- Joined
- Nov 12, 2013
Oops, I saw the date of the tweet and assumed it was the date of the show
There seem to be no recent articles on Sota, but here are the 4CC videos I mentioned:
SP:
FS:
^ That's a whole lot of plushies in that video opening!
Sota Yamamoto
- Thread starter surimi
- Start date
Oops, I saw the date of the tweet and assumed it was the date of the show
There seem to be no recent articles on Sota, but here are the 4CC videos I mentioned:
SP:
FS:
^ That's a whole lot of plushies in that video opening!
- Joined
- May 5, 2018
Thank you for sharing those, it's nice to see that Sota got some plushies too!
Aaaaahhh just saw this on Instagram! Sota and Kusshi!
Last edited:
- Joined
- May 5, 2018
No-one:
Sota: I love my Kazukis
Sota: I love my Kazukis
- Joined
- May 5, 2018
Not one, but two IG posts by Sota today! We are blessed
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2013
Aww, thanks for the finds, Kirara! ^ ^
I wonder if Kazuki Kushida keeps competing next season as Sota seems to suggest, but I've heard he's retiring this season. Who knows?
I'm glad Sota's not dwelling on his 4CC disappointment, and chose to post photos from the site. Yay
Tomorrow's Sota's Unlim talk, and in the meantime, here are two Kassouya videos from YT:
- Carmen with Kazuki, Sota and Sena (feat. Daisuke taking over at the end):
- and 'Hide and Seek' of the ensemble incl. Sota in masks:
I wonder if Kazuki Kushida keeps competing next season as Sota seems to suggest, but I've heard he's retiring this season. Who knows?
I'm glad Sota's not dwelling on his 4CC disappointment, and chose to post photos from the site. Yay
Tomorrow's Sota's Unlim talk, and in the meantime, here are two Kassouya videos from YT:
- Carmen with Kazuki, Sota and Sena (feat. Daisuke taking over at the end):
- and 'Hide and Seek' of the ensemble incl. Sota in masks:
- Joined
- May 5, 2018
Cross-posting this from Kazuki's Fan Fest: Sota (and Kazuki) will be appearing at this year's Kyoto Figure Skating Festival on 9 March. It seems that Sota will be a 'guest speaker'!
The event will be broadcast here on 31 March: https://www.gaora.co.jp/season/3885460
But no further info yet!
The event will be broadcast here on 31 March: https://www.gaora.co.jp/season/3885460
But no further info yet!
- Joined
- May 5, 2018
Some stills from the Sota x Taichiro talk! They both look really good! I miss Taichiro's skating...
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2013
Thanks for the find, Kirara! Here's one more set, this time with a sleepy pose:
A fan mentioned there was also a 'surprise announcement', I presume by Sota because they said they were now looking forward to next season even more. I wonder what it could be? Has Sota decided his programs or one of his choreographers yet? Is he going abroad for a training camp/specialist consultation? (being in Special, I assume he can, if he wants to) Or has he found a sponsor yet? I hope an article or a future Unlim reveal more.
Also, I really really like this 5-second video:
Sota used to be shy, but he's been getting more and more confident, and I love seeing this new extroverted side of him in shows and talkshows.
A fan mentioned there was also a 'surprise announcement', I presume by Sota because they said they were now looking forward to next season even more. I wonder what it could be? Has Sota decided his programs or one of his choreographers yet? Is he going abroad for a training camp/specialist consultation? (being in Special, I assume he can, if he wants to) Or has he found a sponsor yet? I hope an article or a future Unlim reveal more.
Also, I really really like this 5-second video:
Sota used to be shy, but he's been getting more and more confident, and I love seeing this new extroverted side of him in shows and talkshows.
- Joined
- May 5, 2018
I have seen on Twitter talks about a 'surprise choreographer' for Sota, and they were speculating it could be potentially Daisuke Takahashi...
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2013
Oh, I would have no issues with a surprise choreographer at all... as long as it's not to surprise music (waltz... more jazz... ballet... samba... *cough*... riverdance... circus or sailors...
). Or with a surprise 4F 
I wonder if he possibly went for Misha? That would be a swap indeed, since Kazuki wants a new choreographer, correct?
I really hope that Sota chooses his music himself, or at least narrows the options. It's no coincidence that Chameleon PCS/GoE was lower than for the FS. IIRC, Keiji would leave the music to his choreographers (mostly Scali), and sometimes it was a hit (Memories), sometimes a miss (all those operas).
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2014
Unfortunately that sounds like wishful thinking. Daisuke has made it very clear on many occasions that he doesn’t enjoy / thinks that he isn’t suited to create choreography and that he has turned down multiple requests.
