Abe Ryohei: QUIZ JAPAN Magazine (Vol 13) Cover Interview (Translation) (PART 2)
Part 2 of Abe-chan's crazy long interview:
Aiming for appearances in quiz shows - preparing the foundation
Now, your “studying-type character” has publicly taken root, but when did you start pushing forward that image? Looking back through the years, it seems that a big turning point was in 2015, when “Abe-chan Sensei” was aired on “Taki CHANNEL”, you passed the weather forecasters’ qualification exam, and you were accepted to graduate school, etc.
It’s already been so long since then, huh. I think it was around then when I began to push forward the image of being a studying type. In order to be loved by the entertainment world, isn’t your image really important? In order to be able to repeatedly appear on quiz shows you must have the image of being ‘smart’, otherwise the TV networks and people in charge of casting won’t focus their attention on you. Putting “able to recite the digits of pi” on my profile was also because I thought it would attract people’s attention. Weather forecasting, graduate school, pi, “Abe-chan Sensei”... All that I was able to do at the time was to push those things to the forefront, in order to place foundation stones that would let me gain, even if just a little, some sort of knowledgeable image.
And then, your first quiz show was in September 2017, on “Cream Quiz: Miracle 9”.
Later, I heard that (the thinking behind my casting) was because “he says he wants to appear on a quiz show, so let’s try putting him on”, but that very first time I appeared, my condition was excellent. So when they called me a second time, I was even happier than the first time, because I thought that might have been tied to my performance the first time.
You’re really someone with a great talent, aren’t you, Abe-san.
I’m happy that you say that, but the truth is that sometimes my condition is not as good; it really makes you think that ‘Quizzes are really about ‘luck’, huh’. The key to minimising the influence of luck is really studying and hard work, so for a stable performance, I think it’s important to keep studying from here on onwards as well.
Due to your appearance in quiz shows, you began to study for quizzes together with Iwanaga Tetsuya-san, and you even take part in the quiz studying circle led by Kazulaser-san. Please tell us about an episode with Iwanaga-san.
I managed to speak with Iwanaga-san briefly the first time I was invited to “Miracle 9”, and our dressing-room was the same when we appeared on “Cream vs Hayashi Osamu! Super Quiz Survivor” (aired on New Year’s Eve in 2017), and after that we became really good friends. For the following year’s “The Time Shock” (the “Strongest Quiz King Battle ~2018 Autumn Edition~” episode that aired in September 2018), when both Iwanaga-san and I were invited to appear, we were like, “why don’t we study together?”, and so both of us went to a cafe and strategised for “Time Shock”. (Laughs)
[T/N: Iwanaga Tetsuya is a Japanese actor and member of MENSA who frequently appears on quiz shows. He’s known to be good friends with Abe-chan. Kazulaser カズレーザー is a Japanese comedian very famous for appearing in various quiz shows. He leads a quiz study group for people in the entertainment industry to study for quiz shows.]
Did the questions that were eventually asked match (with the strategy)?
That time, the both of us shared with each other what we had studied. After that, it seemed that a quiz studying circle had formed with Iwanaga-san, Enari Kazuki, and Kazulaser at the centre, and I was invited to join after they had started. Kazu-san had prepared Waseda-style quick-answer buttons, so it was useful for our studies, and also very fun. (Laughs)
[T/N 1: Enari Kazuki is a Japanese actor who also appears in quiz shows fairly frequently.]
[T/N 2: Quick-answer buttons are the buttons that are used in quick-answer quizzes (haya-oshi mondai 早押し問題) (i.e. where the first person to hit their button gets to answer). A Waseda-style one has a giant blinking light in front of the device so it’s very visible who was able to press the button the fastest. If you’ve seen the cover photo for this volume of Quiz Japan, it’s the style of button that Abe-chan is holding on the cover.]
It’s amazing that you know the term “Waseda-style”. (Laughs)
Haha! (Laughs) That one’s good, isn’t it.
