Part 2
--Your SP music is “Yesterday.”
S: I got a lot of positive response from fans and skaters around me, and I felt I was able to show a new side of me. After The Ice, my coach made some adjustments to the program and also brushed it up by changing the jump setup course to make it easier for me to jump. I realized again that she was doing all these to help me and I was very grateful to her.
--I’m glad for you. How does Yamada sensei instruct you?
S: Machiko sensei coaches me mainly in jumps. During her lesson instead of repetitions of one jump, I’m instructed to go through the entry into the jump before jumping in the short program. When I’m able to do that, I do the same type of jump after the entry setup in the free program, and from there I work on the choreo moves. The lesson helps me prepare for competition. When I mess up jumps, she calls me out, “Repeat until you can land the jump! [laughter] ” It is very tough, but her instruction method is different from Mihoko sensei and she also takes good care of me.
--You spent more than half a year training yourself. That’s why you are learning a lot from your coaches now?
S: That’s true. When we take a look at the video of my skate, they give me advice based on their assessment which is quite different from mine. Like that, they point out the issue which I’ve never noticed before, and if necessary they change choreography to work around it. Also, about jumps, I used to skip jump training sometimes when I was tired and worked on something else, but they tell me that I should train jumps everyday and I have the real feeling that I am not cutting corners in practice any more.
--I am looking forward to your performances this season. I would like to ask you about the new programs. How was “yesterday” in the short selected?
S: In the past I chose my music, but this time I felt I should leave it up to Mihoko sensei who would definitely come up with the good one for me, so I asked her for music selection. There were about five choices but all of them were so great that I wanted to use any one of them next season or after that. I even wanted to use all of them as they were so fascinating and I felt her sense of music was amazing. In the end she chose “Yesterday” and I was impressed by the story she told me when she made the decision.
--What did she say to you?
S: This song was created by Paul McCartney who had gone through a hard time after the loss of his mother when he was 14. He wrote the lyrics to express his feeling that he wanted to move forward. She said, “I want you to see yourself in the song and tell the story. This is the song in which you, Sota-kun, can express yourself, who is facing the challenges of skating after overcoming injuries and rehabilitation.”
--You express a lot of emotions in your performance.
S: Yes, in the first half of the program, I express myself feeling lost after a tragic incident. From there, I get back up and towards the end I do steps and moves that lead to the buildup. Since the program is built with the theme of “moving forward” I am very much emotionally involved and I identify myself with the character in the song when I show my performance.
- to be cont'd -
--Your SP music is “Yesterday.”
S: I got a lot of positive response from fans and skaters around me, and I felt I was able to show a new side of me. After The Ice, my coach made some adjustments to the program and also brushed it up by changing the jump setup course to make it easier for me to jump. I realized again that she was doing all these to help me and I was very grateful to her.
--I’m glad for you. How does Yamada sensei instruct you?
S: Machiko sensei coaches me mainly in jumps. During her lesson instead of repetitions of one jump, I’m instructed to go through the entry into the jump before jumping in the short program. When I’m able to do that, I do the same type of jump after the entry setup in the free program, and from there I work on the choreo moves. The lesson helps me prepare for competition. When I mess up jumps, she calls me out, “Repeat until you can land the jump! [laughter] ” It is very tough, but her instruction method is different from Mihoko sensei and she also takes good care of me.
--You spent more than half a year training yourself. That’s why you are learning a lot from your coaches now?
S: That’s true. When we take a look at the video of my skate, they give me advice based on their assessment which is quite different from mine. Like that, they point out the issue which I’ve never noticed before, and if necessary they change choreography to work around it. Also, about jumps, I used to skip jump training sometimes when I was tired and worked on something else, but they tell me that I should train jumps everyday and I have the real feeling that I am not cutting corners in practice any more.
--I am looking forward to your performances this season. I would like to ask you about the new programs. How was “yesterday” in the short selected?
S: In the past I chose my music, but this time I felt I should leave it up to Mihoko sensei who would definitely come up with the good one for me, so I asked her for music selection. There were about five choices but all of them were so great that I wanted to use any one of them next season or after that. I even wanted to use all of them as they were so fascinating and I felt her sense of music was amazing. In the end she chose “Yesterday” and I was impressed by the story she told me when she made the decision.
--What did she say to you?
S: This song was created by Paul McCartney who had gone through a hard time after the loss of his mother when he was 14. He wrote the lyrics to express his feeling that he wanted to move forward. She said, “I want you to see yourself in the song and tell the story. This is the song in which you, Sota-kun, can express yourself, who is facing the challenges of skating after overcoming injuries and rehabilitation.”
--You express a lot of emotions in your performance.
S: Yes, in the first half of the program, I express myself feeling lost after a tragic incident. From there, I get back up and towards the end I do steps and moves that lead to the buildup. Since the program is built with the theme of “moving forward” I am very much emotionally involved and I identify myself with the character in the song when I show my performance.
- to be cont'd -
for the new excerpt!
He was a bit better in JO than in Chubu, which is commendable. (Last year his Japan Open was worse) Hopefully the return of the 4T is a sign of his left foot on the mend! I hope we get to see steps lv4 from Sota this season. I miss the lv4 steps from Jekyll&Hyde so much 
). However, it's an introvert song, it's not really that suitable for skating IMO and not powerful enough for the Olympic season, not to mention the version they chose is very inferior to the original. So I agree with Surimi it's a mismatch and doesn't really highlight Sota's strengths and personality.
I still remember most of their songs by heart. But, I am torn on Yesterday as a song, Sota's skating aside. It's a genius song, I acknowledge that, yet on a purely personal level, I have always found the slow melancholic songs in Paul's voice a tad whiny (yeah, Blackbird, looking at you...), so hence part of my antipathy. IDK how it is for you, but for me- George's voice FTW 
And I agree with you re. Yesterday and skating.
Higuchi sensei doesn't seem aware of the fact that Sota gets embarrassed even when he thanks his mum on Mothers' Day. 
Sota could quite credibly portray hugging a friend as he seems comfortable enough around boys, but he's super shy around women 
I think he'll eventually grow out of it... for the most part 
I had fun reading it. Most of it is about which music is suiatble for whom, and I have spent a lot of GS bandwidth musing on that exact topic ^ ^
Sota needs WS points so badly. I will be so anxious for him this weekend as I desperately hope he makes it into the top 8. The field is so tough.
