- Here's an article where he -I guess- says something like he approaches Nats with the 'I don't want to mess up' mindset? Hard for me to translate the headline if suberu can mean either slide/skate, or bomb/fail. https://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2019/12/18/kiji/20191218s00079000233000c.html
Summary of above Sponichi article:
... After the NHK Trophy in November where he placed 6th, he commented on how he was approaching the Japanese Nationals.
He said with confidence “I have been practicing hard, so much so that I almost got sick and tired of skating.” From the morning practice he was on the ice 4 to 5 hours a day. “There were times I did not like practicing very much,” he said smiling wryly.
...He added, “I have been focusing myself in practice so far. I really want to give good performances.”