“#フィギュアスケート #世界ジュニア選手権 文字制限のある新聞記事には盛り込めなかった“こぼれ話” ① #島田高志郎 『これまで公表はしてなかったのですが…』と前置きした上で、中学2年の時に死別したという父親の話をしてくれました。 今季からスポンサーに付いた #損保ジャパン日本興亜 は（続）”
Koshiro’s interview side story on his deceased father and his sponsor, Sompo Japan Nipponkoa, by a Kyodo news reporter.
Koshiro Shimada said, “I haven’t publicly mentioned this before,” and told me about his father who passed away when he was a 2nd year student at junior-high school. Sompo Japan NipponKoa, his new sponsor since this season, is where his father worked, and he said, "I want to grow/improve further, for my father's friends too, who've been supporting me. And I'm sure my father's watching over me right by my side as well."
His father, who passed away at 62 in April, 2015, was a senior executive there (as well as a local bank) and his colleagues and friends continue to support him. In 2012 when Yuzuru Hanyu first won the title of Japan Nats, Shichifuku Towel, a local Imabari-towel company in Ehime, published a blog article to celebrate Hanyu-kun’s victory, in which the president talked about Koshiro’s father loving and missing his son as a preface to give his congratulations. According to this blog, Koshiro’s father wasn’t allowed to go watch his son at the ice rink (most likely stopped by his family) so as not to discourage his coaches, because he was big (and tall). The president cheered him up, “Don’t worry, he’ll grow to be like Hanyu-kun!” The article and the comments it received are old, but became very popular and was/is occasionally shared by Hanyu-kun fans to learn his sincere personality. You can probably find a full translation somewhere.
