[Wink Up Dec 03’] Arashi Message
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This month we have them paired up in twos for photos and talk ♪ Facing each other like this, they ended up going towards an unexpected course… We can also see another side of them which is different from when the 5 of them are together.
Aiba Masaki ⇔ Ninomiya Kazunari
Ninomiya Kazunari ⇔ Ohno Satoshi
Ohno Satoshi ⇔ Sakurai Sho
Sakurai Sho ⇔ Matsumoto Jun
Matsumoto Jun ⇔ Aiba Masaki
Ninomiya Kazunari to Aiba Masaki
Aiba Masaki to Ninomiya Kazunari
Aiba-chan is an idiot, basically (laugh). And, he does things wholeheartedly. (Aiba-chan showed up, and opened the door in front of him). See, just look at him. He thought it’s the toilet (but it’s a hidden room within the studio), and opened the wrong door right? (laugh) He’s bad at English. He’s the type of person who thinks it’s “toilet” whenever he sees something written as “whatever room”. Aiba-chan is… comforting, we’re a pretty disgusting group huh (laugh). That, and that he’s very passionate about things. There’s nothing I want him to improve on! He’s really Mister Perfect! (Aiba-chan came out from the toilet, “let’s go to the game centre tomorrow!”). Fufufu… furthermore, we’ve been hanging out together a lot recently. Then, when we go we’re on our own, we don’t really talk though. Even the time when we went to Hakone, all 4 of us walked around by ourselves (laugh) Some of us chose to go to the big bath, some prefer the open air bath. Of course we went by the same car, see, it’s cheaper that way. We went by Aiba-chan’s car, he’s basically someone who doesn’t really give much thought about money, he didn’t think of sharing the cost either. Aiba paid for the highway toll when we went. I treated everyone lunch, the bath entrance fee was by Jun-kun. Leader paid for Sho-kun’s souvenir, and I guess he also treated us a meal? And, on our way back we went to the aquarium… who paid for that I wonder. Jun-kun and I were driving on our way back, so both of us paid the highway toll. Well, this is how it was, we played a lot.
When I first met Nino, he was wearing a pair of super big basketball shoes, I remember thinking “his feet can’t be that big!?”. Our journey back home is in the same direction so we got close naturally, and we always eat ramen together. Recently we’ve started hanging out again, but when we do we don’t talk much (laugh). Even when we go for meals we don’t talk, some time ago we sat side by side instead of facing each other, the waiter gave us some weird look (laugh). We shared the sofa since the chair on the other side was the regular hard chair without cushion. The both of us wanted to sit on the sofa and no one was willing to give in so we ended up sitting together side by side, it’s fishy huh~ And, we don’t talk at all right!? Anyway, it does seem really weird so I went and sat at the other side. But, being with Nino is fun. Something of Nino which I think is great, well, he goes with the flow. And he does things seriously when there is a need. If A-Friends is without Nino, there is no song. When we went to Hakone, I was driving while Matsujun and Ohno-kun were sleeping soundly, but Nino stayed awake. I remember that very well. Wait, or was it the other way round (laugh)? Nino was driving? If so it’ll be bad if Nino wasn’t awake (laugh). The 2 guys sitting behind were totally in deep sleep, I also felt like sleeping, but that’s not very nice. And, the both of us were listening to Moriyama Naotaro’s “Natsu no Owari”… and we didn’t talk much either (laugh). But, this is quite a good story isn’t it?
Ohno Satoshi to Ninomiya Kazunari
Ninomiya Kazunari to Ohno Satoshi
With Nino, we stick around each other more than talking. Though I don’t really know why, he comes to me and sticks around, so it happened naturally (laugh). When I first met Nino he has been usual casual speech with me. So I thought at that time perhaps we might have met somewhere before (laugh). But, I felt that he was a comfortable person to be with. Although I’ve never played with him during junior days, recently as Arashi we all went to Hakone together, and had meals together too. Sho-kun had to work and couldn’t come with us to Hakone, speaking of why we decided to go to Hakone, when we were in the dressing room during “Nama Arashi” we were in high spirits and simply decided “let’s go!” and did just that. It was fun~ Nino, it seems like he did a lot without us knowing. He got his driving license, and wrote songs, the many amazing things he does. Around 2001 I guess, Nino let me listen to his cassette tape which he recorded himself singing, it was someone else’s song though, he was singing so passionately (laugh). I asked “when you did this, people outside could hear you very clearly no?”, he said “yes indeed”. Thinking about it now, that was what sparked the fire. I thought of wanting to practice more on singing, and to work harder on it. Before that, though I have been practicing and singing with friends while recording, but what pushed me to work harder, was Nino’s passionate singing (laugh). I’ve really forgotten about it now, but after trying to recall my memories there was such a time after all (laugh).
