yuzuru hanyu thesis english

Axel with Wings

[ENG TRANSLATION] A Feasibility Study on Utilization in Figure Skating by A Wireless Inertia Sensor Motion Capture System, Yuzuru Hanyu – 20210318

Original journal article was first published 18 March 2021

Translation: @ shinjistarxx Proofreading: @ yuzueco & @ axelsandwich

This is an unofficial fan translation from Japanese to English by the Axel with Wings team of a part of Yuzuru Hanyu’s thesis that was edited for an article in Waseda University’s Journal of Human Sciences for a special feature. We are not professional translators, though we have taken as much care as possible in ensuring the translation is accurate, and would therefore advise all readers to keep this in mind. Please send us a DM if you spot any errors. 

The Axel with Wings team are very proud of Yuzuru’s research and believe that its significant contribution to figure skating academia should be shared with an international audience, who are currently limited by the language barrier. The translation source material is a free, publicly available excerpt of the thesis ( here ) and the translation has been done in that same spirit of sharing academic research and study. 

We are aware that derivative works are generally subject to copyright law. However, we have made the translation available as an interim measure as we believe that it is unlikely there will be an authorised English translation and we are unable to contact the relevant copyright holders. We hope this translation will be taken in good faith and with the same spirit that allows fans of figure skating from all different countries to share news and information with each other that they would otherwise not have access to because of language barriers. If an official English translation becomes available or we are contacted by the copyright holder, we will remove access to this translation immediately and request all downloaded copies be deleted as well. 

The Axel with Wings translation team seeks no monetary gain from their work. If you have paid any other third party for access to this document, you have been scammed. 

However, if you would like to recognise the time and effort that has gone into this, we would be very happy if you will consider making an optional donation to charities that support the recovery of the Tohoku region, which has always been a cause important to Yuzuru. Some of our recommendations are AAR Japan for the Tohoku area or Japan Platform .

Please do NOT reupload the PDF, re-translate in another language, quote excerpts of this translation in any media article or share screenshots of the translation on any social platform without prior permission. You must contact the Axel With Wings Twitter ( @axelwithwings ) first via DM. We will not be allowing reposts on Instagram or Facebook as a blanket rule but you may share the URL of this blog post. If you spot any unauthorised reposts, please contact us ASAP.  

By agreeing to click through to download the document and all the secondary translations based off ours, you are acknowledging you agree to all of the above points.

Please DM the Axel With Wings on Twitter with any further questions.

Vietnamese translation by @heyitsheunn

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axelwithwings

We are the Axel with Wings translation team, made up of fans of Yuzuru Hanyu. We hope to share videos of him and Japanese figure skating content with more people around the world. We aim to do our best to accurately capture the spirit of what's said. Hope you enjoy our videos and other contents. View all posts by axelwithwings

2 thoughts on “[ENG TRANSLATION] A Feasibility Study on Utilization in Figure Skating by A Wireless Inertia Sensor Motion Capture System, Yuzuru Hanyu – 20210318”

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Yuzuru Hanyu’s mastery of artistry and technique

The “ice king” is the embodiment and hope of figure skating

By Valerie Yao — Published March 20, 2022

I started watching the Winter Olympics after the 2010 Vancouver games, and from then on, I was deeply captivated by the charms and beauty of those icy sports. The games became my one solace on many barren days.

As the Beijing 2022 games came to an end earlier this month, I couldn’t help but feel nostalgic over the iconic moments we’ve seen in the past month. The figure skating events mesmerized me the most, as the skaters’ every jump and spin teleported me to a wonderland of art and happiness. 

Among them, one skater especially stood out to me as the supreme standard of both artistry and techniques — the embodiment of figure skating. Not only I, but the figure skating and Olympic communities also owe a debt to Yuzuru Hanyu for the impacts and changes he has made to the sport. 

Yuzuru Hanyu, who was born in Sendai, Japan in 1994, is a reigning champion figure skater with dazzling achievements. In 2012, he started training in Toronto with the 1984 and 1988 Canadian silver medallist Brian Orser. Hanyu won back-to-back gold medals in the 2014 Sochi Olympics and 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, becoming the first man to win two consecutive golds since 1952. He also became the first male singles skater to achieve a Super Slam, since he has won all major international championships at the senior and junior levels. 

I recently revisited his past Olympic performances, and every routine is a masterclass in skating. Aside from his flawless technical elements, one of the most fascinating aspects of Hanyu’s performance is his ability to bring out and infect the audience with the emotions of the characters he portrays. 

In his debut at Sochi, he inked the whole rink with his vivacious spirit. Wearing a blue shirt, Hanyu immediately transports the audience to a Paris street in his short program skate to “Parisienne Walkways” with his confident, frisky steps. Later, in his free skate, he delicately carried out the emotions in “Romeo and Juliet” with excellent skills and expressions. 

