More 2019.01 - Nino's 'It'
お待たせ! Here's the super belated chapter that broke me!
(EDIT 20190111: Updated with images!)
―Page 31―
It {一途}
10th Anniversary Special
'Thank You'
It's been 10 years since the series started in the Jan 2009 issue. He has unwavering conviction within him and feelings that he won't confess to anyone even after being asked 120 times. MORE has been closely observing him all this while; what truths does he reveal exclusively to us?
―Page 32-33―
―Page 34―
A long-awaited first-time release! The treasured 'It' album
'It' takes, on average, 60 shots per month. 120 chapters' worth means over 7200 shots. Here are some of those previously unreleased shots published for the first time!
Overall word count for 'It': 274,197
Even if the theme had been set beforehand, the topic would gradually shift, broaden and deepen in the flow of the conversation for 'It'. There was many a time when he gave us memorable quotes from his views on work and life, packed with philosophical 'Ninoisms', so to speak. In the 10 years, every month would have a discovery or a precious lesson of some kind.
① It was the latter part of March 2009. It was a nice warm day and he was tossing a ball back and forth with stylist Iga-san by a dry riverbed. From the accuracy and speed of his throws, one wouldn't have guessed that it had been a while since he'd done this. His nimble jump-catches and backwards-catches surprised the staff; at which he merely grinned and quipped, "It's because I'm an idol!" (Jun 2009 / Ch 006)
② The commemorative first chapter. Due to its image of launches and setting sail, the photoshoot took place at Daikoku Pier, Yokohama. Everyone was nervous as this was the first chapter. As soon as he got out from the location bus and began walking, he absently murmured, "I hate the sea (laughs)". Although it flustered cameraman Emori-san at the time, it makes for a great memory now. (Jan 2009 / Ch 001)
③ At some backstreet, in a Roppongi that was right in the midst of redevelopment back then. During the photoshoot, he sat on a guardrail looking somewhat sleepy while leaning on an iron railing; it was a session where he didn't even smile once, for some reason. (Apr 2009 / Ch 004)
④ It was a calm early afternoon in autumn, on the rooftop of a studio in the city when he flashed this cherubic smile. No doubt the satisfied expression came from Arashi’s 10th anniversary tour that began with concerts at the Kasumigaoka National Stadium. (Dec 2009 / Ch 012)
⑤ This photoshoot took place at the house where cameraman Emori-san lived in back then. When Ninomiya-san was shown the 120 chapters’ worth of photos for our current interview, the first thing he said was, “this was at Emo’s place, right?” as he pointed out this shot. (Mar 2010 / Ch 015)
―Page 35―
Number of times Arashi featured in conversation: 49
The one who cropped up the most was Aiba Masaki-san. Ranging from memories from their Johnny’s Junior days to the secret of Aiba-san’s kindness, the frequency at which he came up was about once every 2-3 chapters. Come to think of it, it seemed like he was the member that was most constantly by Ninomiya-san’s side. This was also apparent in Chapter 120 when Ninomiya-san said, “Apart from these 4, there’s nobody else in the world who understands my concerns or feelings about my job”.
