Yuzuru Hanyu Divorced (updated)

[Orm Irian]

Oh dear, this is sad. I'm very sorry for him, and even more so for his spouse who I have to assume did not remotely sign up for this kind of thing. I hope they're both going to be okay.

 

[skateboy]

This whole thing was so weird from Day One.

If there's any truth to what Yuzu claims, it sounds to me like he chose divorce for the sake of his fans. Whatever.

 

[Vagabond]

If there's any truth to what Yuzu claims, it sounds to me like he chose divorce for the sake of his fans. Whatever.

"I only regret that I have but one wife to give for my country."

 

[jersey1302]

I always thought he was gay. I literally can’t imagine him with a girl. Lmao. Sorry not sorry

 

[starrynight]

Unfortunately Hanyu has probably actually empowered the crazies by attributing his divorce to their actions.

A lot of online bullies/trolls just want to exert power over celebrities- get them ~cancelled~ make them apologise, make them change themselves etc.

It must be euphoric to them that they actually managed to manipulate Hanyu in the real world to the point he divorced. If Hanyu is going to maintain a public life, he will need to find a way to take back control.

 

[On My Own]

Could someone else explain to me if there are specific factors in society about performers, much less skaters, in Northeast Asian (Japan, Korea, etc) societies that inspire such destructive, intense fan behavio(u)r?

I think it takes proper analysis of each country because the societies have differences along with similarities, but the biggest thing in common is that the fandoms of China, South Korea, and Japan tend to develop strong parasocial links with the objects of their admiration. What they do with these links might be different, but it's the additional level of attachment that causes them to be that way (and hate the way they do, in case of antifandom).

Also, the stalking, harassment, "affection" - whether "good" or "bad" - all tend to be community activities.

One thing I notice about Hanyu's media image is that he was promoted as a person who's succeeded despite his struggles with asthma, or who was injured when he won the second Olympic gold, that he had to flee his ice rink in Sendai due to the earthquake - it all adds up to a dream-like success story.

It also creates an image of a legend, that I personally wouldn't say no one around him promoted, tbh. He's actually done shows with the aim of raising funds for the earthquake, and the themes of reconstruction show up in his galas a lot - which I'm sure to a large part is genuine, but also ripe for his fandom to socialize around.

Ice shows are also a part of spending money for their idol, the extravagant costumes absolutely contributed, and he also sells photobooks.

Reddit - Dive into anything

www.reddit.com

Here is what a chinese fanyu said about him on reddit:

1. Idol-level and unique appearance: At least most Chinese fans are absolutely thrilled by his look and body shape. Even the main Chinese figure skating commentator says he looks like an anime character on TV. He has a very delicate and cute face and an anime-like body shape and proportion. He can be cute and sexy, pretty and handsome at the same time. Partly because of his unique appearance and body type, he transcends the boundary of masculinity and femininity. The contrast and the diversity of his skating programs is really amazing, e.g. just thinking the contrast between his Notte stellata and Masquerade. When you confidently think he is THIS type, he gives you THAT type. When he skates to more classical music, his gender-neutral and elegant performance has an ethereal quality, making people feel a sense of eternity and peace.
2. Dramatic experiences: any single drama listed below is a good material for an inspiring movie: 3.11 earthquake survivor; Fighting after the Cup of China collision; Defending his title after injury right before Olympic.
3. Contrasting personalities: he is very cute, polite and adorable off ice while has all the qualities a king would have when it comes to figure skating, confidence, determination, perseverance and wisdom. There is a perfect combination of power and tenderness in him.
4. Japanese media documentation: although Yuzu does not have social media, he has Japanese media documenting him along the way since he was just a BABY with his mushroom hair. You see him grow all the way from a little mushroom baby, a fighting teen to a skating king. I doubt there will be any movie about Yuzu because the Japanese media has simply documented every drama he has gone through.

Now, Hanyu isn't an idol and none of this was intentionally building parasocial relationships on his part.

I think your comments are taking too much away from someone who's ultimately an adult and could indeed control his image more.

The ice shows that are centred around the earthquake are attacked by Mao/Dai/Shoma fans (the so called "3-in-1"s or Nagoya fans) as being too "on the nose" or shameless, just as an example, or that they use imagery of the earthquake liberally. If his image is centred around it, then the responsibility does fall on him and his team to use earthquake imagery in a way that prevents dialogue like that. And if the antifandom is attacking it, then you can rest assured that the obsessive fandom is ignoring any flaws and deficiencies at the same time, and also waging fanwars in order to "protect" him - thereby minimizing what the show was even about.

 

[Willin]

Oh dear, this is sad. I'm very sorry for him, and even more so for his spouse who I have to assume did not remotely sign up for this kind of thing. I hope they're both going to be okay.

TBH I wonder if this whole marriage would've been so much better if he'd never announced it. They'd been together since apparently high school and no one found out or harassed her. She was probably thinking it would stay the same.

I think your comments are taking too much away from someone who's ultimately an adult and could indeed control his image more.

TBH I agree with you - he's an adult and he totally could control his image more. His fans infantilize him - you see a lot of it on reddit - and that bugs me. Why he doesn't control his image more is my big question. It may be to keep the fans happy - to let them infantilize him and cultivate that idol image.

