The Italian version is here.
The third and final part of my very long post, dedicated to what Yuzuru Hanyu has accomplished since turning professional. When I wrote the post, only two years and nine months had passed, not three, but the exact title would have been a bit ugly. And since the title I chose refers to three years, I edited the post to add some things Hanyu did in the last three months of his third year as a professional. The first part of the post, dedicated to the programs we can watch on the internet, is here. The second part is here.
Some numbers
I decided to add this section to summarize in some numbers and data what Hanyu did.
Show:
- Prologue – 5 shows between November and December 2022
- Major’s Cup – 1 show, December 2022 (there was an audience, so this is a performance like the ones he did in competitions gala)
- Gift – 1 show, February 2023
- Notte stellata – 3 shows, March 2023
- Stars on Ice – 10 shows, March-April 2023
- Fantasy on Ice – 12 shows, May-June 2023
- Re_Pray – 8 shows, November 2023-April 2024
- Notte stellata – 3 shows, March 2024 (bonus: the audience can attend two rehearsals)
- Fantasy on Ice – 6 shows, May-June 2024
- Challenge – 1 show, September 2024
- Echoes of Life – 7 shows, December 2024-February 2025
- Notte stellata – 3 shows, March 2025 (bonus: the audience can attend two rehearsals)
- The First Skate – 1 show, July 2025 (notice of the edit: I added this show to the list after I posted this text)
The total says 13 shows or tour, 61 performances. Hanyu certainly hasn’t relaxed after stepping away from the competitions, on the contrary, he works harder than before, and creates shows, or even single programs, extraordinary. Of these shows, eight were broadcast live internationally, four exist on DVD or Blu-ray. Better than nothing, even if for my tastes it’s too little. It’s not for nothing that I’m asking the streaming platforms to include Hanyu’s shows in their catalog, the solo shows and also Notte stellata. Or, if not the streaming platforms, it would be nice if Japanese televisions gave us the possibility to buy a ticket for the livestream, for Notte stellata or even for any other shows that Hanyu might participate in, because even in group programs he always gives his best, and If…, Glamorous Sky and Meteor, programs that Hanyu will hardly propose on other occasions, are wonderful.
These are the programs skated entirely or in part by Hanyu in these three years (I do not count the ones on which he simply performed a jump, such as Ten to chi to during the SharePractice). In the list I specify if it is a program created in these three seasons and, if a choreographer other than Hanyu is known, the name of the choreographer. I also count the group programs not only because Hanyu had to learn the choreography, but also because he is always in a prominent position, with the eyes of the entire audience on him. If there is an official video online, I will post the link.
- Hana ni nare
- Seimei [2018 Olympic Games]
- White Legend [2014 Olympic Games]
- Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso
- Change
- Dreamy Aspiration (new program)
- Let’s Go Crazy
- Otoñal [2019 National Championship]
- Étude in D-sharp minor
- Spartacus [2005 Asian Novice Championship]
- Hello, I Love You
- Mission: Impossible II
- Somebody to Love
- Sing, Sing, Sing
- Romeo + Juliet
- A Fleeting Dream (new program. I don’t consider A Fleeting Dream_RE as a different program, although the way Hanyu interprets the program is different)
- Haru yo, koi [2022 Olympic Games]
- Parisienne Walkways [2014 Olympic Games]
- From Russia with Love
- Sasanqua (new program)
- The Final Time Traveler
- The Firebird
- Hope and Legacy [2017 World Championship]
- One Summer’s Day (new program, choreography by David Wilson)
- Ballade No. 1 in G minor by Chopin [2018 Olympic Games]
- Let Me Entertain You [2021 World Championship]
- Ashura-chan (new program)
- The Phantom of the Opera
- Notte stellata [2018 Olympic Games]
- Boku no koto
- Conquest of Paradise (new program in collaboration with Kohei Uchimura, partly choreographed by David Wilson – an almost 20 seconds fragment without music)
- Dynamite (new program performed in the studio)
- Song of Hope (new group program choreographed by David Wilson)
- Requiem of Heaven and Earth
- All These Things That I’ve Done (technically a group program, but for his part, about a minute choreographed by himself, Hanyu is on the ice alone)
- Notre-Dame de Paris
- Ain’t no mountain high enough/Rising Heart (new group number choreographed by Jeffrey Buttle)
