More 2015.01 - Nino's 'It'
Translated this back in 2015 but didn't post because I figured it'd already been done. But what the hey, might as well :p
Lots of Hawaii feels ♥
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It {一途}
As time moves on, more experiences accumulate. Even as their value grows, what doesn't change is the earnestness he keeps to himself. So far, he follows the path to the endless future.
Chapter 073
Default, normal guys
I have no interest in glamorous relationships or luxury goods.
I'd rather be a good cog in the whole work than play the lead role.'>
It's been 2 weeks since they've returned from Arashi's concert in Hawaii. In between the breaks of the interview, it's the same old Nino, engrossed in a game. "Even in Hawaii, I didn't set foot outside at all in my private time. I was just playing games the whole time. Since it's drama filming season, I can't get suntanned. So I really went there just for the concert (laughs)."
I recall Nino's answer to the question posed in the concert: 'What does a concert mean to Arashi?' "For normal guys, there are certain conditions to be met in order to be considered god-like", and one of the conditions is a concert. "In other words, the default is 'a normal person'. It could also be that they've just never experienced the bubble (economy). Is that too mundane? Despite that, I think the fact that they're suddenly transformed the moment they appear in a concert or a drama is interesting."
Certainly, the Arashi members each have that 'boy next door' feel. Sakurai-kun always says, "I don't want to forget my common sense as a member of society", and Ohno-kun also often says of himself, "I'm completely normal". It's just that Nino himself says, "As a celebrity, I may be weird, but"...
"I didn't go out at all while I was in Hawaii. I don't hang out with any celebrity-type people at all. Both then and now, I figured it'd be best to live without bothering anyone else. By doing that, if I live my life without socialising as far as possible, there'd be no problems. So I came to the conclusion that staying home alone would be the best (laughs)."
Even as his experiences as a celebrity accumulate, he still has absolutely no craving for fame or material things.
"It's about the nature you were born with, right? Not that I dislike showbiz, but it's not like I find it particularly interesting. To begin with, I've never had any desire to appear in it and I don't mind if I don't take a leading role. Even when I appeared in the film 'Letters from Iwo Jima' and received various prizes and reviews, I told the agency, "I'd like to do more roles like this from now on". It may be a showbiz thing to keep heading up and up. But for me, I just want to experience all sorts of sets, so I've always had an "I'll appear in anything" stance to things. It's the same even now. In the workplace, I'm fine with playing the role of a single cog. I think there are a lot of people who work like that out there in our society. "
Sho-chan and I went to the boss's home to decline the offer to debut.
So until he debuted as Arashi, he'd never have dreamed that there was a place for him in showbiz.
"I think it was the summer before our debut? I first heard from Jun-kun and Sho-chan that we were going to debut. Sho-chan and I both went to Johnny-san's house to say, "Please let us quit", actually. I wanted to study production and Sho-chan wanted to go to university. Both of us had other things we wanted to do, so we figured we couldn't debut. Back then, Johnny's Juniors were in full force and there were plenty of others who'd give anything to debut. We knew how everyone else felt, so we couldn't debut with these half-baked feelings. We couldn't carry everyone's dreams. In the end, on that day Johnny-san wasn't at home so we couldn't tell him anyway (laughs)."
Their attempt at direct negotiation at debuting ended just like that. While enveloped in this conflict, at some point, their feelings changed.
"It was probably during our first concert. We witnessed firsthand that there were so many people who supported us. It wasn't the time to be worrying whether to do it or not. It just wasn't that level of conversation anymore. At that time, we figured we'd better live up to this job as best as we could."
He rarely talks about the 'what if's. However, if he had continued down the path he had wanted of becoming a producer back then, he says, "It may have been a life where I did whatever I wanted to do". Given his fate as an idol, to Nino, the moment he accepted that would mean his job would no longer be doing whatever he wanted.
"Even though we've emerged into this world as an idol group, we didn't have the sense of 'we only want to do the things we want' so we didn't want to debut, I think. But as we gained experience, we no longer had any hesitations. Being an idol is not a job where you get to realise what you want to do. It's about fulfilling what others seek of you and when you exceed those expectations, it links to the next. This is something people in other jobs understand too, right? Now I understand the gratitude for the things that are asked of us. As you go to a variety of places, you discover more things beyond your expectations and I think that's interesting."
While facing his own direction, he continues along his way with resolution. As such, that may be something that's always necessary.
"That default way of thinking won't change. I'm not filming for the lead role of Mitani (Koki)-san's drama right now, but I'd be happy if I were called in for it. As always, I think it'd be great if I could be a cog in it."
- - - - -
Kazunari Ninomiya
Born 17th June 1983 in Tokyo. Arashi's newest album, 'THE DIGITALIAN' is now on sale with rave reviews. The special drama 'Murder on the Orient Express' is set to be a New Year's broadcast. Nino, who continued gaming in the breaks between the interview, suddenly exclaims, "YES! Thank you!!" in high spirits. Apparently he's just mastered a trick that he's spent more than a year and a half on, in two consecutive tries. "Can I explain to you how awesome this is? Can I brag about this?" It's a rare sight to behold as he frolics about like a child.
|| Words / Yoshi Rei ||| Photography / Emori Yasuyuki ||
|| Hair & Makeup / Hattori Yukio ||| Stylist / Iga Daisuke ||
- - - - -
Lots of Hawaii feels ♥
- - - - -
It {一途}
As time moves on, more experiences accumulate. Even as their value grows, what doesn't change is the earnestness he keeps to himself. So far, he follows the path to the endless future.
