Yuzuru Hanyu and Yuzu team up for NHK music special in Sendai

Figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu and the pop duo Yuzu performed together for the first time on the NHK music program “NHK Summer Music Festival – If We Could Meet Through Song 2026.” The collaboration took place on the ice rink in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Hanyu’s hometown, on August 15. They presented the song “Ikuzuri,” written by Yuzu’s vocalist Yûichirō Kitagawa, to mark the 15th anniversary of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and to pass its memory and lessons to future generations. Hanyu, who was 16 when the disaster struck, listened to the track more than 500 times and created original choreography for the performance.

The broadcast aired on NHK General and the high‑definition channel BSP4K, with simultaneous streaming on NHK ONE. Hosts included Mrs. GREEN APPLE’s Motoki Ōmori, actress Keiko Kitagawa, and actor Kazunari Ninomiya. Yuzu said the collaboration felt like “our expressive goals overlapped,” while Hanyu expressed hope that the wisdom and thoughts born from the tragedy will be handed down for decades to come.