⑥ Back then, when it came to Ninomiya-san, it was all about playing card magic. So when it came to commemorating the series’ 3rd anniversary, he played Old Maid with all the staff there on that day. In the course of the game, he managed to keep up the banter while skillfully making no mistakes, not showing the slightest indication that he could lose no matter how many rounds they played. However, the grin and the triumphant pose he reflexively struck the moment he won made everyone smile. (Jan 2011 / Ch 025)
⑦ Surprisingly not venturing out of the studio for once, the theme of this photoshoot was ‘mod fashion’. Although he wrapped up the shoot with a cool air, once it came down to the interview, he was happily talking about his comedian friends. (Aug 2011 / Ch 032)
⑧ This photoshoot and interview took place in an old eatery located in Shin-Okubo. There were a lot of people around during that summer evening, but like a chameleon he naturally blended into the hustle and bustle. (Oct 2010 / Ch 022)
⑨ For our cameraman’s request of ‘as if really going for a walk in one’s neighbourhood’, he relaxed as he strolled by the riverside for a while. Although it was in the midst of the late August heat and he was wearing a parka for the shoot, he didn’t sweat a single drop. (Nov 2011 / Ch 035)
⑩ This photoshoot took place a month after the Tohoku earthquake. With his declaration of “sunflowers that will make anyone who sees them smile”, he drew a whole bunch on the 2 metre canvas which even had himself uncharacteristically brimming over with smiles. (Jul 2011 / Ch 031)
―Page 36―
Number of works that he acted in during ‘It’ series: 22
'It’ began while he was in the midst of filming the drama, ‘Ryūsei no Kizuna’ (lit. ‘Meteor Bonds’). After that, he appeared in various acclaimed works such as the dramas ‘Freeter, Ie wo Kau’ (lit. ‘Freeter Buys a House’), ‘Yowakutemo Katemasu - Aoshi Sensei to Heppoko Kōkō Kyūji no Yabō’ (English title: ‘Baseball Brainiacs’), ‘Akamedaka’ (lit. ‘Red Killifish’), ‘Botchan’ (lit. ‘Young Master’), ‘Black Pean’, stageplay ‘Mishiranu Jōkyaku’ (English title: ‘Strangers on a Train’), movie ‘Ōoku’ (English title: ‘The Inner Chambers’), ‘GANTZ’, ‘Platinum Data’, ‘Ansatsu Kyōshitsu’ (lit. ‘Assassination Classroom’), ‘Haha to Kuraseba’ (English title: ‘Nagasaki: Memories of My Son’), ‘Last Recipe - Kirin no Shita no Kioku’ (lit. ‘Last Recipe - Memories of Giraffe’s Tongue’), ‘Kensatsugawa no Zainin’ (English title: ‘Killing for the Prosecution’) and so on.
① When seated at a table, he often settled into this pose even without being told. During the photoshoot, he used the notebook computer that was brought in as a prop to browse news sites and as though talking to himself, gave this thoughts on news that caught his attention. (Feb 2012 / Ch 038)
② At the cameraman’s request, he was dressed in an outfit inspired by Miyamoto Hiroji of Elephant Kashimashi. Our stylist was pretty particular about the details, from the way the buttons were left unfastened to the way the sleeves were rolled. (Aug 2012 / Ch 044)
③ Similar to the ‘resting chin on arms’ pose, the ‘face on table’ pose also often made an appearance. Others include the standard poses ‘squatting slightly and looking small’ and ‘loitering with both hands in his pockets’. When it comes to photoshoots, the cameraman avoided giving directions as far as possible so that his expressions and poses would appear natural. (Feb 2013 / Ch 050)
④ He went blond for the sake of his drama ‘Kurumaisu de Boku wa Sora wo Tobu’ (lit. ‘I’ll Soar to the Skies in my Wheelchair’). During the 10 years of serialisation, his hair has varied a little in length, but this was the only time there was a major change in colour. He mentioned that in order to bring out the reality of the role, he deliberately had his hair bleached a little earlier so that the black roots would be visible as it grew out. (Sep 2012 / Ch 045)
⑤ This was shot at a certain designer’s house. As this was during busy December, our cameraman figured he must be tired and told him, “You can sleep if you want”. At that, he kept his eyes shut for the whole time and appeared to have really fallen asleep. (Mar 2012 / Chapter 39)
―Page 37―
Number of times ‘It’ was shot on location: 96
Initially, when we defined ‘on location’ as ‘anywhere besides in a studio or house studio’, the count was 88. But the moment Ninomiya-san saw that number, he exclaimed, “That can’t be right! It was 120 times on location!” To Ninomiya-san, “anywhere I can feel a breeze is 'on location'. The rooftop of a studio is also a location”. After a recount using that definition, the result was that 80% of the shoots were on location. On what he secretly thought about “such a location-loving series”; all is disclosed on page 40!
