+act mini vol.19 - Kato Shigeaki

[spilledmilk25]

+act mini vol.19 (2012)
Special Issue 12000 Words Interview
Kato Shigeaki




Kato begins the shooting talking quietly with the staff he already knows, "How much time passed from my last interview here?". He fights a little with the plastic sheet we used as prop, he moves spendidly and tries different sad expressions, he puts himself into it being even too serious, just as he always does. The atmosphere is light and his standing figure is really beautiful. His cheeks and jaw line is well-shaped, the body is wonderful and perfectly built. When we let escape a "The body line is extremely pretty", he just answers "Yes, I've lost some weight" blushing a little.
The tour that signed the beginning of new NEWS has just ended. Standing on that stage he turned into a figure full of joy, a newborn "idol"...very different from the usual reserved boy, but we were expecting this change. We were sure he was about to show us something different. On October the drama "Hana no Zubora-meshi" began, as member of new NEWS, as writer, Kato Shigeaki will surely change more. In this interview we'll hear what he has to say about these changes.


-This special interview will touch many topics, the drama, your activities as a novelist, as NEWS member and the present's Kato Shigeaki.
I will talk about everything. 12000 words...It must be hard for the writer! (lol)

-I'm in your hands (lol). So, let's begin with the drama. How's "Hana no Zubora-meshi" right now?
In reality for now it's not really moving. I just received the script. But I can say what I felt reading it. I knew the original manga's title but I didn't read it before. When I've been told about the drama I read the volumes and I thought "Surely this is something that can entertain everybody". I love the works by Kusumi-san and I've always wanted to do something involving cooking. But at first I saw it from the point of view of a normal viewer and I thought like everybody "How can this be turned into a drama?!". Then I read the plot and the script and I saw it's not completely about cooking, the main focus is on personality and the various characters.

-It can be seen from different points of view.
The drama is mostly directed towards comedy. I thought it's amazing to make it in this way. My character is the director of a research center on sluggishness. Just reading this it's difficult to understand, basically I'll do a live commentary of the sluggishness of the main character. Something like "Sluggish people do things like this". It has a good atmosphere and it gives an outlook on the world, the comedy features are many. It can broaden so much, the script was really interesting...That's also why I'm feeling a little under pressure.

-How will you handle the "live broadcast" thing? I look forward to it!
There will be somebody else with me. He's called Hayai-san...

-A duo: Osoi-san and Hayao-san! (lol)
Exactly (lol). I don't know who's going to be in the cast yet though. Hayai-san should be commenting the show while I give explanations. I'm sure I'll have to talk a lot in that corner.

[Osoi and Hayai's names mean "The slow one" and "The fast one", Shige's Osoi, the slow.]

-The quantity of lines must be big!
Yes, they're quite a lot. I was surprised myself (lol). Besides the play in the ending there will also be a "3 minutes cooking scene", I will star in it. I don't know the details yet...

-It's the first time you play in a drama with such a high degree of comedy and it's the same for cooking, right?
I've never done this before. Well, of course I always work a lot on my characters but this time...how can I say it? It's more up to me. There's never been a character like this one, they just told me to "play it having fun". It made me happy!

-That's a nice thing! It's an original character for the drama, it depends a lot on how you'll play it. It will be good to see a new side of you in him.
I know! I think the same. This time I will experiment many different things!

-By the way, what about the cooking part?
I do cook, in everyday's life. I mean, if I don't nobody will do it for me!

-Ahahah!
But I'm on a diet. I'm careful at counting the quantity of calories I eat, cooking my own meals it's the quicker way to do it.

