Update to Fantasy on Ice from Fukui, Japan

This Blog is an update for my earlier Blog Fantasy on Ice From Fukui, Japan.  I decided to create a second Blog for the updates instead of adding them to the top of the previous Blog.  Here is everything I have added since the original Blog:

Dima Bilan & Johnny Weir - Safety (Fukui) Live! courtesy of BilanOfficial!  This video is shot from the audience and contains the entire performance.  However, be aware the video is almost exclusively of Dima Bilan, with only a few seconds here and there of Johnny Weir.


Finale rehearsal courtesy of antonionajarro


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Johnny sent this Tweet to his fans after the first show on September 11:

The necklace in question is a chain containing a number of charms, many of which were given to Johnny by his fans.  He is seldom photographed without it, and even wears it out on the ice while skating his programs.  The necklace is often visible in photos or videos flying around as Johnny skates or spins.  Many of his fans have expressed concern the chain might fly up and hit him in the eye or at some point break and have charms flying all over.  Unfortunately we were right about the chain breaking! 

The following photograph shows the chain in July, 2010:   

The following video shows Johnny, other skaters, and officials searching the ice for his charms while Plushenko entertains the audience.  All the charms were eventually found, and the show continued without further delay.

"Fantasy On Ice in Fukui" - Global searching courtesy of PlushenkoOfficial.


Photo taken less than two days ago (September 14) showing the charms on a new, apparently longer, chain:

Hopefully it will never break again (it never had before this)!

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Added September 15, 2010

Update from Itoi Shigesato Includes FOI Behind the Scenes photographs and a brief Q&A between Itoi Shigesato and Johnny Weir!

Also "Today's Darling" is my friend Misfit Mimes latest Blog, and contains a partial translation of the above Itoi Shigesato post!

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Added September 16, 2010

Thanks to BonBonChocolat for pointing me toward this video (courtesy of bilanofficial) of the finale Dima Bilan - Number One Fan (Fukui) Live!.  Many of the skaters, including Johnny Weir, can be seen in this performance.


Also courtesy of bilanofficial here is Bilan, Marton & Plushenko - Believe (Fukui) Live!


Sponsor TV Station for Fantasy On Ice

English translation of Fantasy On Ice page

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Added September 17, 2010:

Complete translation of News summary from “Hobonichi” today 100915 courtesy of MisfitMimes and Akiko Nakata.

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Johnny Weir's Japanese Media Odyssey

September 17, 2010 Update:

YesAsia.com is a website that sells Japanese, Korean, Chinese and other countries CDs, DVDs, electronics, toys, books and magazines.  Many items can be shipped internationally free of charge.  This is good news to those of us who have paid the high shipping charges for the MookBook, and expect to do the same for the magazines Johnny will be appearing in.  Vogue Nippon, and An-An can be obtained from this source.

(North America)
(Rest of the World)
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Update from Team JW Art Project Newsletter (September 17, 2010):

Hello everyone!

Thank you for subscribing to the JW Art Project newsletter! We hope you will
like each issue. Here’s what is new:

[More Johnny For You!] We are happy to announce that Johnny interviews/articles
will be appearing in these Japanese media:

‘The Daily Yomiuri’ newspaper: Morning edition—September 17

‘Vogue Nippon’ fashion magazine: December issue—on sale October 28
http://www.vogue.co.jp/

‘Spur’ fashion magazine: January issue—on sale November 23
http://spur.jp/

‘LaDonna harajuku’ fashion magazine: Winter issue—on sale mid-December
http://ladonet.jp/

‘an・an’ fashion magazine: on sale November 2
http://magazineworld.jp/anan

‘Kyodo Tsushin’ newspaper —date TBD

[The Artbook Is Coming Together!] The Artbook will be published in less than
two months. The project is in progress. We thank you for your patience!

Thank you! More news soon!