Chapter 073
Default, normal guys
I have no interest in glamorous relationships or luxury goods.
I'd rather be a good cog in the whole work than play the lead role.'>
It's been 2 weeks since they've returned from Arashi's concert in Hawaii. In between the breaks of the interview, it's the same old Nino, engrossed in a game. "Even in Hawaii, I didn't set foot outside at all in my private time. I was just playing games the whole time. Since it's drama filming season, I can't get suntanned. So I really went there just for the concert (laughs)."
I recall Nino's answer to the question posed in the concert: 'What does a concert mean to Arashi?' "For normal guys, there are certain conditions to be met in order to be considered god-like", and one of the conditions is a concert. "In other words, the default is 'a normal person'. It could also be that they've just never experienced the bubble (economy). Is that too mundane? Despite that, I think the fact that they're suddenly transformed the moment they appear in a concert or a drama is interesting."
Certainly, the Arashi members each have that 'boy next door' feel. Sakurai-kun always says, "I don't want to forget my common sense as a member of society", and Ohno-kun also often says of himself, "I'm completely normal". It's just that Nino himself says, "As a celebrity, I may be weird, but"...
"I didn't go out at all while I was in Hawaii. I don't hang out with any celebrity-type people at all. Both then and now, I figured it'd be best to live without bothering anyone else. By doing that, if I live my life without socialising as far as possible, there'd be no problems. So I came to the conclusion that staying home alone would be the best (laughs)."
Even as his experiences as a celebrity accumulate, he still has absolutely no craving for fame or material things.
"It's about the nature you were born with, right? Not that I dislike showbiz, but it's not like I find it particularly interesting. To begin with, I've never had any desire to appear in it and I don't mind if I don't take a leading role. Even when I appeared in the film 'Letters from Iwo Jima' and received various prizes and reviews, I told the agency, "I'd like to do more roles like this from now on". It may be a showbiz thing to keep heading up and up. But for me, I just want to experience all sorts of sets, so I've always had an "I'll appear in anything" stance to things. It's the same even now. In the workplace, I'm fine with playing the role of a single cog. I think there are a lot of people who work like that out there in our society. "
Sho-chan and I went to the boss's home to decline the offer to debut.
So until he debuted as Arashi, he'd never have dreamed that there was a place for him in showbiz.
"I think it was the summer before our debut? I first heard from Jun-kun and Sho-chan that we were going to debut. Sho-chan and I both went to Johnny-san's house to say, "Please let us quit", actually. I wanted to study production and Sho-chan wanted to go to university. Both of us had other things we wanted to do, so we figured we couldn't debut. Back then, Johnny's Juniors were in full force and there were plenty of others who'd give anything to debut. We knew how everyone else felt, so we couldn't debut with these half-baked feelings. We couldn't carry everyone's dreams. In the end, on that day Johnny-san wasn't at home so we couldn't tell him anyway (laughs)."
Their attempt at direct negotiation at debuting ended just like that. While enveloped in this conflict, at some point, their feelings changed.
"It was probably during our first concert. We witnessed firsthand that there were so many people who supported us. It wasn't the time to be worrying whether to do it or not. It just wasn't that level of conversation anymore. At that time, we figured we'd better live up to this job as best as we could."
He rarely talks about the 'what if's. However, if he had continued down the path he had wanted of becoming a producer back then, he says, "It may have been a life where I did whatever I wanted to do". Given his fate as an idol, to Nino, the moment he accepted that would mean his job would no longer be doing whatever he wanted.
"Even though we've emerged into this world as an idol group, we didn't have the sense of 'we only want to do the things we want' so we didn't want to debut, I think. But as we gained experience, we no longer had any hesitations. Being an idol is not a job where you get to realise what you want to do. It's about fulfilling what others seek of you and when you exceed those expectations, it links to the next. This is something people in other jobs understand too, right? Now I understand the gratitude for the things that are asked of us. As you go to a variety of places, you discover more things beyond your expectations and I think that's interesting."
While facing his own direction, he continues along his way with resolution. As such, that may be something that's always necessary.
"That default way of thinking won't change. I'm not filming for the lead role of Mitani (Koki)-san's drama right now, but I'd be happy if I were called in for it. As always, I think it'd be great if I could be a cog in it."
- - - - -
Kazunari Ninomiya
Born 17th June 1983 in Tokyo. Arashi's newest album, 'THE DIGITALIAN' is now on sale with rave reviews. The special drama 'Murder on the Orient Express' is set to be a New Year's broadcast. Nino, who continued gaming in the breaks between the interview, suddenly exclaims, "YES! Thank you!!" in high spirits. Apparently he's just mastered a trick that he's spent more than a year and a half on, in two consecutive tries. "Can I explain to you how awesome this is? Can I brag about this?" It's a rare sight to behold as he frolics about like a child.
|| Words / Yoshi Rei ||| Photography / Emori Yasuyuki ||
|| Hair & Makeup / Hattori Yukio ||| Stylist / Iga Daisuke ||
- - - - -