Haruka Imai

thank you shikure for always bringing us news. i really like haruka imai and think she's improved a lot--while watching fuzzy youtube videos of a detroit exhibition this summer i nearly mistook her for akiko at one point, her posture and expression have improved so much.

haruka's exhibition dress is very nice, very appropriate for the music, and i've always adored her smile even when her skating wasn't as refined as it is now.

question--is the pink costume in the picture for one of haruka's competitive programs this coming season?

skfan wrote:

thank you shikure for always bringing us news. i really like haruka imai and think she's improved a lot--while watching fuzzy youtube videos of a detroit exhibition this summer i nearly mistook her for akiko at one point, her posture and expression have improved so much.

haruka's exhibition dress is very nice, very appropriate for the music, and i've always adored her smile even when her skating wasn't as refined as it is now.

question--is the pink costume in the picture for one of haruka's competitive programs this coming season?

skfan, you are welcome.
I saw that Haruka will use "Song without words in D major, Op.109" by Felix Mendelssohn for SP and someone also update that on wiki.
some bloggers said she wore light pink / purple for the SP, so that may be her SP dress.
I love her smile too. I am so impressed watching her Asia game SP, when she got up from her fall, she was with smile on her face~she is so amazing.

I watched FaOI opening, she had another white dress when she did the spin with Kanako, her speed is way better than kanako and her white dress is also adorable.

thank you shikure for the tidbits about haruka's new programs--i can't wait to see them. kanako has musicality and charisma but haruka has a certain refinement that really appeals to me. JSF certainly has a lot of impressive young talent

skfan wrote:

thank you shikure for the tidbits about haruka's new programs--i can't wait to see them. kanako has musicality and charisma but haruka has a certain refinement that really appeals to me. JSF certainly has a lot of impressive young talent

skfan, a quick update, they put a clip of her sp on Fantasy on Ice website
http://www.nsttv.com/event_info/fantasyonice/imaiharuka_mov.php
SHE IS SO LOVELY and her ending pose and facial expression is soooooo
but..she won't be there for the show because she has stress fracture...uh

I just got her reply on facebook
(yes, facebook, she replied every post at least she replied my post all the time )
she said she still can't jump but was considerable better.
Hope she gets better soon since her GP assignment is Skate America...the first one.

Beautiful! I hope she recovers soon! I'd love to see Mao in something similar to that pink dress!

Is Haruka really only 5'2?? She looks so tall in that clip! Maybe it's the dress's long bodice... Anyway, whatever it is, she looks gorgeous

Thank you so much for the clip! I am already a fan of Haruka and now even more!!

shikure wrote:

skfan wrote:

thank you shikure for the tidbits about haruka's new programs--i can't wait to see them. kanako has musicality and charisma but haruka has a certain refinement that really appeals to me. JSF certainly has a lot of impressive young talent

skfan, a quick update, they put a clip of her sp on Fantasy on Ice website
http://www.nsttv.com/event_info/fantasyonice/imaiharuka_mov.php
SHE IS SO LOVELY and her ending pose and facial expression is soooooo
but..she won't be there for the show because she has stress fracture...uh

I just got her reply on facebook
(yes, facebook, she replied every post at least she replied my post all the time )
she said she still can't jump but was considerable better.
Hope she gets better soon since her GP assignment is Skate America...the first one.

Thank you shikure for the vid link and update. I wasn't able to view the link on either of my computers, in firefox or safari. I don't know what happened. If there's a link on youtube or elsewhere, please let me know, but if there isn't, please don't go to any trouble--I'll get to see Haruka's SP soon enough

I'm very encouraged to hear that this clip of Haruka's SP has been well received by other skating fans and Haruka feels positive about her recovery. I was very disappointed to hear about her injury. I'm concerned she won't be able to skate at all, much less at her best at Skate America, but injuries happen It's good that she's able to receive encouragement and support from warm-hearted fans, and even made the time to reply to you ^___^

skfan wrote:

shikure wrote:

skfan wrote:

thank you shikure for the tidbits about haruka's new programs--i can't wait to see them. kanako has musicality and charisma but haruka has a certain refinement that really appeals to me. JSF certainly has a lot of impressive young talent

skfan, a quick update, they put a clip of her sp on Fantasy on Ice website
http://www.nsttv.com/event_info/fantasyonice/imaiharuka_mov.php
SHE IS SO LOVELY and her ending pose and facial expression is soooooo
but..she won't be there for the show because she has stress fracture...uh

I just got her reply on facebook
(yes, facebook, she replied every post at least she replied my post all the time )
she said she still can't jump but was considerable better.
Hope she gets better soon since her GP assignment is Skate America...the first one.

