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Figure skater Evgenia Medvedeva receives hate mail in Japan, fans respond with viral hashtag

Oona McGee Jun 11, 2019
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Japanese fans come out in force to show their love for the anime-loving skating star.

Evgenia Medvedeva is a Russian figure skating star who’s become incredibly popular in Japan, where her love of anime and performing while dressed as Sailor Moon has Japanese fans throwing plushies onto the rink for her.

However, like all celebrities, Medvedeva has to deal with trolls and haters, even in Japan, where it was recently revealed she’d received an offensive letter calling her a “devil” and telling her to “get out of Japan”.

Retired US skater Johnny Weir, who is currently appearing in “Fantasy on Ice” in Japan with Medvedeva, brought the issue to light with this tweet, showing an image of the letter.

https://twitter.com/JohnnyGWeir/status/1137267599148896256

While the anonymous letter doesn’t mention Medvedeva by name, the mention of TCC (Toronto Cricket Club), where the skater trains, made it clear that the message was aimed at her. Medvedeva herself later confirmed that the note was addressed to her, and showed her mettle by telling everyone she wasn’t hurt by the message.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Evgenia Medvedevа (@jmedvedevaj)

The 19-year-old took to Instagram to thank everyone for their support and kind words, adding that it wasn’t the first, second or third time for her to receive hate mail like that. She wrote: “I just want to say that I’m absolutely fine and the letter didn’t hurt me at all.”

Following the incident, Japanese fans became concerned that the hateful letter would tarnish Medvedeva’s view of Japan, but they needn’t have worried, as the skater continued to gush about famous spots around Tokyo on her Instagram account, encouraging others to visit.

https://www.instagram.com/p/ByUxSJrhUNn/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BySROIghnja/

This show of strength and love from the skater touched the hearts of Japanese fans, who quickly showed their support for the star with the hashtag #JapanLoveEvgenia, which quickly went viral online.

▼ The outpouring of support began with a message from Japanese figure skater Miki Ando…

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Miki Ando⛸安藤美姫 (@miki_m_ando0403)

And was quickly followed by thousands of other messages, featuring the skater’s beloved sweets…

今日のおやつ。#ロシア料理、 #ブリヌイ。

昨日ネットでもニュースでも話題になった陰湿なあの手紙。
腹立たしいやら同じ日本人として恥ずかしいやら…#JapanLoveEvgenia のタグをつけてささかなエールを送ります。
応援してるよ！ダバーーーーイ！！！ pic.twitter.com/VYj1K2IJ0b

— くらら (@Klatwiiit) June 10, 2019

▼ Anime characters…

https://twitter.com/monary02/status/1137736342417227782

▼ And fan art.

#JapanLoveEvgenia pic.twitter.com/oVt0SD76pB

— Studio-非直交空間(Nonorthogonal Space) (@determinant2001) June 10, 2019

#JapanLoveEvgenia #ILoveMedvedeva pic.twitter.com/Fl8nUU0JcA

— さくらこ (@SakurasakuShoma) June 10, 2019

忙しくて新たな絵は描けないんだけど、以前の模写絵を⛸#JapanLoveEvgenia pic.twitter.com/4TzJgfkIzN

— 灯（ともる）@呪術どハマり中 (@bflove_ae) June 11, 2019

https://twitter.com/osorosia____/status/1138043827074191360

Medvedeva’s tough skin is part of what makes her such a force to be reckoned with in the ice skating world, and it’s a big part of the reason why she’s amassed so many fans in Japan, including Sailor Moon artist and author Naoko Takeuchi.

Nasty insults from an anonymous troll will do little to harm her view of Japan and her love of anime, especially now that she’s starred in a Magia Record commercial.

Sources: Net Lab
Featured image: Instagram/jmedvedevaj
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