Team Mie Hamada | Golden Skate

Team Mie Hamada

ioanna

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 25, 2014
Mie Hamada and her students have quickly become a force to be reckoned with so I thought her team deserved her own thread.


Mie Hamada (濱田美栄) is a Japanese figure skating coach and former competitor. Born on October 29, 1959 in Kyoto, Hamada graduated from Doshisha University in 1983. She currently coaches at the Kansai University Skating Club in Takatsuki, Osaka.

Yamato Tamura (田村岳斗) is a Japanese figure skating coach and former men's singles competitor. Born on May 28, 1979 in Hachinohe, he is a two-time Japanese national champion and has represented Japan at the 1998 Winter Olympics. Tamura also competed briefly in pair skating, winning the 1997 national title with Marie Arai. He is currently a coach at the Kansai University Skating Club in Takatsuki, Osaka alongside Mie Hamada.

Cathy Reed is a Japanese figure skating coach, choreographer and former ice dance competitor. Born on June 5, 1987 in Kalamazoo, Michigan, she has represented Japan with brother Chris Reed at the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics. Reed now works as a figure skating coach and choreographer in Takatsuki, Osaka with Mie Hamada and Yamato Tamura.

CURRENT STUDENTS (+ links to existing fan fest threads)
Satoko Miyahara (2015 World Silver Medalist, 2016 4CC Champion, 2014 & 2015 National Champion, 2015 GPF Silver Medalist)
Yuna Shiraiwa (2015 Jr National Silver Medalist, 4th at the 2016 Jr World Championships)
Rika Kihira (7th lady to land a 3A in history, 2nd lady to land a 3A in the junior circuit, 1st lady to perform 8 clean triples in a free program)
Kokoro Iwamoto
Miyu Honda
Sara Honda
Shu Nakamura

FORMER STUDENTS (+ links to existing fan fest threads)
Marin Honda (2016 Jr World Champion, 2015 JGPF Bronze Medalist)
Taichi Honda
Yukina Ota (2003 Jr World Champion, 2004 4CC Champion)
Mariko Kihara (2014 Coupe du Printemps, 2015 Bavarian Open, and 2016 Triglav Trophy Champion)
Kana Muramoto (as a singles skater; 2011 Triglav Trophy Silver Medalist)
Satsuki Muramoto (2010 Triglav Trophy Champion)
Riona Kato (as a junior)
Aki Sawada (2005 JGPF Silver Medalist, has landed the 3A in national competitions)

ARTICLES / INTERVIEWS / VIDEOS

Mie Hamada interview (Patinage magazine, 2015)
Mie Hamada & Yamato Tamura interview (Patinage 2016)
Yamato Tamura: blog posts, interviews, other
Mie Hamada: Coaching A New Generation of Japanese Ladies
Hamada stresses importance of basics, simplicity
Mie Hamada interview (JGP Ostrava 2016)

Feel free to contribute to the fluff collection!
 
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solar

I got cat class and I got cat style
Medalist
Joined
Feb 10, 2014
Country
United-States
Mie Hamada has definitely built a strong team of skaters. I'm a fan of many of them, as well.
 

ioanna

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 25, 2014
Well in the past few weeks, 3 of the Mie Hamada ladies have started the season with a bang. Highlights

Marin Honda breaks the junior world record in the FS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UEIkefKSt8

Satoko Miyahara undergoes a complete stylistic makeover with her unconventional cosmic FS (and wins US Classic obviously)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCWSs4NvKW0

Rika Kihira is the second lady to jump a 3A in the junior circuit and the first ever lady to land 8 clean triples in a FS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSUEb85kiys

Thus, Mie Hamada (with the assistance of her butler Yamato Tamura) has established herself as the chairman of Japanese ladies skating.
 

ioanna

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 25, 2014
Small interviews with Marin and Rika after the competition
https://twitter.com/anipooh1/status/779802706118488064

Marin: "It's frustrating. Because I thought "I must become stronger", I want to go back to becoming stronger."
Rika said she is happy she managed to land the 3A in the competition. She wanted to emulate Mao and she's happy she did it.
 

bosskil

Match Penalty
Joined
Aug 17, 2016
Small interviews with Marin and Rika after the competition
https://twitter.com/anipooh1/status/779802706118488064

Marin: "It's frustrating. Because I thought "I must become stronger", I want to go back to becoming stronger."
Rika said she is happy she managed to land the 3A in the competition. She wanted to emulate Mao and she's happy she did it.
I'm starting to worry how emotional Marin has become after imperfect skates. Has the media pressure got to her? :no:
 

ioanna

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 25, 2014
This twitter user scanned a few pages from the Kansai Skating Club 10 year anniversary exhibition pamphlet. They contain short interviews with Satoko and Marin.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CtLP9dAVMAAFEpi.jpg:large
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CtLP95LVIAAYvXL.jpg:large
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CtLP-ZTUEAA72DT.jpg:large

Satoko says life as a university student is fun and she's happy she made new friends. Her goal for this season is to make it to the GPF and to improve her jumps. She said Marin is a very funny/interesting person and the kind of skater that makes people feel good while watching her.