Thank you shikure for the vid link and update. I wasn't able to view the link on either of my computers, in firefox or safari. I don't know what happened. If there's a link on youtube or elsewhere, please let me know, but if there isn't, please don't go to any trouble--I'll get to see Haruka's SP soon enough

I'm very encouraged to hear that this clip of Haruka's SP has been well received by other skating fans and Haruka feels positive about her recovery. I was very disappointed to hear about her injury. I'm concerned she won't be able to skate at all, much less at her best at Skate America, but injuries happen It's good that she's able to receive encouragement and support from warm-hearted fans, and even made the time to reply to you ^___^

here you go https://youtu.be/VbS_rRBbdCs the SP of Haruka-> some ppl said she looks like yukari + Alissa or akiko + Alissa

She has some spare time for now since some of fans received her hand-writing thank you letter
I think she was injury before the training camp which means she may have rest for one month.
hope she can get well soon since her new programs sound very good.
and tomorrow is her 18th birthday~so sad she can't do anything

Haruka looks lovely here. Thank you so much, shikure, for a glimpse of things to come

chiyori wrote:

Beautiful! I hope she recovers soon! I'd love to see Mao in something similar to that pink dress!

Is Haruka really only 5'2?? She looks so tall in that clip! Maybe it's the dress's long bodice... Anyway, whatever it is, she looks gorgeous

I have the same question when I saw her in TEB last year.
Maybe she grew a little bit but definitely not too tall. Following please find the DSC pics for reference.
(Taka is not that short, since we saw picture Charlie with him~but anyway)


I think she looks always so tall is her dresses always flattered her so well.
When i google her--> I thought those pics should go to the best costume thread (I also saw some comments that some ppl should learn how to make up from her)
2008~2009 season

2009~2010 season


2010~2011 season



But she looks tall in casual~Her body proportion also helps since she has small face for Asian.

since Taka is pretty famous of his small face among Asian male and white skin tone~ but see Haruka's skin tone~she looks like a Japanese doll

kitty wrote:

shikure, thanks so much for sharing with us so many great pic of Haruka. I felt sorry for her about the injury and hope she'll get well soon. She looks promising and wish her every good luck.

A remark about Japanese doll -- I was amazed when I look at Mao in kimono/furisode in detail, Mao's got an perfect Japanese face of a Jap doll (disregard her heavy tan which can be well covered by make-up). Somehow when I look at Haruka's picture I recall Chiyo in the film Memoirs of a Geisha. A bit strange isn't it?

right~I remembered someone said Mao looks like "hinaningyo"(雛人形) but she didn't like ppl saying that. somthing like this http://www.soneningyo.com/hina/index.html
Haruka really meets the image of geisha http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/si2008jp/2472568.html white skin, long eye and lovely smile.

it's totally off topic and looks like "I love Haruka thread" she is a very special skater~or i should open a new topic about her?
read some interesting interviews / facts about her


I saw someone of FSU said Haruka will be in FaOI this weekend~but i don't think that will happen since she still can't jump

Thanks for the pictures, shikure! I really really loved the two dresses we saw for this season (the yellow one with glowers and the pink one), but she really did always wear the most breathtaking dresses. I especially like the first one. It looks fantastic on her but I think it is mostly because she's just so perfectly proportioned that everything will look good on her with very little effort.

I'm really looking forward to seeing her on the senior GP this season! I hope she's able to get back in top shape soon so that she has a good showing at Skate America!

Oh! And happy 18th birthday, Haruka!!

thank you to the person helped to separated those discussions into new thread
just saw the full version released https://youtu.be/z8_jZrLKjYk
then we can hear her talking in ending of the clip~she is lovely (okay ~ I say that all the time..lol)

shikure wrote:

thank you to the person helped to separated those discussions into new thread

You're welcome.