I used casual speech with Ohno-kun since the beginning, because I never knew he was a senior among juniors. Furthermore, I actually thought that he was younger than me (laugh). The group Ohmiya SK we started, we initially decided on it as a comedic duo, since the both of us couldn’t dance or sing properly when we’re together… Leader said it’s embarrassing to pair up with me, so we ended up doing such things (laugh). I always stick around Ohno-kun, you say? He’s the one that comes sticking around me! Really I’m not the one who started it. What kind of a person is Ohno-kun, I won’t say such things. It’s not just Ohno-kun, if you ask me about YamaP or some other people, I’ll say the same for all of them. Cause you see, it’s not really nice that I seem to know everything. Well, from how I see it, Leader is a weird person (laugh). But, this is not the only thing that applies for Leader, he’s serious in Arashi. A serious and good person. Really, everyone is good~ (narrowing his eyes). During “USO! Japan” meeting, Leader and Aiba-chan said the same thing to Taichi-kun, “I’m sorry for not being more interesting”. They weren’t together when they said it, but apologized for the exact same thing (laugh). Taichi-kun laughed when he heard it, ah~ they’re really taking it seriously, he thought. Finally a message from me, from now on, please do your best as well!
Sakurai Sho to Ohno Satoshi
Ohno Satoshi to Sakurai Sho
I think about this a lot recently, he’s actually really smart. No matter what topic we touched on, he plays along and make it work. Though he’s really interesting even when he’s not thinking about anything, recently he’s more observant. And Ohno-kun, during meetings he seem to end up having meetings with himself, it seems like he’s having a lot of fun (laugh). Moreover, he talks quite a lot with staff which we don’t really see, and also people he met for the first time. He’s amazing like that (laugh). I always travel in the same car as Ohno-kun. It’s 4 years now since we debuted. From now on when we move onto the 5th or 6th year and such, collecting it like small money savings, I guess the time we spend together will be more compared to other members (laugh). Though we don’t talk at all during those times, but it feels calm and comfortable. Well, let’s travel together too from now on (laugh). Speaking of which, recently those people often hang out together no? Before this when we went to have a meal, I had something going on and had to leave early, those 4 went to the karaoke centre and made a CD. Things “Sho-kun” were written on the CD jacket, and it started with Aiba-chan’s “Konya wa Boogie Back”, and the last song was a supposedly memorable song for the 4 of them when they went to Hakone - Moriyama Naotaro’s “Natsu no Owari” which they sang really passionately. For the ending, Aiba-chan said “I think Sho-kun is the one who wraps things up in Arashi!”, Matsujun said “I think Arashi is 5 people together”, Ohno-kun said “Sho-kun, do come and join us soon!” things like that (laugh). The souvenir I got from their Hakone trip was a pottery confectionary plate, I heard that Ohno-kun paid for it, I guess he doesn’t really know much about being condescending (laugh).
I guess it was only a short time right before I went to Kyoto when I first talked to Sho-kun properly. And, when Sho-kun and the gang came over to Kyoto, I remember that all of us stayed at the hotel and talked till late night. I’ve known Sho-kun for a long time, so I know a lot of about his growing process. Inclusive of his height, his growth in character shows too. Initially, he seems to be a bullied character, saying things like “how annoying”, I have this image of him being down like that (laugh). I never bullied him but have been watching him. Our positions during junior days are somewhat similar too, we were together in MA, it’s great that I’m in Arashi together with Sho-kun. How do I put it… I feel the most comfortable with Sho-kun, he’s really easy to talk to. I feel like I can talk to him about anything at all, and end up just saying things without thinking “can I talk about this?”. He never ridicules me or laughs at me, perhaps it’s because he is such a natural person that I find myself telling him many things. Honestly there’s nothing I want him to improve on, but we have this accent dance which the background music goes bam! bam!, this guy can’t seem to remember his steps when we’re performing for real, he’s someone who can’t do that, that guy… hahaha! Well he remembers, but when it’s time to perform for real, he does something totally different. But, he does it with confidence (laugh). He makes this kind of face like he’s annoyed instead, confident showing “I’m doing this right!” kind of expression, misleading fans to think that “he’s doing it right perhaps?”. That’s cheeky of him (laugh).
