Translation: Duet November 2016 - Yabu and Hikaru
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Your oldest memory
Yabu: I am not sure whether this is the oldest, is that okay? I used to stay in a company owned house in Yokohama up to my first year of elementary school and there was a really steep slope in front of my house. Whether it was going to kindergarten or going out for shopping, I would be behind my mother on her bicycle. When we headed out, I enjoyed it so much like a roller coaster ride and on our return trip, I would be supporting my mother from behind while she did her best to ride up the slope without getting off the bike. I remember that entire scene which I saw behind my mother’s back.
Hikaru: I have always been staying in Miyagi so speaking of childhood memories, it is all about nature and scenery like mountains and paddy fields. My childhood activities were playing hide and seek in the mountains (laugh). My hiding places were on top of huge trees and among the bushes. My hands and legs were always rubbing against branches and leaves, and always had minor injuries on them.
Myself when I was a kid
Yabu: I was probably a nuisance. I secretly reared lizards in the postbox. There was J-league then and there was a player who did a shoot with his face and continued being a cool goalkeeper even with blood coming out of his nose. I wanted to be like him and I earnestly requested my elder brother to throw a ball in my face. My desire to continue playing soccer was much stronger when I just joined as a junior and I also kept thinking of ways in order to not get called for work (laugh). I couldn’t tell my soccer buddies that “I joined Johnnys” and everytime I didn’t attend soccer practice, I told them “I have a new year gathering with my relatives” and they said “Till which month does your family hold new year gatherings?!”
Hikaru: I was a kid who would enter the neighbours’ houses without saying anything. I stayed in the countryside so we don’t lock the entrances. The adults knew the faces of all the kids nearby too. So even if I suddenly appeared, they would just say “Oh, Hikaru-kun. Welcome, do you want to eat some snacks?” No matter where I went I would be doted upon. At home, I impersonated a dance group which appeared on tv and asked my parents to helped me video it. I loved dancing so I entered Johnnys when I was in the sixth year of elementary school. During that time, I often commuted from Sendai to Tokyo for lessons. I always looked forward to the train bentos in the bullet trains. On the way back from Tokyo, there are always a huge variety of bentos and I always chose them in excitement but the most delicious one is definitely the cow tongue bento from Sendai (laugh)
The member who has changed most since JUMP’s formation
Yabu: Keito I guess… The way I say it might be bad but at the beginning, he was just like an amateur. Also because he came back from abroad, he didn’t know how to read the kanji in scripts. I had to write out all the pronunciation for him one by one. Although of course it isn’t like that now but hasn’t he grown? Although he still cant write the members names in kanji now (laugh). Also, I think Hikaru has changed quite a lot too. In the past he was quite sharp and among the juniors, he had an image of being scary, but now he gets teased a lot by others.
Hikaru: Dai-chan I guess. He used to be cheerful and sociable and had an image of a fun loving kid, but he doesn’t show it on the outside and he wasn’t one the type who would show his emotions to other people. But thanks to his job, he managed to display this out. I am like that too and I used to stand in front of the camera thinking “I cannot make any mistakes”, but that isn’t right. The Dai-chan now isn’t afraid of making mistakes and I think he is able to deal with success and failure in his own way.
Myself now
Yabu: I went to eat with Kawai-chan, just the two of us alone for the first time. I told him my thoughts about A.B.C-Z’s concert. Seems like Kawai-chan told the DUET staff that “Yabu really comforted me” but that wasn’t my intention. I am a big fan of A.B.C-Z so what I did was just to convey to him that “The concert was really good. I really enjoyed myself!” (laugh)
Hikaru: I recorded the “MotoGP” bike races and check them at night. Thanks to that, I lack of sleep now. Actually recently I have a dream of being able to do commentaries for the MotoGP. Even before when I watch programs on bikes, I think that I want to be talk about this not only for fans of bikes, but also to be able to explain everything in a way that normal people can understand too. And somehow it became like “Okay, then lets aim for it myself”. I am studying really hard on this now.