It seems that you even went on a quiz holiday with Iwanaga-san, isn’t it.
Yes. We went to the Tohoku region on a day trip. In order to gain knowledge on the various prefectures, it’s easier to remember the knowledge if you actually go to the place itself.
Especially since now video-type quizzes are so common.
That’s why, when Iwanaga-san and I just happened to have off days that match up, we were like “Hey, why don’t we go on a trip?” “Where should we go?” “Let’s go to a UNESCO heritage site.” The both of us shortlisted a number of places, and eventually it became “Let’s go to Hiraizumi. It’s close to the Three Views of Japan, so we can also go to Matsushima.” “I also want to eat the dishes the region is famous for, such as wanko soba.” That day was a whirlwind. Once we decided to go to Tohoku on our one off day, we said “Tomorrow we’ll gather at 7am at Tokyo Station!” (Laughs)
[T/N: The Three Views of Japan are Japan’s 3 most celebrated sights: Matsushima, Amano-Hashidate and Itsukushima (Miyajima). Wanko soba is a style of soba where the noodles are served in many small little bowls.]
You went that far in order to become stronger!
Region-specific questions are the kind of thing where if you’re from that region, you’d be able to answer it no matter how difficult it is, and so they’re often put forward in quiz shows. But precisely for that reason we had to become better at region-specific questions, but because I’m super bad with geography (laughs), I have a strong desire to go to more and more places. Right now I’m a reporter for “Zip!” on the corner “Trendy News: Kiterune!”, and when this job was confirmed I was incredibly happy. There’s many chances to report on the regional cuisines of various areas. It’s natural to be happy when you get jobs to go on location in other regions.
Speaking of geography, you also hold the second level for the UNESCO World Heritage qualification, right?
Yes. I was really bad at social studies, but the most easy to approach area of it was UNESCO World Heritage sites. I love travelling, and when I study (about World Heritage sites) I’m able to learn about that country, and the feeling of travelling arises. Right now, I’m working hard to memorise the flags of the world. I’ve also started playing “Momotarou Railroad” in order to get better at remembering geography. For the arts subjects that I’m bad at, I’m starting to approach them from an angle where I can come to love them.
[T/N: “Momotarou Railroad”, also known as “Momotetsu”, is a popular game where you control a train company that travels all around Japan.]
==
If we could gather just as Johnnys we would be able to do quizzes more frequently…
In May 2020, the Johnnys Quiz Club was formed with you as club president.
There are some juniors of mine who also take part in Kazu-san’s quiz studying circle, and we’d wait for each other to go (for the study circle) together as the Johnnys group, so I thought ‘It would be nice if we could gather just as Johnnys and do quizzes more frequently’. During the stay-home period, there wasn’t much opportunity for us to inform about this, so I thought of doing a quiz video. I gathered the kids who had appeared on “Q-sama!” before and filmed on Zoom, and learned video editing from scratch in order to edit the video myself.
For the question “What is the interior angle of a regular hexagon?” you drew a hexagon diagram by hand to explain it, didn’t you.
Ah yes, I did. (Laughs)
It was edited in a way that was very easy to understand. It started off with a very relaxed atmosphere, but the quizzes were serious, weren’t they.
It was pretty serious. It was an idea that started with “Let’s show that doing quizzes is fun”, so we did it in a relaxed, casual manner. I began to talk about the group in various places, thinking “It would be nice if we could appear somewhere on a quiz show as this team”. I didn’t think it would have resulted so quickly in us being invited onto “Q-sama”. (Laughs)
For the “Pressure Masu Drill” segment you need 6 people, so it was just right.
We fit perfectly, don’t we.
From the point of view of club president Abe-san, what impression do you have of your fellow Johnnys Quiz Club members?