Matsumoto Jun to Sakurai Sho
Sakurai Sho to Matsumoto Jun
During junior days I’ve been close to him like his younger brother. Compared to that time, Sho-kun has become less edgy. That guy, he was really rock-ish then (laugh). But now that we’re members of the same group Arashi, my feelings towards him has changed. I’m the youngest so it may seem to some people that I can’t do much, but he doesn’t care about our age gap at all. It can’t be helped even if he minds. Right now, I don’t think of him as a big brother anymore. Sho-kun is good at explaining and talking about things, he is the best person to convey “what’s this and what we’re going to do”to everyone. So I will first tell Sho-kun what I think, and he’ll usually help me convey it to everyone. In our group, our leader doesn’t really do anything, Sho-kun has more leadership skills. Of course he has his own ideas too, that guy (Oh-chan). But, the one who wraps things up, it was Sho-kun since before. The both of us often discuss about concert flow and such, but our tastes are really different. Then again, I guess that the good thing about it. Our ideas and concept are different, so when we talk about it from a different prospective, the frame of possibilities become bigger. Oh right, speaking of concerts, Sho-kun sometimes makes mistakes in his dance steps during very important moments (laugh). This guy’s accent dance during the tour concert before this, it was amazing (laugh)! Sho-kun and I, I think we’re both at the extreme opposite ends. But, with someone who could wrap things up to the basic, there are things he made possible for me to achieve. From now on, please continue wrapping things up for Arashi acting as Arashi’s shadow leader. And, let’s go somewhere with the 5 of us together!
I played with him a lot during junior days, but not so much after forming Arashi. Matsujun is passionate with everything and anything he does. About concert flow, my ideas and his ideas are never the same, but he’ll try to cover as much as he can. Right up to the lighting of that small corner. And, when we’re done, the 5 of us will definitely point out what we find lacking, “ah, that part seems out of place” and he’ll go “I see, that part huh…”, it seems like he thinks about these small details and spends his days telling himself “let’s look for worry” (laugh). Perhaps the things he minds are not that different from me, but Matsujun looks for the extremely small details. Rather than calling him a perfectionist, I guess there is a perfectionist lying within him, that’s for sure. He also goes along well with people who thinks “I’ll just skip this”. But, the things he minds, he would definitely want to make them perfect. And, sometimes he says things that is quite hard to react to (laugh). For example, when we’re talking about something with ending punch line, “Arashi debuted on when-when-when, formed on when-when-when” things like that, he’ll say things like “that’s Hawaii time alright!”. Ah, that kind of information, we don’t really need it, like that (laugh). It’s like, it doesn’t really help even if you’re that observant. Finally my message to him is, well our winter concert is about to start soon and we have put in a lot of efforts planning the concert flow, don’t be too harsh on us! Ah~ rather than saying that he’s strict, he never lets us go and keeps pushing on and on (laugh)
Matsumoto Jun to Aiba Masaki
Aiba Masaki to Matsumoto Jun
Aiba-chan is an amusingly weird person (laugh). His spirits are always high in a good sense, I guess you could just say he’s astounding. Though he’s happy-go-lucky, I think he is someone with great sense of responsibility. When he was down with pneumothorax, I remember him being very regretful towards us. He was still supposed to be hospitalized, but he dragged himself to take part in our “Utaban” recording, and right after that he went to Hawaii too right? Even when he’s there, he has to keep up with his treatment. The responsibility of Arashi becoming a 4-men group weighs so much more on him than it should, and during that time I kept thinking, it shows that he wants to keep being a part of this group. Recently, when we’re talking, he often leads the topic. After “Nama Arashi” we have a free talk session, it was during that time. And, recently we go out for meals among members and gather together a lot, it was Aiba-chan who started that too. When we’re with the members, we get pretty high in a weird way (laugh) When we’re eating with the members, it feels surreal. Perhaps everyone feels the same, but it’s really fun. So, Aiba-chan is really good at expressing such feelings, Aiba-chan will just say it out to everyone, so recently we started gathering together more often. Maybe, every member thinks the same but we don’t say it, and we don’t show it. Now that he led us in facing honestly what we think it’s really fun, the bond among the 5 of us became stronger didn’t it? So, Aiba-chan please continue being such an existence among us, I’d like you to bring the 5 of us together.
I think Matsujun was just like Nino, he wore super big shoes (laugh). I guess it was when I was 14? I remember kicking Matsujun’s butt with all my might. I said “let me kick you”. Matsujun dropped a hammer on my foot. Though he didn’t do it on purpose, I was just so young at that time (laugh). About what happened at that time, right now, I regret it. I’m sorry (laugh). When we did “Shinjuku Young Detectives” together, we ate at a Chinese place near the studio everyday. I often do things without thinking much, Matsujun always takes the lead, thank you. I think everyone among the members think the same too. Our Hakone trip started with Nino and I talking about “let’s go somewhere”, but the conversation can’t be carried out with just the two of us, so we invited everyone. Though Sho-kun couldn’t make it, this is the first time the 4 of us went out on a journey together, it was really fun. We’ve been together since long before right? That’s why we feel so much for it (laugh). It feels safe being with them. I heard from the manager, when he reached Matsujun’s home, he has to wait about 30minutes until Matsujun wakes up (laugh). But, when we went to Hakone, he woke up immediately after I said “I’m here”. Is it really true that he doesn’t wake up? Finally my message to him is, “let’s work hard!”. This is something meant for all members actually, we’re still young, while we can still work hard, while we can still move let’s work hard with all our might. If we don’t do that our lives will be boring, so let’s work hard together as a group!