Japanese transcripts for Shoma's episode of KENJI'S Room! Only the first two parts out of four have been released, but I'm happy to know more about what exactly did they talked about, LOL.
Part 1:
news.jsports.co.jp
Part 2:
news.jsports.co.jp
Continuing from this, Part 3 and Part 4 are up, and they were a good read:
Part 3:
news.jsports.co.jp
Continuing the retrospective, this part was about the last 3 years of Shoma's career (2021-2024), they talked about the 2022 Olympic medal and of course the consecutive World titles in 2022 and 2023. Shoma said the Worlds 2022 win was probably the best moment of his skating career
and he talked about Stephane's enthusiasm and happiness too.
The 2 years after 2022 Worlds were pretty tough on Shoma. It wasn't about results or conditions, but continuing was very difficult after he achieved what he did (winning Worlds) with passion. He also likened the feeling of competing without his biggest competitors (Yuzuru and Nathan) as similar to the feeling he felt when the competitions were cancelled during COVID-19. It was like something important was missing from his competitive life. But then of course he found One Piece on Ice (or OPOI found him lol) and he was able to find another side of skating that he can show after retirement.
And he talked about his most memorable programs: Oboe Concerto and Bolero. Bolero was very memorable because at that time, Shoma was in a really passionate state for competition, so he was challenging himself without thinking about the risks of failures, and Bolero became the program with most time spent on it because of that. But Shoma also said he was able to work on Bolero because of Oboe, which was a program he is confident in, and thanked Kenji for his help for that program. Trivia: they worked on Oboe at Tsuruga, Fukui. It seemed that this was during the pandemic so rinks were limited.
Part 4:
news.jsports.co.jp
Shoma talked about 3 things he wants to do in the future:
1. Ice Show - He's hoping to come across a genre of ice show that's different in addition to the ones he already does (like OPOI)
2. Games - He considered his natural temperament and thought it would suit him better than being in public eye, lol. But in order to do that he had to start dipping his feet in it (which he hasn't done. yet lol)
3. Something he's never done before - it can be skating-related but not just skating (in shows or something) but commentary. It can also be non-skating related, like trying other sports. Shoma said he's stayed away from many things while active to avoid injuring himself or use up too many physical strength, so now he wants to try things out. Kenji proposed speed skating and fishing (fishing together with Kenji, lol)
Shoma's not interested in coaching or giving choreography for now. For choreography, he's very confident that he's not able to do it now, lol. For coaching / developing skaters, he first wants to hone himself more as a skater. He's pretty confident competitor but that was all because of jumps (according to Shoma), so now he wants to spend time working on the skater he wants to be even without jumps.
Some advice for younger skaters- as usual he wants them to enjoy skating. It's good that skaters start skating for results but he thought there are ways to enjoy skating, and his favorite is "enjoying without suffering" . Also some good advice regarding jumps- Shoma's a pretty logical person so sometimes when the jumps just don't work, he's quick to go for "well, sometimes it's like this, it can't be helped," and encourage skaters to think about the far future instead of just the immediate future now.
Also Shoma scored his own skating career 120 out of 100 here
"In terms of being a competitor, I didn't expect to be this good. Looking back now, I can't think of a single thing that I wish I had done better. I am grateful to those around me who created an environment that made it easy for me to work hard, and I want to praise myself for practising without any regrets. On top of that, I think I left more than I wanted to, which is why I wrote the figure of 120 points."
Shoma also said he made a lot of mistakes, but he always lived after them. He doesn't think that his many mistakes will end up as mistakes if he works hard in the future, so he has no regrets.
And then there was a section where Shoma looked back to his shy self 9 years ago interviewed by Kenji, lol. It really had been a long time.
Overall I think it really is worth the read, at least, if you can't watch it. I think it explains a lot about where Shoma is right now, and what he thought about his overall competitive career. And I think it really is an incredible career him to have achieved- thinking about how he started as a very talented kid, and then the mourning for his career from fans when it seemed that he can't jump well, and well, the rest is history (literally). I'm not surprised that Shoma is very gracious about his achievements - I think he really did achieve more than what he probably thought he can. And it also explains his consistent line of advice about hoping that young skaters can enjoy skating without suffering.
), but then Mao said Shoma had practiced so hard as a skater, and it meant a lot coming from her, a fellow practice demon 
Well, Shoma did look up to Mao for her work ethic since they were children.
I don't think Shoma keeps some of his medals where he is currently living.