Team JW Art Project
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While in Japan recently for the Fantasy On Ice shows Johnny Weir did a number of media interviews.  Among these interviews were four fashion magazines, including three fashion shoots in one day for three different magazines. In addition to the fashion shoots he also did at least two other media interviews, including one with that will appear in the morning issue of Yomiuri on September 17th.

The fashion shoot Johnny was most excited about was with Vogue Nippon.  He will appear in the December issue which will be released on October 28th.

International Office of VOGUE NIPPON
750 Third Ave.
10th Floor
New York, N.Y. 10017
Telephone 1-212-630-4985
E-Mail info@condenast.jp  

Another fashion shoot Johnny did was with ANAN Magazine.  Fans were told he would be in the November issue; however a Japanese friend informed me to be careful with the dates because ANAN is a weekly magazine.

A third magazine Johnny interviewed with was Spur Magazine.  I am not sure of the release date of this issue. 

The fourth magazine Johnny did a fashion shoot with was a new magazine titled LaDonna.  He will appear in the December issue of LaDonna.

ANAN, Spur, LaDonna and Vogue Nippon may all be ordered through Amazon.co.jp.  In addition Spur and Vogue Nippon may also be ordered through Magazine Cafe's website, or purchased directly at their New York location:

Magazine Cafe
Btwn 5th and 6th Ave.
Store #15C
15 W 37th Street,
New York, NY 10018
(212) 391-2004
http://stores.magazinecafeny.com/StoreFront.bok

Direct link to order the latest issue of Vogue Nippon.  When ordering the magazine, please be aware that Vogue Nippon and Vogue Hommes are NOT the same thing!

Amazon.co.jp website in English.

Please see my Blog How to Order the Japanese Mook Book for additional ordering possibilities!

Follow SPUR on Twitter
Follow Vogue Nippon on Twitter
Follow ANAN on Facebook

** Many thanks to my friends Kaoru, Linda, Jenn, Akiko, and others for their assistance with some of the information for this Blog!

Thanks also to photographer Hidemi Ogata, hair and makeup artist Yoshiyuki Wada, Vogue Nippon editor Mayumi Nakamura, stylist and fashion editor Shun Watanabe, JW Art Project, agent Tara Modlin and many others; not the least of which is the charming, intelligent, articulate, talented and photogenic Johnny Weir!

Fantasy on Ice from Fukui, Japan

The figure skating show Fantasy On Ice took place September 11th and September 12th in Fukui, Japan.  An earlier edition of the show took place in July in Niigata, Japan.  The skaters involved in the September show included Evgeni Plushenko, Stephane Lambiel, Johnny Weir, Tomas Verner, Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat, Surya Bonaly, Viktor Petrenko, Shizuka Arakawa, Miki Ando, Akiko Suzuki, Fumie Suguri, Haruka Imai,
Tatsuki Machida, and others.

With the large cast that included a number of Olympic and World medalists of all colors, many figure skating fans outside of Japan were hoping they would see a lot of video and photographs of the show(s).  Unfortunately there has been very little to come out of Japan in relation to these shows.  With so much coming out of China from the Artistry On Ice show, many fans were hoping for the same from Fantasy On Ice in Japan.  However, very little has shown up from this show; much to the surprise of those of us who are used to the generous Japanese fans providing us with both pictures and video.  A Japanese fan informed Johnny Weir's FaceBook fan group there was a complete ban on cameras and video cameras at the show, and it was strictly enforced.  Despite the fact this explains the lack of video and photographs from Fantasy On Ice, we are still hoping that some fans somewhere were able to take pictures and will at some point pass them on.

In the meantime, if you follow the link to the Fantasy On Ice website, you will see four small buttons on the right side below the five star figure skaters' pictures labeled ver.1, ver.2, ver.3 and ver.4.  Clicking on each of these buttons will cause a small window to pop up and you will see a very short video with information on the show and (very) brief videos picturing several of the skaters involved in the show.

