[Trans] Kame Camera - Vol.53 Back
Maquia 2015.11, released in September
T/N: Back here is meant not only the actual “back”, but also that person's image, position, attitude, that you look up to.
VOL. 53 背中 BACK
「With my back, I want to be able to instill in others the sense of nervousness, hope, and resolution, without saying useless words 」
This is Kenji's back. During the rehearsals Ninagawa-san always told me “don't push your bust out, don't stand coolly, be stoop-shouldered!” Because Kenji is a character that carries many emotions, not a character that majestically enchants others. So I fooled around and I tried a pose that Kenji surely wouldn't do (laughs) This picture was taken before going on stage by Musaka Naomasa-san who plays the father!
A man's back depicts the life he has walked until that moment ----. Going back to my memories, the first one that comes to my mind is my dad's back, as expected. During my childhood, I was excitedly looking at my dad's back figure when he was driving the car for our family outings. Speaking about that, he brought me and picked me up for some time even after I started working. When I was filming the drama “Gokusen” too. Back then I didn’t have a manager so my dad really saved me a lot. He's a kind, loving man. He's a person that pours his efforts into troubled people even when he is also quite driven into a corner. I grew up influenced by such a dad's back, and I also think that my being unexpectedly short-tempered and irritable is similar to him (laughs)
The first backs I've seen since after joining this world is Kinki Kids's. I first backdanced for them for the single “Flower”. Back then Kinki’s backdancers were around 100 Jrs, and at first I was dancing at the very last row. Gradually, I was able to dance in the front row. By the end, I had a fixed place behind Koichi-kun and Tsuyoshi-kun, and I was able to be in charge of their costume change. For a Johnny's Jr. it's an honorable position that also has the meaning of carrying the next generation (laughs) Back then it was a generation when, in our agency, only SMAP and Kinki Kids had held a concert in Tokyo Dome. Being their backdancers was a precious experience, and I learned a lot from their two stoic backs.
On the other side, the senpais who were a close presence in more private times were Tackey and Tsubasa. We spent a lot of time together when I was a Jr. There was a period that I received a phone call every day from either Takizawa-kun or Tsubasa-kun. I was happy for that, but there were times I was in difficulty for being invited the same day with just a slight time gap (laughs) From the two of them I've learned how to enjoy my private life in this world, and how to take care of kouhais. What's interesting is that their personalities are completely the opposite. Tackey is a lively big brother. He's the type who’d say, “let's go eat yakiniku!!”, but Tsubasa was bringing me to places like hidden Spanish bars. But both of them had a male presence and were very kind.
The baseball player Matsui Hideki's back was big even for the 20-year-old me
I can't forget the baseball player Matsui Hideki-san's back, who a certain person allowed me to meet and have dinner together with for my 20th birthday. There was also the novelist Ijuin Shizuka-san, and we walked down a narrow road to a sushi place. The Matsui-san who I looked up to since my childhood was next to me. Even looking at him after becoming an adult, that back was impressively large and bulky and cool. Thinking that “this is the back that hit a multitude of home runs” naturally made my chest burn.
Piling age and experience, I wonder if recently I'm in a position where someone is aiming to reach my back too. I want to have a back that can convey something to the kouhais that come after me without saying useless words. I think I want to be a senpai that can make them feel a moderate sense of nervousness, hope, and resolution.
One time, Johnny-san told me “YOU have the destiny to carry weights on your shoulders”. There is such a line in the stage play “DREAM BOYS”. During the rehearsals, Johnny-san reacted to those words and said “This is about Kame, isn't it”. I do hold the doubt “Why me?” though (laughs). What if it's really my fate to carry on my shoulders, not only my life, but also the group called KAT-TUN, and many stories like movies and dramas...? I want to have a stronger, more elastic back. I suppose that in order to do that, from time to time I must carry many burdens on my shoulder and forge on.
I was said by Johnny-san “Kame has the destiny to carry weight on his shoulders”. In that case, I must become disciplined....
Kame’s fixed point of observation
Some days ago Maquia Team attended the play “Aoi Shushi wa Taiyo no naka ni aru”. After the standing ovation at the end, we went to greet him and he had a happy smile. “There are many scenes where I scream and expose emotions so I'm properly taking care of my throat, but it's feeling better than the rehearsals. Because during the rehearsals, Ninagawa-san says many times “scream once again!” on the same scene, but the real play is only once (laughs)”
T/N: Back here is meant not only the actual “back”, but also that person's image, position, attitude, that you look up to.