Kawashima Noeru (Travis Japan) is almighty. Even I am surprised by him. Noeru is also more inclined towards the sciences, but he has a vast breadth of knowledge and a strong desire to learn, and during the stay-home period he learned sign language (among other things), so there’s really no gap in his knowledge. Motodaka Katsuki (7 MEN Samurai) is an elite student who goes to Waseda University, but just like me he’s weak at the arts (laughs). But given the quickness of his mind, or his ability to put things together, I think he’s the type who would be good at solving riddles, similar to Ijuin (Hikaru). Ukisho (Hidaka, Bi Shounen) has a very good sense for quick-answer questions, and he’s able to tell ‘This question is aiming to ask about this’. He can press the button even before I understand the aim of the question. Nasu (Yuto, Bi Shounen), on the other hand, tends to press the button only after he understands the aim of the question. He knows the fundamental basics, but sometimes he’s able to give really superb answers or observations; that’s really fundamental to creating excitement on a show, and so I think Bi Shounen really has a good balance. And then Fukumoto (Taisei, Ae! Group) is able to both state his opinions clearly and also at other times try to get people to laugh, and he really makes you think ‘Ah, he’s so smart’ in a number of ways. Each of them have their own unique personality.
[T/N 1: The term Abe-chan uses is hirameki mondai ひらめき問題, literally questions that can be solved in a flash of inspiration; I’ve used “riddles” to translate for this but riddles are really just one type of hirameki mondai.]
[T/N 2: Ijuin Hikaru is a Japanese comedian who often appears on quiz shows, especially “Q-sama”. He’s known to be very good at hirameki mondai. ]
And how about yourself?
Next up, (I) will be focusing on social studies… (laughs) In addition, I think it would be good to train the quality of my intuition. For example in yesterday’s “Q-sama”, in the final round (“Insanely Difficult! Pressure STUDY”), there was a question that said, “Please state the correct social studies-related term”. In times like that, usually I’ll be able to think, ‘Ah, it’s probably going to ask about this’ and predict the answer, but yesterday my guess was off the mark.
But, if you keep working on it, that sense of yours will surely become more polished.
Part 1 | Part 3
Aiming for appearances in quiz shows - preparing the foundation
Now, your “studying-type character” has publicly taken root, but when did you start pushing forward that image? Looking back through the years, it seems that a big turning point was in 2015, when “Abe-chan Sensei” was aired on “Taki CHANNEL”, you passed the weather forecasters’ qualification exam, and you were accepted to graduate school, etc.
It’s already been so long since then, huh. I think it was around then when I began to push forward the image of being a studying type. In order to be loved by the entertainment world, isn’t your image really important? In order to be able to repeatedly appear on quiz shows you must have the image of being ‘smart’, otherwise the TV networks and people in charge of casting won’t focus their attention on you. Putting “able to recite the digits of pi” on my profile was also because I thought it would attract people’s attention. Weather forecasting, graduate school, pi, “Abe-chan Sensei”... All that I was able to do at the time was to push those things to the forefront, in order to place foundation stones that would let me gain, even if just a little, some sort of knowledgeable image.
And then, your first quiz show was in September 2017, on “Cream Quiz: Miracle 9”.
Later, I heard that (the thinking behind my casting) was because “he says he wants to appear on a quiz show, so let’s try putting him on”, but that very first time I appeared, my condition was excellent. So when they called me a second time, I was even happier than the first time, because I thought that might have been tied to my performance the first time.
You’re really someone with a great talent, aren’t you, Abe-san.
I’m happy that you say that, but the truth is that sometimes my condition is not as good; it really makes you think that ‘Quizzes are really about ‘luck’, huh’. The key to minimising the influence of luck is really studying and hard work, so for a stable performance, I think it’s important to keep studying from here on onwards as well.
Due to your appearance in quiz shows, you began to study for quizzes together with Iwanaga Tetsuya-san, and you even take part in the quiz studying circle led by Kazulaser-san. Please tell us about an episode with Iwanaga-san.