⑥ This was a rare session where we had a glimpse into his workplace, as the photoshoot was done in the studio dressing room. Incidentally, Ninomiya-san normally just has his hair done and doesn’t take much time. Mysteriously enough, his skin seems to get clearer every year. (May 2014 / Ch 065)
⑦ For some reason, construction sites tend to periodically crop up in ‘It’ photoshoots. Maybe it goes with the air of ‘where something is being created’ of the series. For this session, we obtained special permission to shoot in the construction site of the current TV Tokyo Headquarters. When Ninomiya-san reminisced, “in the past, there used to be a hotel here that was famous for being very old”, even the construction staff were surprised. (Jun 2014 / Ch 066)
⑧ When readers were asked to vote for their favourite photo to commemorate the pre-100 chapter of the series, this was the chapter that got second place. Even back when this issue of the magazine was being sold, everyone was talking about this ‘serious sex appeal’. The rhinestone-studded necktie was specially made for this photoshoot. (Sep 2014 / Ch 069)
⑨ This is the expression of one used to being told they look ‘eternally 17’. The first season of his variety show ‘Nino-san’ began in the spring of that year, and this was shot around the time that they announced that the second (and still currently continuing) season would be broadcast regularly. (Dec 2013 / Ch 060)
⑩ Though the photoshoot took place in May, we had fireworks on the rooftop of a studio near the sea. While the staff were worried that Ninomiya-san might come in contact with the sparks, he looked unconcerned and said, “how big do you think the pillars of flame next to us during concerts are?” (Aug 2014 / Ch 68)
―Page 38―
Ranking for the colours worn in ‘It’: First place, blue
“I tend to dress people that I like in blue,” professed our stylist Iga-san. True to those words, blue came in overwhelmingly in first place with 31 times out of the colours of clothes he chose for ‘It’. Second place was white with 20 times, third was grey and black, with 14 times each. Fifth place was shades of green and red with 10 times each. Also, the frequency of which he wore parkas was at 10% overall, followed by knitted turtle-necks, buttoned shirts and then overalls (jumpsuits), in that order of frequency.
① The cut for this publication was a hood-wearing version. There was a long rainy season in this year, and it was also raining on that July day of this photoshoot. We gave up on shooting ‘on location’, but when the rain abated for a moment, we went onto the rooftop. As a matter of fact, out of the 120 times, it only rained 11 times. In other words, the chance of rain was less than 10%. Ninomiya-san is a true blue good weather charm! (Oct 2015 / Ch 082)
② “You just took shots of my profile,” he said to the cameraman. It just goes to show the power of attraction of Ninomiya-san’s profile. This is the only time he was photographed from the left, facing directly up, though. (Aug 2015 / Ch 080)
③ To commemorate the pre-100th chapter, the 96 chapters’ worth of photos were spread out on the studio floor for the photoshoot. The staff were asked which was their favourite photograph and three of them coincidentally picked the same one. When told this, Ninomiya-san said, “I bet I can guess which one!” After looking at the overall spread for about a minute, he went, “it’s this one, right?” and got it in one shot. (Mar 2017 / Ch 099)
④ Revisiting Daikoku Pier, Yokohama, the location of the first chapter. The first thing he said for the 100th chapter was, “I hate boats”. Struck by the similarities to the first chapter’s “I hate the sea” from 8 years ago, the staff couldn’t help laughing. (Apr 2017 / Ch 100)
⑤ Although there were some frequently chosen colours in the 120 chapters, this was the only time he wore the exact same outfit. Can you guess which chapter had the same outfit? Have a look at pages 32-33. (Dec 2016 / Ch 096)
―Page 39―
Number of times eating during an ‘It’ photoshoot: 5
There were surprisingly few times where he ate during a photoshoot. It might be because of Ninomiya-san repeatedly mentioning how he “isn’t particular about food”. The five items on that meagre menu are carbonara, coffee, hot dogs, a charcoal-fired mixed grill (mushrooms, peppers etc) and wonton noodles.