If Sochi was the triumph of youth for the 19-year-old, then four years later, Pyeongchang was confirmation that Hanyu is indeed the king of the ice. Hanyu’s Pyeongchang free skate, “Seimei,” vigorously unfolded the story of Seimei’s growth to becoming a powerful man, just like Hanyu himself. 

In Beijing, he further explored the philosophy behind his free skate program, “Heaven and Earth,” with connections to his own life. In a turquoise costume with embroidered sakura blossoms and golden birds, he elegantly portrayed the story of an ancient Japanese warlord, Uesugi Kenshin, which had many parallels to Hanyu’s athletic career. 

Hanyu, like Uesugi, became a leader at a young age. They both experienced tremendous hardships, yet kept fighting and matured. Hanyu illustrated his own coming-of-age story through his Olympic performance. 

It may appear that Hanyu has achieved everything that he deserves, but there have been many instances when his hard work didn’t pay off — sometimes due to International Skating Union’s (ISU) unjust targeting and underscoring. Research and past scoring results demonstrate that, oftentimes, more than half of the judges show statistically significant nationalist biases when scoring. 

Furthermore, in Beijing, Hanyu attempted the quadruple axel (4A) jump — which requires 4.5 revolutions — becoming the first person to attempt one at an international event. Hanyu’s 4A in Beijing 2022 was acknowledged, but not certified, because he fell when landing. 

No one has ever landed a 4A in competitions. Hanyu’s heroic, history-making challenge pushes figure skating’s standard and technical difficulty forward. It’s possible he could still land the 4A in competition — there is a lot to yet expect from Hanyu.

Since it’s considered the most difficult jump, however, 4A’s score in ISU’s judging book doesn’t reflect its true difficulty. Though it’s arguably significantly more difficult than quadruple lutz (4Lz) jumps, the 4A is worth only one point more than the 4Lz. 

Given this, the 4A is a high-risk jump with low rewards that ended up hindering Hanyu from getting the gold. Regardless, Hanyu’s fans will always respect his efforts to dazzle on the ice. The way he pursues even more difficult tricks, even if he risks medals, is the very embodiment of the Olympic spirit. 

Furthermore, in protest against the ISU’s underscoring, Hanyu wrote his graduation thesis on how 3D capture technology, that analyzes athletes’ movements, can help figure skating judges grade fairly. His resistance to the ISU’s biases provides hope for fairer games and a brighter future for the competitive sports field — and, personally, his perseverance is a constant reminder for me to keep going. 

Fortunately, as Hanyu suggested, the ISU is now working on implementing artificial intelligence and augmented reality technologies in judging figure skating, which will help determine skaters’ pre-rotation and rotation numbers and make scoring more accurate.

What inspires me the most about Hanyu is his devotion. He doesn’t regard figure skating as merely a competitive sport, but as an art. He doesn’t add difficult jumps to his routine just to get high scores. Rather, he strives to achieve overall balance and elegance for the programs, alongside difficult and technical manoeuvres, so he carefully plans tough step sequences and jumps in his choreography by adding graceful jump entrances and exits. 

These choices not only increase his programs’ technical difficulties but also blend his choreography into the music, thus adding unity. We need more athletes like him — we watch competitive sports to not only witness awesome skills but also to find inspiration and explore the breadth of humanity. 

As he glided over the rink in his sparkling white and pink costume and gracefully kissed the ice in his performance “Come, Spring” at Beijing 2022’s figure skating gala exhibition, Hanyu planted seeds of hope and great expectation for the future of figure skating — and spring has indeed come.

Tags: Figure Skating , Ice Skating , Olympics

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• 2020-21 Figure Skating archives

Yuzuru Hanyu’s thesis on Motion Capture

• Thread starter treblemakerem
• Start date May 15, 2021

treblemakerem

• May 15, 2021

Came across this video today https://youtu.be/3c2dDaIaifw The link to his thesis is posted in the description but my Japanese is not good enough to read it. Wonder what people think about this?  

Blades of Passion

Skating is art, if you let it be.

• May 16, 2021

• May 19, 2021

Blades of Passion said: I love it and want it. Please have the computer tell everyone the exact amount of rotation and amplitude on a jump so I don't have to anymore! The computer will assign GOE's better than most judges. Click to expand...