- If… (new program choreographed by Hanyu, with suggestions from Mikiko)
- USA (new group number choreographed by Jeffrey Buttle)
- History Maker (new group number choreographed by Jeffrey Buttle)
- Glamorous Sky (new program)
- Stars (new group number choreographed by Jeffrey Buttle)
- Gate of Living (new program new choreographed by Mikiko)
- Megalovania (new program)
- The Darkness of Eternity (new program)
- Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals (new program)
- Goliath (new program)
- Aqua’s Journey (new program)
- Carmina Burana (new program in collaboration with Mao Daichi, choreographed by Shae-Lynn Bourne and Rino Masaki – 4 minutes of the program)
- Permission to Dance (new program performed in the studio – a 10 second fragment)
- Danny Boy (new program choreographed by David Wilson – a 8 seconds fragment without music + After I wrote this post Hanyu uploaded to his channel two versions of Danny Boy that he recorded in April at the Ice Rink Sandai: full version and short version)
- Ray of Light (new group number choreographed by Jeffrey Buttle)
- Meteor (new program)
- High Pressure (new group number choreographed by Jeffrey Buttle)
- Taiko drum (in the absence of an official name I call in this way the group number choreographed by Akiko Suzuki and refined by Hanyu on the sound of taiko for the show Challenge – here we can see 28 seconds on a different music)
- Que sera sera (new group number choreographed by Akiko Suzuki and refined by Hanyu)
- Last Ambient (new program)
- First Pulse (new program – In this video we can hear the music and see some footage from the show.)
- “First Echo” and “Circulation” (new program)
- Utai IV: Reawakening (new program choreographed by Mikiko)
- Mass Destruction: Reload (new program choreographed by emmy, Mikiko and Hanyu)
- Piano Collection (new program choreographed by Jeffrey Buttle)
- Eclipse/Blue (new program)
- Gate of Steiner – Aesthetics on Ice (new program)
- Hymn of the Soul (new program)
- Bow and Arrow (new program)
- Bolero (new program in collaboration with Mansai Nomura and Shae-Lynn Bourne, Takahito Mura, Satoko Miyahara, Akiko Suzuki and Keiji Tanaka, choreographed by Shae-Lynn Bourne – at the moment you can see a minute and a half of the program here)
- Seimei (new version in collaboration with Mansai Nomura – here there is a 2:40 part of the program – here is the English version of the video)
If I haven’t lost count, there are 68 programs, more than half of which are new programs and many were choreographed by him. If we add to this the conception of four solo shows, the editing of the videos of his channel, the role he has in Notte stellata, we see that the creative effort is enormous. A creative effort that also led to the birth of a children’s book illustrated by Clamp for Gift.
This is the official website for the book Gift: https://sp.clamp-fans.com/ja/gift/
For this collaboration it was shot a video:
For Echoes of Life Hanyu wrote a short story.
The number and variety of programs can only give an idea of Hanyu’s interpretative skills, refined through continuous study and continuous improvement work. In the case of the tours, those who watch all the shows are able to appreciate the changes made by Hanyu to try to improve what he offers to the public, just as when he competed he continued to perfect the programs throughout the competitive season. On a technical/athletic level, let’s look at some numbers.
A competition consists of a short program and a free program, which are skated on two different days and last less than 7 minutes in total. In Prologue the skating time is around 30 minutes, in Gift it is almost 43, more or less the same as in Re_Pray, in Echoes of Life it is almost 50 minutes. The spins in Prologue were 11, in Gift they became 16, in Re_Pray 20, Megalovania alone contains 6, in Echoes of Life there are 15, one of which is one minute long. Adding the two programs, in competition the skaters do 6 spins. And spins are more tiring than jumps.
The number of jump elements in a competition is 10, three in the short program (for the best skaters it is a quadruple+triple combination, another quadruple and a 3A), and 7 in the free skate (three combinations, only one can be of three jumps, at least a 3A, with one exception the best skaters do 4 or 5 quadruples, the others are triple jumps). In each solo show there are at least 4 quadruples, several 3A and several other triples, and the number of jumps with at least three rotations is higher than the number of triple or quadruple jumps that a skater can perform by adding the two competition programs. And then there is everything else.