-Indeed. You really are so careful about it?
Yeah, I'm a very serious boy. I am. (lol)

-About this diet, you mentioned it before during the shooting too. We noticed your lost of weight a lot also during the lives. Really, your jawline and silhouette became so beautiful!
Yes...I worked hard (lol)

-Can I ask you why you felt you had to shape up?
It's just that...this was my first live after two years. I thought it was a shame to show myself the same of two years before. I've been practicing my singing and dancing too, I wanted to do whatever I could as much as I could. Until now, when it came to singing I've always used excuses and left it to Tegomass, I thought I had to do something that only I could do. That's how I wrote the novel to begin with.
When the two members left the group I felt I had to build a new "axis" by myself. I became determined to recreate myself as an "idol" once again. I had two years of time, the first thing in which people can see a change is the "appearance", modify my body. I realized that it was the first thing to do. Of course I did it for the fans, but honestly I...without really knowing I did it for the members too. I didn't want them to think "I don't want to do this with Shige" if we were going to work together again. I would have hated to be seen in that way by members...I guess it was because of this too.

-Kato-kun, you're the type to think things like those after all.
In music, Tegomass can do the things they love more often. How can I say it? Me and Koyama are not the types to go solo, we couldn't release an album...that's what I thought. I didn't want a promotion or something, first of all I wanted to be understood by members. It's something you can't express by mere words.

-You decided to express it by actions more than words?
Yes. Somehow, there were too many things we couldn't understand even if said out loud. In these last two years...indeed, if things could be clear just by talking, maybe we could have held back those two. Of course they didn't leave the group because we hated each other...it was because there were things one wanted to do alone, the other wanted to do them with Kanjani8. Moreover, there are other elements besides being comrades...I don't know if it's about art or personality, I got to think to things like these too. In reality, I realized there's a limit in what I can say with words even with a good friend like Koyama. Just recently with the lives we finally understood each other, there were moments in which we had no idea what the other was thinking. Right...that's why I felt the need to start all over again by myself. But you know, I don't really know what is the "goal" I want to reach, and along the way sometimes you lose sight of the reason why you're working so hard, right? Anyway my feelings told me to do everything in any case.

[I'm so sorry, this part was really confused. The phrases were broken and dropped, I don't know if they just wrote down the way Shige was talking, all I know it's that it was difficult to put together something with a meaning >< And English is not helping me...I hope you understood what I meant to write correctly ç_ç]

-What can I say...it's very like you to think how things would be now if you worked harder...
Ahahahah (lol). You think so?

-You have the tendency to blame yourself a lot.
I...well, that's true. I'm rather extreme. But well, I thought to many things and I decided to change. That's because there were many people between fans and concerned people, like the staff for example, who said that we better disband in such a situation. I wanted those people to say "Shige, you really changed!". Without these feelings the live wouldn't have been such a success, NEWS' new start wouldn't have gone so well.

-I see...
Yes, that's also why when I wrote the book somehow...I didn't think that I found another place for me to stand, I wanted it to be a contribution to NEWS.

-These were two years of commotion.
They were. I...I was writing the book just when the big Earthquake happened. Exactly two years ago we had our last live as a 6-members group. Nothing was decided for the future. I was thinking that NEWS couldn't go on like this. That's when I thought that I had to do my best. I went to the agency asking for job...After the lives my schedule was empty. In that period Ninomiya-kun appeared in "A-Studio". He told that he went to the agency by himself asking the permission to do auditions and thanks to that he got to star in "Letters from Iwo-Jima". Watching that I was like "Can I do the same?!". Straight after the show I called the agency and talked for a long time. I asked if there was the possibility to do something with Koyama, for example. But it wasn't possible, if I could do something I had to do it alone. I thought that this could be useful for NEWS too. I'm friend of Ohno-kun, you know? I was deeply impressed by his personal exhibition...I remember it so vividly. I thought I'd like to do something like that too. I've always wanted to write so we decided a deadline. Then I just started writing...

-You wrote "Pink&Gray" in just one month, right?
One month and half. It was really hard. I was worried about the contents, seen the difficult times, but I had a deadline to meet, I wrote without thinking to an actual publication. They never told me they would have published it for real, I talked with the staff a lot also once I finished writing it.