CanadianSkaterGuy

It's interesting, the use of motion capture to measure rotation, etc. But a couple initial issues: for things like edge and foot pressure/contact points seen in the video it seems that a skater would actually have to be "wearing" the actual motion-capture hardware in order to have the computer capture the data. The costs of this would probably only make such technology accessible for certain skaters/competitions. Another issue I foresee is that this would have to be calibrated for every skater. On things like distance/height, a smaller skater might jump differently relative to their height compared to a taller skater. In terms of average speed, a skater with longer legs might cover more distance - or if they take a choreographic break in their program it might skew their average speed lower. Fair point too about judging fatigue, but that is the nature of any refereed/judged sport (I don't think it takes into consideration that there are floods and warmup groups, where the judges get a bit of a reprise). Obviously this is a fan video that is super biased and even not-so-subtly shades his rivals, which makes me question the objectivity and even the translation of the thesis itself, but it's a cool glimpse into something that may eventually be integrated into the sport.  

• May 21, 2021

gkelly said: Computers will be able to do a better job of measuring the rotation, correct takeoff and landing edges, height and distance, and speed of a jump, and most errors. But others of the positive GOE points are more qualitative, even subjective, and therefore less appropriate for computer determination: Effortless throughout (including rhythm in a combination or sequence) Steps into a jump, unexpected or creative entry Very good body position from take-off to landing Element matches the music Click to expand...

Team Gorgeous Cacti!

• Jun 18, 2021

Some things can't be simply measured, but some can, and I'm all for it. But I predict there still would be problem, just like with VAR in football, because afterall, it's not technology that makes the decisions...  

kolyadafan2002

Fan of kolyada.

• Jun 19, 2021

Blades of Passion said: Actually you could program all of that into a computer. There might be a couple details that are currently too difficult to fully describe to the computer, but competitive skating has already become robotic anyway, so it's not as if these details are being properly assessed anymore. Also, the current guidelines for GOE are far from being the best ruleset. Most importantly, the vast majority of judges suck. So who really cares about their hackneyed personal assessment (if it can even be called a personal assessment, given how they are essentially just puppets). The computer in nearly every case will do a better job than any human panel we've had to date. Click to expand...

I think adding as much metrics as possible to aid technical panel’s decisions is a great idea. I think it will be particularly useful for athletes without reputation, because if metrics show an outstanding jump, it will hopefully push their GoE higher than they would have otherwise gotten. Maybe? I think part of GoE will always still be that wow, that was the most beautiful frigging jump I had seen! but metrics are good, obviously prorated to skater’s height/stride  

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Hanyu Yuzuru and how 2011 earthquake catastrophe shaped his career

When the Great East Japan Earthquake hit in March 2011, the double Olympic champ was still a 16-year-old and training in the affected region – and the disaster had a profound impact

Hanyu Yuzuru remembers everything clearly.

That day exactly 10 years ago when his world changed.

The Great East Japan Earthquake – a magnitude 9.0 tremor – struck at 2:46 pm local time 11 March 2011, while the 16-year-old Hanyu was training at his local ice rink in Sendai.

It generated a tsunami, which led to a nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant. Nearly 16,000 people died.

Since that fateful day, Hanyu – who has gone from having just finished his first senior season to a double Olympic figure skating champion – has never stopped giving back to his home region and the victims of the disaster.

Hanyu's evacuation

It was three weeks after the end of the 2010/11 season, which saw Hanyu make his senior debut and clinch an unexpected silver medal at the Four Continents Championships.

Hanyu was on the ice at the Sendai Ice Rink when the earthquake hit.

The frightened teenager, with the ice cracking under his feet, ran out of the building immediately without even stopping to put his skate guards on, damaging his blades.

"Even now, when I close my eyes, I remember a lot of things," he would write in his first autobiography Blue Flames , which was published the following year.

"The feeling of the ice shaking, the shaking of the ground being pushed up, how terrible it was that my legs were shaking from the earthquake."

While the rink did not collapse and the tsunami did not reach the area, the water pipes under the ice burst, flooding the building and rendering it unusable.

Meanwhile, Hanyu's parents' house sustained some damage in the shock, meaning the young skater and his family had to spend time in a temporary evacuation centre set up in a gymnasium.

"At the centre, a lot of people helped us so much, and therefore I would like to do anything for them – what I can do is just skating," he said a month after the tragedy.

Support from Arakawa

However, skating wasn't going to be easy in the aftermath of the devastation left behind by the quake and tsunami.

With the Sendai Ice Rink out of commission – it would not re-open until July – a new training base had to be found.

Hanyu ended up moving to Hachinohe City at first – three hours away by car; later his skating club would move to Yokohama, near Tokyo, more than 300 km away from Sendai and far from the failing nuclear power stations.

While he considered his future in the sport, Torino 2006 ladies' singles champion Arakawa Shizuka – who had studied at the same high school that Hanyu was attending – encouraged him to keep skating.

"After the earthquake and tsunami I wasn't able to skate and I really seriously thought about quitting because I just had my hands full making a living, to stay alive. So many people helped me out and now I'm here today," he said after winning his first Olympic title at Sochi 2014 .

"Shizuka was skating with me and made a donation to me and that's why I'm here."