⑥ He himself has said, “it’s because I don’t eat very prettily (laughs)” and doesn’t seem fond of being photographed as he eats. However, there isn’t the slightest sign of this during the photoshoot while he ate these wonton noodles. Since the portion size was a little large, there was one scene where he asked the cameraman, “want some?” (Jan 2018 / Ch 109)
⑦ It was midsummer and the air-conditioning in this Japanese-style house wasn’t very efficient, hence the photoshoot of him fanning himself with the uchiwa. Still, Ninomiya-san barely broke a sweat and seemed to be enjoying himself talking about games and his gaming buddies. (Oct 2017 / Ch 106)
⑧ There were only 3 times where we visited Ninomiya-san on site of his other jobs. Chapter 110 took place shortly after a live broadcast at a TV station, Chapter 111 was before a recording session, and then this chapter was after filming for a variety show at another TV station. (Sep 2018 / Ch 117)
⑨ It was the end of March; the photoshoot was deliberately done to capture how the cherry blossoms were starting to scatter. It was a little out of sync with the publication timing of this early summer issue of the magazine, but ‘It’ always makes it a point to capture the essence of ‘now’ via the changing flowers, greenery, colour of the sky and so on. (Jul 2018 / Ch 115)
⑩ A museum on its day off. Surrounded by dinosaur fossils of great intensity, he quietly read the information panels and diagrams. Just when we thought he might be a dinosaur enthusiast, he said, “I’m not interested in them”. On top of that - or perhaps he was pre-empting our questions - he said, “I’m not interested in the universe, either”. Incidentally, this was the only time he wore glasses for a shoot for this series. (Jul 2017 / Ch 103)
― Page 40―
Expressionist, philosopher, challenger - all describe Ninomiya Kazunari. For 10 years he’s whole-heartedly continued to walk this path, and he has various hidden sides to him.
Chapter 121
The other side of an idol
The idea to have one shot each from the 120 chapters - a decade’s worth of photos - on a two-page spread was actually proposed by Ninomiya-san. The only thing was, when asked about the various photos his response was, “I totally don’t remember”. He’s often contrary, doesn’t say what’s really on his mind and gives different reasons depending on when you ask, but MORE has been with him for 10 years; that’s exactly why we know you can’t take his words and actions at face value. As proof of that, in the next breath he casually added, “This was the one we shot at Roppongi, right?”
I thought, 'why me'? I still think that even now, though (laughs)
――What’s it like looking back on these 10 years?
“It felt like we shot on location every time. I thought, this team really likes going outdoors, huh?”
――So you didn’t like that, huh?
“Mm, I hate the cold and I hate the heat, too (laughs). The only time of year I didn’t hate was spring, I guess.”
――But you never once said you hated it or asked to stop doing photoshoots outdoors.
“I mean, if you tell people who believe shooting on location is good that it sucks, that’s kinda cruel, right? (laughs) So that’s just kindness on my part (laughs). As far as I’m concerned, all 120 times were location shoots.”
――Any locations that left a lasting impression?
“The time when the snow really piled up (Chapter 40). Despite the fact that it was freezing cold, we shot on the rooftop. And then this one (Chapter 91); I remember thinking that flower shop was really cold. Tokyo Tower (Chapter 84) was the worst. We had to climb stairs like there was no tomorrow in the pouring rain! (laughs) Like, y’know, I’m sure we could find other places with red steel structures if we looked hard enough! (laughs)”
After his litany of complaints, he quietly murmured, “how nostalgic”. This must surely be what he actually feels. In fact, while shooting this issue’s cover, we had an unexpected grumble of “man, I’ve aged” from him. Even if it was partly in jest, that was pretty rare.
――Over the course of this series, the atmosphere and the way the contents were expressed have undergone several stages of transformation. For instance, in the first two years or so, expression-wise there tended to be smiles, though content-wise it wasn’t so cheerful. In the middle, there was more ‘theories on such-and-such’ and then in the latter half, it felt like you talked about things in a more long-term or philosophical view.