Kana on the other hand aspires to be a choreographer and has already tried her hand at it (her credentials so far include programs for Hana Yoshida, Shizuka Arakawa and Koshiro Shimada – the latter was to debut her program at Kassouya). She doesn’t have any experience with competitive senior programs yet, though.
Possibly someone established like Misha or Misao Sato is a more likely option? (I really like Sato’s choreography for “Teeth” and most of her work for Kazuki.) Or perhaps Yuma Suzuki could be involved in combination with a skating choreographer?
- Joined
- May 5, 2018
Kazuki says he wants new programmes, and he's thinking about the choreographers, but he didn't mention anything about wanting necessarily new choreographers. I think it's almost certain that at least one of his programmes will be choreographed by Misha, and Misha has been choreographing for other team Japan members too, so he could well choreograph for Sota! I think that would be very cool.
Thank you for letting us know, good on Dai-chan for knowing what he likes/is suited to do! Still, if I had to bet I'd say it's probably someone from Kassouya, as this would be a very 'Sota' thing to do - last season he chose David Wilson as choreographer after working with him on FaOI. So it could be Kana, Yuma Suzuki, and I saw someone mentioning Yuna Aoki too, who did a great job choreographing for herself this season.Unfortunately that sounds like wishful thinking. Daisuke has made it very clear on many occasions that he doesn’t enjoy / thinks that he isn’t suited to create choreography and that he has turned down multiple requests.
Kana on the other hand aspires to be a choreographer and has already tried her hand at it (her credentials so far include programs for Hana Yoshida, Shizuka Arakawa and Koshiro Shimada – the latter was to debut her program at Kassouya). She doesn’t have any experience with competitive senior programs yet, though.
Possibly someone established like Misha or Misao Sato is a more likely option? (I really like Sato’s choreography for “Teeth” and most of her work for Kazuki.) Or perhaps Yuma Suzuki could be involved in combination with a skating choreographer?
- Joined
- May 5, 2018
Sota will be at FaOI again this year!
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2013
Yay, I'm glad to see Sota picked for shows (as he should )! I thought the boy in the middle of the photo was Kazuki, until I noticed the kanji
Now, there was a brief interview with Sota yesterday, on Kose's website: https://sports.kose.co.jp/skating/figure-skating/256
Google translated:
- Kose: Congratulations on your 3rd place at the All Japan Championship. You looked very happy, but how did you feel when you found yourself on the podium?
- Sota: I have always wanted to perform well and get good results at All Japan, but until now I have not been able to achieve satisfactory results. My goal was to be on the podium this season as well, but I had been having a tough time since the end of the last Grand Prix Series Cup of China. However, with less than a month left until the Japan Nationals, I felt pretty relaxed and was able to compete this time without worrying too much about the results. As a result, I didn't feel too much pressure, which led to a good performance, and I ended up finishing in 3rd place, so I'm very happy to be on the podium for the first time.
- Kose: I think there are a certain number of athletes who say that the atmosphere at the All Japan Championships is different from other games, and that the hurdles to winning a medal are high.
- Sota: To be honest, I also prefer overseas matches, and I think the lively atmosphere of both the spectators and the venue is very unique to Japan. Overseas matches have a more festival-like atmosphere, and the cheering is more frank, even though it's still a match. Perhaps because of that, I felt that I wasn't good at All Japan. This time, I usually get nervous on stage, but I was able to perform without feeling too much pressure and was able to perform with the mindset of showing what I've done.
This will be my 10th attempt at the All Japan Championships, and I haven't been able to perform well in the past, so it took some time, but I think I was finally able to perform to my satisfaction.
- Kose: Since this is my 10th appearance, I think I have been involved with a lot of players from seniors to juniors. If there is anyone you respect among them, please let me know.
- Sota: This time too, the men's matches were at a very high level, but I have respect for all the players. In particular, the people who competed in the final group are both friends and rivals, and they have always been conscious of each other and worked hard to improve themselves, so I hope that they can further inspire the men's figure skating competition in the future.
- Kose: Changing the topic, please tell us about your hobbies.
- Sota: You may know this because I've talked about it in many places, but my hobby is saunas. However, my pace has slowed down a lot compared to when I first got into it, and now I'm doing it once a week instead of about 2 times a week. It takes a bit of physical strength to enter the sauna, so I can get rid of the fatigue after entering the sauna, but I can only go on days when I have energy, so I feel calm. However, once you go, you come back feeling refreshed, so I think saunas are good after all.
- Kose: Do you still go with your fellow players?
- Sota: The day before Medalist on Ice, a large number of male athletes went there as well. Me, Kazuki Tomono, Sumushi Moriguchi, Nozomi Yoshioka, Mitsuto Oshima, Yuto Kishina, Taichi Honda, and Shunsuke Nakamura. Everyone goes to the sauna, and there's even a group called LINE as a sauna club for skaters.
