The following is my translation of reports from the Amino Vital Talk Show in Koriyama on June 14, 2014.
I thank blue-C san for the simultaneous report from the site!
＊＊＊＊＊＊＊
The talk show was emceed by a long-time acquaintance of Daisuke, an Ajinomoto employee who has interviewed him for 9 years, since Torino Olympics.
A group of junior skaters were seated on the floor in the front. Daisuke looked relaxed talking to them.
Our honorary sales manager Dai wore a chambray shirt over a white T, black pants and white sneakers. His accessories are black watch, a black bracelet, a circular shaped (?) ring. His hair was parted on the left side. He is tanned <3
Junior skaters asked him why he started skating.
D: When I was little, I was not good at physical ed., especially ball games. Not that I hated them; I was just not good at them. So I always watched other kids play without participating. So my PE grade was 1 or 2 (U.S. equivalent of C or D). :P
D: When little, I wanted to become a “salary-man”, or a Japanese business man. My father was not a salary-man, so I dreamed of wearing a suit to work.
Daisuke was never scolded as a child. As he asked the junior skaters if they have ever been scolded, he looked straight into their faces with his sincere smile.
Q: Having skating as a profession, it must have been extremely difficult.
D: No, because it’s the only thing I’m good at.
Q: What were your favorite recipe from the kitchen of the Takahashi family?
D: Hamburger steaks (the Japanese style), gyoza (pot stickers), and giant rice balls. Also “nagashi yaki”, a thin, crepe-like pancake (not sweet; he explains it's like a thin okonomiyaki) which we made together on the hot plate.
No matter how late he came home, like 10 or 11 o’clock, his family waited for him and had dinner together. Dai asked the junior skaters if they had meals with their families, about half of them raised their hands saying yes.
Dai likes having miso soup for breakfast, but not for dinner.
Asked about Sochi….
D: There were too many things. Coach Nagamitsu said she would be on my side no matter what happened. She accepted and protected me for who I was.
D: Figure skating is a rigorous sport. It’s like running a 1500m hurdle with jumps in between. Balance is important. Interval training (for strengthening the respiratory system) is very hard.
D: Maybe it seems irrelevant to speed skaters, but I recommend ballet to everyone. It teaches a lot about your body and your muscles. It’s good if you have a stiff neck, especially.
MC: (To the kids) He is a pretty good cook, too, you know.
D: No, I’m not! I only pack my lunch! lol
D: I feel stronger and have more stamina than when I was a teenager.
D: You can only learn from failure. You need to start that process young. At a very young age.
D: Thank you for buying a lot of Amino Vital. It also works when you drink…am I not supposed to say this?? lol
I hope you all take Amino Vital and feel refreshed. I don’t have much power right now, so please share some of yours.
(A collective sob on my Twitter TL (ﾉω･､))
The last message to the junior skaters:
D: There are things that I could only learn after I continued to skate until the age of 28. When you stick with one thing for a long time, you learn so many things, too. It means a lot to continue. You can ask others for help and support if you need to. I just hope you will keep skating for many years to come.
(The photo session followed. Lucky 30 people were selected to take pictures with Daisuke one by one.)
＊＊＊＊＊＊＊