[Translation] MORE 06 & 07.2020: Sato Shori
Hi! I translated Shori's interview on the June & July issue of MORE. :)
It was an interesting topic, so I'm glad I translated this! I hope you enjoy reading it as well! ^^
Sato Shori talks about “night.”
When I was young, I didn’t think that the darkness at night was scary. It’s because a fun time awaits after I crawl into my futon (Japanese-style mattress).
Speaking of a “memory about the night” from my childhood, it was when I played games underneath my futon. My parents rush me to sleep early, so I crawl into my futon. However, they don’t check whether I’m really sleeping or not. I feel like I secretly played games in the dark until it was already late.
Maybe that’s why I’m bad at waking up early in the mornings. I practically haven’t watched any shows aired on Sundays like the Sentai or Kamen Rider Series that most elementary school boys watch. It’s because I can’t wake up (laughs).
When Mondays came, all my friends in the classroom would talk and ask, “did you watch [Sentai/Kamen Rider]?” I just vaguely smiled and let the topic pass. That happened a lot of times (laughs). I usually got up 5 minutes before I had to leave home during school days as well. The Sato family has 4 children, so my parents can’t afford to worry about each and every one of us. Our mornings were generally busy. The good thing about that is I could sleep as long as I liked. That’s why every day, I rushed out of the house without eating breakfast. Then, I dashed to school. That was quite useful during junior high school because I was able to play an active role in the track and field club. I did long distance instead of short distance running (laughs).
As I grew up, the night changed into “the time when I can enjoy doing things that I like.”
Basically, I’m a night person even before. But I guess the way I spend the night has changed a bit. First, I entered Johnny’s during junior high school, so I couldn’t play games anymore. I guess the reason behind that is I have found something more fun than playing games. The time I spent with playing games became the time I prepare, practice, and create inputs for work. After I crawl into my futon, I watch performance videos of my senpais (seniors) or music videos of artists around the world. I also remember my lines [for dramas/movies] at night. I’m relatively certain about the theory that memories become established when sleeping.
When I was still a student, I had to do both work and studies at the same time. Everyday passed by like a storm, but now I can afford to breathe a little bit more. Recently, my nights are becoming my “time to enjoy doing things that I like.”
One of the things I like is cooking. The reason why I started cooking was because I found out about a home delivery service for ingredients. It was able to eliminate the time needed for shopping. That’s why even a person like me, who tends to find things bothersome, had a feeling to try cooking. I recall this certain video site that introduced me how to cook white rice. “The basics of meals is rice after all. Start from there!” When I imitated it (the video), the rice turned out delicious! Recently, I have been cooking rice in an earthenware pot every day. I have never even used a rice cooker until now (laughs).
I’m a person who cooks based on my senses instead of following the recipe. I cook while imagining, “If I put this, I think it’ll taste like this.” I really like that kind of process. For me, cooking is about creating and about chemistry. While cooking and preparing food, I’m excited to see what kind of goal I’ll reach. Well, there are also times when my imagination explodes and I end up failing (laughs).
Another thing that I look forward to at night is to be able to enjoy my cooking with alcohol. Recently, I want to be able to make side dishes [that goes along with alcohol]. I just bought a skillet used for making Ahījo (dish fried in garlic oil).
Oh and I also bought a new sofa. Moreover, it’s matching with the sofa in my sister’s house (laughs). I like watching TV or videos while lying down on my sofa and holding alcohol in one hand, but its armrest is hard so I can’t quite relax [my arm]. Then I discovered the best sofa in my sister’s house. I asked her, “can I buy the same sofa?” (laughs). I wanted to at least buy a different color, but this sofa only had 1 selection of color… So now, the same sofa will be delivered to my house soon (laughs).
Mornings are for thinking. For me to reset my day, I do fun things at night.
My sister recently got a dog, so I will spend the evening later with my family while my pet, Chai, plays with my sister’s dog.
There are people in the world who say that “the night is the time to think and face yourself.” But in my case, mornings are for thinking. I want to be separated from any thoughts and enjoy my evenings because I’m the type who gets too deep in my thoughts at night. Even if I think about it tonight, nothing will change. I can’t change tomorrow. There are times when I can’t sleep because I get dragged into thoughts, which I can’t do anything about even if I keep worrying. Based from experience, nothing good comes out of it. That’s why I change my mood and enjoy at night. I want to use that time and change it for tomorrow’s energy. For that reason, I mostly watch interesting videos and TV shows that make me laugh.
I’m a night person, but I fall asleep early. I can fall asleep immediately. I usually don’t have any dreams, so I think my sleep is deep. When I sleep, my worries from yesterday turns into small things.
Sleep is also important to change your mood. If I can, I want to sleep for about 7-8 hours a day. But I’m worried that I might wake up late. Last time I was watching videos while lying on my bed wrapped around my blanket. Without realizing, it was already 2 am. I woke up at 10am the next morning… I wake up properly when I have work, but I end up lazing around when it’s my day off. As expected, it would be bad if this continues. I want to be an adult who can spend a fulfilling morning. Recently, I bought a curtain that automatically opens. It is quite good. On days that I’m not tired, I can wake up just from the sun’s light without using any alarm. I’m a night person who dreams to be able to get out of bed at “a single digit AM (before 10am).” Maybe that day will surprisingly come true soon?! (laughs)
Note: My native language is not Japanese and English, so it might not be 100% accurate. Please feel free to correct me.