-Did you come up with the plot and structure immediately?
It took me around a week. Well, I had things I wanted to do since the beginning. Things I wanted to write sooner or later. It was funny. I got thoughts one after another...for example I've always wanted to describe a corpse made beautiful. I had many "points", I just had to connect them. I love watching movies and they were a big part in it. The influence of cinema was huge.

-You used to watch 10 movies each month!
Yes, yes, I did! I also love to read criticism, to meditate on what people like in a movie, what I think it's interesting, and such. I wanted to create a meta structure and to corrupt the chronological order, so that you can't understand things until the very end. I thought a lot.

-You succeeded to come out with a good structure in the end!
Of course, I was doing it very properly! (lol)

-Did you write short stories or something like a novel before?
As high school thesis I wrote a short story of around 4 pages. The story was about a man driving his car when suddenly a woman gets in the car sitting besides him, and that woman's face keeps changing...

-Eh? That sounds interesting!
Ahahah (lol). When I read it again I found it interesting too. I was like "Hey, I have some talent, don't I?" (lol).

-I'd like to read it!
I know! The title was "The imaginary line". Isn't it a cool title? (lol)

-You said you get your inspiration from movies, do you picture the scenes as you write?
I do...I care a lot about the "structure" in movies too. I guess that's why I did writing the book too. When I was writing the novel there was a movie called "500 days of Summer". There you see since the beginning that the couple broke up. It makes you wonder why do they wanted to show you a love story if you already know it ended. But at the same time you're curious about the reasons of the break up and you can't stop watching. The difference is that with a book you can stop reading halfway. It was important to me to find a way to entertain readers. That's why I focused on the structure so much. Girls like to watch the pictures and to listen to the lines, boys look a lot to the structure instead. That's what I think at least.

-In the novel you can feel some of the "shadows", or should I say "the hidden side", typical of Kato-kun. Also the contents of the story "The imaginary line" you mentioned before seem to be of the same genre, am I wrong?
Yeah, they're similar (lol)

-Shadows of the shadows!
Ahahah (lol). But you know, I...I changed writing that novel, my personality changed.

-Really?! I absolutely want to hear about this!
Before that I couldn't make a distiction between my "shadows and light". They were all mixed together. Even when I laughed I wasn't really fully laughing. Also during lives, they were always funny but there was also anxiety...a gloomy feeling inside of me. Anyway since I wrote the novel I shook it off and I decided to finally become an idol for real. The novel is the novel, of course I want to go on writing, I want to do more. Once the book was finished the light and shadows parted. Maybe it's because I finally found a place where I can be confortable...I think I can say this now because half a year passed and many things happened. Before writing the novel there was a part of me who kept asking "Why am I an idol? I'm not cut out for it". Now it doesn't matter anymore if I'm suited for it or not, I will do it anyway!

-I see. This determination was strongly felt seeing you on the stage during the last tour.
I know. My feelings looked forward to the tour too. I changed for it. But, right. This time I felt the tour a little more. It's weird to say this but....in the past, when I saw fans waving at me I was pretty negative, I thought "Why are they waving to somebody like me?". Now I want to answer them the more I can, they make me really happy. After the book, keeping working with NEWS like this, maybe now people think I'm interesting? (lol) Somehow I changed my character and mind to show myself a little more. The good sides...and the bad sides too though (lol).

-It was a fairly big change.
Exactly. For example, I used to think that it's no good to try to change my image. Since in NEWS there are already cool members I don't need to work out and be in a good shape. I didn't care too much about that in the past.

-Koyama-kun said this too: "Shige is the kind of person who work very hard, but in the shadows".
He's right. I was restraining myself a lot. Before I couldn't imagine myself in the first line. Now we're four, there's no place for shadows. I can't hide from the light.

-So it's because now there are no shadows anymore.
Somehow the shadows were my comfort zone, but now it became all sunny (lol). There's no royal road but I had to score a strike so I threw a straight ball, this happened around half a year ago. I'm surprised by my changes myself.

