Shoma Uno: 2014-2024

[bluelutz]

Interesting that he has full trust and such loyalty to Coach Fluffy. What an amazing relationship they have! Reminds me so much of Jason's relationship with Kori and Rohene...I was reading about Kanako M on Wikipedia and found it interesting that she used other choreographers. Camerlengo, Tarasova, Zoueva, and others. I wonder if that was due to Mihoko-sensai's suggestion that she try others, and will that maybe happen with Shoma some day.

The main coach of kanako and Shoma being Machiko, not Mihoko,
though Mihoko's duty and responsibility are getting bigger as Machiko's age advances,
I do not think Mihoko makes any important decision without asking Machiko.
Since Kanako used Mihoko's choreography until she turned senior just like Mao did the same way,
I am sure Machiko considered providing internationally A-list choreographers to Shoma before the beginning of the last season.
However, Machiko made a different decision for him.

Why?
1) Machiko probably thought that Mihoko's choreography is good as any A-list choreographers'.
2) Considering Shoma's personality, it was important to work with someone who he could feel the most comfortable.
3) There are lots of advantages to work with in-house choreographers for skaters.
Shoma made lots of changes for the jumping lay out in this season,
and it is not difficult to assume that reworking the choreography can be much easier if a skater's coach is his/her choreographer.

Interesting enough, the last season, Shoma's senior debut one, Kanako switched back to Mihoko's choreography,
and this season Yura Matsuda made her senior debut from Machiko/Mihoko team,
and skated to Mihoko's choreography.
This shows how confident Machiko is now on Mihoko's ability as a choreographer.

Most likely Shoma will perform to Mihoko's choreography for the next season.
Why change? It is working now.

These are some of other Mihoko's fabulous works.

Yura's SP
https://youtu.be/sqmEd_TrAHo

Mako Yamashita's SP
https://youtu.be/jm4C0uhoFIQ

Kanako's Last season's SP
https://youtu.be/qc6ok8V_elc

Kanako's FS
https://youtu.be/G13o3UKxE80

Of course, there is a possibility that Shoma will work with other choreographers
for his competitive programs sometime in the future.
However, I do not think all the top skaters have to work with
internationally famed top choreographers from North America.
Certainly many Russian skaters work with Russian choreographers, and show the good results.

 

[Arriba627]

The CBC version -- FINALLY! Thank you skatefan22

"Just finished a foot work sequence. If you see a skater moving, changing directions, keeping in time to the music, giving you artistic impression and never once looking like they’re worried about the next step, that’s when you’ve got a great skater on the ice. And you’ve got one right in front of you right now." Thank you Kurt Browning for reminding us that skating is more than jumpnastics!

 

[MaiKatze]

The CBC version -- FINALLY! Thank you skatefan22

"Just finished a foot work sequence. If you see a skater moving, changing directions, keeping in time to the music, giving you artistic impression and never once looking like they’re worried about the next step, that’s when you’ve got a great skater on the ice. And you’ve got one right in front of you right now." Thank you Kurt Browning for reminding us that skating is more than jumpnastics!

Loved that the female commentator was like "This is my favourite program, and this is the last time I'll get to see it, so I'll just shut up and enjoy!"

So many commentators are in love with him, it's amazing!

 

[Arriba627]

“Do it again” is “mou-ikkai” (OMG! How many times did shoma hear it during his training with Alex?lol)

topic: It reminds me of the articles about Jason at WTT. He instructed the young skaters, he instructed the children, “mou-ikkai, mou-ikkai”(lol). One child was delighted that he/she was praised by Jason, “suberi-ga-kirei” (your skating is beautiful.) . Further, at the media cantor, his brisk voice in Japanese sounded well. There was a specific Japanese article about him. He tried to answer in Japanese as much as possible so that the interviewer cared him, “Oh, you are allowed to speak in English.” His goal is he is able to speak Japanese fluently by the age of 40. Considering his current ability, he will do so much earlier than 40 yo, but he wants to be reserved with his goal.lol

I will write this phrase down so I can give it to Alex! I am sure the kids just loved Jason. I give him all the credit in the World for his efforts for learning Japanese. And of course he is not shy about using it!

