#Yuzuru Hanyu retired from skating and I spent three days crying

[redgreenbluesforloco]

Daisuke, Takahiko & Nobunari (3BK) Interview on QuadAxel Pt.2/2

(from Taka’s instagram)

Part 2 was more difficult than Part 1 heh ^^;; (This paragraph is just gonna be me grumbling about Japanese being hard, so do skip ahead to the interview!) Dai and Nobu could help out foreign fans trying to translate beyond their skill level by not randomly slipping into Kansai dialect, but what fun would that be. Pronoun dropping hasn’t gotten all that much easier in the last 6 years. How is it that I can still get confused as to who’s doing what ffs. Anyway, sigh, will edit if I find out I messed something up.

Continuing from Part 1

At around that time [2006 to 2009], it seems you already had a relationship of mutual respect. What did you find appealing about each other?

Dai: The precision of Takahiko’s skating skills, the smoothness/extension of each stroke. And Nobu’s jumps, his soft knees – he could put in combination jumps anywhere. I thought it was amazing how he wouldn’t make mistakes.

Taka: Yeah, yeah. Even if his jump was off-axis, he could still land it.

Dai: Yeah!

Nobu: A lot of times I thought I was jumping straight, then I looked at the footage and was like, “Wow, it’s way off.”

Dai & Taka: Ahahahaha

Dai: And then you’d land it like it was no problem lol.

Taka: You’d be totally smooth with the landing.

Nobu: Hahahah

Taka: As for Dai-chan, it was his emotion [sensitivity], of course. That kind of sensitivity was something that I lacked, so I kept wondering, “Where does that come from?”

Nobu: Like I said before, these two both had something that I couldn’t get from my training. I would think all the time, “What kind of training do I have to do to get closer to their level?”

Women’s figure skating used to get all the attention, and throughout your careers, men’s figure skating gained more popularity. I think that’s connected to how much it’s thriving today, but what were your feelings on that at the time?

Dai: I think that Takeshi Honda-sensei left a hole that several skaters from the new generation tried to fill, so it’s partly because that competition was so compelling to watch. And also because these two stood out as interesting characters, right?

Taka/Nobu: No no no no!

Nobu: Dai-chan, don’t you stand out quite a bit, too? Lol

Dai: Oh damn, yeah, my bad.

Nobu/Taka: LOL

Dai: My point is there are all sorts of characters who stand out, both in the men and the women’s competitions lol.

Nobu: Yeah, that’s true. With (Asada) Mao-chan, Miki (Ando), Yukari (Nakano), Akko-chan (Akiko Suzuki)…Everyone was really interesting to watch, each one had their own personality.

Dai: That’s right, because everyone had different personalities.

Nobu: And their skating had personality, too. So I’m really glad that male skaters have become popular as well.

Dai: Yeah.

And now what will it be like for you three to perform at Prince Ice World as professional skaters?

Dai: It’s been several years since I retired, and I started walking many different paths. But at the end of the day, skating is my foundation. Even today, I was watching these two practice on the ice and thinking, “Damn, they’re doing some impressive things,” and that encouraged me to try harder, too. Since retiring, our ranges of interpretation have been changing in all sorts of ways, so watching them skate again it’s like, “In all these years, they’ve grown so much!” That’s why I feel like this show is going to be a motivator for me, just thinking “I need to work hard to keep up with them.”

Taka: You do get the sense that we’ve all been evolving in different ways according to our own personalities.

Dai: Yes, well, that’s true lol.

Nobu: Since I retired I’ve been appearing in ice shows every year, but for you two, there have been periods of time when you guys weren’t around…

Dai/Taka: LOL

Nobu: Because there was a time Dai-chan went to America and was working hard there. And Takahiko was still active [in competitions] at one point, then he became a company man. Now, four years have passed, and I’m happy that once again we can skate together as 3 again. I was never apart from skating, so it feels like “Aah, they’re back! They do love skating, they do love it, I knew it!” lol

Dai: And it only took 4 years lol.

Taka: LOL

Nobu: Well, I’m glad you came back after 4 years.

Taka/Dai: LOL.

And one activity the three of you have in common is working as commentators. You often meet each other at the place of the event you’re covering, I would imagine. So do you have any feelings about that?

Dai [smiling bitterly]: Well, I think *they* are very good at it.

Nobu/Taka: Ahahahaha

Nobu: At the 2016 Nats, I sat at the Kiss & Cry with Riko Takino, and Dai-chan was working as a newscaster right behind me.