-Kato-kun, you're not the type to talk freely. First of all you have to think a lot to yourself.
I was like that, huh. I'm a little relieved from that now. Well, you can't completely modify your personality though. Even now when somebody praises me I feel itchy (lol). But now I will do whatever I'm asked. I became a proper adult.

-During the enchore of the first live you said "I wanna hug the members!", didn't you? Watching you like that...
Ahahah! A lot of people is telling me this! I'm regretting it now! (lol)

-Doing something and then regretting it...(lol)
I know, it's very much like me! Ahahahah (lol)

-I think that before you used to stop yourself from saying what you want, you swallowed words to think a little more. In that moment you didn't do it though.
Yes...I just said it (lol)

-Right. You showed your honest feelings. It was amazing.
Ahahahahah (laughing earnestly)! It was limited to that place, moreover it was the enchore...somehow I thought we were going to embrace all together in a circle. Then I thought "What the hell am I thinking?" and it turned out in that way.

-You never did something cute like that before!
I guess so. Because usually I have a lot of self-control...Ahahah! Really, a lot of people ask me about that moment. Was it so unexpected? Somehow I don't think so. Everybody asks me "What was that?" or "What happened to you?"...it's embarrassing! (lol).

-Doesn't it feel good? Since you controlled yourself so much before to not do embarrassing things!
Yes, yes. I mean...it's like this. That day was truly fun. So much it surprised me.

-You revealed everything there, the feelings of the members, the joy to be doing a tour again...
I said all I had to say there...Being honest, I really thought it was over. The first thing I felt to do was to show to the people close to me that I'm changing and that I really want to change. I had to make people think that "this guy is really irreplaceable in NEWS"...I knew I had many aspects in which I had to work harder by myself. That's why I didn't talk too much about all this to the members. Yes...maybe I couldn't be completely honest with them.

-Koyama told us he sent you a mail saying "I want to continue NEWS also if there's only the two of us"...
Did he save it? He told me he saved that mail!

-Maybe it's something like a charm to him. He had his share of worries too.
Yes...We talked a lot. By mails and calls.

-Didn't you answer to him "I want to fight for NEWS too, even if we're alone"?
I really thought so. In the case Tegomass wanted to go on only as Tegomass, we...probably people would have laughed at us, anyway I wanted to go on as NEWS with him. That was the only thing we could do. Well, when the two left the group...I can talk about this because now it's in the past, about the public opinion. I heard both the words of who was against us and who supported us. They called us "ramen without condiment" or "shortcake without strawberry"...Oh, it was pretty hurtful, it hit straight to the heart. But at the same time there were also a lot of people telling us "Thank you for protecting NEWS". We had to make them regret thinking such things. It was a hard time. Of course I can't say if we succeeded or not yet...
First of all I decided to shape up. It wasn't about how I want people to see me, I just wanted to bring to new life the qualities I've always had. I wanted to do what I was asked and polish myself...it sounds so plain to say though. I had to fight.

-It was a journey to find an answer.
Yes but...I don't remember much about it. Honestly I didn't understand much back then. I didn't understand anything anymore, to the point that I thought that maybe it was better to disband. I also thought if there was a way for me to go on alone in this world. If NEWS stop existing I had to understand how NEWS were important to me. I wrote a book but I don't want to devote myself to writing. It's true I became a novelist for NEWS. That time I was constantly thinking...so much I felt sick. I said this during the greetings on the first day of the tour, I really thought that I stood on a stage for the last time in my life.

-It must have been really painful...
Somehow I've always wanted to protect NEWS but there were too many things that looked helpless. Releasing a new song doesn't mean that NEWS are safe. We all had to do our best while waiting for NEWS to go back to work, we didn't want people to think we were just resting. There were also members who said that it wasn't too useful if people couldn't see it. We were waiting for a really good song. Of course I understand these feelings, but since we've been told we're a "ramen without condiment" it would have been stupid to comeback with a "ramen" like that. I wanted to work with NEWS as soon as possible. There were moments when I thought we had to come back immediately and start producing one work after another. Everybody had a different opinion. Moreover Tegomass were having their tour...of course I supported them with all my heart but I kept thinking that at least they had their group while I didn't know what to do for myself. I couldn't see myself in three years, no, not even two years in the future. Right now I'm truly glad that we protected NEWS but I can say this in retrospect.