“Mm. I guess so. Probably because I’ve also grown up (laughs).”
――When the series started, you were 25 years old. Why did you agree to take it up?
“Because the agency told me, ‘you’re starting a series’. I did wonder why it was in MORE, though. It wasn’t like I’d worked with them much before (laughs).”
――Apparently until about the second year or so, you’d ask ‘why me?’ and ‘when will it end?’ every single time.
“It wasn’t MORE specifically. Personally, I’ve never been good with women’s magazines. I’ve never tried to hide that attitude. The questions that women’s magazines ask may be questions that women want to ask, but as a man, it’s difficult. Say I was asked, ‘what do you reward yourself with after completing a big project?’ and I responded with, ‘the big project itself is my reward’, they’d tell me, ‘some kind of object, please’ (laughs). Since I don’t say the kind of things that girls would like, I’ve never thought that I give a particularly good impression in women’s magazines. Ultimately, it’s just my individual view. The other four always give proper answers and I’ve always thought, ‘how admirable’ while listening from the sidelines (laughs). So I’ve always had that sense of ‘why me?’ from the start. Well, I still do, even now (laughs).”
――You found it that hard to deal with…?
“It’s different with this series. I get to talk freely here, after all. It might be best to just enjoy what you can without dwelling on it too much, but naturally as you gain more experience, there are times when you have to frankly speak up when you don’t like something. If you don’t, your juniors will suffer - that’s something I’ve realised lately. I figure that there are things that we can change. In the past there were times when they’d say idols don’t go to the toilet (laughs). Somewhere along the line, times have changed to the point where that’s the joke. Since times and values are different now, the ways idols ‘should be’ are gradually changing. Same with how I get to talk about the other sides of myself in this series.”
――Did you think of using this series in MORE as a tool to convey the other side of ‘Nino of Arashi’?
“Mm. I guess back then I figured that if I did so, fans would come to understand my personality to some extent, and that it’d also help the readers of MORE get to know what I’m normally thinking about.”
When he was 25, he was already focused on the future, with the mindset of ‘what’s stopping me from being an adult?’. 20 years ago, ever since Arashi’s debut, they were already treated as adults. So for him 10 years ago, he was already an adult.
He doesn’t explore his sense of curiosity, whether in others or himself.
His outlook on work, life, love… We’ve heard all sorts of anecdotes in this series. Even so, ultimately what it boils down to is an unshaken, simple conviction and philosophy. And then over the 10 years, he always kept saying, “I have no interest in myself”.
――Though you’ve been saying you’re not interested, over the past two years or so you’ve been objectively telling us more about yourself.
“Yeah, but that’s just looking at the bigger picture. I don’t have the slightest sense of curiosity. I mean, if I ended up taking an interest in myself, I would gradually become unable to respond to what’s asked of me (laughs). I’d like to be able to keep doing my job unburdened by things. For instance, what if I was actually a really sporty person; I just never really did any sports. But once I know that I excel at running, I might want to take part in a full marathon, and if I clocked up a good time, I might start thinking of trying for the Olympics. Could you support me like that? Or if I listened to music all this while and then got interested in Western music, what would you do if I suddenly said, ‘I can only express myself in entirely English lyrics’? Wouldn’t that be intense? (laughs) It’d be terrible if I ended up going in an unthinkable direction that I couldn’t come back from, right? Right now, I look at my position from an objective viewpoint, but apart from that, I don’t try to explore myself.”
―Page 41―
――Why do you have that mindset?
