Mitsuki Sumoto

Thank you rRainbow!
I didn't know Mitsuki had training different types of quads! Also, the fact he entered Gensan Summer Cup as a junior to compete with Tatsuya Tsuboi is so sweet :luv17:

Yesterday（Aug. 23）Mitsuki and Kazuki had an online talkshow by FS Life. https://twitter.com/mitsuki130204
Mitsuki said he had a good time with Kazuki and time flew by so fast. The talk will be featured in FS Life vol. 22 published in October.

Mitsuki competed with Taichi Honda at 2020 All Osaka II Figure Skating Championships on Aug. 29. Competition had free programs only.
Participants are:
Senior men: Results: Mitsuki 129.53; Taichi 105.26
Junior men: Results Sena Miyake 126.51; Yuto Kishina 115.33; Shio Kojima 76.38

https://www.nikkansports.com/sports/news/202008290001330.html
Both Mitsuki and Taichi attempted 4T as their opening jump but neither succeeded. This year is Mitsuki's second season as a senior and Taichi's last season to compete. Best wishes for both of them.

Mitsuki is assigned to NHK Trophy and he is happy. He tweeted that he would do his best. https://twitter.com/mitsuki130204/status/1311798784851013632
Good luck, Mitsuki!

Mitsuki is 3rd after SP with 68.64 at Chubu Regionals. https://www.jsfresults.com/National/2020-2021/fs_j/block5/data0103.htm
Protocol: https://www.jsfresults.com/National/2020-2021/fs_j/block5/data0103.pdf
Photo
Online interview with Mitsuki after SP:
“The beginning part of the audio was not coming through, so I restarted the program. (At Rinkai rink) I felt comfortable but I was not able to move my body as smoothly as I wanted. The ice quality was different from Kansai University rink and I felt as if I was skating here for the first time. It didn’t feel like I was at my former home rink.”

Mitsuki's free: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1eyreOjR64
Not bad, but he wasn't happy with the way he performed. He placed 3rd in the FS and 2nd overall, between Kazuki Tomono and Kazuki Kushida. He got 194.66 points overall.
I am interested to see The Mission develop further, he has a soft style that could express it well. The costume is weird though.

Mitsuki at Kinki medal ceremony: https://twitter.com/online_on_ice/status/1312748613286543360/photo/1
Although he had been doing well during the morning official practice, he couldn't skate his best and said, "Until Western Sectionals I'll practice hard as if my life depended on it."

Copying my own post from Kazuki thread:
After the online onsen club talkshow on August 10, the boys kept talking, and the organizer published the transcript of the aftershow chat in the フィギュアスケート日本代表 2020 ファンブックmagazine, available from Amazon USA & Amazon Japan

--Summary of the first half which is mostly fluffs--
* All of them wanted to talk more.
* Sota and Kazuki sometimes started talking at the same time.
* Taichiro pointed out Kazuki had a tendency to talk for a long time.
* Taichiro and Mitsuki noticed that everyone was wearing a different pattern yukata (Japanese traditional casual summer garment made of cotton), while Kazuki and Sota didn’t notice that.
* For the next onsen trip, Sota and Mitsuki wanted to go to Arima onsen. Then Kazuki recommended Dogo onsen, and everyone agreed.