Marin says she'd like to start practicing one more sport; she's been doing various kinds of sports such as gymnastics, swimming, tennis, etc., since about the age of 2, and she's now interested in table tennis. She thinks this season will be important and she'd like to make it to the GPF. She said Satoko is "not as shy as people think she is", describing her as "tsukkomi" (detailed explanation here). A good example of a "tsukkomi" moment is this:

Shoma: We didn’t really talk to each other when we first met.
Satoko: We didn’t talk for about three years.

Shoma: I've been wondering, do you like bananas?
Satoko: I really hate them.
(full interview)

There's further info in the scans but this is my limit in kanji reading. If anyone else would like to translate the rest, please feel free.
 
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Plumededragon

Medalist
Joined
Feb 12, 2015
I'm starting to worry how emotional Marin has become after imperfect skates. Has the media pressure got to her? :no:
I don't see anything strange. She's still a kid, after all, and she didn't skate like she wanted to, making her JGPF qualification uncertain. That's more than enough to be emotional.
 

mikaboo

Medalist
Joined
Mar 6, 2014
I posted this interview with Yamato Tamura on the "Japanese Coaches" thread because I wasn't sure if it was going to be a series with various coaches.
I'll repost it here too.

Here’s the first part of a JSports interview that came out today of Yamato Tamura by Akio Sasaki, a retired skater who is aspiring to be a coach.
http://www.jsports.co.jp/press/article/N2016100416372006.html

Akio: After I retired as a competitor, I worked at a motor bike shop then went back to university. Going forward, I want to return to the world of figure skating and try to be something of a use there. One of them is to be in ice shows and I’ve started practicing again. After retirement, I’ve had some regrets about what I should have done. Did you have any of that?
Yamato: I have too many regrets from when I was competing and although I’m now in a position to be teaching, there are times when I’m being taught by my students.
Akio: The competitors nowadays have to train so much.
Yamato: When I was competing, the focus was mainly on the jumps. Nowadays, skaters are judged on spins and steps and the depth of edges also affect the scores so there is no comparison between the time spent on skating between us and them. So it’s vital that a lot of time be spent on taking care of their bodies as well.
Akio: I was the only competitor at the rink where I trained at so I didn’t know what was going on at other rinks but I’ve always wondered why Kansai had good skaters, including Hamada-sensei and Yamato-sensei’s students.
Yamato: The fastest solution is to have one extraordinary skater… which is really difficult. In Kansai’s case, there was Daisuke Takahashi. Then Nobunari Oda came along at around the same time. When there are rivals close by, it’s easier for the younger skaters to follow. I think having a star athlete is the reason for developing other athletes to follow the path. Also, we mustn’t forget the rink environment. Kansai University’s contribution to the skating world is enormous.
Akio: There are so many elements to practice in figure skating now that I think it’s difficult for the coaches. You coach alongside Hamada-sensei. What is the merit of coaching as a team?
Yamato: That I’m able to realize something through someone else’s eyes. We can compensate for each other and confirm what we’ve missed seeing. It means that the skaters will have no escape so it’s hard for them (laughs). Like in baseball where they have a batting coach, a pitching coach and a fielding coach, we can teach what we’re good at as a team.
Akio: Is it just the 2 of you now? You and Hamada-sensei?
Yamato: There are 5 of us now with Cathy Reed, Haruko Okamoto and Yoko Matsuda. Cathy-sensei mainly teaches the choreographies, Okamoto-sensei teaches compulsories, Matsuda-sensei checks to see that the students are skating by the rules.
Akio: Do you and Hamada-sensei divide your tasks according to your specialties?
Yamato: Hamada-sensei can do anything. But when she is away for competitions, I have to make them practice properly so I’m strict during those times. I think it’s an important responsibility of mine.
Akio: Your students are mainly girls so isn’t it hard to instruct them regarding things outside of skating? Like their weight control for example?
Yamato: That is hard. I don’t think it’s ideal that I, as a male, talk to girls about their weights, but I do tell them to be careful. The rest is up to their self awareness. I can’t watch over them for 24 hours so I ask them, “Do you want to eat, or do you want to win?” As athletes, they should want to win. I can tell if they are just saying it, or if they are true to their words by looking at their movements and body lines.


Part 2 will be about 4 young skaters who are coached by Hamada-sensei and Yamato-sensei. I'm guessing they are Satoko, Marin, Yuna and Rika.

Vol. 2
Vol. 3
Vol. 4
 
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