Japanese figure skater Mao Asada, 23, who announced in May that she would be taking an extended break from skating, will be a reporter for the TBS program "Sekai Fushigi Hakken!”

Asada will make her debut on July 5. Asada said she had long been a fan of the travel program.

Her first overseas assignment, which started on June 12, took her to Austria, Slovakia and Hungary for eight days to find the origin of figure skating, Sankei Shimbun reported Friday.

“Everything was a new experience for me, so it was hard," Asada said. “But, on the other hand, it was a good learning opportunity for me."

© Japan Today