-Thes situation was way too confused. I can understand it.
Anyway Koyama started gathering the members and make us talk about all as much as we could...Seeing this I decided to give my support. I realized that it doesn't matter what I want to do. I realized that everything's fine as long as we stay together. I listened to Tegomass and Koyama's opinions...in the end I didn't get to talk much...

-I see. Kato-kun is not very talkative.
That's correct. There was no need because we were already fine being together. I support and accept completely everybody. But still, I knew I had to work hard by myself. But it's not like I didn't want to stand out...got it? In the past I thought that not standing out the others could shine more. Now it's not like this anymore. Now I have to bathe in the light too. I finally find it funny too. Before I cared more about being confortable than having fun.

-This last phrase again...
It was Shige-like? (bitter smile) Who am I? Lately I don't understand at all how other people see me. I changed a lot...it's like my character is different day by day. Sometimes I don't understand myself as well! Ahahah (he laughs on his own).

-(Laughing) In any case you don't feel bad about your new self, right?
I definitely don't.

-You became more easy-going.
I did! I feel refreshed. Thinking on how I was always hesitant I feel like "Why?", maybe I was just younger...I don't think that's the reason though. I just couldn't stop thinking. Tegoshi is the type to immediately say "In the other way it's better!". For example, if we had to choose between black and white costumes, Tegoshi would say "White is cooler! It suits NEWS!", while I'd be like "Why black is not good?" or "NEWS don't look nice in black too?". Without a clear reason I couldn't get too excited. Now I finally understood how to answer without worrying too much. Tegoshi goes for the short way while I went for the contrarian way (lol).

-You just wanted some reasons!
Yes, I always wanted one. I want to be reassured. Now I'm more honest. I think.

-You are totally honest (lol).
I don't look anymore to my needs. I'm trying to just get prepared and then have more fun. I think one day I should write a book about my "contradictions". During the live Masuda wanted to have "space shuttles". At first I thought "Space shuttles, huh...(looking far away)". I really did (lol) but then it was funny. It was something that only us could do and it was exciting. I really thought that all the members are amazing. For example, I look to Koyama and I really think he worked very hard. Tegoshi and Masuda did the same. I perceived the members' power and also the fans were wonderful. They are so passionate and warm...somehow I think I haven't been enough thankful. When we released "Chankapaana" and it reached the first position in the rankings the things I thought everyday were "I'm truly thankful! Thank you so much!" and "Don't underextimate us!". There's no use in being only thankful, you must also be full of pride. Right now I want to say honestly "Thank you" and I want to meet the fans again in a live soon. I'm now aware of the best sides of the members, lately I became aware of a lot of things, I've been finally allowed to see them.

-It's like you feel more in control now.
That's right. Before I worked hard but I was always a little stiff. Now I put my efforts in the preparations so I can relax during the show. This happens also in "Mirai Theater", the music shows and when I sing and dance...I feel relaxed. It seems weird that I waited so much to change this aspect of me. I try to "not work too hard" in a good meaning.

-"Not too hard"?
Exactly. That's why I was unprepared and I ended up to hug all the members (lol).

-Your cuteness (lol), your happy face on the stage, your voice cracked by tears too...I think that Kato-kun not trying hard to be cool was really cool.
Really? Thank you very much.....Wah! Excuse me! (blushes). Somehow I feel like I "threw away" a lot of things.

-But they were all unecessary things, ok?
Yes. Writing the novel I was able to get rid of clutter in my life and find again my true nature. That's also why I changed my name. A lot of people still ask me why I did that, to me it was a necessary operation. Basically I knew that my name was difficult to read for many people so I just wanted to change it. I was about to release the novel, people didn't understand my choice but for me it was a very important rite of passage.