Dai: Right, yeah.

Nobu: Takahiko was there, too, right?

Taka: I was with BS-TV at the time so it wasn’t live.

Nobu: I thought it was awesome how everyone was at Nats in all these different roles. I thought, how great that after retirement once again everyone’s at Nats supporting the next generation.

Dai: Yeah.

Taka: And also, just like the people who have supported us, we’d like to keep helping the sport flourish even more.

And how do you see your future activities developing in terms of supporting figure skating from different positions?

Nobu: Ever since I retired my dream was to become a mentor/instructor, so I think from now on I will begin to slide into that role little by little. I love teaching and I love kids. 

Dai: You’re quite strict.  I just watch while thinking, “Wow, so scary!” lol

Taka: Ahahaha.

Nobu: Yeah, I’m strict lol. The fact that I used to be a competitive skater has advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that I’m able to put certain feelings/sensations into words as I teach them. The disadvantage is that there’s an impatience, like, “Why can’t you just do it?!” I always remind myself that the best way to support them is to stick to more of a long-term view.

Taka: You get too worked up about it, and you start to get frustrated?

Nobu: Yeah, I do get worked up about it. During like, their free skate run-throughs, when the skater is tired and starting to run out of steam, I think that’s when the actual practice starts. That’s what it was like for me, too. I’ll yell out, “Hey! Don’t get exhausted! Keep going!!” 

Dai: LOL. Well, I don’t know what I’m gonna do yet.

Nobu: It might take you another 4 years lol. [playfully] Excuse me, but while you’re finding your next path, could you just give us a long-term plan? Lol

Dai: But I only just returned to skating lol.

Nobu: Right, yes, you’ve finally found your way back to your roots.

Dai (looking at both of them): I’ll keep learning from my senpai* who have their roles in society figured out. The time I spent away from skating was long, so…

Nobu: He’s the type to come to a conclusion only after he tries lots of different things; it takes him a bit longer, so please just be patient with him!

Dai: LOL thanks, thanks so much.

Taka: LOOL. As for me, I think [as a teacher] I’m the total opposite of Naru-kun in that I just want the kids to have fun with skating. I want to convey the appeal of skating starting from the basics, in skating classes and such, and join Naru-kun and the others on that path of becoming a teacher.

Nobu: Takahiko is also making blades, which is already a huge contribution.

Taka: The blades, right.

Nobu: When are you giving me one? A blade.

Taka: You know, it takes a long time to make even just one!

Nobu: Because you said last year you’d give me one.

Dai: Ahahahaha LOL

Taka: I said, like, “There’s no way around it, I’ll give it to you when I get it,” lol.

Nobu: You said you’d give me one for free, so I’ve been waiting lol.

Taka: Blades have to start changing little by little. The rules will probably change, since quads have become commonplace. So these kinds of things have to change according to the times.

[T/N: *senpai - Dai self-deprecatingly says Taka and Nobu are his senpai as “members of society” 社会人 meaning people who have jobs, families etc.]

What has your reaction been to this Quad generation?

Taka: Just that it seems so difficult.

Dai: I don’t really understand how they’re able to do it.

Taka: It’s hard to fathom, right?

Nobu: Of course it’s amazing, but you also feel kind of bad, like, “If you can’t fight at that level, you can’t make it?!”

Dai: Right, yes. “So this is what you have to aim for if you want to succeed?!”

Nobu: It must be so difficult.

Taka: Yeah.

Nobu: Looking at the likes of Yuzu and Nathan, I think the era is coming where you’ll have to be able to jump all types of quads. And I think that also makes it difficult to teach [young skaters].

Dai: If they start practicing too much, too fast, they end up getting injured, and if they don’t practice fast enough, they don’t make it in time…

Nobu: But everyone’s working so hard, so you want to give them support.

Dai: Yeah.

How do you think the Japanese men’s field is going to develop now?

Nobu: Speaking from the point of view of a commentator, my honest feelings are that (Yuzuru) Hanyu-kun and (Shoma) Uno-kun are the two who are advancing Japanese men’s skating. There’s no one who can keep up with them yet. I am concerned that if [other skaters] don’t reach them, once these two retire, the next generation will be a struggle [for Japanese men].

Taka: When the 3 of us were competing, Yuzuru showed up, and then Shoma showed up...I hope it will keep happening gradually like that.

Nobu: (Yamamoto) Sota-kun getting injured was very tough, but now I want him to improve more and more. When you look at the women’s field, they’re at a level where you don’t know for sure who’s going to be at Worlds. I’d like for the men to reach such a level soon.