These are the different types of jumps performed by Hanyu after his turn to professionalism (I’m not considering how many times he did them, only the variety of jumps and combinations, and I’m not even considering the transition he often does immediately before or after the jump):
- 1Lo delayed
- 1A delayed
- 2T with arms outstretched by choreographic choice
- 3T
- 3S
- 3Lo
- 3Lo+1Eu+3S
- 3F
- 3Lz
- 3Lz+2T+2T
- 3A
- 3A+2T rippon
- 3A+3T
- 3A+3T+3Lo
- 3A+1Eu+3S
- 3A+1Eu+3S+1Eu+3S
- 4T
- 4T+2T
- 4T+3T
- 4T+1Eu+3S (we last saw it in February 2025)
- 4T+1Eu+3S+1Eu+3S
- 4T+3A
- 4S
- 4S+3T (we last saw it in March 2025)
- 4Lo (he doesn’t perform it in shows, but we last saw it in March 2025)
- 4Lo+3T
- 4Lo+3A (we last saw it in July 2024)
- 4Lz (March 2025)
- 4A<< (we last saw it in December 2022)
Jumps are not the most important thing for me, but Hanyu is still able to do four different types of quadruples, and three in difficult combinations, in addition to having completed combinations that in competition are very rare or prohibited by the rules. And while it is true that he fell a few times, it is also true that he managed to complete at least one date in all the shows (with the exception of Gift, which had only one date) without making mistakes.
Television and other commitments
Aside from skating, whether it’s shows or videos, Hanyu has done a lot of other things. One not surprising thing is that he has worked with his sponsors. Some of them have ended their collaborations. ANA is one of them, which is a pity, because they had made several very nice videos. Collaborations with Nishikawa Down and Sekkisei have also ended, while those with Ajinomoto, Citizen, Phiten and Towa Pharmaceutical continue. Two new sponsors, Haier and Aqua, have made commercials at Ice Rink Sendai:
Another new sponsor is Gucci, for which Hanyu first made a short video
and then the classic “what’s in my bag” in collaboration with Elle:
For Gucci Hanyu has been the protagonist of two photographic exhibitions, YUZURU HANYU: A JOURNEY BEYOND DREAMS featured by ELLE and In Focus: Yuzuru Hanyu Lensed by Jiro Konami (here you can see a short video). He has also been interviewed by newspapers that do not normally write about figure skating such as Elle Japan, GQ, Neewsweek, Brutus, Ginza, Goethe, Kateigaho, Toyo Keizai and SO-EN.
Another beautiful video was published on Gucci’s official site.
Sometimes magazines that did a photoshoot on Hanyu published a behind the scenes video. This is the one from Figure Skating Life Extra.
This is the one from Aera. The photographer is Mika Ninagawa.
Another video uploaded by Aera is here.
On September 29, 2022, Hanyu attended the ceremony marking the 50th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan.
In December of the same year, he was awarded the Kikuchi Kan Award for contributing to the knowledge of Japanese culture, although, due to his commitment to Prologue, Hanyu was unable to attend the ceremony and sent a short video to thank for the award. The awards he has received are numerous, among other things in 2023 he was named “Person of the Year” by the Public Relations Society of Japan and received the Special Achievement Awards from the Japan Skating Federation.
Hanyu has been included in several prestigious lists, he was among the most searched athletes on Google in 2022, among the most representative Olympic athletes of the 21st century drawn up by ESPN, among the 10 most important athletes according to the Association of Professional Journalists and among the 30 extraordinary leaders under 30 of the Asia Pacific Young Leaders in the category “Culture/sports/arts”.
He has also appeared on numerous television shows. The most important for continuity and its meaning is that of News Every, where he plays the role of Special Messenger. On several occasions, Hanyu spoke about natural disasters, disaster prevention, and visited areas that had suffered a disaster. Some of these broadcasts were uploaded as videos on YouTube with English subtitles.
The Chinese version of the video is here.
The Chinese version of this video is here.
Additional videos of his appearances on News Every, in Japanese only, were uploaded on their YouTube channel in August 2022, December 2022, January 2023, March 2023, July (1 and 2) 2023, and December 2023. This list is not complete, you can find all the videos about Hanyu uploaded on the channel here.
The News Every channel also includes a video dedicated to the conception of Notte stellata 2023 together with Kohei Uchimura:
Hanyu is very active in all natural disasters, not just Sendai or Tohoku. He went to Wajima, bringing attention to Ishikawa Prefecture, months after the earthquake, after he had donated money immediately (as he had donated money after the earthquake in Turkey), and made posters and billboards to help tourism in the region. With Re_Pray he went to Saga, revitalizing the region. And he did not forget Hokkaido, which was hit by an earthquake in 2018.
