Holding Hands with Yuzu in Sendai.
“And how many days will you spend in Sendai?”
“If things go according to plan, the rest of my life.”
Ok. So maybe that isn’t exactly how the conversation went at the Sendai Station Tourist Information Center, but close. Upon arriving in Sendai and showing the Tourist Center my (apparently very ambitious) list of Mon-yuz-ments I wanted to visit, it became clear that “one day in Sendai” during my trip to Japan for GIFT wasn’t going to cut it. But I happily accepted my Sendai Tourism Guide with Yuzu on the cover, walked calmly past Cardboard Yuzu without making a scene (because I wanted to follow The Sendai Rules) and went in pursuit of a bus to Ice Rink Sendai.
Fun fact: On the bus ride from Sendai Station to Ice Rink Sendai, you see somewhere around 300 hair salons. While that number may be slightly exaggerated (I stopped counting around 297), I was truly astonished at how many times I thought, ‘That place is cute. I wonder what it – oh. Hair salon.’ I have to say it seems a fitting homage considering Sendai IS home to LGC Hair’s most famous client…and the human with the best hair in the history of hair.
I could feel my heart go ドキドキ [pitter patter] as each bus stop brought us closer and closer to Ice Rink Sendai.
“It’s the next one after the next one…It’s the next one…Look! There’s the sign! This is it! I can’t believe I’m finally-”
(Bus starts moving)
“Annnnnd…we’ve missed it.”
In retrospect, I’m glad we missed the stop for the rink. Somehow, it felt all the more special approaching it on foot – the mountains in the distance. (You didn’t think we missed it without getting off that bus at the very next stop faster than Yuzu flips open his laptop; did you?) I highly recommend missing the stop on your next visit to Sendai too. And depending on which stop you get off, you might be able to get a haircut before you go. (Ask for #11 – the LGC).
Every part of Sendai felt familiar. Not because I had seen so much of it in videos. Not because I could’ve read the signs well enough to not miss the bus stop. But because I had a “friend” there. And that “friend” was Yuzu. In fact, I felt that way about Japan in general. I think Yuzu made every Fanyu feel like they owned Tokyo the day after GIFT.
“Why did you choose to visit Tokyo?”
“Because Yuzuru Hanyu asked me to.”
But nowhere felt as familiar as Ice Rink Sendai. Like many (most, all) Fanyus, I have spent hours upon hours “virtually” sitting on that “Skate For Fan!” bench – particularly during SharePractice. When I arrived at the entrance I was a little surprised there wasn’t a sign over the door that said: “Ice Rink Sendai – Home of SharePractice.” (I mean, really.) Now, when I watch the videos, I get newly excited each time Yuzu skates close to that section of the rink, because even though it wasn’t at the right time, I WAS THERE. I wish I could magically superimpose time so I could’ve been there at the same time as Yuzu. (I promise I wouldn’t have bothered him…much.) But even separated by probably 12 hours (assuming Yuzu didn’t give himself a break from training after GIFT – and who thinks that happened?) I found myself wondering how these “Skate for Fan!” benches aren’t as crowded as a Times Square Starbucks. Why don’t people come sit here all day? 200 円 [yen] to simply bask in Yuzu’s aura? YES, PLEASE!
I could’ve sat there forever.
Because as I looked around, I saw lots of familiar “faces.” The AC unit Yuzu hugged, the clock he blurs out in his YouTune videos, the ice entrance he touches and thanks, the helmet return sign where he laced up his skates, the shoe rental “Porpoise Yuzu” window, the sprinting hall, the sanitized bench, the vending machines Yuzu turned into Art. And then you really start to find your mind wondering. Which of the items in the vending machine is Yuzu’s favorite? Probably none because he brings his own Yuzu Beverage Kit to his practices, but there’s possibly a fizzy drink with a medical degree in there that Yuzu would like to cheat with on occasion. And has the machine ever eaten his yen? Can you imagine being the staff member who arrives in the morning to find a note at your workstation saying you need to refund Yuzuru Hanyu 160 円 [yen]? (Of course, I’m certain he’d just consider it another donation.)
On a more serious note: This is where Yuzu selflessly comes to practice under cover of darkness. This is where the Lotte Gum for the Game commercial was filmed (and we allllll remember that famous bench sitting). This is where Yuzu set up his 7-minute battery cameras to make us a Christmas present…all the while knowing he was using that same ice to prepare an even bigger GIFT for us. This is where Yuzu has battled the Quad Axel alone over and over…and over. And where I am certain he has landed it.