“Probably because I’ve always been constantly asked about it - about myself. Stuff like, ‘What are you currently obsessed with?’ or ‘What are your hobbies?’. I don’t know how many times I’ve said ‘born 17th June 1983’ in my teens (laughs). When you keep on having to dispatch that sort of information, you start losing interest in yourself. Also, I’ve always thought that I basically don’t understand people, so I’ve never really been the type to feel much of a sense of curiosity about them (laughs). I mean, I’ve been together with the guys in Arashi for about 22 years, but it’s not like I know everything about them (laughs). It’s not like we’ve been together 24/7, 365 days a year. When one of us says, ‘sorry, can you grab that?’, there are still times when we hand over the wrong thing. Of course we have a higher percentage of getting it right than other people. But it’s still not 100%. Even so, I think it’s unreasonable to expect to understand someone’s personality or essence. The only person who can understand you is yourself. If I knew there was someone elsewhere who knew everything about me, I might explore more, though.”
We planted each seed in order to shine at concerts
Well then, could it be through this series that he first found a side of himself? Harbouring a fleeting hope, I asked him that. He immediately squashed that idea: “I suppose so. But as for what that is specifically, I have no idea”. Naturally, this man is as unwavering as ever.
―Page 42―
He calls himself ‘an uneconomical idol’ because he occasionally talks about things that can’t be written about. Not in the sense that he exposes things nobody knows about, but in the sense where things in printed form can be misunderstood and he makes it a point to express himself in a way where it’s difficult to interpret his true intentions. So why does he say things that he knows can’t be used? Here, for the first time, he tells us why he’s so resolute on that point.
――So you say things that you know may not end up in print.
“Mm. I’m a good talent who says enough so that there’s a usable base level of material, of course (laughs). But if I just keep saying unusable stuff, then those around me will have to find something that they can use, otherwise they won’t be able to fill their word-count. So I’m always thinking about what to do so that what I say will remain. That’s the challenge.”
――I didn’t know that. So up until the second year or so, did you feel that the interviews for this series weren’t very pleasant?
“Initially I was still sounding it out, but I really did just go with the real talk in this series. I totally didn’t think of it as a chore or a pain.”
――What made you feel that you could share your other sides with MORE?
“This is just my opinion, but the moment that I feel the most ‘Arashi’ is during concerts. Something that I’m grateful for in Arashi is that we’re a group that gets to do concerts every year. Concerts are the only time when five normal guys you could probably find anywhere get to shine. This new form of idols is something I want to hold dear. I guess it’s something like Ultraman. Once the concert ends, we go back to being normal humans (laughs). As such, for anything other than concerts - be it variety shows or series like this - I want to really leave behind a universal sort of presence where you could really see what’s behind the mask. Girls tend to want to nurture things, right? Like, when someone they’re supporting makes it big, the more mainstream they get, the more there’s a tendency to lose interest (laughs). But at the same time, there’s something that feels good about that sense of ‘though yesterday you were so close by, today you’re beyond my reach’. Once they know that ‘oh, they’re going to come back to me anyway’, then girls feel all the more relieved, after all (laughs). The five of us have planted various seeds outside those concerts in order to allow everyone to feel that way.
――So everything is a means to allow you to shine brighter at concerts.
“That’s right. Like, as long as we’ve really got it down in concerts, then it’s okay for us to lead normal lives, isn’t it? I mean, if we don’t set something up where the bonus is that we get to lead normal lives, then we’d gradually get distanced from society and end up hiding. It’s not that I’m particularly doing anything because I love or hate it, but I’m upfront about things I’m not cool with and I plan to do things freely. So while we’ve eventually gotten the opportunity to do things in that way, we’re also giving our all in creating these concerts for everyone’s sake, sort of like squaring accounts for a year’s worth of doing things like that. That’s my impression of it.”
This series, which may just have gotten to the bottom of things that the man himself says he doesn’t explore, was perhaps a little reckless. Still, all the things he hasn’t talked about so far may just have been things he actually wanted to evade, just like how he carefully matches his responses to the questions and then inadvertently spills some truth... Surely it’s precisely because there have been plenty of those moments that this series has managed to continue up to its 120th chapter while maintaining the same freshness of the first chapter.
One must consider that whatever begins must, at the same time, also end.
We’ve been mesmerised for 10 years by the bottomless depths of the elusive person called Ninomiya Kazunari. Could it be that we’ve learned a little about the other side of ‘Nino of Arashi’?