- Kose: By the way, do you take care of your skin every day? Please let me know if you have a favorite.
- Sota: The products I received are my main focus, but I also do skin care. I use the mud face wash*¹ quite a bit, and I brought it with me this time as well.
*1: ONE BY KOSÉ Double Black Washer
- Kose: Speaking of Yamamoto, he is famous among fans for his scent fetish. Please let me know if you have a favorite scent.
- Sota: I use a sweet scented fabric softener. Since I was in elementary school, I've been saying that this smells good, so I've had it used in my fabric softener as well, and I've been using it ever since.
I also like scents such as perfumes, and when I want to relax or when I can't sleep at night, I shake them on my pillow to calm my mood.
Before a match, my adrenaline rush makes me feel high, so I bring aromatherapy scents and sprays to the hotel to calm me down and use them to help me relax.
- Kose: The theme of this exhibition is "rock," so the makeup was perfect for the leather costumes.
- Sota: I've never done makeup like this before, so it's new to me. The costumes were made by the person who usually makes the costumes for the actual performance. It is a material with low elasticity that cannot be used in matches, but since it is an exhibition, we also use leather materials like this.
- Kose: Lastly, could you tell us if you have any goals for 2024?
- Sota: Is it "stable"? When I'm good, I can go straight to the top, but when I'm not doing well, there's a huge difference, so I want to be able to maintain a higher level even when things are bad. Both mentally and technically.
************
I really like his attitude in all paragraphs including the last one! Sota has grown up so much as a skater, and it's awesome to see him gain more and more confidence ^ ^ I'm glad he enjoys overseas competitions.
In the last paragraph though, I feel 'stability' is not compatible with his 4F dreams. For 99% of skaters, it is one or the other. I hope Sota chooses 'stability' over 4F in the end.
I wonder what Sota means by this sentence - 海外試合の方がお祭りのような雰囲気があって、声援も試合ではあるもののフランクな印象です (Overseas matches have a more festival-like atmosphere, and the cheering is more frank, even though it's a match.)
Is the word matsuri used just for holidays and religious/folk festivals, or for festivals/shows on ice as well, I wonder? But yeah, many of us overseas don't really have many opportunities to cheer for Japanese skaters - especially affordable opportunities - so to me at least, attending a competition where Sota is skating *is* like a little celebration.
Also, so many English words in skater interviews... Why is Sota insecure about his English again?
)! I thought the boy in the middle of the photo was Kazuki, until I noticed the kanji Now, there was a brief interview with Sota yesterday, on Kose's website: https://sports.kose.co.jp/skating/figure-skating/256
Google translated:
- Kose: Congratulations on your 3rd place at the All Japan Championship. You looked very happy, but how did you feel when you found yourself on the podium?
- Sota: I have always wanted to perform well and get good results at All Japan, but until now I have not been able to achieve satisfactory results. My goal was to be on the podium this season as well, but I had been having a tough time since the end of the last Grand Prix Series Cup of China. However, with less than a month left until the Japan Nationals, I felt pretty relaxed and was able to compete this time without worrying too much about the results. As a result, I didn't feel too much pressure, which led to a good performance, and I ended up finishing in 3rd place, so I'm very happy to be on the podium for the first time.
- Kose: I think there are a certain number of athletes who say that the atmosphere at the All Japan Championships is different from other games, and that the hurdles to winning a medal are high.
- Sota: To be honest, I also prefer overseas matches, and I think the lively atmosphere of both the spectators and the venue is very unique to Japan. Overseas matches have a more festival-like atmosphere, and the cheering is more frank, even though it's still a match. Perhaps because of that, I felt that I wasn't good at All Japan. This time, I usually get nervous on stage, but I was able to perform without feeling too much pressure and was able to perform with the mindset of showing what I've done.
This will be my 10th attempt at the All Japan Championships, and I haven't been able to perform well in the past, so it took some time, but I think I was finally able to perform to my satisfaction.
- Kose: Since this is my 10th appearance, I think I have been involved with a lot of players from seniors to juniors. If there is anyone you respect among them, please let me know.
- Sota: This time too, the men's matches were at a very high level, but I have respect for all the players. In particular, the people who competed in the final group are both friends and rivals, and they have always been conscious of each other and worked hard to improve themselves, so I hope that they can further inspire the men's figure skating competition in the future.
- Kose: Changing the topic, please tell us about your hobbies.
- Sota: You may know this because I've talked about it in many places, but my hobby is saunas. However, my pace has slowed down a lot compared to when I first got into it, and now I'm doing it once a week instead of about 2 times a week. It takes a bit of physical strength to enter the sauna, so I can get rid of the fatigue after entering the sauna, but I can only go on days when I have energy, so I feel calm. However, once you go, you come back feeling refreshed, so I think saunas are good after all.