But my personal theory is that he's just so oblivious to everything happening off the ice that he doesn't think he needs to control his image. I'm 100% sure he knows about his fans' bad behavior - all the other skaters do - but he's chosen to do nothing about it. Even with that, though, there's the question of whether he's truly that oblivious or whether he doesn't know what to do about it and just chooses to stay focused on what he likes. While he has this idol image, he doesn't seem to have the savvy about it that idols and their managers have - maybe because his manager manages skaters and not idols.

One would hope this devastating incident would wake him up and make him realize it's time to start caring. But if the reddit thread is any indication, the Fanyus still think they're entirely innocent in Hanyu's issues.

 

[On My Own]

One would hope this devastating incident would wake him up and make him realize it's time to start caring. But if the reddit thread is any indication, the Fanyus still think they're entirely innocent in Hanyu's issues.

They're also very good at convincing themselves they're innocent tbh. I remember the chinese fanyus attacked Sui/Han and Jin awfully during the Olympics, and quite a bit afterwards, but they genuinely thought they were doing it to 'protect' him from people who were 'using him for fame'. I think it was brought up on reddit during the time, a lot of fanyus (not even chinese fanyus but the english-speakers) were all convinced chinese fanyus were amazing people, they 'couldn't have attacked' the chinese skaters because they were 'friends', Nathan Chen fans were lying about it (?), so on. So the delusion spreads internationally.

 

[starrynight]

TBH I wonder if this whole marriage would've been so much better if he'd never announced it. They'd been together since apparently high school and no one found out or harassed her. She was probably thinking it would stay the same.

I’m surprised by this. I would have thought that if this woman has been in a relationship with Hanyu for more than a decade she and him would have had a lot of time to realise the amount of baggage he came with and exactly how his fans would behave. I presumed it was a much newer relationship.

 

[skateboy]

They'd been together since apparently high school

Considering she is eight years Hanyu's senior, I find that a bit suspicious.

 

[On My Own]

Here is the Olympics website's translation.

https://olympics.com/en/news/figure-skating-japan-olympic-champion-hanyu-yuzuru-announces-divorce-partner

"I have married a civilian.
"We married with the determination to respect and cherish each other.
"We have overcome many obstacles together while thinking about various things in order to protect each other. In such a life, my partner supported me to protect me, even though she could not step out of the house for a long time.
"Currently, various media outlets are slandering, stalking, and conducting unauthorised interviews and reports against my partner, who is a civilian, their relatives, and associates, as well as against my relatives and associates. Even in our living space, we are sometimes prowled by suspicious vehicles or persons, or suddenly accosted. Together, we have worked to somehow protect each other from these situations, despite our concerns.
"However, due to my immatureness, it has been extremely difficult and unbearable to continue to protect my partner and myself in the current situation.
"With the possibility of this situation continuing, and the possibility that even if the situation temporarily improves, it may become like this again, when I think about the future, I have made the decision to divorce because I want my partner to be happy and to be happy without restriction.
"From now on, please refrain from slander, unauthorised interviewing, reporting, or any other disturbing behaviour toward my partner, who is a civilian, their relatives, and associates, as well as my relatives and associates.
"I sincerely ask that you do so. I will continue to move forward.
"Thank you for your continued support."

 

[On My Own]

But if the reddit thread is any indication, the Fanyus still think they're entirely innocent in Hanyu's issues.

Looking at the reddit thread, I tend to agree.

Also, raruki's comments seem to line up with what Chinese fans seem to be thinking about this? Not fanyus, rather people who only saw the trending tag and all are very confused about it. I guess it must be cultural there, even if I find it too extreme.

And seeing some cfanyus trying to push the blame onto "fans of chinese skaters" pretty much means I'm at the dgaf stage.

 

[Lanie]

I don't think the situation with Princess Mako is exactly the same as the fandom stuff. She didn't have a huge fandom following her every move and invading her life. The paparazzi certainly were invasive, but IIRC, her husband's mother's ex-boyfriend also made the financial dispute public for less than innocent reasons. Additionally, there has been an ongoing political/public discussion about allowing Princesses to remain as working members of the Imperial Family after they marry or even be included in the line of succession due to the low number of Princes. That, in and of itself, puts her husband's family and financial obligations into a different light, IMO, than a mere crazy-assed fandom that obsesses over the object of their affection to the point of harassment and total lack of privacy.

And with Mako you have the complete fecking insanity of the Imperial Household Agency/courtiers/psychopaths controlling the Japanese Imperial Family's life to the smallest minutiae.

Parasocial relationships with celebrities, athletes, are the weirdest thing to me. I have a lot of friends deep into Swiftie fandom--and these are women in their thirties, forties--who buy anything, talk about her personal life like she's their best friend, would gladly show up to anything if it got leaked she was somewhere, et cetera. And with the internet, social media parasocial relationships have that added dynamic of perpetually online people who obsess. (There's an actor I enjoy watching and think he seems like a nice dude. His fans harassed his latest girlfriend to the point of sending her death threats, mocking her over her mother who had died of cancer, found out where he lived, completely insane!)