Yes, I remember the wonderful format for Prince Ice World shows. As a matter of fact, at Worlds I met a lady who went to one of the PIW shows last year. She was showing me all the wonderful up-close photos she had of Shoma on her phone. They were the ones where he was wearing a white shirt and holding huge bouquets of flowers. That was one of the shows where he received the heart-shape sunglasses.

Has there been any news about Mao's THE ICE shows? I wondered if now that she is retired if maybe she won't do those shows anymore. I think it was at one of those shows last year that Shoma debuted his Lavender program. Remember all the lavender flowers people sent him?

MaiKatze, I looked it up, and last year he announced his program music on May 22. It was along with that picture where he was sitting there eating a delicious looking piece of cake! Then it seems like he debuted Loco some time in July and Lavender in August. (Not 100% sure on the debuts, but that's my recollection). http://shoma-uno.tumblr.com/post/144786653597/from-shomas-official-website-konnichiwa-shoma

 

[demarinis5]

@Arriba Mao will be doing The Ice here is a trailer for the upcoming shows.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wn1CFBQ5WNE

 

[demarinis5]

Loved that the female commentator was like "This is my favourite program, and this is the last time I'll get to see it, so I'll just shut up and enjoy!"

So many commentators are in love with him, it's amazing!

Nice to hear praise for Shoma's skating.

Funny no mention of his so called two foot skating, crossovers and no transitions.

 

[MaiKatze]

Nice to hear praise for Shoma's skating.

Funny no mention of his so called two foot skating, crossovers and no transitions.

PM'ed you! :agree:

 

[MaiKatze]

“Do it again” is “mou-ikkai” (OMG! How many times did shoma hear it during his training with Alex?lol)
topic: It reminds me of the articles about Jason at WTT. He instructed the young skaters, he instructed the children, “mou-ikkai, mou-ikkai”(lol). One child was delighted that he/she was praised by Jason, “suberi-ga-kirei” (your skating is beautiful.) . Further, at the media cantor, his brisk voice in Japanese sounded well. There was a specific Japanese article about him. He tried to answer in Japanese as much as possible so that the interviewer cared him, “Oh, you are allowed to speak in English.” His goal is he is able to speak Japanese fluently by the age of 40. Considering his current ability, he will do so much earlier than 40 yo, but he wants to be reserved with his goal.lol

The immediate thought I had was mou ichido　-　もう一度. Is there a difference between the two?　(I guess, my question is what's the difference between kai and do, as the count suffix)

 

[hamaguri]

The immediate thought I had was mou ichido　-　もう一度. Is there a dience between the two?　(I guess, my question is what's the difference between kai and do, as the count suffix)

No difference with meanings between them. もう一度　is substantially eaual to もう一回, that is "do" and "kai" can be used in the same way when you count something.

 

[MaiKatze]

No difference with meanings between them. もう一度　is substantially eaual to もう一回, that is "do" and "kai" can be used in the same way when you count something.

Perhaps shouting MOU IKKAI! is quicker than shouting mou ichido! :think: Thank you, hamaguri. And -kai can be used in yonkaiten. 四回転もう一回！

 

[hamaguri]

I'm not sure if I want a warhorse or not for next season. Unfortunately Tango is out of the question, he won't do two similar programs in a row. I'm personally not a big Blues/Jazz fan, but I think Shoma could work that. I wouldn't like something like Blues for Klook normally, but seeing Daisuke skate to it...wow. I want somehing fast, like his SP in 2015/16 alrhough I'm not so sure if the judges like this kind of music. But I'd like him to do two different programs, one classical and one modern if possible. He could even do something like This Town ex for the competition/short. Would surely get him noticed and new fans! When do you guys think, we'll know?