Given renewed vigour and hope, he skated in ice shows in the weeks that followed – partially as training. Over the following months, he skated in some 60 exhibitions.

Arakawa's support, in turn, has motivated him to continuously pay that back to the affected community.

"Make every day count"

Even now, 10 years after the catastrophe, Hanyu continues to help the affected area as well as his ice rink.

Royalties and a part of the proceeds from two autobiographies , Blue Flames (2012) and Blue Flames II (2016), go towards keeping the Sendai Ice Rink maintained.

Just this year, he donated another 2.11 million Japanese yen (nearly U.S. $20,000) to the ice rink, and has given some 31 million yen (around U.S. $286,000) in the last decade.

He has also taken part in various charity television shows and ice shows to raise funds for the victims, and in 2015 was selected as the Japanese Red Cross spokesman for recovery efforts.

At PyeongChang 2018 , after successfully defending his Olympic title, he skated his exhibition gala routine as a tribute to the victims of the disaster.

There is little doubt that the disaster is still a key part of Hanyu as he seeks a third straight Olympic crown in 2022 , which if achieved would make him the first man in nearly a century to do so.

"I can still vividly see everything when the rink was damaged," Hanyu wrote in Blue Flames.

"I want to make every day count now. I want to make every single normal day, every ice show, every practice and every competition count.

"That's what I have been thinking about the most since the day of the earthquake."

It's those vivid recollections that have kept Hanyu going and will continue to do so.

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125 Facts About Yuzuru Hanyu

Yuzuru Hanyu is a Japanese figure skater and ice show producer.

Yuzuru Hanyu has medaled at five other World Championships, taking bronze in 2012 and 2021, and silver in 2015,2016 and 2019, making him the only male single skater along with Jan Hoffmann to win seven world championship medals in the post-World War II era.

Yuzuru Hanyu is the first man to have received over 100 points in the men's short program, over 200 points in the men's free skate, and over 300 total points in competition.

At the 2016 CS Autumn Classic International, Yuzuru Hanyu became the first skater in history to successfully land a quadruple loop in a competition.

• Fun Fact  Yuzuru Hanyu
• Johnny Weir  Interesting Fact

Yuzuru Hanyu is the first men's singles skater from Asia to win multiple World Championships.

In recognition of his achievements, Yuzuru Hanyu became the youngest recipient of the People's Honor Award, bestowed by the Prime Minister of Japan for "giving dreams and thrills to the people and hope and courage to society".

Yuzuru Hanyu is the first figure skater to be nominated for the Laureus World Sports Award and was named the Most Valuable Skater by the inaugural ISU Skating Awards in 2020.

Yuzuru Hanyu has been featured in prestigious lists, such as Forbes' 30 Under 30 Asia as well as ESPN's World Fame 100 and The Dominant 20.

In 2022, Yuzuru Hanyu was ranked sixth in the list of most-searched athletes on Google Search worldwide.

Yuzuru Hanyu was born on December 7,1994, in Izumi ward, Sendai, Japan, as the second and younger child to father Hidetoshi Hanyu, a junior high school teacher, and mother Yumi Hanyu, a former clerk at a department store.

Yuzuru Hanyu's father was an advisor to the baseball school club and recommended the sport to his son, but Yuzuru Hanyu eventually decided to pursue a career in figure skating.

At the age of two, Yuzuru Hanyu was diagnosed with asthma, a condition that gradually improved with time yet negatively affected his stamina, especially during his junior career.

Yuzuru Hanyu began skating at the age of four at Ice Rink Sendai, Izumi, after his sister's coach Mami Yamada had suggested him to try out the sport instead of being a nuisance during his sister's training.

In summer 2006, at 11 years old, Yuzuru Hanyu's confidence showed up when initiating a spin battle against that year's Olympic silver medalist, Stephane Lambiel, who was known for his world-class spins.

In that season, Yuzuru Hanyu had included the triple Axel jump in his programs for the first time, though receiving negative grades of execution for all three attempts.

Yuzuru Hanyu became the fourth and youngest Japanese man to win the junior world title.

Yuzuru Hanyu skated his short program to "White Legend" from Pyotr Tchaikovsky's ballet Swan Lake, performed by Japanese violinist Ikuko Kawai, and used the music piece Zigeunerweisen by Pablo de Sarasate for the free skate.

Yuzuru Hanyu gave his international senior debut at the 2010 NHK Trophy, where he landed his first successful quadruple jump at an ISU-sanctioned event: a quad toe loop.

Yuzuru Hanyu placed fourth overall at the competition and seventh at the subsequent Rostelecom Cup, missing out on a medal at his first two senior Grand Prix events.

At 16 years old, Yuzuru Hanyu became the youngest medalist at the Four Continents Championships.