The only other videos I have come across so far from this show are this brief news report with footage of several of the skaters courtesy of rororoom:
   
and this twelve second video of Johnny Weir courtesy of JEKitten1:


This photograph of rehearsals for the show came from the  Fukuishimbun.co.jp website:

The following backstage photographs are courtesy of Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat:

The following photos are all courtesy of JWArtProject:

Johnny Weir and his special guests Vogue Nippon team:

Flowers, Flowers 1, and Flowers 2 of the flowers generously given to Johnny by the Japanese Johnnys Angels:

In addition, Itoi Shigesato visited Johnny backstage at the show and also attended the show as a V.I.P.:

From 1101.com:

One of the programs skated by Johnny Weir in this show was a new number skated to 'Safety' by Dima Bilan.  The following photograph of Dima Bilan and Johnny Weir is also courtesy of JW Art Project:

The following photographs are from Johnny's new 'Safety' program.

Episode One (Prologue) of Johnny Weir: Johnny Comes to Our Office.

While Johnny Weir was in Japan in July 2010 he accomplished several things; he skated in Fantasy On Ice, he announced he would take a year off from competition, he shot numerous photographs and a couple of videos for the Johnny Weir Art Book, and he was interviewed by respected Japanese editor, writer, video game designer and essayist Itoi Shigesato.  The interview between Mr. Shigesato and Weir came about after the agent working on the Art Book came upon these words written by Mr. Shigesato February 20, 2010 after he saw Johnny Weir's performances at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics:

'Right now, my interest and attention goes to Johnny Weir, the figure skater.  He was as if the definition of art had come to life.  Medals, scores, nationalities, the crowd...he seemed to have transcended them all.  To my eyes, he seemed as if he had an uncontrollable desire to express himself, devoting that energy solely to himself.

I felt that I witnessed "Art" as discussed with philosopher Takaaki Yoshimoto.  I'm really happy that I was able to see his performance.'

She (the agent) then contacted Mr. Shigesato and his people.  They exchanged ideas, Johnny showed interest, and the idea for the interview came about.

Episode One of Johnny Weir: Johnny Comes to Our Office was put up today (August 30th) at the 1101.com Website.  The website contains the interviews in both English and Japanese; as well as several wonderful photographs and two videos!  The interview will be released to the public via this website in ten parts.  Here are the titles of the ten parts and the dates on which they will be published:

Note: The times and dates in the index are for Japan (GMT plus nine hours) at 11am local time.  The release of episode one in the United States, for example, corresponded to Sunday August 29 at 10pm EST, and 7pm PST.  You must figure out where you are in relation to the dates given here if you wish to read the interview parts as soon as they are posted.  You can find information on the time difference as well as a world time zone map on My Blog here.

The interview between Shigesato Itoi and Johnny Weir was conducted with the invaluable assistance of interpreter Makiko Shinoda. 

Photography by Hidemi Ogata
Art Direction by Yumi Hamano

Episode One Tweet in English

Episode One Tweet in Japanese

Johnny sitting on a chair at Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun ("Almost Daily Itoi News") abbreviated as 'Hobonichi', the office of Itoi Shigesato.  The chair was designed by Taro Okamoto.

Johnny arrives at Hobonichi.


Johnny is introduced to the Hobonichi office staff.

Fantasy On Ice poster

Akiko Nakata FANTASY ON ICE 2010 IN FUKUI

September 11 & 12 Fukui, Japan

Skaters: Evgeni Plushenko, Stephane Lambiel, Johnny Weir, Tomas Verner, Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat, Surya Bonaly, Viktor Petrenko, Ekaterina Chesna and Alexander Chesna, Shizuka Arakawa, Akiko Suzuki, Fumie Suguri, Kanako Murakami, and more

福井テレビ＠ホームページ

Fukui-tv.co.jp Website

Thank you to Akiko Nakata for providing this link to the Fantasy On Ice poster.