I managed to speak with Iwanaga-san briefly the first time I was invited to “Miracle 9”, and our dressing-room was the same when we appeared on “Cream vs Hayashi Osamu! Super Quiz Survivor” (aired on New Year’s Eve in 2017), and after that we became really good friends. For the following year’s “The Time Shock” (the “Strongest Quiz King Battle ~2018 Autumn Edition~” episode that aired in September 2018), when both Iwanaga-san and I were invited to appear, we were like, “why don’t we study together?”, and so both of us went to a cafe and strategised for “Time Shock”. (Laughs)
[T/N: Iwanaga Tetsuya is a Japanese actor and member of MENSA who frequently appears on quiz shows. He’s known to be good friends with Abe-chan. Kazulaser カズレーザー is a Japanese comedian very famous for appearing in various quiz shows. He leads a quiz study group for people in the entertainment industry to study for quiz shows.]
Did the questions that were eventually asked match (with the strategy)?
That time, the both of us shared with each other what we had studied. After that, it seemed that a quiz studying circle had formed with Iwanaga-san, Enari Kazuki, and Kazulaser at the centre, and I was invited to join after they had started. Kazu-san had prepared Waseda-style quick-answer buttons, so it was useful for our studies, and also very fun. (Laughs)
[T/N 1: Enari Kazuki is a Japanese actor who also appears in quiz shows fairly frequently.]
[T/N 2: Quick-answer buttons are the buttons that are used in quick-answer quizzes (haya-oshi mondai 早押し問題) (i.e. where the first person to hit their button gets to answer). A Waseda-style one has a giant blinking light in front of the device so it’s very visible who was able to press the button the fastest. If you’ve seen the cover photo for this volume of Quiz Japan, it’s the style of button that Abe-chan is holding on the cover.]
It’s amazing that you know the term “Waseda-style”. (Laughs)
Haha! (Laughs) That one’s good, isn’t it.
It seems that you even went on a quiz holiday with Iwanaga-san, isn’t it.
Yes. We went to the Tohoku region on a day trip. In order to gain knowledge on the various prefectures, it’s easier to remember the knowledge if you actually go to the place itself.
Especially since now video-type quizzes are so common.
That’s why, when Iwanaga-san and I just happened to have off days that match up, we were like “Hey, why don’t we go on a trip?” “Where should we go?” “Let’s go to a UNESCO heritage site.” The both of us shortlisted a number of places, and eventually it became “Let’s go to Hiraizumi. It’s close to the Three Views of Japan, so we can also go to Matsushima.” “I also want to eat the dishes the region is famous for, such as wanko soba.” That day was a whirlwind. Once we decided to go to Tohoku on our one off day, we said “Tomorrow we’ll gather at 7am at Tokyo Station!” (Laughs)
[T/N: The Three Views of Japan are Japan’s 3 most celebrated sights: Matsushima, Amano-Hashidate and Itsukushima (Miyajima). Wanko soba is a style of soba where the noodles are served in many small little bowls.]
You went that far in order to become stronger!
Region-specific questions are the kind of thing where if you’re from that region, you’d be able to answer it no matter how difficult it is, and so they’re often put forward in quiz shows. But precisely for that reason we had to become better at region-specific questions, but because I’m super bad with geography (laughs), I have a strong desire to go to more and more places. Right now I’m a reporter for “Zip!” on the corner “Trendy News: Kiterune!”, and when this job was confirmed I was incredibly happy. There’s many chances to report on the regional cuisines of various areas. It’s natural to be happy when you get jobs to go on location in other regions.
Speaking of geography, you also hold the second level for the UNESCO World Heritage qualification, right?
Yes. I was really bad at social studies, but the most easy to approach area of it was UNESCO World Heritage sites. I love travelling, and when I study (about World Heritage sites) I’m able to learn about that country, and the feeling of travelling arises. Right now, I’m working hard to memorise the flags of the world. I’ve also started playing “Momotarou Railroad” in order to get better at remembering geography. For the arts subjects that I’m bad at, I’m starting to approach them from an angle where I can come to love them.
