Questions about Utako Nagamitsu

Hi everybody!

I have just watched the videos about Dai-chan and Utako Nagamitsu that miyu posted in the "video selections" (arigato gozaimas, miyu!) and I realized that I know nothing about this wonderful woman who has given so much to Dai!
So maybe someone can tell us more about her... Does/did she coach other elite skaters? Was she a skater herself? How did she become Dai's coach?

Thank you for your help!

Utako Nagamitsu ,born March 23, 1951 in Hyōgo,was a Japanese figure skater who now works as a coach and choreographer. She won the Japan Junior Figure Skating Championships 1966.

Her current students include Daisuke Takahashi and Daisuke Murakami.
This is the information from Wikipedia

Thank you! It didn't cross my mind to check wikipedia.

I thought that Daisuke Murakami was coached by Morozov though...

Anyone from Japan has more information or stories about Mrs Nagamitsu to share? Dai has been training with her for what, 10 years now?

MissC wrote:

Anyone from Japan has more information or stories about Mrs Nagamitsu to share?

I'm sorry I don't know much about her either.

I think Utako Nagamitsu works as a coach belonging to Kansai University and teach some student skaters and juniors there. Takeshi Honda works as a assistant for her.
Other elite skaters? Umm. I know only Aki Sawada who is a Kansai Univ. student and switched her coach to Utako from Hamada this year, I think... (Please correct if I'm wrong.)

MissC wrote:

I thought that Daisuke Murakami was coached by Morozov though...

She was a coach for Daisuke Murakami last season. She coached him with Takeshi when he was in Japan. But I don't know whether the relationship still continues or not after Dai-chan parted from Morozov.

Hi, everyone!

Sorry, I didn't know much about this wonderful lady neither, but I've just found a long interview from Mrs. Utako Nagamitsu on a
magazine "Figure Skate Days 6" 2008.May issue.
I picked up and summarized the topic you are interested in, MissC

She used to be a single skater. She quit competitive skater when she was in third grade of university, then became a coach.



When she first met Daisuke

She met Daiske for the first time when Daisuke was in 2nd grade of junior high-school(13 year-old? maybe).
She went to Sendai with her students for a summer skating camp, and Daisuke was there to be choreographed by Minoru Sano
(Japanese single skater/coach 1977 World Bronze Medalist) who does coaching basically in Sendai.
Unluckily, Mr.Sano unwillingly had to leave Sendai for another hurried job about 3-4days while Daisuke was staying.

Then Mr.Nagakubo (Coach of Honda, Arakawa, Akiko Suzuki..etc), who worked there together with Mr.Sano at the time,
asked Mrs.Natamitsu to choreograph Daisuke's program.
She started to choreograph his LP soon, and later found he had not been choreographed SP neither.
After all, both choreographies were not finished before Daisuke left Sendai, then told him to come to Osaka(where Mrs.Nagamitsu lives)
for weekends to get their works done because Daisuke's living base, Okayama, is quite near from Osaka.

At first, Daisuke was training in both Sendai for summer/winter vacation and Osaka in every weekends.
But Mrs.Nagamitsu and Daisuke found it a little tough financially, then decided to train together in Osaka only for weekends.
From the season of Daisuke's 1st grade of high-school, he became to stay in her house for 1-2weeks before competitions.
Then,when Daisuke enterd Kansai University, she invited him to share a room in her house, since then, they've been living together.



I'm sorry, this valuable interview is unbelievably long, so it'll take maybe one or more months for me to translate, I'd better give up.

Reading this long interview, Mrs.Nagamitsu's impression to me is that she is really a wonderful coach(strict, affectionate, reliable),
besides an intelligent, warmhearted, sensible and rational lady.
She says, so often she has serious quarrels with Daisuke, but those fights come from true affection and trust each other as if they are a real family.
Daisuke himself has told in some interviews, he has never had a feeling Mrs.Nagamitsu will suddenly leave him no matter what happens.
He described her "She is the person I can't imagine someone would replace."
Kenji Miyamoto mentioned the relationship between Daisuke and Mrs.Nagamitsu is a sort of "Jealous" one (so intimate and relying each other).


I don't worry about Daisuke's coach issue anymore as long as this wonderful lady is with him.

miyu wrote wrote:

I know only Aki Sawada who is a Kansai Univ. student and switched her coach to Utako from Hamada this year, I think... (Please correct if I'm wrong.)

Yes, miyu. I know only Aki-chan as an elite skater. Other students are domestic class skaters, I remember.
I guess Mrs.Nagamitsu doesn't coach Daisuke Murakami anymore...? Not sure

Sorry for a long post!!

Hi Yshion! Thank you for the addtional information!

I didn't buy "Figure Skate Days 6" so I'm happy I can read a part of the interview.

I thought about the reason why Utako Nagamitsu doesn't have elite skaters but Dai-chan. Perhaps it's because Utako spent most of her time and power for Dai-chan so far. She stayed with Dai-chan in Russia, U.S. and Canada(?) instead of his mother before he began to work with Nikolai. (She was often there with him at the first stage of Nikolai's era too, wasn't she?) So it might have prevented her from having other pupiles.

Yshion, a million thanks for all the information and the translation!

It's good to know that Dai can completely rely on her through all the ups and downs of his career.