- Kose: Do you still go with your fellow players?
- Sota: The day before Medalist on Ice, a large number of male athletes went there as well. Me, Kazuki Tomono, Sumushi Moriguchi, Nozomi Yoshioka, Mitsuto Oshima, Yuto Kishina, Taichi Honda, and Shunsuke Nakamura. Everyone goes to the sauna, and there's even a group called LINE as a sauna club for skaters.
- Kose: By the way, do you take care of your skin every day? Please let me know if you have a favorite.
- Sota: The products I received are my main focus, but I also do skin care. I use the mud face wash*¹ quite a bit, and I brought it with me this time as well.
*1: ONE BY KOSÉ Double Black Washer
- Kose: Speaking of Yamamoto, he is famous among fans for his scent fetish. Please let me know if you have a favorite scent.
- Sota: I use a sweet scented fabric softener. Since I was in elementary school, I've been saying that this smells good, so I've had it used in my fabric softener as well, and I've been using it ever since.
I also like scents such as perfumes, and when I want to relax or when I can't sleep at night, I shake them on my pillow to calm my mood.
Before a match, my adrenaline rush makes me feel high, so I bring aromatherapy scents and sprays to the hotel to calm me down and use them to help me relax.
- Kose: The theme of this exhibition is "rock," so the makeup was perfect for the leather costumes.
- Sota: I've never done makeup like this before, so it's new to me. The costumes were made by the person who usually makes the costumes for the actual performance. It is a material with low elasticity that cannot be used in matches, but since it is an exhibition, we also use leather materials like this.
- Kose: Lastly, could you tell us if you have any goals for 2024?
- Sota: Is it "stable"? When I'm good, I can go straight to the top, but when I'm not doing well, there's a huge difference, so I want to be able to maintain a higher level even when things are bad. Both mentally and technically.
************
I really like his attitude in all paragraphs including the last one! Sota has grown up so much as a skater, and it's awesome to see him gain more and more confidence ^ ^ I'm glad he enjoys overseas competitions.
In the last paragraph though, I feel 'stability' is not compatible with his 4F dreams. For 99% of skaters, it is one or the other. I hope Sota chooses 'stability' over 4F in the end.
I wonder what Sota means by this sentence - 海外試合の方がお祭りのような雰囲気があって、声援も試合ではあるもののフランクな印象です (Overseas matches have a more festival-like atmosphere, and the cheering is more frank, even though it's a match.)
Is the word matsuri used just for holidays and religious/folk festivals, or for festivals/shows on ice as well, I wonder? But yeah, many of us overseas don't really have many opportunities to cheer for Japanese skaters - especially affordable opportunities - so to me at least, attending a competition where Sota is skating *is* like a little celebration.
Also, so many English words in skater interviews... Why is Sota insecure about his English again?
- Joined
- May 5, 2018
- Joined
- May 5, 2018
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2013
Less than a week till Sota graduates 
I can't wait to see the photos ^ ^ He said there would be journalists at the ceremony, so we can expect a few articles as well
In the meantime, here's a nice Kassouya video of Teeth + a group number:
And for those who want a view from the other rink side
:
Sota has repeatedly said learning the Kassouya and Teeth choreos were both difficult (especially Kassouya as he arrived later than the others due to 4CC). I can safely say I wouldn't be able to remember even 20 seconds of the choreo, lol. I admire skaters' memories!
I can't wait to see the photos ^ ^ He said there would be journalists at the ceremony, so we can expect a few articles as well In the meantime, here's a nice Kassouya video of Teeth + a group number:
And for those who want a view from the other rink side
:Sota has repeatedly said learning the Kassouya and Teeth choreos were both difficult (especially Kassouya as he arrived later than the others due to 4CC). I can safely say I wouldn't be able to remember even 20 seconds of the choreo, lol. I admire skaters' memories!
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2013
Sota graduated today - big congrats! 
There are also various media articles, which I'll gather and post tomorrow. NGL, I looked up the photos as the first thing I did after coming home tonight, and they brought a big smile to my face ^ ^ I'm glad Sota has the Sports Science degree he's worked hard for. He'll be using the Chukyo rink as his main rink for the time being (and I guess he still practices in Tokai as well).
There are also various media articles, which I'll gather and post tomorrow. NGL, I looked up the photos as the first thing I did after coming home tonight, and they brought a big smile to my face ^ ^ I'm glad Sota has the Sports Science degree he's worked hard for. He'll be using the Chukyo rink as his main rink for the time being (and I guess he still practices in Tokai as well).