The second half was about the second career choices.
Translation: (K=Kazuki, M=Mitsuki, S=Sota, T=Taichiro)
--There is another question we could not ask you because we ran out of time. This is the question Sota senshu was to ask you as a MC.
K: About our second career.
S: Okay, let’s start.
K: Please go ahead.
S: As I often tell people, I really want to be a coach. These days, when I have a specific skating problem, I wonder objectively what I would do to help the student if I were a coach, and that’s how I practice. I want to become a coach that much. Then, how about Mitsuki?
M: Recently I’ve started thinking about becoming a coach.
S: That’s good.
M: I won’t start alone, and I would start out by working for my current coach. But I’ve come to think lately that since I cannot coach how to jump, I would rather coach skating skills mainly.
T: You want to be a specialist.
S: Good idea. Next, Taichiro.
T: I want to take time away from figure skating once. I do love teaching things to people, so taking a job in which I give instructions to others is an appealing thought, but since my second career lasts longer in my life, I want to try various things rather than centering on skating. While doing so, if I keep my passion for skating in my heart, I hope to be able to come back to skating and become a coach or choreographer. That’s why I want to spend time away from skating once to experience working in other fields.
S: I have the feeling that Taichiro will do any job just fine.
K&M: Yes, yes.
S: Next, our leader!
K: Right now I’m worried so much I feel like throwing up [laughs].
S: That much?
K: It gives me a stomachache just to think about it. I am not young anymore, as I am in the 4th year of college, so I have to make a decision already after all. Of course part of me wants to take time away from skating, but as Mitsuki just said, I am getting a little interested in giving instructions. Still, I don’t have the guts to choose it as my occupation yet. But I have an idea. We talked about being a specialist just now, and considering the fact that I’ve studied training theory in the Sports Department at college and been supported by the sports club company, I might as well take advantage of them. Right now, none of the former figure skaters can instruct off ice training. All the trainers came from other sports. So, if I can give the off-ice training support to figure skaters, I will probably be in a very strong position. I’ll be glad if I can give effective support to figure skaters, after evaluating various training methods from the viewpoint of a former skater. I am most interested in workouts, so I am leaning toward that type of job.
T: Sounds great, doesn’t it?
K: Not bad, huh.
T: Awesome idea!
S: And then, you’ll go to competitions with skaters?
K: Come to think of it, that, too. As an example, I want to incorporate off-ice workouts and on-ice practice and create exercises inspired by ballet and such. Many overseas instructors are doing these things already.
T: Kazuki will be a specialist in that area?
K: Yes, yes, I want to be certified if it needs certification. I want to have an edge on others, if I want to be an instructor.
T: Considering the circumstances and environment Kazuki is in now, it is more than a dream. Rather, you should go for it, and you are ready.

....to be continued

I don't see why Mitsuki thinks he couldn't teach jumps, too! He might not have the highest BV but his jumps have good tech and his air position is beautiful. He should believe a bit more in himself!

Last part of the onsen club aftershow chat:

S: You can get support from Central Sports (t/n: Kazuki’s sponsor).
T: You can belong to a sports club and can be a gym trainer as well.
K: Of course I have a dream of going to the Olympic as a skater, but besides that, I thought it would be cool to go to the Olympics as an instructor.
S: You’ve got a point. It is another dream to become sensei and go to the Olympics with your students.
K: Right. Also, as an alternative, I can be a staff trainer of the support group. I know figure skating, and recently I started to hope that I can become someone who can give support to skaters in whatever small way I can. But I did some digging and found out that if the job is in the medical field, it is a bit hard to get properly certified and licensed…. Therefore, I get sick to my stomach debating what to do.
T: I know, but you should go for it, in my opinion.
K: Sounds good. I enjoy working out myself.
T: Sometimes my trainer gives me advice that makes a whole lot of sense and enlightening.
K: Yeah, right, exactly!
T: If these words come from experienced skaters, they will be more convincing.
K: And more detailed. For example, if someone has trouble getting on the inside edge, after evaluating his body type and form, I will be able to recommend a specific training menu.
T: What’s more, you will be able to take in different ways to use muscles in other sports, and make use of them in figure skating. Kazuki, I want you to start soon.
K: I think that’s an interesting idea.
S: What are you waiting for? Retire already [laughter].
M: Retire, Retire! [laughter]
S: Next year. You’re almost there [laughter].
K: Maybe I’d better consult with the Federation officials [laughter]. Anyway, enough of this topic.
--You have a wonderful vision of your future! Speaking of becoming an instructor, what about a choreographer?
M: [shaking his head].
K: Ummm
T: I want to try!
S: I can imagine Taichiro being a choreographer.
K: I might have told Taichiro before that choreography is really hard because you have to have expertise in various areas.
M&S: Yes, yes.
T: Although it is hard, you get to put together programs you love, watch them from the outside and brush them up some more. In doing so, there are so many things to think about, but yeah, it sounds like fun.
K: I choreographed for about five skaters of the college skating club. It sure was fun.
T: I want to choreograph for at least one skater while I am an active skater.
K: Seriously? While you are actively competing?
T: For my junior club members or novice junior girls.
K: Gala numbers or retirement programs for graduating seniors. Come to think of it, people like Kohei Yoshino are cool.
M: Kohei-kun is a good choreographer.
K: He has charisma.
T: He has come this far in this field.
K: It would be great if I could do choreography, coaching and everything, but it would be tough.
T: As an alternative, you might want to form a team.
K: But when you do it as your job, I bet it will be absolutely difficult. People will definitely get into a fight [laughter].
T: Of course they will. Professional work is no easy task.
K: You’re right.
M: I can see the difficulty.
S: Yes.
--Everybody, Thank you very much for sharing your valuable story.
Everyone: Thank you very much.
S: We talked a lot.
K: We really talked a lot. It was a nice talk show.
M: It sure was.
T: It was super fun!
--Thank you very much. I do hope to have another talk show with you.
Everyone: Please, please.
K: Maybe after the season is over.
S: I had a good time. Please do it again.
T: Thank you very much.
M: Thank you very much.
K: Well, everybody, see you around!

