Universally regarded as one of the greatest figure skaters in history[note 1] for his well-rounded skills, achievements, innovations, longevity, popularity, and impact on the sport, he started skating at four years old and competed in the men's singles discipline from 2004 to 2022.

Hanyu broke world records 19 times, the most in singles since the introduction of the ISU Judging System in 2003, and was the first skater to land a quadruple loop jump in international competition among other achievements.

At 16 years old, Hanyu experienced the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in his hometown of Sendai, which fundamentally shaped his life and career, having participated in different charity events and dedicated various performances to the victims of the disaster.

[31] Based on his results, Hanyu was selected to compete at the 2010 World Junior Championships, winning gold after placing third in the short program and first in the free skate with a new personal best score of 216.10 points.

[29] In the 2010–11 season, Hanyu moved up to senior level at 15 years old, facing significant competition in the Japanese men's field, including Daisuke Takahashi, Nobunari Oda, Takahiko Kozuka, and Tatsuki Machida, who all had finished ahead of him at the previous Japan Championships.

His short program was created by the 2008 World champion, Jeffrey Buttle, to "Parisienne Walkways" by Gary Moore, and the free skate was choreographed by Canadian David Wilson to a medley of Riccardo Cocciante's musical Notre-Dame de Paris.

[54]: 3  Placing ninth after the short program, he fought back with a strong free skate, finishing fourth overall behind Patrick Chan (gold), Denis Ten (silver), and Javier Fernández (bronze), and earning a third spot for Japanese men at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

[48] For his first Olympic season, Hanyu returned to his short program "Parisienne Walkways" and selected Nino Rota's music from Romeo and Juliet for the free skate, choreographed by David Wilson.

[55][56] At the Final, he set a new world record in the short program with 99.84 points and placed first overall ahead of Patrick Chan (silver) and Nobunari Oda (bronze), winning his first major international senior title.

[46] Despite two falls in the free skate, he managed to win the event with a new Olympic record of 280.09 points in the combined total, finishing ahead of Patrick Chan (silver) and Denis Ten (bronze).

[66][67] In his first Grand Prix event at the Cup of China, he collided with Chinese skater Yan Han during the free skate warm-up, suffering bruises on his head and chin along with injuring his midriff, left thigh, and right leg.

In the free skate, he made mistakes on three jumping passes, placing third in the segment, but his advantage from the short program was enough to stay in first overall, becoming the first male single skater to win four consecutive Grand Prix Finals.

[38] At the 2017 CS Autumn Classic, he scored a new world record of 112.72 points in the short program;[50] at the Rostelecom Cup, he landed his first successful quadruple Lutz jump in international competition.

[100][92] In November, Hanyu was scheduled to compete at the NHK Trophy, but injured a lateral ligament in his right ankle after a fall on a quad Lutz in practice and was forced to withdraw from all remaining competitions of the year.

[122] In the free skate, Hanyu landed five quadruple jumps in one program for the first time in his career, including his first attempt on a quad Lutz since 2017, but missed a planned triple Axel-triple Axel sequence, finishing second overall behind Chen by more than 43 points.

[129] Hanyu's victory on February 9, made him the first and only male singles skater to win all of the major ISU championship events at the junior and senior levels, a feat known as the Super Slam, previously only achieved by five other competitors in the other three skating disciplines.

[153][154] At the 2022 Winter Olympics, Hanyu missed his opening quadruple Salchow jump in the short program due to a hole in the ice and placed eighth with 95.15 points, qualifying him for the free skate.

[171][179] Similar to Gift, each show had a duration of 120 minutes with 12 programs being merged into a gaming-themed story that picked up the contrasts between the virtual and real world, giving "food for thought about life and the series of choices we make.

"[180] In March 2023, the annual ice show Yuzuru Hanyu Notte Stellata, a commemoration event of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, was inaugurated at Sekisui Heim Super Arena in Rifu, which had served as a morgue at the time of the disaster.

[187] The show is produced by Nippon TV with Hanyu as the chairperson, featuring a cast of international professional skaters as well as a guest artist from a different sport or performing art field.

[209] Hanyu is able to execute the layback Biellmann and doughnut camel spin,[210] which are more commonly seen in women's singles and known for their difficulty among male skaters due to the high flexibility required in spine, hips, and shoulders.

[227][228][229] From February 8 to 23, 2014, Hanyu endorsed ANA's new line of flight attendant outfits, which were designed by Prabal Gurung and appeared in a TV commercial for their 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics "Hello Blue Hello Future" campaign.

[243] In October 2021, Hanyu was chosen as a face of Towa Pharmaceutical co. appearing in a TV commercial with veteran actress Tetsuko Kuroyanagi[244][245] and endorsed ANA's new teleportation services "avatarin".

[266][267] On August 21, 2019, a poster of Hanyu with the protagonist of the anime Yowamushi Pedal was released to promote Tour de Tohoku, an annual charity cycling event held to support the cause.

[268] In 2021, marking the 10th anniversary of Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, Hanyu organized the "Together, Forward" exhibition that traces his footsteps during that difficult period, revisiting the affected people and places.

[271] In January 2024, it was announced that 10 million yen from the fund would be donated to the Ishikawa Prefecture which was badly affected by the 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake to help support the disaster victims and reconstruction efforts.

[211] He is credited as the first figure skater to successfully land a quadruple loop in competition after performing it in the short program at the Autumn Classic International in Montreal, Canada on September 30, 2016.

[330] In 2022, Hanyu placed sixth in the list of most-searched athletes on Google Search worldwide, behind Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams (all tennis), Manti Te'o (American football), and Shaun White (snowboard).

The rankings were based on an online voting by 913 established international sports journalists from 137 countries, with the results being presented at the AIPS' 100 year anniversary ceremony at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris during the 2024 Summer Olympics.

[338] Since Hanyu began carrying a Winnie-the-Pooh tissue box to competitions in 2010, his supporters and fans eventually made it a custom to acknowledge the end of his performances by throwing Pooh bears onto the ice instead of other kinds of stuffed toys or gifts, which has been a tradition in figure skating.