This is where Yuzu was the exact second his entire life (and the lives of so, so many more) changed on 3.11.11.
Perhaps this is why, despite knowing you flew over 7,000 miles, took a 90 minute 新幹線 [bullet train] ride and walked past 7 hair salons – it is still nearly impossible to believe you are actually there – in Yuzu’s nest. I couldn’t help but wonder if during his middle of the night practices, Yuzu goes into the “You-Can’t-Take-Photos-In-There” Photo Gallery (please always follow the rules!) to be inspired…by Yuzu. I also wondered if the umbrella in the rack by the door had been there to see Yuzu pass by it night after night. And while you want to calm your mind (which has managed to become jealous of a 傘 [umbrella] in Sendai) and bask in that place where you have so often found blissful refuge from afar, you can’t stop the inner voice screaming, “I’M IN ICE RINK SENDAI!” It was a constant inner dialogue:
“I wonder if that scuff on the wall is from Yu-” I’M IN ICE RINK SENDAI!
“Look at that shirt Yuzu sign-” I’M IN ICE RINK SENDAI!
“That’s where Pooh-san sits while-” ICE RINK! ICE RINK! ICE RINK SENDAI!
But before you know it, it is time to leave Ice Rink, Ice Rink, Ice Rink Sendai and you think your heart might break, break, break.
I will save up that 200 円 (and those other associated costs) to return to you いつか [someday].
Thank you, Ice Rink Sendai, for being Yuzu’s nest where he learned to fly. And thank you, Sendai, for being the safe place for him to land when he needs to rest his wings.
While in Sendai, I took the pictures I have seen a million times on Twitter – the Yuzu in the Ice Rink Sendai lobby – the Yuzu in the Sendai Tourist Info Center (who happens to look an awful lot like the Yuzu in the Ice Rink Sendai lobby) – the outside of Sendai Station – the Olympic monuments – a zunda mochi cup. The love for Yuzu in Sendai is palpable everywhere you go – especially in the KHB TV Station where you can hear Guriri shouting “Yuzuzu!” even from inside his glass condo in the lobby. (P.S. Get the Banana Smoothie at the Guriri Cafe.)
Every Fanyu (no matter their language) can recognize the kanji for 仙台 [Sendai – so I shouldn’t have needed to put in that translation]. In fact, I was having Christmas sushi with Cactus mere days before I entered the ticket lottery for GIFT and there was a map of Japan in the restaurant lobby. As we went out into the cold night air, I placed my (We Love Irene gloved) hand over “仙台” and said, “Aww. Sendai.” Little did I know that in a little over two months, I would be boarding the 新幹線 [bullet train] displaying that same beautiful kanji. On my way. To Yuzu’s beloved Sendai. Fanyus spend their entire Fanyu life loving Sendai too. Even if you haven’t been introduced to it at Thanksgiving yet, you know it is always Yuzu’s +1. He makes sure it gets the credit it deserves. He visited it as much as possible, even when he had to be away. He gives it presents – very nice ones. He has dedicated himself to bandaging its cuts and bruises. And he is going to love it forever.
And anything Yuzu loves deserves our love (or at least our respect) too.
I ended my too-short day in Sendai as dusk was falling and Yuzu was probably just waking up. My last stop? Yuzu’s Olympic Monuments. As we looked for the door to exit the station to find them, I worried that by the time we did it would be too dark to see them. (I knew I shouldn’t have stopped to buy those 牛タン [beef tongue] potato chips!) And then, miraculously, I saw them out the window – as if Yuzu had teleported them there just in time for me. (I almost said, “I looked out the window and there was Yuzu!” but even my heart couldn’t take the wording of that sentence and I KNEW I didn’t mean I saw ACTUAL Yuzu.) ‘ありがとうございます [thank you] Yuzu’ I thought as I placed my hand on Yuzu’s hand print. ‘For this…and everything else you have given me, the Fanyus and the world.’ I may have thought other things too, but I’ll keep those between me and Yuzu. (P.S. Yuzu has a very long thumb. Really.)
Even though it was the last thing I did on my Yuzu Sendai List, and even though I didn’t touch my hand to Yuzu’s until 17:41 Japan Standard Time, I felt like he had been holding my hand all day…in Sendai.
