＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:https://skawa68.com/
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49）さん / X
1. Great women’s figure skaters of the past
When I think of “female figure skaters,” I think of Midori Ito, who was the first woman in the world to successfully perform a triple axel (three and a half rotations) in competition in 1988, and won a silver medal at the Albert Olympics.
Junko Yaginuma did not win any Olympic medals, but she was very popular for her good looks.
Later, Shizuka Arakawa, who won the first gold medal for a Japanese woman in figure skating at the Turin Olympics, became very famous for her “Ina Bauer.” Although Fumie Suguri did not win an Olympic medal, she had a long and successful career as an athlete.
2. The first golden age of women’s figure skating
What I think of as the “first golden age” of women’s figure skating was around 2002 to 2015, when Mao Asada and Miki Ando were active.
Mao Asada, who made a brilliant debut at the age of 15, charmed us with her graceful jumps and “Mao Smile,” and quickly became the most popular skater. Although she has only one Olympic medal, a silver one at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, she has had a great career, winning the World Championships three times and the Grand Prix Final four times. I think she is the driving force behind the “women’s figure skating boom.”
Miki Ando was known for her powerful, large jumps, such as the first female skater to successfully land a quadruple jump at the Junior Grand Prix Final in 2002. Although she never won an Olympic medal, she had a remarkable career, winning the World Championships twice and the Grand Prix Final twice. However, I think that her excessive focus on the quadruple jump may have led to her early retirement.
Kanako Murakami was expected to be the next star after Mao Asada, but she retired without having much success. She currently appears on TV variety shows.
Unfortunately, currently in the world of men’s figure skating, there are no other skaters who can compete for the top spot in the world apart from the “absolute champion” Yuzuru Hanyu , who has won two consecutive gold medals at the 2014 Sochi Olympics and the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics, as well as the Grand Prix Final four times in a row, and Shoma Uno , who won the silver medal at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics.
3. The second golden age of women’s figure skating
However, the world of women’s figure skating is now a “bloom of many flowers,” with promising athletes emerging one after another.
What I consider to be the “second golden age” of women’s figure skating is the period from 2015, when Satoko Miyahara began to make her mark, to the present.
Until recently, I thought that Satoko Miyahara was the “best” female figure skater. However, I was a little worried because she had many injuries.
Filling the gap, promising young teenage athletes have appeared one after another. In women’s professional golf, a “golden generation” of young athletes has been making great strides, and in women’s figure skating, a new generation of stars has also been born that should be called the “golden generation.”
Some of them include Mai Mihara , Kaori Sakamoto , Marin Honda , and Wakaba Higuchi .
Mai Mihara won the Four Continents Championships in 2017, Kaori Sakamoto won the Four Continents Championships in 2018, Marin Honda won the World Junior Championships in 2016, and Wakaba Higuchi came in second in the 2018 World Championships.
Then, like a comet, Rika Kihira appeared. She won two Grand Prix series titles in November this year, the NHK Trophy and the French Cup, and has already qualified for the Grand Prix Final, despite being in her first year as a senior. She is a “promising star” who is expected to achieve the same or even greater success as Mao Asada in the future.
As a result, Satoko Miyahara, Kaori Sakamoto, and Rika Kihira will compete in “Grand Prix Final” of 2018.
I’m really looking forward to the Grand Prix Final, which will be held in Vancouver, Canada from December 6th to December 10th.
<Added on December 9th> Congratulations to Rika Kihira on winning the Grand Prix Final!
On December 8, Rika Kihira won her first Grand Prix Final in Canada, defeating Russia’s Zakitova, the gold medalist at the PyeongChang Olympics and aiming for her second consecutive Grand Prix Final victory. This is the first time since Mao Asada won the Grand Prix Final in her first appearance.
In this regard, I strongly believe that the existence of “outstanding star athletes who are geniuses” is absolutely necessary in the sports world.
Men’s Figure would not have been as popular without Yuzuru Hanyu and Syouma Uno, and women’s Figure would not have been as popular without Mao Asada and Miki Ando.
In this sense, I cannot help but be thankful that I was born in an era when Japanese athletes are very active in the world in many sports such as tennis, table tennis, golf, swimming, track and field, gymnastics, skiing, and skating.