I feel for Hanyu and his wife, especially as it seems for her she was really tormented by the Fanyus (was the Japanese tabloid media deeply involved in trying to find out about her, where they lived, et cetera or was this mostly just his fandom causing such chaos and he just says otherwise?). It's heartbreaking he can't just live his life.

 

[starrynight]

However, due to my immatureness, it has been extremely difficult and unbearable to continue to protect my partner and myself in the current situation.

"With the possibility of this situation continuing, and the possibility that even if the situation temporarily improves, it may become like this again, when I think about the future, I have made the decision to divorce because I want my partner to be happy and to be happy without restriction.

So sounds like it was Hanyu’s decision?

Based on what I’ve read this will probably just escalate the ‘protect him at all cost’ attitude of his fans.

I dunno… fame doesn’t last forever. Eventually his star will fade, as has happened to all the famous figure skaters. Seems a bit flaky to me, but if he wasn’t motivated to maintain the marriage then that is his choice to make. There could be more to it than what is being published.

 

[airgelaal]

So sounds like it was Hanyu’s decision?

It doesn't matter whose decision it was, but in order to protect his loved ones, he had to take the blame on himself.

 

[Kateri]

It doesn't matter whose decision it was, but in order to protect his loved ones, he had to take the blame on himself.

True, imagine if he'd told his fans she'd divorced him? That's murder by proxy.

 

[Carolla5501]

He needs to pack up and move.... go back to Canada. Hopefully he's made enough money to spend a few years in a "witness protection program" And then he needs to start standing up for himself. Start arresting some idiots for trespass etc.... It will probably turn the idiots off but that's got to be done!

 

[On My Own]

^Thing is, it doesn't actually add up to me, either, that the response to stalking was divorce. The Chinese fans actually do have a point there - we don't know anything, sure, but surely there's some legal solution to what was happening, that wasn't just divorce? It's a bit much to be making personal attacks on him based off that, but the point being brought up is a solid one.

 

[On My Own]

A lot of online bullies/trolls just want to exert power over celebrities

Actually, at least in Chinese fandom, a lot of the unhinged, controlling behaviour, does come from fans. Look up the entire Xiao Zhan debacle, and you'll see what I'm talking about. I don't know if it works like that in Japan, but it does in Chinese fandom.

One similarity between Chinese and Korean idol culture I've seen is that they love to blame all the things on the management company and/or everyone around their idol. For Hanyu, as an example, this used to show up as them blaming Orser for everything, or as a step up the JSF, or the ISU. I'm not going to say none of them are without blame, but it was literally just pushing every bit of responsibility on to everyone around him.

 

[Wyliefan]

Considering she is eight years Hanyu's senior, I find that a bit suspicious.

Wait, now we know who she is?

 

[Primorskaya]

I'm kind of hoping sociologists and psychologists use this as basis for a study. The layers of ****-upness are many and stupendous. I can only imagine how empty someone's life has to be, or what neuroses and maybe trauma they must have, to behave like this.
But getting out of dodge for a while would be my advice too. When the "loved object" becomes bad in the eyes of the deranged, you can expect anything. I wouldn't feel safe, in the physical sense, if I were him.

 

[skateboy]

Wait, now we know who she is?

Yes, she is a violinist who played for at least one of his shows. She is 36. The news went public about a week after the marriage announcement.

 

[Wyliefan]

Are you sure she was the one? Because he said that she was a non-celebrity.

 

[Desperado]

Yes, she is a violinist who played for at least one of his shows. She is 36. The news went public about a week after the marriage announcement.

I thought that was debunked and there was a roulette of other women it could be right here on FSU?

 

[Karen-W]

Yes, she is a violinist who played for at least one of his shows. She is 36. The news went public about a week after the marriage announcement.

That was speculation and nothing has been confirmed in any legitimate media sources from what I understand.

 

[On My Own]

Here's a tweet containing all the media outlets that have supposedly harassed him, according to his fans：

https://twitter.com/x/status/1725602846828290198

It contains AERA dot, the outlet that I posted here https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/threads/yuzuru-hanyu-divorced-updated.110869/page-3#post-6456822

So... yeah. Take it for what it's worth, with this new information.

 

[MacMadame]

So at one point, it was said that her identity had to be known because marriages are registered. So why don't we know a name?

 

[airgelaal]

So at one point, it was said that her identity had to be known because marriages are registered. So why don't we know a name?

Why? This information is confidential.

 

[Karen-W]

So at one point, it was said that her identity had to be known because marriages are registered. So why don't we know a name?

Why? This information is confidential.

Why would it be confidential? Once the marriage is registered then it becomes matter of public record. Here in the US, marriage certificates (and the applications) used to be published in the newspapers under the public notices section. I would expect that the name of the bride would be easily accessible to anyone inquiring once it was registered.

 

[airgelaal]

Why would it be confidential? Once the marriage is registered then it becomes matter of public record. Here in the US, marriage certificates (and the applications) used to be published in the newspapers under the public notices section. I would expect that the name of the bride would be easily accessible to anyone inquiring once it was registered.

Because this is so in many countries of the world, including Japan.