――Would it be correct to say that?
“You think so, right? Then it must be so. Congrats! (laughs)”
――The way you put it...
“Hahaha, no, I think you have. But this series is actually ending, right?”
――Yes. There’s two more chapters left...
“You know, you should try re-reading what I said in the first chapter.”
―― “Whatever begins must, at the same time, eventually meet its end one day”. Why did you say something like that?
“Well, in my life, it’s always been a series of losses. You might think, ‘yeah, right!’, but the only things that I’ve received the chance to do that have lasted for long are ‘VS Arashi’ and ‘Arashi ni Shiyagare’ and the radio show ‘BAY STORM’. It’s just these three now. It might sound strange, but I was grateful I was given advance notice that it'd be the last chapter soon. I’ve had things suddenly end on me, after all. Once you’ve experienced that, well, it gets you thinking. Whatever begins will eventually come to an end.”
――So in this case?
“I guess it’s like ‘graduating’, right? Like, ‘I’m graduating from being a MORE model!’, that sort of thing.”
――Could it be that what you thought when this began - that this series would be a way of sharing the other sides of an idol - to some extent, you've accomplished that, so its role is over?
“Well, that's something I'd be embarrassed to admit, but... (laughs). But all things come to an end. Nothing lives forever. Not that I think death is the end. Ah, should I have said something like, ‘except music’ or ‘except for one’s sense of values’ or something? (laughs)”
The way he laughed it off was mixed with a torrent of light banter. But we know that's Ninomiya-san's brand of kindness, to joke about things. I tried asking if he could now feel the impending end of this series.
"You've been really good company over these 10 years. Thank you, folks."
Likewise from us. He doesn't evade it or act shy about it; he gives an unexpectedly straight answer. In the next two issues, what more will we hear from him? Although we’re truly reluctant to think of parting, whatever it is, we look forward to it.
- - - - -
Kazunari Ninomiya
Born 17th June 1983 in Tokyo. Currently in the midst of their 5-Dome concert tour, ‘ARASHI Anniversary Tour 5x20’ to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Arashi’s debut. He’s never forced a smile for a photoshoot for this series, but he has, while on location, patted the head of a boy toddling past and said, “you’ve grown!” with a full-faced smile. The air was instantly brighter; we just witnessed the power of the ‘other side’ of an idol!
|| Words / Matsuyama Kozue ||| Photography / Emori Yasuyuki ||
|| Hair & Makeup / Hattori Yukio ||| Stylist / Iga Daisuke (band) ||
You can get the full scans here.
(EDIT 20190111: Updated with images!)
―Page 31―
It {一途}
10th Anniversary Special
'Thank You'
It's been 10 years since the series started in the Jan 2009 issue. He has unwavering conviction within him and feelings that he won't confess to anyone even after being asked 120 times. MORE has been closely observing him all this while; what truths does he reveal exclusively to us?
―Page 32-33―
―Page 34―
A long-awaited first-time release! The treasured 'It' album
'It' takes, on average, 60 shots per month. 120 chapters' worth means over 7200 shots. Here are some of those previously unreleased shots published for the first time!
Overall word count for 'It': 274,197
Even if the theme had been set beforehand, the topic would gradually shift, broaden and deepen in the flow of the conversation for 'It'. There was many a time when he gave us memorable quotes from his views on work and life, packed with philosophical 'Ninoisms', so to speak. In the 10 years, every month would have a discovery or a precious lesson of some kind.
