanese figure skaters are based further south in the Kansai area. So not only he is too famous to have a regular life, he is also far from his Team Japan comrades. I think that's why he seems to have so much fun in shows, because it's one of the few opportunities to hang out with other skaters in a more relaxed atmosphere.
Shoma has it easier than Yuzu because he is based in the heart of the figure skating community, Nagoya. Also, he seems to be a homebody who just likes to play games, so it's not like he'd be going out in the first place lol
As for Kazuki, he is definitely an extrovert type who has a very wide network of friends, both skaters and non-skaters. So while I wish for his success, I do hope he doesn't reach the point where he is too famous to be out and about, because I don't think he'd stand having a secluded life like Yuzu and Shoma. He loves going out, having fun with friends, going to saunas and stuff. I really want him to keep having the best of both worlds.
But I can only guess, I don't follow Japanese media.