---The End --

Preview of Kazuki-Mitsuki Online Talkshow (Aug. 23) transcript in “Figure Skating Life Vol. 22” to be published on Oct. 22:
Translation of 1 of 2 pages:

--Today this online talk show and Insta live show by Yuto Kishina senshu and Miyake senshu happen at the same time.
K: They sure do. A while ago I practiced during the same time as Sena at KTC (National Training Center), and I walked up to him and demanded an answer, “Hey, what’s going on?” [laughter] He said he knew nothing [laughter].
--So he didn’t know [laughter].
K: Yes, that’s right. I’ll also ask Yuto later. Sena seemed to know nothing about the schedule clash, so I’ve decided to give him a pass [laughter].
--Last time I’ve asked Tomono senshu to talk about this topic, and now I would like to ask Sumoto senshu about his new program. You get a new free program, didn’t you?
M: Yes, it is “The Mission.”
--Could you please tell us its highlight and the story behind the choreography.
M: I am not good at quick steps at all, and Nanami sensei (t/n: Nanami Abe who was Yuzuru’s former coach and choreographer) seemed to have wanted to do more difficult choreography for me, but I struggled [laughter]. But I think if I can control all my jumps, the choreographic moves will be very touching. Since I haven’t done it in competition yet, I am planning to get the video taken at the All Osaka competition next week which is my first event so that I can watch it.
--What is the highlight of the program?
M: About halfway through the program I do a step sequence, and the highlight is three jumps after the steps.
K: Ahhahaha, that’s insane.
M: I do combination jumps and another choreo sequence towards the end, so I would like you to pay attention after the steps.
--Sumoto senshu is so well suited for ”The Mission” that it makes me wonder if you have done it before. But it’s your first time, isn’t it?
M: I’ve never done it before. And yet “The Mission” is the one I had always wanted to do since around the time I skated to “The Miserable.” Since I saw Mai Mihara-chan’s free program, I had always wanted to skate to it.
K: Totally, it’s perfect for him [laughter]. I saw him doing steps and have been thinking he was so good. I have been telling him he was good. His entry into a jump after steps was really hard. He keeps trying slightly different entries. After he tries, I sort of copied his move saying “Aren’t these steps hard?” [laughter]
M: I’ve seen you doing that [laughter]
K: I tried to imitate his entry, and I sucked and realized how hard it was. We both were saying “Can you do this?” and “No can do” [laughter]
M: The entry into the Lutz was also very hard, but Kazuki was the first one to pull it off.
--Really? Is that so?
K: Oh yeah? You couldn’t do that at that time? Is that right?
M: I couldn’t tighten my core enough. It was the Lutz from bracket turn, but I couldn’t take off the Lutz from bracket turn and backward crossover.
K: It was too hard to rotate.
M: Yeah, but after Kazuki was able to tighten his core, I wanted to tighten mine too [laughter].
Everybody laughed.
M: After that, things went smoothly.
K: Mitsuki was working on it and I thought, “What? Isn’t that entry tough?” I do like imitating other skaters’ so I jumped and said “Mitsuki, I made it! I jumped!” [fist-pumped], like this.
M: I was kicking myself at that time.
K: Later, he was able to tighten his core and landed the jump super clean.
--Then, you owe Tomono senshu.
M: That’s right.
K: Oh I see. It was your first time. Sorry [laughter]
M: Yes it was. That’s why Takeshi (Honda) sensei was so happy I made it. He said “You managed to tighten it!”
K: I’m glad to hear that. I am glad I could help because it is so intense after the steps.

