Translation of the official message on Daisuke Takahashi's website

I was at 2017 nationals as a navigator for tv. I was moved by the skaters who were fighthing for their own different situations and goals and thought "I want to fight, skate in that nervous atmosphere." The last time I skated in comeptition was at Sochi Olympics, because I was unable to compete at Worlds hosted in Japan due to an injury. I retired in the same year in October. It took me 4 years since then, but I started thinking that I want to face skating seriously. That is the reason why I need to get back my own skating, thus the answer was to "return to competition". I think it will be hard to recover from the 4 years of blank, but I want to be strict on my body again, train, and do a performance that makes me feel like "I gave it my all", which I wasn't able to feel before retiring. And more than anything, I'm excited to skate in front of the ones who support me. Thank you for your continous support. From his website http://d1sk.com

Translation: Team Japan Press Con after Japan Open 2017

(Source for interview and pictures)

Uno: “I wasn’t able to control myself”

ー Please tell us your impressions after Japan Open.

Oda: I was able to land 2 quads, which was my goal so I am happy. (laughs)

Uno: I’m really sorry right now. It’s a really regretful feeling too, and I want to keep working hard.

Mihara: I was really excited from the start, I’m glad I was able to skate until the end with the same feeling. 

Honda: When I was in the junior field, I could’ve been satisfied with this performance. But I realized that this isn’t going to work out in the senior field, and I want to rethink about my skating. 

Translation: Mai MIHARA and Kaori SAKAMOTO get a contract with Sysmex

Mai MIHARA (18), 4CC champion, and Kaori SAKAMOTO (17), both candidates for the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics spots for Japanese figure skating ladies single discipline, got a contract with Sysmex, a company from their hometown Kobe on the 2nd. The company announced the news.

Mihara commented: "I'm really happy to team up with Sysmex, a great company from Kobe. It's a very happy thing for me because I was born and raised in Kobe and I love the city, and I hope I can keep progressing without forgetting these feelings of gratitude. I will keep working hard on my training and practice to be able to compete at the Olympics."

Sakomoto also showed motivation: "I'm very happy to team up with Sysmex this time. Since I was born and raised in Kobe, I'm very grateful for getting support from a company that is based in Kobe. I will keep working hard and try my best to leave good results so I can compete in bigger scenes."

Sysmex also has a track and field team, and 2005 Olympic gold medalist Mizuki NOGUCHI was also once part of the team.

Translation: VOICE OF ATHLETE MIYAHARA Satoko: "Not giving up on her ideal even after injury"

From Asahi Shimbun 2017/09/08

"I spent a month in the Japan National Institute of Sport Sciences in Tokyo for rehabilitation because of my injury on my left hip joint. Another athlete from a different sport had a cut in the interior cruciate ligament and was measuring how much they could bend their knee. They had a worse injury than me, but the spirit of "If everyone is working hard on rehabilitation, I can do it too" encouraged me a lot.

Hasebe Makoto san from the national soccer team talked to me every time we saw each other, asking me questions like "How long have you been skating?", "How are you feeling?" Everyone is funny and casual. Sometimes we hide someone's phone to surprise them. Or we invite each other to go do core training. My mother even said, "You seem brighter when you come back from rehabilitation, why don't you go again?" Until now, I've strictly dedicated myself to skating, but I learned to be more relaxed and to not push myself too far. I was off the ice for a long time and a lot of the muscles I used on ice haven't recovered. When I practice too much, my legs, including the hip joint, feel sore. But I know the reason so I don't feel devasted at all. In fact, I'm slowly recovering my condition as planned. Until now, I've concentrated on skating without giving up. This season, I want to show the result of those efforts. I can now picture the ideal performance I want to give. On harder days, I tell myself that it's not time to feel down because one day, I will make it happen. I will keep going without giving up for my biggest goal, the Olympics." (Bottom text is a short bio about her)

Translation: Tatsuki MACHIDA interview from PIW 2017 programme

Thank you for the scans @chestnutskating!

“Ice shows are a world of competition”

2 years and a half since the sudden retirement announcement, Machida Tatsuki, who has since then kept silent, accepted to be interviewed for the first time by Prince Ice World to talk extensively about his current life as a show skater, about creating, and about his future plans.

10 years with Prince Ice World

ー You retired competitive skating in December 2014 and it’s been 2 years and a half you have become a graduate student and a professional skater. Since then, it’s the first time you accept to be interviewed. First, can we ask you about the new creation you will reveal at Prince Ice World 2017?

It’s before the real show so I can’t tell you everything about it yet, but this time’s work is again based on a new concept, and furthermore, it relies on a new method of creation. I think it’s packed of unprecedented challenges. Actually, this time’s program is a program I want to show especially to the younger men skaters.

Translation: Shoma Official Web Site April 27 2017

Hello, it’s Shoma.

Thank you for your support this season.

My second year in the senior field was full of new experiences and I enjoyed it a lot. Whether the competition was good or bad, they became a step in my growth. I think there’s a lot I gained from this season, as I can feel my growth myself. I’m very thankful for all the people around me supporting me, making it possible for me to spend a season free of big injuries or troubles. I am also very thankful at everyone who supported me throughout the year. All your rooting made my position of “attack” stronger. I really thought “I need to live up to these cheers”. Next season, I will try hard little by little to fill up the things I’m still missing. I will keep advancing so we can end it with a smile again!

Thank you for such a great experience.

Source: http://www.shoma-uno.com/info#379

Translation: Kanako MURAKAMI official retirement message

Today, I, Kanako Murakami, have decided to retire from figure skating after 19 years of competing. 

Although it’s been 3 years since Sochi Olympics, I haven’t been able to leave the results I expected to leave and it made every day very hard on me. As for last season, I couldn’t get to the results I wanted no matter how much I practiced hard. Sometimes, I felt like I didn’t know what I was doing all this for. But I had a strong determination that I couldn’t end this the way it was and that’s what kept me going until now. Before last year’s nationals, I set my heart on doing a satisfying performance that could also be my last one. Since then, I thought a lot about what is a satisfying performance for me.  As a result, after speaking to my coaches, I felt the importance of skating in a way that would remain in the hearts of the people who came to watch, even if that required lowering the level of my jumping passes, which was a regretful decision as an athlete. Then, I concentrated on training while keeping in mind that objective. After the competition, a lot of people congratulated me by telling me “It was great!!” and mostly, I saw my coaches being happy for the first time in a while and that filled my heart.

Since then, it felt like a string that was under pressure let go. I thought “... let’s end here” from the bottom of my heart and I made the decision of retiring.  When I think about it, my skating career had a lot of ups and downs, and I caused a lot of trouble for the ones supporting me. I am very sorry about that. But all your rooting has been a big support for me, and moreover, my biggest motivation. I am so thankful, I don’t know how to express it in words. Thank you so much for all your support until now. From now on, I want to be involved with figure skating in many other ways. I will work hard as an adult part of the society so people can support the new Kanako Murakami. Please take care of me from now on too.

Murakami Kanako

Original hand written letter scan from her official web site.