Nobunari Oda is a dad again!

[caseyedwards]

By the time michael weiss ended his career in 2006 he had two kids. So I think if skating is more popular in japan and even if oda doesn't have a world medal like weiss did I think oda is in a more lucrative environment so it can be juggled and it's not like odas wife would be incapable of working if she has to. Or if Oda has to.

[caseyedwards]

By the time michael weiss ended his career in 2006 he had two kids. So I think if skating is more popular in japan and even if oda doesn't have a world medal like weiss did I think oda is in a more lucrative environment so it can be juggled and it's not like odas wife would be incapable of working if she has to.

[orbitz]

^ It depends on what type of support Oda and his wife have around them. Weiss parents and sisters all lived around the same area as he and his wife, so I'm sure he and his wife had a lot of support to help them with the kids whild Weiss was concentrating on training for 2006.

Skating may be more popular in Japan, but I think it's still only a few very top skaters that are raking in the endorsements and appearances' fees. I don't know how Oda's star stacks against the other top male skaters.

[Zemgirl]

I had forgotten about that. Perhaps family wealth is a factor in being able to continue skating with two children.

Considering the number of descendants of Nobunaga Oda, I doubt any family wealth is a direct result of that connection.

By the time michael weiss ended his career in 2006 he had two kids. So I think if skating is more popular in japan and even if oda doesn't have a world medal like weiss did I think oda is in a more lucrative environment so it can be juggled and it's not like odas wife would be incapable of working if she has to.

There are also a fair number of skaters who became parents during their competitive careers - Alexander Abt, Olivier Schoenfelder, Isabelle Delobel, Dmitri Soloviev, Tatiana Navka and Mark Ladwig are a few examples. While two children do require more resources, I'm sure Nobunari and his wife made sure that they had the resources and support they need.

Now that I think of it, Oda is the first of two skaters who became fathers of two this past week - followed a day later by Evgeni Plushenko

[skate65]

Congratulations to Nobu. He was juggling a lot at japanese nationals then with his wife due to deliver shortly. I'm sure they have thought about all these things. Very happy for him

[arakwafan2006]

LOL! Because I remember how Oda has complained how hard it is to be away from his son and how financially difficult it is for his family. I just wondered that now that he has two sons, it will be twice as difficult and expensive.

I cant understand why your question made people have nervous breakdowns. One poster is on a damn skating sight POSTING about public figures and had the NERVE to type " not that it's any of our business." Ironic right? Anyway, I get the gist of what you mean. I suppose that i just thought that he was making decent money because his federation pays. Could be wrong. Anyway, It's most common that skaters have babies after their careers. By proper i think you meant a common job perhaps? 9-5 ish if you will.

[inskate]

Congratulations to the happy family!

As for the "proper" job issue... Nobunari talked quite a lot about his possible career choices. Actually, he planned to retire as a skater after Olympics 2010:

After Torino, there's Vancouver too. I'm 18 now, so in four years I'll be 22. I'll go to college for five years, and the fifth year will be the year of Vancouver, so then I'll graduate. I want to become a schoolteacher in the future. I'm an English major right now, and I love English, so I'd like to become a high school English teacher if possible. (...) That's right, I like school. Lots of friends are at school! If I become a teacher, I want to share days of youth with my students. I'm sure it'll be fun!

I'll probably stop skating once I graduate from college. Since there are few rinks in Japan... even if I say I want to become a skating coach, there are a lot of coaches, so it'll be hard. But I might want to become a skating coach later in the future. If I think I want to skate again after becoming a schoolteacher... I'm sure I'll return to the rink.

The Olympics after Vancouver? I'll be 26... Can I do it at 26? I know Elvis [Stojko] and Todd [Eldredge] stayed amateur until they were about 30. I'm not injured right now and my body's fine, but I'm sure it'll be difficult to continue without knowing how my physical strength and muscles will be affected as the years go on. If I'm going to continue, I need to study more about that. I need to know my own body right now and what parts I should train.
(quote from Cutting Edge 2005, translation by one of the FSU users... I'm so sorry, I forgot who I got the link from )

And from Bravo, a TV show aired on 19th September 2006:

When the Olympics (2010) are over, I'll probably become an English teacher. I'll do my best to become an English teacher, wait a bit, then get married. I'll work hard to save money, buy a house, then buy a huge dog and have five children.

(Rough translation by me, sorry if there are any mistakes! It was difficult to make out half the words because someone next to the microphone (either Daisuke or the camera operator) had giggle fits ).

More recently, I saw Nobunari helping to coach kids at the Kansai Uni rink during his off-season (although I have no information on wheter he continues to work as a volunteer or moved on to being employed). He also appeared on a Dream Kids with Yamamoto Sota, a novice skater, helping him to improve his 3L (and having fun at a fun park). Judging from the interviews, I think he might be warming up to the idea of becoming a coach again, now that there is more interest in figure skating, the Kansai Uni rink is doing well and there a lot of promising young skaters there.

[aidan]

Does anyone know the details of the funding the JSF offers to members of the national team, and what constitutes the national team? In the US and Canada, I believe it's public information, so I'm curious how that compares to Japan.

[Sylvia]

The Japanese national team is published online each year on the JSF site (2012-13 team is posted here: http://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/show...=1#post3609579 ) but I'm not aware of any public information about criteria or funding amounts. Some of the top Japanese skaters receive corporate sponsorship (Toyota Motors, for example), but I don't know if Oda does.

[JanetB]

I keep reading this as Nobunari Oda is a dead again!, Congrats to Nobunari and his family.

[DaiKozOda]

So happy for Oda and his wife!!!! Congrats to them.

[lala]

Congrats to Oda and to his wife!!!

[skateboy]

I understand that skaters like Asada, Takahashi, Hanyu, Ando, Suzuki are big celebrites in Japan. They are all World medalists and are the current stars in Japan.

I'm surprised that Oda is so popular in Japan and that he's getting multiple endorsements/shows, since he isn't even among the top 3 Japanese men.

It's hard to say who IS the number #3 man in Japan right now. Hanyu and Dai are clearly #1 and 2 (at least for now). If Japanese Nats is the judging criteria, then Mura is #3, Oda #4 and Kozuka #5. But Mura got third by placing 4th in both SP and LP--Oda got 3rd in the LP and Kozuka got 3rd in the SP.

Anyway... yes, Oda is still a big star in Japan. While he doesn't have a world medal (but he's beaten just about everyone who does at some point), he's a 4CC champion, 2-time GPF silver medalist, GPF bronze medalist, Junior World champion, former Japanese national champion. In seven seasons, he's medaled in every GP event he's entered except two.

I wouldn't put him out to pasture just yet.

[Katarzyna]

Congrats to the lovely little family!

[CoyoteChris]

Congrat to Nobunari and Mayu and their growing family!
http://i47.tinypic.com/28svd5g.gif

[rayhaneh]

Mayu, Nobunari Oda's wife, has updated the header image of her Twitter account - three guesses who features there (warning, I am barfing all of my rainbows right now - you could have similar reactions ):

https://twitter.com/sh1ntaro01mama

[Zemgirl]

Mayu, Nobunari Oda's wife, has updated the header image of her Twitter account - three guesses who features there (warning, I am barfing all of my rainbows right now - you could have similar reactions ):

https://twitter.com/sh1ntaro01mama

I'm not sure what's cuter, the header picture or the profile one.