Hanyu

Nice to meet you.

Itoi

Nice to meet you, too. I think this is probably going to be the most laid back interview you’ve been in.

Hanyu

Oh, really? Then I’ll take it easy.

Itoi

Please. (Laughs)

Hanyu

I am nervous, though. (Laughs)

Itoi

Some of my staff saw you appear on an NHK show with Gen Hoshino and saw you talking about how you like MOTHER 2.

Hanyu

Ah, right.

Itoi

They were really excited. They said “Hanyu’s calling you Shigesato-san.”

Hanyu

(Laughs) I was watching pro baseball, so when I hear “Itoi-san” it makes me think of former Hanshin Tigers player Yoshio Itoi. “Shigesato-san” makes me more sure that I’m talking about you, but I’ll go with “Itoi-san” today. (Laughs)

Itoi

(Laughs)

Hanyu

I’ve been reading your work and feeling really grateful that you’re kind enough to think of me. It was really memorable when you sent a tweet, I think back in 2019, that said I “must be training right about now.”

Itoi

Of course, I never even thought of you being aware of that post. (Laughs)

Hanyu

It made me so happy. I also read your interview with Johnny Weir. (“Johnny Comes to Our Office.”) I’ve always idolized Johnny and felt like we shared the same sense of aestheticism, beauty, and style, so when I was reading his conversation with you, I really connected with a lot of it.

Itoi

I’m not very well-versed in figure-skating, so I’m grateful to be seen as someone who talks about vague things even greater than the sport itself. From my perspective, you and Johnny both are people who I can tell have something they’re trying to do.

Hanyu

Something we’re trying to do. (Laughs)

Itoi

By that I mean, whether you’re watching sumo wrestling or pole vaulting, it doesn’t require any specialized knowledge of the sport or its rules in order to see what that athlete is trying to do. I feel like that’s the case with you and Johnny. And I first learned about you through Johnny.

Hanyu

Oh, really?

Itoi

Johnny invited me to an ice show at a skating rink in the Hokuriku region, and you were in it. Johnny pointed you out and let me know how amazing you are.

Hanyu

Was that in Niigata or Fukui?

Itoi

I think it was in Fukui.

Translation: In Fukui / How are you, Bui-chan? I heard you went to get your nails trimmed with Mom. Dad's in Fukui now to see an ice show. The person with a rose crown is Johnny. He knew about you, Bui-chan!

Hanyu

I think I was around 15 years old then.

Itoi

Ah, that’s how young you were? Johnny did mention he’d helped with your costume.

Hanyu

Yeah, he designed it.

Itoi

That’s right. How did you guys make a connection like that? You can’t normally meet that easily, right?

Hanyu

I’m very lucky that Japan is famous for its ice shows, since that allowed me to be surrounded by top skaters from around the world. So when I won the Junior Skating competition and was invited to perform in that show, I was able to talk to athletes from all over the world. I’m incredibly blessed to have had the opportunity to make connections like that. So I’ve been skating with a lot of athletes I idolize, like Johnny Weir and Evengi Plushenko, ever since I was young. And not even just skating—having time once in a while to ask them for advice and for their perspective on things.

Itoi

I’m sure it went beyond even just having that opportunity, and had to do with sharing common ideas with them.

Hanyu

I can see that.

Itoi

What about your different languages?

Hanyu

Figure skating has a lot of universal terms, so while people say them in different accents and it can be hard to understand from that perspective, it felt easy to talk to them even though I was young.

Itoi

I see. So if everyone’s using the same terminology, a 15-year-old could still converse with a top-performing adult athlete about those things.

Hanyu

That’s right. I also didn’t have much fear when it came to interactions like that, and was just focused on getting better. I was really fixated on things that I liked or wanted and knew that the opportunity to interact with top athletes was rare, so I didn’t want to waste it or regret anything afterwards. So I asked them a lot of questions and stuff.

Itoi

So you dove in head first.

Hanyu

Yeah. I started by shyly asking for their autographs, though.

Itoi

That’s where you started? (Laughs)

Hanyu

Yeah, all I knew at first was that I wanted their autographs. (Laughs) I asked them to sign my skates.

Itoi

So you approached them first as a fan.

Hanyu

Of course. I’ve been skating since I was four. It wasn’t necessarily that I loved skating, but what happened was that my older sister who was four years older than me started skating and I wanted to go with her. That’s why I started skating. I’ve always really looked up to her as a big sister.

Itoi

I see.

Hanyu

I’ve always had a role model around like that, wanting to do things with them, wanting to be like them—and later, it continued when Johnny and Plushenko filled those shoes for me. I had a lot of people I looked up to. Figure skating is a way for me to be more like people I look up to.

Itoi

Wow.

Hanyu

I think figure skating, to me, has always been about admiring someone, working hard to reach them, and then trying to surpass them.

Itoi

So by aiming for and surpassing your idols, you naturally ended up in a high place.

Hanyu

Yeah. I did start by idolizing an Olympic gold medalist. (Laughs) I think that made it inevitable that I ended up winning two gold medals in a row at the Olympics.