I will write this phrase down so I can give it to Alex! I am sure the kids just loved Jason. I give him all the credit in the World for his efforts for learning Japanese. And of course he is not shy about using it!

Yes, I remember the wonderful format for Prince Ice World shows. As a matter of fact, at Worlds I met a lady who went to one of the PIW shows last year. She was showing me all the wonderful up-close photos she had of Shoma on her phone. They were the ones where he was wearing a white shirt and holding huge bouquets of flowers. That was one of the shows where he received the heart-shape sunglasses.

Has there been any news about Mao's THE ICE shows? I wondered if now that she is retired if maybe she won't do those shows anymore. I think it was at one of those shows last year that Shoma debuted his Lavender program. Remember all the lavender flowers people sent him?

MaiKatze, I looked it up, and last year he announced his program music on May 22. It was along with that picture where he was sitting there eating a delicious looking piece of cake! Then it seems like he debuted Loco some time in July and Lavender in August. (Not 100% sure on the debuts, but that's my recollection). http://shoma-uno.tumblr.com/post/144786653597/from-shomas-official-website-konnichiwa-shoma

yep, shoma annound on May his music for competitions. And Arriba, i totally missed THE ICE, which shoma appered on last year! i assume there's some possibility for shoma to come to one of THE ICE, like Nagoya considering their relations of Mao and Shoma.

And about EX, shoma skated one of his EX, "See you again" at PIW of May. So he may be making new EX now for PIW!

 

[hamaguri]

Perhaps shouting MOU IKKAI! is quicker than shouting mou ichido! :think: Thank you, hamaguri. And -kai can be used in yonkaiten. 四回転もう一回！

yep, you can say "yonkaiten", but can't say yondoten. Kai and do are not totally the same with their use. For example, when you simply count something, "ikkai, nikai"（１回、２回。。。）,.... is more usual than "ichido, nido...（一度、二度。。）"

 

[MaiKatze]

Power Ball...*lol*

Isn't that...kind of rude though? Like Finland, we don't trust your produce so we bring our own. Not that Ajinomoto cares, but...oh well. I'm probably overthinking.

 

[Arriba627]

The main coach of kanako and Shoma being Machiko, not Mihoko,
though Mihoko's duty and responsibility are getting bigger as Machiko's age advances,
I do not think Mihoko makes any important decision without asking Machiko.
Since Kanako used Mihoko's choreography until she turned senior just like Mao did the same way,
I am sure Machiko considered providing internationally A-list choreographers to Shoma before the beginning of the last season.
However, Machiko made a different decision for him.

Thank you for your reminder that Machiko is Shoma's main coach. This is something I think we all tend to forget, since she is never as visible to us as Mihoko / Fluffy and the fact that Fluffy travels to all of Shoma's competitions. I do recall though that Machiko was at Japan Open and Nationals. She is so proud of Shoma, as she should be.

I am truly amazed at the choreography of Mihoko. I remember reading an article about her where it said how many programs she has choreographed, and I was shocked. It was a HUGE number -- something like 1000 or more. As we have discussed here many times, her step sequences are phenomenal. I really do think she knows what's best for Shoma, and then adding an extra pair of eyes to help out seemed to be a winning formula for this year's Loco program. As far as North American choreographers, I sometimes question how once they have choreographed for 20+ pairs / singles, do their programs all start to look alike? I often think of Massimo Scali as a good choice, just because I like some of the stuff he has done with the Shibs and I thought he worked well with Keiji...Anyway, I'm sure they already have something wonderful they are working on. Now if they will just tell us! :hpull:

Your links provided some beautiful examples. Wow! I had forgotten how wonderful Yura Matsuda's skating to The Piano was! I remember watching that before, just because I love Jason's skating to The Piano and wanted to see what her version looked like.