... To be continued

Part 2 of 2

M: Every move is hard. I asked her to make the program harder though.
K: You never thought it would be such a hard one.
M: I didn’t think the entire program would be challenging [laughter]. It’s really crazy. It’s exhausting.
K: Yeah. But he makes it look so easy. The transitions are so hard to do, but thanks to Mitsuki’s skating skills, it is the program that showcases all of his strong points. When I saw it I thought “Wow, awesome!”
M: You sure know how to flatter.
K: But I’ve always told you that.
M: Yeah, right. You’ve told me that [laughter].
K: That I love your steps.
M: When we meet and you see me doing the program, you always tell me so [laughter].
K: Right. I love it, so I think Mitsuki fans will be crazy about it. This program is packed with his appealing features. I’m spreading the word here [laughter].
--Wonderful. Great. I can't wait to see it. You two got off to a good start and I would like Sumoto senshu to speak a lot today.
K: I think so far he is doing fine.
--He is doing fine.
M: [drinks water shyly]
K: Like Sota, you should get out of character a little.

Not Remembering When They First Met

--[laughter] Then, please tell me a story when you two first met.
K: Yes! We are going to tell you the honest truth.
M: We don’t remember.
K: We don’t remember the first time we met.
--Huh? You said so during the rehearsal and you two planned to recall how it went?
K: We planned to, but we talked about it yesterday and ended up saying “We have no memories, don’t we?”
M: None [decisively].
K: We started skating around the same time? No, I started earlier, by two years?
M: Yeah.
K: As a result, we were in different classes. We hung out with other kids including Sota, but as we were in different classes we didn’t have many chances to get together.
M: Yeah, we all played together, but I was with Sota all the time, so I didn’t talk with Kazuki very often.
K: In junior years we spent a lot of time together, and we have many memories of that time, but it is not the first time we met. Mitsuki was very tiny and looked absent minded all the time [laughter]. Now, I want to ask Mitsuki what his impression of me was. Do you remember?
M: Kazuki? I don’t remember, as I was with Sota all the time. When I changed my team from Rinkai Club to Uenoshiba Club, they held Uenoshiba sports festival.
K: Oh, I remember.
M: At the rink we competed in a bread-grabbing sprint race and such.
K: We did a relay race and played dodgeball too.
M: We did many things. On that day I moved to Uenoshima Club, but Kazuki didn’t know that until that time.
K: Oh, yeah! [remembering]
M: He was super happy, and I remember that really well.
K: Sure, I remember! I thought “There he is!” [laughter].
M: Yeah, yeah. That’s how I remember Kazuki. But it was when we were in elementary school, perhaps.
K: Our club had very few kids, as it was a weak and small club [laughter]. Yes, it was such a small club.
M: There were only three boys.
K: Mitsuki joined us. I remember that I was glad a boy joined our club.
M: After that we started to hang out together.
K: I cannot remember at all when we were small, but we spent time together every day. We played baseball and things like that.
M: Yes we did.
K: Sota was our leader when we built a secret base, and we also played hide and seek every day. My best memory, I can say this now, is that Mitsuki and Sota had a big fight one time.
M: Ah, I did [laughter].
K: You had a big scuffle with him.
M: We pulled each other’s hair.
--That was more violent than I thought [laughter].
K: That was super fun. I watch them fight laughing my head off [laughter].
M: We had so much damage on our bodies that the next day we both had to take a day off from practice.

-- End of preview pages --

After the SP at West Japan sectionals, Mitsuki sits in 6th with a score of 66.05. Good luck in the free, then!
Here is Mitsuki's protocol: https://www.jsfresults.com/National/2020-2021/fs_j/west/data0103.pdf He fell on the opening 3A, the landing and edge of his 3Lz were not clean, but he got plus marks for his 3F3T combo. Two lv4 spins, one lv3 spin, and lv3 StSq.
Please share a video if you find it.

Well done to Mitsuki for having the 2nd best FS, and moving up to 4th overall, with 202.14.
Unfortunately his videos are not posted on Youtube... -_-

Mitsuki tweeted,
“Why did he (3A) get lost only in competition? I’m sad (lol)
I keep working hard so that I’ll land it clean at NHK and Nationals!”
なんで試合の時だけ迷子になっちゃうの。。悲しいよ笑
NHK杯、全日本でしっかり跳べるように練習していきます！

His fans reply, “3A-chan, don’t ever leave Mitsuki! We’re cheering on you!”

Mitsuki is officially an adult today . Congratulations! I hope he can celebrate with his friends, that his coach Honda gives him good advice, and 2021 goes well for him.