Yuzuru Hanyu opened the season at the Nebelhorn Trophy, where he won his first gold medal at an international senior competition.

Yuzuru Hanyu then won the bronze medal at the Japan Championships, earning a spot on the Japanese team for the 2012 World Championships.

Yuzuru Hanyu became the youngest Japanese world medalist, finishing behind then two-time world champion Patrick Chan and Daisuke Takahashi.

The first months, Yuzuru Hanyu was making frequent trips to Toronto, but continued to attend high school in Sendai.

The coaching change resulted in immediate success; At the 2012 Finlandia Trophy, Yuzuru Hanyu landed his first quadruple Salchow in international competition and won the event.

At the Japan Championships, Yuzuru Hanyu won his first national senior title, defeating the reigning and five-time national champion, Daisuke Takahashi, scoring an unofficial record of 285.23 points in the combined total.

At the Japan Championships, Yuzuru Hanyu went on to win a second national title and was selected to represent the Japanese team at the 2014 Winter Olympics and World Championships.

Yuzuru Hanyu is the perfect model and he masters his art like no one else.

Yuzuru Hanyu was diagnosed with a tubal residual disease and had to undergo surgery on his bladder, being hospitalized for two weeks and resting for another month.

Yuzuru Hanyu started the season by winning gold at the 2015 Autumn Classic, finishing 36 points ahead of silver medalist Nam Nguyen.

Yuzuru Hanyu had been struggling with his short program layout throughout the previous season that included a quad toe loop and triple Lutz-triple toe loop combination in the second half.

Yuzuru Hanyu finished 37.48 points ahead of Javier Fernandez, breaking the record of the largest victory margin at the Grand Prix Final, which was held by Evgeni Plushenko with 35.10 points in 2004.

At the Japan Championships, Yuzuru Hanyu won his fourth consecutive national title after placing first in both segments.

Yuzuru Hanyu opened the season with a win at the 2016 Autumn Classic, becoming the first skater to successfully land a quadruple loop jump in competition.

Yuzuru Hanyu fought back with a strong free skate, placing first in the segment and scoring a new season's best of 303.71 points in the combined total.

Yuzuru Hanyu scored a new world record of 223.20 points in the segment and won his second world title, finishing ahead of his compatriot Shoma Uno and Jin Boyang from China.

In July 2022, Yuzuru Hanyu named the free skate performance of Hope and Legacy as the one that he thought would represent him best and was the most perfectly executed of his competitive career.

Yuzuru Hanyu contributed 18 points to the team score and won gold with Team Japan.

Yuzuru Hanyu opened the season with a win at the 2018 Autumn Classic, but expressed dissatisfaction with his performances, pledging to improve in the next competitions.

Yuzuru Hanyu became the first skater to land a quad toe loop-triple Axel jump sequence in competition, winning the event by about 40 points over Michal Brezina.

At the Rostelecom Cup in Moscow, Yuzuru Hanyu upped the short program record to 110.53 points, but on the following day, he re-injured his right ankle in practice after falling on a quad loop.

At the 2019 World Championships in Saitama, Yuzuru Hanyu placed third in the short program after turning his opening quad Salchow into a double, but came back with a strong free skate, becoming the first skater to surpass the 200 and 300 marks in the new judging system with 206.10 points in the free skate and 300.97 in total.

Similar to his preparations for the Olympics, Yuzuru Hanyu had relied on painkillers before and during the competition to make jumping possible.

Yuzuru Hanyu placed first with a new largest victory margin of 59.82 points ahead of Nam Nguyen, improving his own record of 55.97 points from 2015.

At the Grand Prix Final, Yuzuru Hanyu went into the short program without company due to a delayed arrival of his coach Ghislain Briand.

Yuzuru Hanyu was assigned to compete at the World Championships in Montreal, but these were canceled as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Yuzuru Hanyu placed first in the short program and the free skate with all positive grades of execution on jumping passes and won his fifth national figure skating title with a total score of 319.36 points.

Yuzuru Hanyu placed first in the short program with a solid performance, 6.02 points ahead of compatriot Yuma Kagiyama.

Yuzuru Hanyu competed as part of Team Japan for the 2021 World Team Trophy.

Yuzuru Hanyu placed second in both the short program and the free skate, only behind Nathan Chen.

Yuzuru Hanyu achieved a personal season's best score in both the short program and the free skate with 107.12 and 193.76 points respectively and earned a total of 22 points to help his team take home the bronze medal.

Yuzuru Hanyu attempted a quadruple Axel for the first time during the free skate, although it was downgraded to a triple Axel with a two-footed landing.

Yuzuru Hanyu was assigned to represent Japan at the 2022 Winter Olympics and the 2022 World Championships.