My question for you -- What do you think the chances are that Machiko would go to the Olympics to be with Shoma? I know she doesn't travel much anymore, but I was just wondering since it's not that great of a distance from Japan and not a huge jet lag situation.

 

[Arriba627]

https://www.ajinomoto.co.jp/ajitoreonline/vp/?scid=pma_AJICFS_ot_20170426_01_001

I want to introduce this…, which is the site by the food company, Ajinomoto. They supports the diets of Japanese skaters. This time, they contributed to the team Japan a lot, committing themselves to the project, “Victory project”.

They brought 300 kg of Japanese food materials to Helsinki and the special facility to cook and for skaters to eat there was made. They offered the nutritious, energy efficient, and low-fat foods (of course, delicious), paying attention to the various points. Further, to ease the skaters, they offered the home-like comfortable atmosphere.

I really like these support. Look at the face of skaters! Their works helped them a lot. Shoma's face to take white rice is precious!

This is awesome! Coping with the food situation in other countries has to be very hard for all the skaters. Shoma sure looked happy! I am sure Shoma is very happy that he didn't have to eat Reindeer Pizza. Yes, in another thread TMC (who is from Finland) was saying that they put reindeer meat on pizza, and at Christmas they actually have a Rudolph Pizza. :scard7:

 

[MaiKatze]

This is awesome! Coping with the food situation in other countries has to be very hard for all the skaters. Shoma sure looked happy! I am sure Shoma is very happy that he didn't have to eat Reindeer Pizza. Yes, in another thread TMC (who is from Finland) was saying that they put reindeer meat on pizza, and at Christmas they actually have a Rudolph Pizza. :scard7:

You don't want to know what the japanese put on their Pizza, Arriba.

 

[Arriba627]

You don't want to know what the japanese put on their Pizza, Arriba.

I'm sure I don't! I am a picky eater, and this is probably one of the reasons I've never traveled to Asia.

 

[demarinis5]

https://www.ajinomoto.co.jp/ajitoreonline/vp/?scid=pma_AJICFS_ot_20170426_01_001

I want to introduce this…, which is the site by the food company, Ajinomoto. They supports the diets of Japanese skaters. This time, they contributed to the team Japan a lot, committing themselves to the project, “Victory project”.

They brought 300 kg of Japanese food materials to Helsinki and the special facility to cook and for skaters to eat there was made. They offered the nutritious, energy efficient, and low-fat foods (of course, delicious), paying attention to the various points. Further, to ease the skaters, they offered the home-like comfortable atmosphere.

I really like these support. Look at the face of skaters! Their works helped them a lot. Shoma's face to take white rice is precious!

Agreed and there is a reason you do not hear much about stomach ailments and food poisining happening to members of Team Japan at competitions. I remember Dai-chan said in one of
his interviews that when he first starting competiting outside of Japan that he and his coach would hunt for grocery stores that sold Asian food. Sometime they were successful and sometimes
not. Asked what did you do if you could not find the food he laughed and said he ate a lot of soup and fruit. Things have changed a lot for Team Japan since those "olden" days. lol

 

[MaiKatze]

Agreed and there is a reason you do not hear much about stomach ailments and food poisining happening to members of Team Japan at competitions. I remember Dai-chan said in one of
his interviews that when he first starting competiting outside of Japan that he and his coach would hunt for grocery stores that sold Asian food. Sometime they were successful and sometimes
not. Asked what did you do if you could not find the food he laughed and said he ate a lot of soup and fruit. Things have changed a lot for Team Japan since those "olden" days. lol

Wasn't there an interview from Kanako when she won Junior Worlds in The Hague where she ate some local fish and got sick? Honestly if they stay with rice they should be okay. I still think that any fresh finnish fish would be better than something they imported from Japan. But then I would never seek out a german restaurant outside of Germany, so what do I know.

 

[demarinis5]

^When I travel I always like to eat the local food but then again I am not a competing athlete far from it, but I have been
lucky I have never gotten sick from eating the local cuisine.