Cute depiction of a potential Mitsuki birthday party, with his friends Kazuki, Taichi, Sota and Taichiro

Reposting from Sota thread:

Quadruple Axel 2021 (3/13/21) features an interview with Sota & Mitsuki which was done in January, 2021. The magazine is sold by Amazon USA (Kindle), Amazon Japan, etc.
Translation of an excerpt from the interview:

Childhood Friends and Rivals

Sota Yamamoto and Mitsuki Sumoto met for the first time when they were still kindergarteners. They met at Rinkai Sports Center in Osaka. The ice rink was their play area and they have inspired each other and grown up to be top skaters. Even after they started training at different rinks, they have maintained trust in their relationship. Being childhood friends and rivals as well, they talk to each other in this special interview.

--I understand currently Yamamoto senshu is in the 3rd year and Sumoto senshu is in the 2nd year of college, and there is a one-year age gap. You two have been good friends since you were little. How old were you when you first met?
M: I was in the intermediate and Sota was in the older class.
S: Yeah, we were in kindergarten.
M: It was at a Rinkai (Spots Center) skating class. I've known Sota since then.
S: I guess Mitsuki took the lesson ahead of me?
M: Yes, it was about a month before you did.
S: When I joined the class, I didn't have any friends yet. We all got chummy with each other after joining the club (Rinkai FSC), so that was when I was in the 2nd grade of elementary school and Mitsuki was in 1st grade.
M: Yeah.
S: Maybe (Tomono) Kazuki was in 3rd grade. I think since around that time we all have become closer together.
--Do you remember the first impression of each other at the first encounter in the skating class before joining the club?
S: My earliest memory of Mitsuki is that he was coddled by his mom. As soon as he fell and his gloves got wet, he dashed to his mom to replace them [laughter].
M: Ahahaha [laughter].
S: For some reason, I really remember the scene. The moment his gloves got a little wet, he got a replacement.
M: I used to bring in 5 to 6 pairs of gloves every day [laughter]. I remember Sota when I was in the classroom. I hardly ever talked to him at that time though.
S: That’s true.
M: Even though he started skating after me, Sota was practicing the single axel with beginner’s boots, and I had absolutely no clue what the heck was happening.
S: Ahahaha [laughter].
M: My first impression of him was "What’s all this? What’s with this guy?” [laughter]
S: That’s hilarious! [laughter]
M: When I started talking to Sota, he said “Let’s practice together,” and he tried the single axel as well. So I thought “He’s nuts, isn’t he?” [laughter] Sota was too impactful [laughter].

- to be cont'd

Part 2:

--I feel that you two are two of a kind and give off similar vibes. Did you warm up to each other quickly?
M: It took no time, didn’t it?
S: Come to think of it, we have similar personalities and we hit it off right away. I remember we spent time together all the time and we had fun.
M: We sometimes fought as well.
S: We were often in a fight [laughter]. I remember we wrestled on ice [laughter].
M: We pulled each other’s hair [laughter].
S: But we made up right away.
M: After that we played Beyblade (t/n: spinning top toys originally developed by Takara in Japan).
S: We were hooked on it. We brought in dozens of them to the rink.
M: We modified some [laughter]
S: Yeah, yeah [laughter].
--I see you two spent time together all the time on and off ice back then.
M: Yes, that sounds correct.
S: I spent the most time with Mitsuki, and we were on the same wavelength. Besides we always agreed on what we wanted to play.
M: We scheduled out time to finish practice at the same time, didn’t we?
S: On Saturday we finished practice by around 2pm, and we were playing till around 5pm.
M: (Tomono) Kazuki had to practice till around 5pm.
S: Hiraike (Taijin) sensei was very strict. Kazuki listened to sensei carefully and practiced diligently.
M: Yeah.
S: We put play ahead of everything else though [laughter].
M: We said, “What do you wanna play today?” even before practice started.
S: We only talked about play.
M: We never talked about skating.
S: We sometimes got into a restricted area and played hide and seek. Since it was a no-entry zone, we were never caught [laughter].
M: Oh yeah! We attached a wooden plank to a tree so that we could sit on it, didn't we?”
S: Yeah, yeah!
--Will you elaborate on that?
M: On Rinkai ground, there was a big tree with a hollow trunk where we could crawl inside. We found a plank somewhere and placed it inside the hollow trunk, and we were hiding out there.
S: That’s exactly like a secret base. We sat down and chatted.
M: There were times we left “it” alone in the middle of hide and seek and started playing a different game [laughter].
S: We even played baseball inside the arena.
M: Yep, we did. We got scolded quite a lot [laughter].
S: When the weather was fine we played it outdoors but when it rained we played inside. We use a soft ball and a plastic bat. We were trying not to hit the ball hard though [laughter].

- to be cont'd