At the 2022 Winter Olympics, Yuzuru Hanyu missed his opening quadruple Salchow jump in the short program due to a hole in the ice and placed eighth with 95.15 points, qualifying him for the free skate.

Yuzuru Hanyu later opened accounts on social media, having long eschewed it for years, that are mainly managed by staff.

Yuzuru Hanyu stated his intention to show his skating through his YouTube channel and increase opportunities for everyone to watch it, including those who are unable to attend ice shows and live overseas, but that he did not have plans to make videos about his daily life.

In November and December 2022, Yuzuru Hanyu held his first ice show tour as a professional figure skater, titled Prologue, in Yokohama and Hachinohe.

The solo show of 90 minutes runtime was produced and directed by Yuzuru Hanyu himself, featuring a selection of his past competition and exhibition programs.

On December 5,2022, Yuzuru Hanyu announced his second solo ice show with the title Gift, which was held at Tokyo Dome, one of Japan's largest entertainment venues, on February 26,2023.

On January 9,2023, it was announced that Yuzuru Hanyu will be the chairman of a new ice show titled Notte Stellata to send out hope from the disaster area.

On February 20,2023, Yuzuru Hanyu was announced to be appearing in all ten shows of Stars on Ice Japan Tour 2023 which was held from March 30 to April 9 at Osaka, Oshu, and Yokohama.

On March 3,2023, it was announced that Yuzuru Hanyu will take part in Fantasy on Ice Tour 2023 appearing in all twelve shows scheduled from May 26 to June 25 at Makuhari, Miyagi, Niigata, and Kobe.

Yuzuru Hanyu is regarded by analysts as an accomplished skater known for his high-level technical elements as well as mature and versatile artistry.

Yuzuru Hanyu's performance is often characterized as "the perfect combination of skills, strength and elegance", tending to "[blur] rigid gender lines".

Yuzuru Hanyu is known for his ability to generate skating speed "out of nowhere" and cover long distances with only a few strokes.

The ability to accelerate with a few strokes allows Yuzuru Hanyu to execute his jumps from a variety of difficult entries.

Yuzuru Hanyu is known for his strong vaulting technique with minimal pre-rotation on the ice at the take-off, achieving trajectories of impressive size.

Yuzuru Hanyu is able to execute the layback Biellmann and doughnut camel spin, which are more commonly seen in women's singles and known for their difficulty among male skaters due to the high flexibility required in spine, hips, and shoulders.

Yuzuru Hanyu's programs cover a variety of different music genres, including classical pieces, modern pop rock, musicals, and traditional Japanese music.

Yuzuru Hanyu notably portrayed the historical Japanese figures Abe no Seimei and Uesugi Kenshin in his free skate programs at the 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics.

Yuzuru Hanyu dedicated various exhibition programs to the victims of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami and performed them as live music collaborations at shows like Fantasy on Ice among others.

Yuzuru Hanyu is known to be involved in all aspects of his programs, from the music selection and editing process to the costume design and choreography.

Yuzuru Hanyu makes a lot of the decisions on his own.

Figure skaters Yuzuru Hanyu looked up to while growing up are Evgeni Plushenko and Johnny Weir .

In switching, Yuzuru Hanyu continued to attend high school in Sendai but made frequent trips to Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club, where Orser works as a skating instructor.

Hidehito Ito, the figure skating director at the Japanese Skating Federation, said the change was necessary to "challenge" Yuzuru Hanyu and "raise the level [of his skating] more".

Yuzuru Hanyu has worked with Canadian choreographer David Wilson for several years, including his free skate program for the 2014 Winter Olympics, before collaborated on many exhibition programs.

In 2021, due to travel restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic, Yuzuru Hanyu started to train alone in Sendai with some remote consultation from his coaches.

Yuzuru Hanyu has appeared in many commercials and advertising campaigns over the years.

Yuzuru Hanyu signed an affiliation contract with All Nippon Airways which ended when he turned professional in 2022 but he remained sponsored by the company.

From February 8 to 23,2014, Yuzuru Hanyu endorsed ANA's new line of flight attendant outfits, which were designed by Prabal Gurung and appeared in a TV commercial for their 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics "Hello Blue Hello Future" campaign.

In September 2014, Yuzuru Hanyu starred in a TV commercial for Capcom's new video game Monster Hunter 4G and endorsed Lotte's Ghana milk chocolate with Mao Asada, singer Airi Matsui, and actresses Suzu Hirose and Tao Tsuchiya, in following years he endorsed Lotte's Xylitol Whites and GUM FOR THE GAME.

Yuzuru Hanyu has worked with other brands such as Ajinomoto endorsing their sport nutritional products Amino Vital and nutritional meals along with other athletes like Uta Abe, bath salts Bathclin Kikiyu, bedding products Nishikawa Sangyo co.

