Someone has gifted the article - it can be read until tomorrow, 9:55 a.m. (JST)
:
フィギュアスケート男子の山本草太（MIXI）が、5月9日に都内で開かれたコラントッテのイベント後に単独インタビューに応じました。ミラノ・コルティナオリンピック（五輪）シーズンの終盤に来季の現役続行を表明。競技継続を決めた理由や来季のプログラムの一端を明かしました。コラントッテに出演した現役選手の単独インタビューは、15日の友野一希からスタート。明日17日以降は鍵山優真、三浦佳生、島田高志郎、中田璃士の声をお届けします。 - 日刊スポーツ新聞社のニュースサイト、ニッカンスポーツ・コム（nikkansports.com）。
www.nikkansports.com
I will remove the machine translation when the free reading period ends:
[...]
—This is purely hypothetical, but if you’d been able to see the Olympic season through to the end, would you not have chosen to continue for just one more season?
That’s true. It was exactly this time last year, when I was choreographing my programs, that I thought, ‘This will be the last time I perform this program in competition,’ and so I chose ‘Hallelujah’ for my free skate. It’s such a moving program that I chose it thinking, ‘This will be my last competitive performance,’ but as I wasn’t able to see the season through successfully, I ended up continuing. So this year, I want to take on the challenge with two new programs. Last year, the music felt a bit like a retirement program (laughs). But as the new season’s programs are all about ‘challenge’, this time it doesn’t feel like the end (laughs). Rather than beautiful, moving music, what I truly wanted to do was something with a cool rhythm and a new genre. I’m 26 now, an age when I’m starting to think about a second career, but I still want to take on new challenges. I have a desire to pursue a new version of myself, a new style of skating, and new forms of expression.
—Regarding your programs for the new season, have you decided on specific titles and choreographers?
The choreographers have been decided: Kana Muramoto for the short programme (SP) and Kenji Miyamoto for the free skate. Over the last few years, I’ve often had my choreography done overseas, but this year both programmes will be choreographed in Japan. Whilst I did have a desire to work with an overseas choreographer, I was also acutely aware of the language barrier. There were many instances where I didn’t fully grasp the deeper meaning behind each element of the choreography, so by commissioning Japanese choreographers this time, it’s easier to convey my understanding of ‘I want this part to express this’ and my own ideas of ‘I want to do this here’. When working abroad, I sometimes struggled to put my thoughts into words, making communication difficult, so I think it’s a real advantage not to have that difficulty here. Also, regarding fine-tuning, previously we used Zoom (online), so they couldn’t see me in person, and it was difficult to rearrange the steps after a competition. But in Japan, I think they’ll be able to fine-tune things directly on the ice, so I believe that’s another benefit.
—Could you tell us why you asked Yuna Muramoto to work with you, and if the programme has been decided, what it is?
The programe has been decided, but as it will be unveiled at ‘Dreams on Ice’ in June, I’d ask you to wait and see. The short program features a cool, stylish musical arrangement. When I had the pleasure of performing alongside Daisuke Takahashi and Kana Muramoto in ‘Kassouya’, Daisuke said to me, ‘I’ll pick out a song for you for next season.’ At first, I thought, ‘Is he joking?’ But as I’d been hoping to ask Ms Muramoto to choreograph my short programme, she put in a word for me, saying, ‘I’ll ask Daisuke again,’ and sure enough, he actually sent me a song. It’s a cool track, and I was absolutely delighted. I’m hoping to incorporate the atmosphere of the music and Kana-san’s choreography into my own skating. For the free program, I’m planning to have Kenji Miyamoto choreograph it for me around mid-June. I think this one will also have a cool, fresh feel to it. Up until now, most of my programs have been designed to showcase my strengths set to beautiful, moving, and grand music, but I’m making a complete change this time, so I know there will be some challenges. I’d appreciate it if you could watch over me. I want to create programs that I can look back on and think, ‘That’s good.’
I suppose it's held at the Uno Cafe as they shared the news on their IG:
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I'm genuinely happy for him and I think he deserves it so much.
It's not that I don't want to see Sota's experssion skills develop, it's rather that I want to see his scores develop more 
