Fumie SUGURI wraps up her 2010-2011 season with Japan Skates
Our Japanese correspondent Aiko interviewed Fumie 村主章枝選手 in February after the National Winter Sports Championships @ her office "Sunny Side Up" サニーサイドアップ.
by AIKO SHIMAZU 島津愛子
February 9, 2011 in Tokyo

Fumie SUGURI 村主章枝 © Gigi Hsueh
2010-11SP"Adagio" @ 2010 Skate Canada


☞ 日本語


JS: I would like to open this interview with Mark's first question… "Have you been satisfied with working with your new agent?" - your new agent here is, and you work here!

FS: satisfied … sounds slightly different. I'm so pleased with working with "Sunny Side Up". Merry encounters, responsible tasks I have here.

JS: How about handling job-and-training?

FS: I could handle studying-and-training when I was a student. Peoples say "It's so hard, isn't it?" but I have worked as well as I can.


JS: How do you feel about your programs this seasons?

FS: About LP, I guess I performed so-so at National Winter Sports Championships (=NWSC Jan. 27-28) my last competition this season. Though I could have done it better. SP, at Japan Nats apparently I did it well, but I didn't finish it as a "program". Only 30%-40% I made.

JS: At NWSC, both SP and LP were well-made "program"s…

FS: No, not at all.

JS: YES! You hit every single musical note there…

FS: No. I need more intensity, I guess.

JS: BUT! You made a 3S there! in FS.

FS: YES! I did at last. God bless it. (laughs)


JS: After Japan Nats, you explained that you had changed various things and those refinements worked. One refinement with which I'm really interested: You have shaped your skeleton to train under the coach of 400M-800M.

FS: I have trained under the Russian 400M-800M Olympic medalist since last summer. He thought my skeleton didn't fit, so we started to correct it.

JS: correct your skeleton … what kind of training do you do for it?

FS: to settle all joints right positions… I mean, to wear the right muscle on its right position.

JS: Also you have changed your skating form. I saw you got much faster at Dreams On Ice(: an annual back-to-season exhibition of Japan Team) in June. As if you got younger…

FS: Absolutely, I changed my skating form. You see the difference when you watch videos… much clearly between Skate Canada and Trophee Eric Bompard. Yet I haven't completed.

JS: At NWSC, in warming-up 6 minutes, I found you were checking your skating form, riding on your edge to float almost halfway around. That new form has fit better and better.

FS: I have troubles with my jumps, so changed my skating form… I must have difficult jump elements in FS as others do. But my age (thirty!) - I can't be a powerhouse anymore. I must be a gas miser, to have them. Though it caused me another trouble this season, if you change your skating form, you must change the way of your jumps as well.


JS: Japan Nats - you have participated 16 years! by the way. Could you tell us your thought of this "All-Japan"? On this Japan Nats, I remembered again: "jumps-winner takes it all at Japan Nats"…

FS: Not only in Japan, we have many jumps champions in this sport at this moment. If you compete, you must win your jumps to win.

JS: Your Figure Skating inspires me a contemporary art, a contemporary dancing,

FS: Thank you.

JS: Yet such an artist, has won her jumps to win at Japan Nats for years.

FS: Yes, that's all that competition, don't miss your jumps.


JS: On your Japan Nats 2010, in FS you got to be turned down, but SP! you made both 3Lz and 3F. "Ms. Decisive" Fumie seemed to be back.

FS: This season, my jumps have concerned me… and finally, my training worked at Japan Nats. But I can't say that I made a "program".

JS: I can say No One made LzF in SP but Fumie!

FS: …The girls haven't LzF to prevent deduction ("wrong edge").

JS: No, they haven't both, or if they have, they would mistake. But you killed both!


JS: It's interesting, very-Fumie quote: other skaters may remake my programs.

FS: I meant, Lori (Nichol) created for me a lot of good programs, I hope those will be remade, performed by someone when I quit. Lots programs I want to perform again, but it's not interesting. If someone carries on the program, that Lori's work won't melt forever.

JS: "save Lori's works".

JS: I really want to save "Bolero"(2007-08SP), my best of Fumie.

FS: Thank you.

JS: I wonder if you perform it again, we'll see much more intense "Bolero"…

FS: That was difficult…

JS: But so lovely.

JS: Are you going to work with Lori next season?

FS: Yes, we're talking now. Or, we may rework this seasons.

JS: Oh, that's nice. You haven't performed them a lot. We're not full.

FS: I'm not full, either.


JS: You're choosing the music of exhibition program now. Have you chosen the music by yourself?

FS: I have chosen the music, and the direction of program. I have brought my preproduction to choreographers.


JS: Last spring, you tried to get sponsored (by "Yoshindo"), joined sports management leading company "Sunny Side Up" - to continue to compete. Papers say so many reasons, but I haven't read your soul words. I imagine you got feeling "I want to continue", that was unable to be described. So I would like to try to capture that feeling…

FS: (responding immediately) I love this sport, first of all. And I'm not gifted as a figure skater, a poor skater I was…

JS: a poor skater you were!?

FS: Yes, I was. I learned and learned to get here, every close people knows. "Not Easy" goes fun. And I love the Arts - that's the most important factor.

JS: There's nothing like Figure Skating, so fast and so wide performing art by sport.


JS: The last question, about romance you have…

FS: What!?

(everyone there laughs)

FS: Who did say!? What's rumor? Let me know that!

JS: Oh well… you haven't… I firmly maintain: at age 30, Fumie made LzF(Lz with "e", though) in SP at Japan Nats, that is the best moment of 2010 female athletes.

FS: …well, thank you.

JS: Then I guess you accomplished such a triumph thanks to…

FS: Romance! how dare you!

(LOL)

JS: Or, if you have it in the future…

FS: "I will play more dramatically", you say? YES! I say that, too!

(LOL)

JS: Or, if you could have it, would you be going to quit to compete?

FS: No, I wouldn't. I expect it could give good vibes to compete!

JS: Definitely. I expect you have been in love with Figure Skating, in Russia under Igor(Pashkevitch) next season!



Japan Skates would like to dedicate an article, in order to remember the disasters, remember the people who are still suffering from the disasters. We asked Japanese skaters to give their thoughts and to show their feelings on every single topic about it, and also we keep video massages from them.


Yuzuru HANYU 羽生結弦, Daisuke TAKAHASHI 高橋大輔, Shizuka ARAKAWA 荒川静香, Nobunari ODA 織田信成, Fumie SUGURI 村主章枝 © Paja
Yuzuru, Daisuke, Shizuka, Nobu, Fumie

☞ "Remember" Shizuka ARAKAWA - Nobunari ODA - Fumie SUGURI - Yuzuru HANYU - Daisuke TAKAHASHI - our Japan's disaster relief article