In 2019, Yuzuru Hanyu became the ambassador for Citizen in China, Hong Kong, and Macau, as well as the global ambassador of the Sekkisei series by Kose.

Yuzuru Hanyu was later appointed as the global "muse" of the Sekkisei Miyabi brand in 2020.

In October 2021, Yuzuru Hanyu was chosen as a face of Towa Pharmaceutical co.

In 2013 and 2021, Yuzuru Hanyu was appointed as the model for Miyagi Prefecture Police's traffic safety poster aiming to encourage compliance with traffic rules and spread awareness of safe driving.

In June 2021, Yuzuru Hanyu was appointed as the ambassador of the world's first official Paralympics game The Pegasus Dream Tour, making his video game debut with his avatar appearing in the game.

Since April 2014, Yuzuru Hanyu has been acting as the tourism ambassador of Sendai and featured in the city's tourism posters as well as tourist guidebooks.

Since the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, Yuzuru Hanyu has been an advocate for and supporter of various campaigns to help earthquake victims, as he was directly affected by the disaster, stating: "When the earthquake hit, I was on the ice at my home rink in Sendai".

Yuzuru Hanyu donated his 2014 Olympic gold medal 6 million yen prize money as well as his 2018 Olympic gold medal 10 million yen prize money received from the Japan Skating Federation and Japanese Olympic Committee to Sendai and Miyagi Prefecture to help with the reconstruction of the disaster areas.

Yuzuru Hanyu has been helping his home rink Ice Rink Sendai, rendered unusable after the disaster, by donating all the royalties and part of the proceeds of his autobiography series.

In September 2014, Yuzuru Hanyu was appointed as the Tsunami Disaster Prevention Ambassador for one year participating in activities to spread tsunami disaster prevention public awareness.

In February 2015, Yuzuru Hanyu became the spokesman for reconstruction efforts led by the Japanese Red Cross Society.

Yuzuru Hanyu lent his image as the spokesman for the Red Cross' "Hatachi no Kenketsu" donation campaign where he starred in the promotional video with patients.

Yuzuru Hanyu collaborated with Line Corporation supervising the creation of "Yuzuru Hanyu 3.11 Smile Stamp" which went on sale with all revenues donated to the Nippon Foundation's "Special Fund for Disaster Reconstruction" to support acts for reconstruction and future disaster preparation.

Yuzuru Hanyu appeared in five of the nine posters being released.

In 2021, marking the 10th anniversary of Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, Yuzuru Hanyu organized the "Together, Forward" exhibition that traces his footsteps during that difficult period, revisiting the affected people and places.

Yuzuru Hanyu regularly participates in Nippon TV's annual charity program 24-Hour Television since 2014, holding special ice shows and visiting victims in disaster areas.

Yuzuru Hanyu visited earthquake-affected areas in Fukushima and Ishinomaki, interviewing the victims as part of the program segment.

Yuzuru Hanyu served as a judge on Japan's popular New Year's Eve music show Kohaku Uta Gassen twice, in 2015 and 2022.

Yuzuru Hanyu made his on-screen debut as Date Shigemura, a samurai lord, in the 2016 movie, The Magnificent Nine.

Yuzuru Hanyu released two video albums compiling some of his competitive career performances, the first titled Time of Awakening was released on May 21,2014, including performances till the 2014 Winter Olympics.

In 2018, Yuzuru Hanyu's first self-produced show Continues with Wings was live broadcast on TV Asahi CS and live-streamed at 66 movie theaters throughout Japan.

Yuzuru Hanyu is one of the lead cast members besides Stephane Lambiel and Johnny Weir at the annual touring ice show Fantasy on Ice, having participated in all editions of the tour since its revival in 2010 with one exception, having missed the shows in 2016 due to rehabilitation from a ligament injury.

Yuzuru Hanyu released the first two parts of his autobiography series Blue Flames and Blue Flames II in 2012 and 2016 respectively.

Yuzuru Hanyu released various photobooks cooperating with multiple publishers and photographers.

On September 25,2015, Yuzuru Hanyu Sayings was released containing pictures and quotes by the skater.

Yuzuru Hanyu has graced the cover of numerous Japanese sports magazines as well as well-known magazines, such as An An and Aera.

Since Yuzuru Hanyu began carrying a Winnie-the-Pooh tissue box to competitions in 2010, his supporters and fans eventually made it a custom to acknowledge the end of his performances by throwing Pooh bears onto the ice instead of other kinds of stuffed toys or gifts, which has been a tradition in figure skating.

Yuzuru Hanyu donates the bears to disadvantaged children at local hospitals and charities surrounding the arena that hosted the event.

In 2013, Yuzuru Hanyu graduated from Tohoku High School then entered an e-school program on Human Information Science at Waseda University.