-You realized your wish to pay a contribution to NEWS.
I did. I want to do it more and more. The novel went exactly as I wanted, I had some self-confidence but I'm really glad it did. I heard many comments about that too. People said I was escaping from being a dancing and singing talent to become something more suited for me. There too I thought "Don't underestimante me! I will dance and sing again!".

-You are the first novelist of the Jimusho, that's a big thing. It's not like Ohno-kun's exhibition.
I know. Ohno-kun was really important in this process. When I wrote the book he told me "It was amazingly good!". He said "I'm glad you did this. You must go on writing". I talked to him recently and I said "Ohno-kun, you're a real genius!" and he replied "I'm not, I have a lot of bad sides as well". I know that you can't win if you only use your natural talents but I still think he's awesome. He's very appreaciated for his singing and dancing, when we talked about dance he said he watches a lot of things, basically he studies a lot behind the scenes. For example I told him "In your drama in September you had a lot of lines! It must have been hard!" and he said "It was hard. I was always home practicing"...It surprised me.

-And this time it's you having a lot of lines in a drama...
Right (lol). I'm glad I talked to him in that occasion.

-Maybe now your way of acting will change too.
I think it will. Because also when I played...I was stiff. I want to approach the character in the right way and I take it very seriously but I also want to enjoy it. I'm sure it'll be more pleasant to watch in this way. It depends on the character of course, but I think that a sweltering actor cannot be too loved (bitter smile).

-I think it's good that you enjoy your work more being relaxed and that you get ready for it doing your best.
I think the same. I try to not think that I will fail every time.

-It's more stimulating too.
I'm particularly weak at this. I'm always like "Oh my God I'm about to do it! Oh my God! That's bad, that's bad! ...ok, done" (lol). Now I try to imagine it in a positive way. My body is in a good shape and I also became mentally stronger.

-I can feel it. In the last two years you worked to get rid bit by bit of your "awkwardness".
Exactly! It's like this. I wasn't sure but I tried to take everything down anyway. I'm not satisfied yet, I'm not perfect. The feeling of fullfillment and the efforts I put in this will eventually turn in self-confidence. People can tell whatever they want about me...I'll still get annoyed but it'll make me wanna work harder more than anything else. In the past I got really depressed but now I don't do that anymore.

-It's really great that this "now" exist.
Really, it was about the time! In the last 5 years I did nothing but thinking and worrying, now I'm free. I think NEWS will live a difficult time from now on too. But I really think that NEWS are an interesting group. My aim is to make people say "It's really good that they're four". "Chankapaana" was supported by a lot of people, the lives were sold out...In the actual conditions also people not interested in Johnny's must think that we're pretty good. Now I can say full of pride "NEWS are really interesting. I recommend them to all of you". Before I didn't feel I was really doing something for NEWS, I couldn't say things like those. I thought that the others were great but I wasn't that interesting...Thanks to the book now I really think "NEWS will amuse you a lot! You should become our fan!". Ahahah!

-That's great! (lol). So if the readers want to become a Johnny's group's fan...?
Well, if you're interested in Johnny's...fall in love with NEWS, it will be fun! That's how I finally feel.

It's difficult to write my thoughts about this interview (and probably nobody cares as well lol). Anyway I must admit I'm a little puzzled, when he finally mentioned that he condradicts himself I was like "Oh ok, so I'm not the only confused one here" XD I think that Shige changed and it's very visible, but on the same time maybe he didn't change so much as he says? I can still feel his awkwardness and sometimes he doesn't look really into the things he's doing. In my opinion it's clear that sometimes he's forcing himself to behave as an "idol" :D But that's ok to me...honestly I wouldn't like a completely different Shige, I like him for who he is and I hope you all do ><
The most important thing is that now I feel that he's happy, he's satisfied of himself and has more self-confidence. FINALLY! That guy really must stop underestimate himself, he still has no idea how awesome he is...That's the cute thing in him too though ^^
I think I have many other things to say but I'll better just leave the word to Shige ^^