Quote :

just saw the full version released https://youtu.be/z8_jZrLKjYk
then we can hear her talking in ending of the clip~she is lovely (okay ~ I say that all the time..lol)

I think it's the best SP I've seen this season so far. Nice interpretation and choice of music; I liked that there are changes in tempo and intensity, and that they are reflected in the choreo. Haruka has very expressive arms. The spin positions were quite good as well.

I hope Haruka recovers quickly and completely from her injury!

Thank you again Okami
I think Yuka picked a right picec for Haruka, which show her elegant and soft. At the same time, her skills are also improved.

First of all, I saw Akiko, Miki and Shizuka shared the same photo for FaOI.

The upper left with crutch and the boots cover is the same as the casual look above
That is Haruka !!!Maybe she has rested for over 1 month but I still want her take more rest and back in best shape in Skate America.

Okay, I said Haruka is a very special skater not becasue she dresses pretty
so I am going to share those interesting facts about her then let everyone falling love with her
http://iceblue.cocolog-nifty.com/figure/2009/12/2009-cd45.html
This is the 2009 article about her JNC performance.

1. She started figure skating at age 9 (8 on wiki) which is pretty late of top skaters.

2. She never competed in Novice level and her first formal national competition is JNJC of 2007. she placed 7th.

3. During 2007 JNJC, she was at her second year of junior high school (around age 14) and she did 3-lo-> for someone never competed in any formal national competition, they said she was very bold.

4. then she won 2008 JNJC.

5. for 2009 JNC, she did 2A-3T and pls refer to this blog (thank you blogger)
http://ameblo.jp/shion-925/archive1-200912.html
She did the final spin in front of judges and finished there..lol
No wonder the article above, they said she is elegant and bold.
(in the same article they said Kanako is fast and sharp)

6. she still learns ballet and she is famous for her finger movements. if you google her, you can see the variety of her hand / finger movements.

7. in other interview after TEB, she said it's happy to receive flowers during competition but she felt sad that she can't bring them home if she competes offshore. so if you are going to SA and want to give her something. Please give her something she can take home. she said she would like to have powder bath soap (入浴剤), accessories, and dresses (?)

8. Nagakubo coach said "she is alien (宇宙人)". since Nagakubo coach never knows what Haruka will do next. Haruka only goes to Nagoya on the weekend for two days and other time she trains in Tokyo. Nagakugo coach said Haruka has beautiful 3Lz+3T now and hopes she can come to Nagoya more often

9. After failure of 2010 JNC (placed 12th), she said she practiced til 11pm everyday to build up her confidence before Asia Game.

10. Ppl said she looks like お孃樣, means girls raised in rich family and with good manner. because the way she sits at kiss and cry is always so elegant and remembers to put her knees together

11.After the under age drinking article about Kanako released (don't care about the article, the can on the table didn't mean Kanako is owner), some ppl realized that Yuruzu and Haruka were gone from that training camp and not in those pics. then some ppl guess is there anything going on between them. all i can say is fans always have wild imagination.

this is what I remember for now

Haruka is soooooooo lovely here. Is the word 'kawaii'? there must be some other word for 'too adorable' ^__^ This program really showcases that お嬢様 quality, that air of refinement and elegance that she has. To me the jumps had great flow and run-out, the speed seems better than I've seen from her before. Many of the spins positions were very nice.

If I'm permitted to nitpick... I don't like the donut spin if the skater cannot grab the blade without dropping the leg (because the butt sticks up), so I wasn't keen on having 2 donut spins in this program, and the choreography, while all the whole very lovely, seems a bit busy in terms of arm movements.

Still, it's a huge step forward. Before, I'd usually fall in love with Haruka when she smiles at the end of her program. For this program, I'm in love from beginning to end (donut spins and all).

Does anyone know if there'll be TV broadcasts of Fantasy on Ice 2011? I read on FSU that Haruka will skate, but there won't be TV coverage.

Thank you as always for bringing us vids and sharing so much Haruka information, shikure

skfan, you are welcome and yes, that is "kawaii" and in articles, they like to use "可憐", which is still "cute". I can't tell the difference

for entrant of the donut spin, I wish she can change that to Yukari way, which is grab her blade at higher position that will be perfect. I think this program is not the final version since she will put 3-3 combination in the beginning and we didn't see any sit spin in this version. ppl said she will have 3Lz+3T, 3Lo, 2A in her SP this year. If she can be stable in competition, she will win something this year.