Yuzuru Hanyu attended the school from his training base in Canada.

Yuzuru Hanyu officially graduated from the university in September 2020, but was unable to attend the ceremony due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan.

Yuzuru Hanyu is regarded as part of the vanguard of the quad revolution in men's figure skating.

Yuzuru Hanyu was one of the few skaters who challenged quadruple Salchow at the 2014 Olympics.

Yuzuru Hanyu is credited as the first figure skater to successfully land a quadruple loop in competition after performing it in the short program at the Autumn Classic International in Montreal, Canada on September 30,2016.

Yuzuru Hanyu is the only skater who has landed a quadruple toe loop-triple Axel sequence in competition, doing so for the first time at Grand Prix Helsinki 2018.

Yuzuru Hanyu is the first skater to land a quadruple toe loop-Euler-triple flip combination at Skate Canada 2019.

At the 2022 Winter Olympics, Yuzuru Hanyu made his first attempt on the quadruple Axel in an international competition.

However, in regards to the ongoing debate on jumps versus artistry in the sport, Yuzuru Hanyu spoke through an interpreter after his second Olympic win in 2018:.

In recognition of his achievements, Yuzuru Hanyu has been awarded numerous accolades, including the People's Honor Award in 2018 becoming the first figure skater and the youngest recipient of the award.

Yuzuru Hanyu was awarded the Medal of Honour with Purple Ribbon in 2014 and 2018, and received two monuments depicting his trademark poses performed at the 2014 and 2018 Olympics in his hometown of Sendai.

Yuzuru Hanyu was featured in prestigious lists, such as Forbes' 30 Under 30 Asia 2018 as well as ESPN's World Fame 100 and The Dominant 20, and has received multiple awards and ranked high in multiple lists and popularity polls from various media outlets.

Yuzuru Hanyu holds the historical world record in all three competition segments: the short program, free skating, and combined total score.

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• By Handuo Sun
• August 29, 2024

China Absolutely Loves Japanese Figure Skater Yuzuru Hanyu

Beatrice Tamagno

• 2:10 AM HKT, Fri February 18, 2022

2 mins read

• February 17, 2022

‘Ice princess’ Eileen Gu might be the darling of the 2022 Beijing Olympics , but 27-year-old Japanese figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu could be a close second due to his legacy, appearance, and commitment to history-making jumps.

After making his Beijing Olympics debut on February 8, competing in the men’s single skating category, Hanyu was trending on Weibo for several days. His hashtag on the microblogging site has gained a staggering 6 billion views.

Yuzuru Hanyu’s Chinese fans, armed with banners and Winnie the Pooh dolls, waiting outside the skating venue here in Beijing pic.twitter.com/DnmSs7E43t — Jonathan Cheng (@JChengWSJ) February 10, 2022

Unfortunately, the two-time Olympic champion fell during his routine in the men’s skating short program and missed an attempt at the quadruple axel move in his free skate on February 10. Hanyu ultimately finished fourth after two falls.

However, the fact that he even tried to become the first person in history ever to land the most challenging jump attempted in figure skating after getting injured in practice impressed many watchers.

“Thank you for participating in the Beijing Winter Olympics and bringing us the ultimate quadruple axel performance,” a Weibo user commented after his failed attempt.

Unlike Gu, Hanyu was popular in China way before the Olympics. Besides his undeniable talent, his devilishly handsome appearance and modest personality have also enthralled Chinese audiences.

now, his beautiful outfits!! even without these pretty outfits, he carries himself in such a way that he would look angelic even skating w pyjamas! pic.twitter.com/L5g1iYPqzs — berry⁷🫐STAY ALIVE OST+📌 (@kookieflux) February 11, 2022

What’s more, netizens enjoyed coupling him up with other cute male athletes, such as Chinese ice dancer Liu Xinyu .

— all men who lifted yuzuru hanyu, a thread; pic.twitter.com/2cLdgjV7Cj — bea 🕊 | 📖: pjo⁴ (@lpctry) February 14, 2022

The phenomenon of pairing celebrities, sometimes even with fictional characters , and the passion for boys’ love fantasies , are widespread among some Chinese fandoms.

This trend arguably reflects the preference of many Chinese youths for the soft masculinity exemplified by male celebrities like Wang Yibo , Gong Jun , and of course, Hanyu, even as the Chinese government has proposed “ cultivating masculinity ” in male students and banning boys’ love content.

Even though Hanyu announced that he might not be competing in the next Winter Olympics, he certainly left an indelible mark on the hearts of Chinese audiences. His popularity and the ongoing craze for Gu suggest that athletes will probably gain more prominence within Chinese celebrity culture in 2022.

Cover photo via Wikimedia

• Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics celebrities celebrity Fan culture fandom figure skating ice skating Olympics Sports Winter Olympics

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