Taka: The women’s Olympic Selection Nats were very interesting to watch, right? There were so many promising skaters they didn’t even all fit into the last group.

Dai: Yeah!

Nobu: I want it to be like that for the men, too, to have a field so deep you think, “I want them to send everyone [to the big events]!”

Taka: Right.

At the Pyeongchang Olympics, as you witnessed Hanyu and Uno getting gold and silver medals live at the location or on TV, did you feel emotional not as commentators, but as former Olympians yourselves?

Nobu: Definitely. Dai-chan, too, right?

Dai: Yeah, it was like, “Why the hell am I crying so much? Am I this much of a crybaby?” lol

Nobu: I think it must be like this for Dai-chan and Takahiko, too, but for me, it’s because I’ve been on that stage before that I understand the pressure they’re under; It’s like all the practice they’ve done hinges upon those few minutes, isn’t it? To perform that well in those circumstances is incredible. And the feelings of “congratulations!!” are just overwhelming.

Taka: Now that I think about it, your Olympic performance is over in the blink of an eye, right. Just like that, it’s all over.

Were you feeling very aware that you also skated on that Olympic stage?

Nobu: Watching from my current position, I can feel how the whole world is watching the event. But when I was actually performing there, I don’t think I realized it that much.

Taka: Right.

Dai: Yeah. And now it’s like, “So that’s how much they were supporting us!”

Taka: The people around us.

Dai: Yeah! Realizing now, from the outside looking in, “People who were rooting for me were that close to me.”

Taka: When you’re at the location, you understand the cheers from the audience, but there’s also the people who will support you watching the TV…

Nobu: I really felt like, “I was in a really amazing place. I was lucky to have been sent there to participate.”

Taka: What would it be like to go to the Olympics again? If they let you participate?

Dai [firmly shaking his head]: No way!

Nobu [firmly shaking his head]: No way, no way, no way.

Taka: LOL

So, if you 3 were to produce your own ice show, what kind of show would you make?

Nobu: What! Produce an ice show? For now, let’s make Dai-chan the chairman.

Dai: Chairman?! Lol

Nobu: First, Dai-chan will dance without skates.

Dai, Taka: LOOOL

Nobu [doing the choreography from Hyoen]: Do 3 performances like that.

Dai [looking at Nobu]: In between the talking parts.

Nobu: Takahiko will give a skating class in-between. And then we’ll all perform together.

Dai: I really want a group number. Let’s make the group number the main event.

Taka: Sounds like fun.

Which skaters do you want to call as guest performers?

Dai: It could be cool to do it with just the men.

Taka: Men On Ice?!

Nobu: I want to call people from our generation! Jeffrey Buttle, Stephane Lambiel, Thomas Werner, Johnny Weir. Oh, also Emanuel Sandhu.

Dai: Emanuel Sandhu!

Taka: That’s good haha.

Dai: He has really long legs!

Nobu: Shawn Sawyer!

Dai: Also Kevin van der Perren.

Nobu, Taka [at the same time]: Aaaaaah!

Taka: And Sergei Voronov.

Nobu: Oh, Sweden’s Kristoffer Berntsson, and there’s another one...Ah! Adrian Schultheiss.

Dai: Schultheiss! Lol that guy’s great.

Nobu: Evan Lyzacek

Dai: Evan!

Taka: Evan, too. And Patrick Chan.

Nobu: Patrick, too. I want to gather a bunch of guys from that era and make it a whole festival of men.

Taka: Festival of men lol.

Dai: That’s something that hasn’t been done yet lol.

Taka: It’d get stuffy…

Dai: Yeah, it would.

Nobu: For the choreography, the guy from Spain!

Dai: (Antonio) Najarro.

Nobu [doing the choreography from Poeta]: Right, Najarro-san in the center dancing.

Taka [doing the choreography from Poeta]: Najarro-san on top of a platform lol.

Nobu: With overflowing enthusiasm!

Taka: It has to be like that, otherwise we won’t be synchronized.

What kind of music will you skate for your group number?

Dai: What should it be?

Nobu: Hm, what would work?

Taka: Is there something?

Nobu: Takahiko always goes with a “tidy” style with like, a classical feel to it.

Taka: Yeah.

Nobu: So, do something catchy like what Dai would skate to.

Taka: Aren’t we talking about the group number?!

Nobu: They’re all connected, like Takahiko skates to something catchy, Dai-chan skates to something comical…

Dai: And Nobu?