Returning to Sendai, we can see the importance that his city has for him in the video, this one subtitled in English, that he made as an ambassador for tourism of the city.
The Chinese version of this video is here, the Korean version of this video is here, and an English short version of the video, without audio, is here (I went in all these places, although it was not during Tanabata so I didn’t see the streamers).
He has also worked to improve skating opportunities in Sendai, donating very large sums to the Ice Rink and supporting the renovation project of the Xebio Arena, which is scheduled to reopen next July.
Hanyu has appeared on countless television programs, but unfortunately in most cases those programs in which Hanyu has participated are not visible outside of Japan, even if sometimes on YouTube you can find videos uploaded by fans, clips of shows, some programs, and even parts of appearances on television programs, sometimes with English subtitles. I am certainly forgetting some, for those that I remember I am inserting the link to an official video or to one of the numerous articles dedicated to that program. Hanyu has met Shuzo Matsuoka on several occasions, the first time right after his farewell to competitions. In the immediate aftermath, he also gave an interview to Tokyo TV, available online in Japanese divided into part 1, part 2 and part 3.
In September 2022, Hanyu was a guest on the local show Saturday Watchin! The television later uploaded the video to its YouTube channel divided into part 1, part 2 and part 3. The same happened with Oh! Bandess. In this case we have part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4 and part 5. Hanyu was a guest on the same show also in March 2023 and in the following two years, always on a date close to that of the Tohoku Earthquake. Another show in which he appeared is Teremasa.
These are regular broadcasts, not specials created especially for him, and which he went to as a guest, Yuming’s radio show All Night Nippon Gold, Kohaku Uta Gassen where he served as a judge on December 31, 2022, Shinya Kiyozuka’s Classic TV, Tetsuko Kuroyanagi’s Tetsuko’s Room, Gen Hoshino’s Ogensan to Issho, the Switch Interview with Kochi Domoto in October 2023, and Mansai Nomura’s Lucky Bags. This video is from when Hanyu was a guest of Tetsuko Kuroyanagi in Tetsuko’s Room:
While all of these broadcasts were aimed at a Japanese audience, we do have an official English translation of the conversation that took place in 2024 between Hanyu and Shigesato Itoi, the creator of the video game Mother.
There is no official translation into any Western language of the two autobiographical books published by Hanyu in 2023, following those he published in 2012 and 2016.
As far as I know, there are only two Japanese publications with English text, a photo book and a perpetual calendar. In both cases, the photos are accompanied by short captions in Japanese and English. I have chosen not to list most of the numerous photo books or magazines focused on Hanyu, not even the ones I have bought, because they are so many publications and this post is far too long. In this case, however, I will make an exception because it is a sign of the openness of a Japanese publisher to an international audience. The book, and the calendar, are called G.O.A.T.
As I mentioned earlier, Hanyu briefly visited Canada in the spring of 2023. There are several photos of skaters training in Toronto and a short video posted by Tracy Wilson to testify to this trip.
Hanyu was also the protagonist of two events in the Metaverse, events that could be accessed from all over the world. In 2023, for his birthday, there were 35,000 of us. Last March, in three days, there were 130,000 of us who entered the Metaverse. He was there incognito but, on both occasions, those who were present were able to watch two programs from his last tour, Ashura-chan and Megalovania the first time and Mass Destruction and Hymn of the Soul (if I remember correctly) the second time.
At least one article by Hanyu and a conversation are noteworthy. The article was published in Bungeishunju, an extremely prestigious journal to which important figures in Japanese culture contribute, and for an athlete to be asked to contribute is decidedly rare. The conversation, published in installments by Deep Edge Plus, took place between Hanyu and philosopher Rei Nagai, author of Underwater Philosophy, and it’s another thing that doesn’t happen very often for an athlete to converse with a philosopher.
One last thing, even if Hanyu did nothing special for this project and, simply, the director focused (also) on him. Hanyu is one of the protagonists of the film Beijing 2022, dedicated to the 2022 Olympic Games. The film won the Guirlande d’Honneur at the Milano International Sport Movies & TV Festival in 2023.
It has been three years since Hanyu turned pro. I haven’t listed everything he has done, all the photoshoots, TV appearances, interviews, sponsorships. What Hanyu is doing is amazing, and I’m sure he will continue to amaze us in the future.