[T/N: “Momotarou Railroad”, also known as “Momotetsu”, is a popular game where you control a train company that travels all around Japan.]
==
If we could gather just as Johnnys we would be able to do quizzes more frequently…
In May 2020, the Johnnys Quiz Club was formed with you as club president.
There are some juniors of mine who also take part in Kazu-san’s quiz studying circle, and we’d wait for each other to go (for the study circle) together as the Johnnys group, so I thought ‘It would be nice if we could gather just as Johnnys and do quizzes more frequently’. During the stay-home period, there wasn’t much opportunity for us to inform about this, so I thought of doing a quiz video. I gathered the kids who had appeared on “Q-sama!” before and filmed on Zoom, and learned video editing from scratch in order to edit the video myself.
For the question “What is the interior angle of a regular hexagon?” you drew a hexagon diagram by hand to explain it, didn’t you.
Ah yes, I did. (Laughs)
It was edited in a way that was very easy to understand. It started off with a very relaxed atmosphere, but the quizzes were serious, weren’t they.
It was pretty serious. It was an idea that started with “Let’s show that doing quizzes is fun”, so we did it in a relaxed, casual manner. I began to talk about the group in various places, thinking “It would be nice if we could appear somewhere on a quiz show as this team”. I didn’t think it would have resulted so quickly in us being invited onto “Q-sama”. (Laughs)
For the “Pressure Masu Drill” segment you need 6 people, so it was just right.
We fit perfectly, don’t we.
From the point of view of club president Abe-san, what impression do you have of your fellow Johnnys Quiz Club members?
Kawashima Noeru (Travis Japan) is almighty. Even I am surprised by him. Noeru is also more inclined towards the sciences, but he has a vast breadth of knowledge and a strong desire to learn, and during the stay-home period he learned sign language (among other things), so there’s really no gap in his knowledge. Motodaka Katsuki (7 MEN Samurai) is an elite student who goes to Waseda University, but just like me he’s weak at the arts (laughs). But given the quickness of his mind, or his ability to put things together, I think he’s the type who would be good at solving riddles, similar to Ijuin (Hikaru). Ukisho (Hidaka, Bi Shounen) has a very good sense for quick-answer questions, and he’s able to tell ‘This question is aiming to ask about this’. He can press the button even before I understand the aim of the question. Nasu (Yuto, Bi Shounen), on the other hand, tends to press the button only after he understands the aim of the question. He knows the fundamental basics, but sometimes he’s able to give really superb answers or observations; that’s really fundamental to creating excitement on a show, and so I think Bi Shounen really has a good balance. And then Fukumoto (Taisei, Ae! Group) is able to both state his opinions clearly and also at other times try to get people to laugh, and he really makes you think ‘Ah, he’s so smart’ in a number of ways. Each of them have their own unique personality.
[T/N 1: The term Abe-chan uses is hirameki mondai ひらめき問題, literally questions that can be solved in a flash of inspiration; I’ve used “riddles” to translate for this but riddles are really just one type of hirameki mondai.]
[T/N 2: Ijuin Hikaru is a Japanese comedian who often appears on quiz shows, especially “Q-sama”. He’s known to be very good at hirameki mondai. ]
And how about yourself?
Next up, (I) will be focusing on social studies… (laughs) In addition, I think it would be good to train the quality of my intuition. For example in yesterday’s “Q-sama”, in the final round (“Insanely Difficult! Pressure STUDY”), there was a question that said, “Please state the correct social studies-related term”. In times like that, usually I’ll be able to think, ‘Ah, it’s probably going to ask about this’ and predict the answer, but yesterday my guess was off the mark.
But, if you keep working on it, that sense of yours will surely become more polished.
Part 1 | Part 3