Nobu: I’ll skate to something like, formal.

Taka: But it’s not a medley, it’s supposed to be one song, right?

Nobu: Ah, the same song?

Taka: What song would work for the 3 of us?

Dai: A show number called “Vancouver memories” with the Olympic song lol.

Nobu, Taka: LOL

Nobu: Ah, wouldn’t that be good, though? There are the Olympic mascot characters, right!

Dai: Aaah!

Nobu: Would you skate with those on?

Taka: Wearing those? The 3 of us?

Nobu: Yeah, yeah! And skate to the Vancouver Olympic theme song.

Taka: Dai-chan would be Quatchi (Sasquatch inspired Vancouver Olympic mascot), right?

Dai: Quatchi! It’d be kind of a small Quatchi.

Nobu, Taka: LOL

Nobu: I mean, isn’t the Quatchi big? I don’t want to see a small-costume Quatchi.

Dai: We can just make all of them tight-fitting.

Taka: LOL

Nobu: Nah, I don’t like it. I don’t want it if the costumes are going to be small lol.  

Dai: Mighty Atom (TV Show).

Taka: With the 3 of us on the ice lol.

Nobu: That’s scary!!

Dai: That style could be cool, too!

Nobu: Yeah. Maybe go with that style, so we can make new memories.

I bet the fans would be very happy if “Men on Ice” actually happened! So, now, we’d like to ask you to send words of encouragement to your Japanese men’s skating kohai.

Dai: Encouragement, huh… Hm, but they’re all working hard, it’s not like we can just say “ganbare!”

Nobu: I mean, they got 1st and 2nd at the Olympics.

Taka: Yeah.

Dai: Yeah, first and second!

Nobu: It’d be kind of hard to beat that result, wouldn’t it? The only thing more amazing would be one, two, three. And there’s also 3rd consecutive win?

Taka: Yeah.

Nobu: That’s the level they’re at. It’s really amazing huh!

Dai: I mean, the others have to win against Yuzu and Shoma?

Nobu: There was Takeshi Honda-sensei, there were the 3 of us, and now Japanese men’s figure skating is really exciting.

Taka: It’s really exciting, right.

Nobu: I don’t want this excitement to fade, so I hope skaters with a lot of character and individuality continue to appear from now on.

Dai: Exactly.

Taka: But [points at Nobu and Dai] I don’t think there will ever be people with this much individuality lol.

Nobu: No no no, I have no individuality!

Dai [looking at Nobu]: No, no, no, lol.

Taka: Well said lol.

Wouldn’t you say the amount of appreciation you get today is because the 3 of you have such unique characters in your performances, too [as well as off the ice]?

Taka: Hmm…

Nobu: Huh, I wonder...

Dai: Hm, is that so? What do you guys think?

Nobu: I mean, it’s something to be grateful for, of course. To have this much support even after you retire.

Dai: Yeah, it’s definitely something to be grateful for.

Taka: Even after so many years…

Nobu: Yeah.

Dai: Right.

Thank you very much. We’ll continue to support you. Lastly, please send a message to your fans.

Nobu: As always, thank you so much for your support. This season I will work hard and concentrate on beating my personal best again [everyone bursts into laughter], so please continue to support me!

Taka: Are you serious!

Dai: LOL

Nobu: I’m serious! I'm very serious about skating!

Dai: Right. Well, thank you so much for your continued support. I also have finally started to think seriously about skating again…really for the first time in a while.

Taka, Nobu: LOL

Dai: Up until now I’ve been making excuses for myself when appearing in ice shows and skating while feeling guilty [toward the audience], but this season I want to hold onto my enthusiasm for skating so I can perform with passion. I hope that, little by little, you can start to see these changes in me. I want to work hard from now on!

Taka: Yeah. We hadn’t had the opportunity to have a meeting like this until now, so I’m feeling really nostalgic. Hey, do you guys know that we’re called 3BK?

[Nobu and Dai meet each other’s eyes and nod deeply].

Nobu [looking at Dai]: But we’ve never thought of such things, riight~? lol

Dai [looking at Nobu]: Never even thought about it, riiiight~? Lol

That’s a loving nickname that caught on among your fans.

Nobu: Loving, huh!

Dai: Right, right, lol.

Taka: It's loving, yes! It started when we chased that ball.

Nobu: Yeah.

Taka: To all the fans: 3BK is eternal! Please continue to support us.

Dai/Nobu: Please support us!