VOL. 53 背中 BACK
「With my back, I want to be able to instill in others the sense of nervousness, hope, and resolution, without saying useless words 」
This is Kenji's back. During the rehearsals Ninagawa-san always told me “don't push your bust out, don't stand coolly, be stoop-shouldered!” Because Kenji is a character that carries many emotions, not a character that majestically enchants others. So I fooled around and I tried a pose that Kenji surely wouldn't do (laughs) This picture was taken before going on stage by Musaka Naomasa-san who plays the father!
A man's back depicts the life he has walked until that moment ----. Going back to my memories, the first one that comes to my mind is my dad's back, as expected. During my childhood, I was excitedly looking at my dad's back figure when he was driving the car for our family outings. Speaking about that, he brought me and picked me up for some time even after I started working. When I was filming the drama “Gokusen” too. Back then I didn’t have a manager so my dad really saved me a lot. He's a kind, loving man. He's a person that pours his efforts into troubled people even when he is also quite driven into a corner. I grew up influenced by such a dad's back, and I also think that my being unexpectedly short-tempered and irritable is similar to him (laughs)
The first backs I've seen since after joining this world is Kinki Kids's. I first backdanced for them for the single “Flower”. Back then Kinki’s backdancers were around 100 Jrs, and at first I was dancing at the very last row. Gradually, I was able to dance in the front row. By the end, I had a fixed place behind Koichi-kun and Tsuyoshi-kun, and I was able to be in charge of their costume change. For a Johnny's Jr. it's an honorable position that also has the meaning of carrying the next generation (laughs) Back then it was a generation when, in our agency, only SMAP and Kinki Kids had held a concert in Tokyo Dome. Being their backdancers was a precious experience, and I learned a lot from their two stoic backs.
On the other side, the senpais who were a close presence in more private times were Tackey and Tsubasa. We spent a lot of time together when I was a Jr. There was a period that I received a phone call every day from either Takizawa-kun or Tsubasa-kun. I was happy for that, but there were times I was in difficulty for being invited the same day with just a slight time gap (laughs) From the two of them I've learned how to enjoy my private life in this world, and how to take care of kouhais. What's interesting is that their personalities are completely the opposite. Tackey is a lively big brother. He's the type who’d say, “let's go eat yakiniku!!”, but Tsubasa was bringing me to places like hidden Spanish bars. But both of them had a male presence and were very kind.
The baseball player Matsui Hideki's back was big even for the 20-year-old me
I can't forget the baseball player Matsui Hideki-san's back, who a certain person allowed me to meet and have dinner together with for my 20th birthday. There was also the novelist Ijuin Shizuka-san, and we walked down a narrow road to a sushi place. The Matsui-san who I looked up to since my childhood was next to me. Even looking at him after becoming an adult, that back was impressively large and bulky and cool. Thinking that “this is the back that hit a multitude of home runs” naturally made my chest burn.
Piling age and experience, I wonder if recently I'm in a position where someone is aiming to reach my back too. I want to have a back that can convey something to the kouhais that come after me without saying useless words. I think I want to be a senpai that can make them feel a moderate sense of nervousness, hope, and resolution.
One time, Johnny-san told me “YOU have the destiny to carry weights on your shoulders”. There is such a line in the stage play “DREAM BOYS”. During the rehearsals, Johnny-san reacted to those words and said “This is about Kame, isn't it”. I do hold the doubt “Why me?” though (laughs). What if it's really my fate to carry on my shoulders, not only my life, but also the group called KAT-TUN, and many stories like movies and dramas...? I want to have a stronger, more elastic back. I suppose that in order to do that, from time to time I must carry many burdens on my shoulder and forge on.
I was said by Johnny-san “Kame has the destiny to carry weight on his shoulders”. In that case, I must become disciplined....
Kame’s fixed point of observation
Some days ago Maquia Team attended the play “Aoi Shushi wa Taiyo no naka ni aru”. After the standing ovation at the end, we went to greet him and he had a happy smile. “There are many scenes where I scream and expose emotions so I'm properly taking care of my throat, but it's feeling better than the rehearsals. Because during the rehearsals, Ninagawa-san says many times “scream once again!” on the same scene, but the real play is only once (laughs)”