She skated for FaOI for last two days and based on her FB, she said she didn't jump for 1.5 month and felt nervous. I saw her in news for around 0.5 second since there were Dai, Miki, Shizuka, and a lots of famous foreign skaters like Johnny and Lambiel, she was barely on camera for news.

For the tv broadcast, they said there is camera there and hope they will boracast this one.

I think that Haruka is adorable too! I remember that she hung out with Mao at TEB. They were very cute. She did a great 3Lo+3T in Paris!

Did Miyamoto choreograph her SP and LP for this coming season?

Spacey wrote:

I think that Haruka is adorable too! I remember that she hung out with Mao at TEB. They were very cute. She did a great 3Lo+3T in Paris!

Did Miyamoto choreograph her SP and LP for this coming season?

Spacey, where are you going? I miss you
I noticed Haruka again at TEB too, she is so lovely but she got 0 point of spiral in her FS at TEB
But because she got 0 at spiral, we can see Mao' EX~hope when they meet in CoR this year, both of them can be in Gala and on podium.
Yuka choreographed for her for this season and hope Yuka can bring out her quality of skating like what she did for Taka

shikure wrote:

Spacey, where are you going? I miss you
I noticed Haruka again at TEB too, she is so lovely but she got 0 point of spiral in her FS at TEB
But because she got 0 at spiral, we can see Mao' EX~hope when they meet in CoR this year, both of them can be in Gala and on podium.
Yuka choreographed for her for this season and hope Yuka can bring out her quality of skating like what she did for Taka

You're so nice! I missed you too! It is kind of embarrassing but I burned my finger with a glue gun and I couldn't type. I was also a bit busy. Thank you for the info on Haruka's choreo! Wow! Yuka! Yey! I wish Mao would give Yuka a try too!

Spacey wrote:

I think that Haruka is adorable too! I remember that she hung out with Mao at TEB. They were very cute. She did a great 3Lo+3T in Paris!

Did Miyamoto choreograph her SP and LP for this coming season?

Haruka & Mirai look extremely adorable in their photoclub stickers /プリクラ too! What a moment they had!

Spacey, I'm sorry about what happened to you. Glad to know that you are recovering.

shikure, I'd like to thank you for your kind sharing of information & always bringing us news timely & promptly!

Spacey wrote:

shikure wrote:

Spacey, where are you going? I miss you
I noticed Haruka again at TEB too, she is so lovely but she got 0 point of spiral in her FS at TEB
But because she got 0 at spiral, we can see Mao' EX~hope when they meet in CoR this year, both of them can be in Gala and on podium.
Yuka choreographed for her for this season and hope Yuka can bring out her quality of skating like what she did for Taka

You're so nice! I missed you too! It is kind of embarrassing but I burned my finger with a glue gun and I couldn't type. I was also a bit busy. Thank you for the info on Haruka's choreo! Wow! Yuka! Yey! I wish Mao would give Yuka a try too!

Ouch~sounds hurt and hope you are okay now
When the season starts, I will be in peak season of my job hope I can stay around by that time.
Yuka also choreographed her cute exhibition for this season. https://youtu.be/BxS6DOoifYY
her opening 3-3 combination -->almost fell on the audiences...oppppppps
but whole program is with cuteness and happiness~of course, the dress is adorable.
Now, I just can't wait to see her new FS.
I agree with you that Mao could give Yuka a try even an exhibition will be good.
then Mao and Taka can go DSC together

Kitty, you are welcome and it's always nice to share with ppl want to know
I am also having fun with Japanese fans on twitter and I can also practice my Japanese too.

It's sad that Haruka decided to withdraw from Ondrej Nepela Memorial.
She replied me that she will widhdraw from ONM since she doesn't fully recover from her injury.

Hope she can recover soon and deliver a great performance in Skate America.

ETA: she replied me on FB that she can make it in SA~really look forward to that

http://sportsnavi.yahoo.co.jp/charity/yell/201110/21.html
on yahoo jp website, they have the athlete support the ppl impacted by earthquake/ tsunami daily update
Today is Haruka
what she wrote is "believe in future"

I just want to post this pic