Shigeaki Kato - In the Eyes of a Fan (A Birthday Post)
Born on July 11, 1987. Graduate of Law from Aoyama University. A writer. A photographer. A TV/Radio host… An Idol. To NEWS members, he’s Shige. They call him sensei, they call him many names. He’s the one who fails on physical activities. He’s clumsy. He’s sarcastic. They tease him for being an old man because of his matured way of thinking, and his hobbies. He’s the one who complains but the one who gets bullied too. His name gets inserted in any of their songs during concerts. They come to his house and ruin everything…But beyond all of that, they love him.
If you ask me what’s Shige’s position in my NEWS ranking, I won’t be able to answer. I’m not proud to say that he’s not my bias. I can’t say I don’t like him either. Shige is a person I look up to. I like him a lot. He’s one of my favorite people in Johnny’s and in the entire entertainment world. NEWS is a very important part of my life and all members are like a dear family to me. All of them have touched my life in many ways and I’m glad I’m following them.
The first time I saw Shige, I honestly did not mind him much. I always look at those who I’m more familiar with. Yamapi, Tegoshi, Uchi, and Notti. I look at them with awe, and I never noticed Shige. It was until I watched Never Ending Wonderful Story that I came to realize that there were the other members too. My impression on him that time was “the person who’s being made fun of”. I felt bad for him though. I thought, why is he allowing them to treat him like that? As I follow NEWS from that time, I realized that his personality makes NEWS more interesting. Before, I associate boybands with long stylish hair, but Shige stands out with his mohawk. There’s also a time when I thought he’s going to become the group’s rapper.
Come News Winter Party Diamond and I grew fonder of Shige. To put it properly, it’s the time I liked everything about Shige. His hair, his smile, everything. It’s like having a crush on a friend. I can only look and feel happy, but not really telling anyone about it. I don’t know why I keep it in me. Must be because my image that time has always been “The Massu stan”. I consistently followed Shige’s jweb translations. I read stuff about him, his life, his essays. I wanted to know him more. Before I knew it, I’m using his writings as a sort of guide to my life.
He wrote an article before about how he always says “Sorry” to people all the time, but Ryo corrected him and said that it’s better to say “Thank you”. From then on, I say thank you to even small things that people has done to me. I mean, if Shige did not talk about it then we wouldn’t know. So thanks to Ryo too. Shige is aware of the things he says. He means what comes out of his mouth (and brain). He’s honest and it makes you understand him more.
My heart ached because of Shige when I read a magazine interview some years ago. That was a talk about the first hiatus of NEWS (Note: They were still 6nin when I read it so, yeah.) I can’t remember the exact words, but he expressed his frustrations. That he felt hopeless because among NEWS members, he and Koyama are most likely not to be taken back as NEWS members. They were sure they’re useless in the group. I felt his pain. I also felt his gratefulness when he mentioned about the countdown and they came out as six. And like a history repeating itself, NEWS was on hiatus again. RyoPi left. During the announcement, when all fans felt so devastated, I was really worried about Shige and Keichan. “Is Shige thinking same things as before?” All I can do is be worried and wish I can comfort him… them. I cried a lot the first time I watched the “Full Swing” performance from UtsuCon. Crying not because of my feelings, but because Shige is crying.
One of my wishes too is to be able to tell Shige that he’s very important. He’s an epitome of negativity. Though I can say he has improved because after all, he’s the great Shige. When he talks about his status in NEWS, he often considers himself inferior to the other members. It’s the thing I wanted him to change about himself. “Shige, we see you~”
I also wish I can tell him “I’m always proud of you”. These days when many idols are coming out, it’s difficult to just be proud and tell people that your idol can sing and dance, etc. Shige surpasses all expectations. Like what Massu said, even as Junior, Shige is the one who takes a break from rehearsals to study for his tests. He takes education with importance. He’s a university graduate, add to that “a law graduate”. He was able to publish his novels. He’s on a different level. He also never loses a corner on magazines for his writings. You can now tell people, “My idol graduated and did something BIG”.
No matter how many words I use to describe Shige, I guess my vocabulary is too narrow to be able to enumerate all. There might be things I failed to talk about here, must be a lot of stuff I forgot to bring up. In the end, Shigeaki Kato is my idol. You can search about him on Wikipedia and blogs, but knowing him deeper is better.
HAPPY 26TH BIRTHDAY SHIGE ♥