Hero's welcome in Sendai for Yuzuru Hanyu

[Elizabeth]

Some 108,000 people attended the parade in person and it was shown live on TV as well:
https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2018 ... hanyu.html

Afterward there was no garbage left behind, despite the huge crowds!

[Elizabeth]

From the press conference (translation):

"I don’t think every dream comes true. You make sacrifices for a dream. You can’t do things you want to do. You need to spend time doing a lot of things you don’t want to do. But the feeling you get when you achieve your dream is a great feeling." - Yuzuru Hanyu

[happyheini]

He seems to be a very grounded person. I love the picture with no garbage - we will never see something like that in the Western World not even in our beloved Canada.

[kittykins]

He seems to be a very grounded person. I love the picture with no garbage - we will never see something like that in the Western World not even in our beloved Canada.

Good for him and thanks for sharing Elizabeth. That's a wonderful picture! I agree with you Heini. He somehow seems "uncluttered" if you know what I mean...a pure soul.

[Elizabeth]

Yuzuru was extremely moved by the 2011 Tohuko earthquake and tsunami that severely impacted his hometown of Sendai. He has been extremely generous in "repaying" them in many ways, including fundraising efforts. He apparently received 10 million yen for his latest Olympic gold and he has divided into equal donations to the prefecture (Miyagi) and the city (Sendai). He made similar donations with his 2014 winnings (4 million yen, I believe).

Another quote (translated) from his press conference after the parade:

I need to remind myself that Sendai is still engaged in its reconstruction efforts. Despite this, they organized this big event/parade for me. I need to appreciate what they did for me seriously. I feel that I need to think about how I behave in the future and make decisions that will help my prefecture, city and maybe the world in its reconstruction efforts (where needed).

By the way, many people went to Sendai for his parade - not just from within Japan but from other countries.

[Elizabeth]

And now Yuzuru and fellow Olympic medalists have attended a Spring garden party hosted by Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko.


https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2018 ... party.html

"The Emperor, Empress and other imperial family members had kind words for me, and this very much inspired me as I carry on with competitive figure skating," Hanyu said after the party.

[happyheini]

What a grounded and humble young man. we will be in for a treat to see how he will soar to new heights (pun intended).
I am always impressed to see most of the Japanese skaters bowing to their coaches and bowing to the audience. I wish we had some of that politeness here in Canada.