① It was the latter part of March 2009. It was a nice warm day and he was tossing a ball back and forth with stylist Iga-san by a dry riverbed. From the accuracy and speed of his throws, one wouldn't have guessed that it had been a while since he'd done this. His nimble jump-catches and backwards-catches surprised the staff; at which he merely grinned and quipped, "It's because I'm an idol!" (Jun 2009 / Ch 006)
② The commemorative first chapter. Due to its image of launches and setting sail, the photoshoot took place at Daikoku Pier, Yokohama. Everyone was nervous as this was the first chapter. As soon as he got out from the location bus and began walking, he absently murmured, "I hate the sea (laughs)". Although it flustered cameraman Emori-san at the time, it makes for a great memory now. (Jan 2009 / Ch 001)
③ At some backstreet, in a Roppongi that was right in the midst of redevelopment back then. During the photoshoot, he sat on a guardrail looking somewhat sleepy while leaning on an iron railing; it was a session where he didn't even smile once, for some reason. (Apr 2009 / Ch 004)
④ It was a calm early afternoon in autumn, on the rooftop of a studio in the city when he flashed this cherubic smile. No doubt the satisfied expression came from Arashi’s 10th anniversary tour that began with concerts at the Kasumigaoka National Stadium. (Dec 2009 / Ch 012)
⑤ This photoshoot took place at the house where cameraman Emori-san lived in back then. When Ninomiya-san was shown the 120 chapters’ worth of photos for our current interview, the first thing he said was, “this was at Emo’s place, right?” as he pointed out this shot. (Mar 2010 / Ch 015)
―Page 35―
Number of times Arashi featured in conversation: 49
The one who cropped up the most was Aiba Masaki-san. Ranging from memories from their Johnny’s Junior days to the secret of Aiba-san’s kindness, the frequency at which he came up was about once every 2-3 chapters. Come to think of it, it seemed like he was the member that was most constantly by Ninomiya-san’s side. This was also apparent in Chapter 120 when Ninomiya-san said, “Apart from these 4, there’s nobody else in the world who understands my concerns or feelings about my job”.
⑥ Back then, when it came to Ninomiya-san, it was all about playing card magic. So when it came to commemorating the series’ 3rd anniversary, he played Old Maid with all the staff there on that day. In the course of the game, he managed to keep up the banter while skillfully making no mistakes, not showing the slightest indication that he could lose no matter how many rounds they played. However, the grin and the triumphant pose he reflexively struck the moment he won made everyone smile. (Jan 2011 / Ch 025)
⑦ Surprisingly not venturing out of the studio for once, the theme of this photoshoot was ‘mod fashion’. Although he wrapped up the shoot with a cool air, once it came down to the interview, he was happily talking about his comedian friends. (Aug 2011 / Ch 032)
⑧ This photoshoot and interview took place in an old eatery located in Shin-Okubo. There were a lot of people around during that summer evening, but like a chameleon he naturally blended into the hustle and bustle. (Oct 2010 / Ch 022)
⑨ For our cameraman’s request of ‘as if really going for a walk in one’s neighbourhood’, he relaxed as he strolled by the riverside for a while. Although it was in the midst of the late August heat and he was wearing a parka for the shoot, he didn’t sweat a single drop. (Nov 2011 / Ch 035)
⑩ This photoshoot took place a month after the Tohoku earthquake. With his declaration of “sunflowers that will make anyone who sees them smile”, he drew a whole bunch on the 2 metre canvas which even had himself uncharacteristically brimming over with smiles. (Jul 2011 / Ch 031)
―Page 36―
Number of works that he acted in during ‘It’ series: 22
'It’ began while he was in the midst of filming the drama, ‘Ryūsei no Kizuna’ (lit. ‘Meteor Bonds’). After that, he appeared in various acclaimed works such as the dramas ‘Freeter, Ie wo Kau’ (lit. ‘Freeter Buys a House’), ‘Yowakutemo Katemasu - Aoshi Sensei to Heppoko Kōkō Kyūji no Yabō’ (English title: ‘Baseball Brainiacs’), ‘Akamedaka’ (lit. ‘Red Killifish’), ‘Botchan’ (lit. ‘Young Master’), ‘Black Pean’, stageplay ‘Mishiranu Jōkyaku’ (English title: ‘Strangers on a Train’), movie ‘Ōoku’ (English title: ‘The Inner Chambers’), ‘GANTZ’, ‘Platinum Data’, ‘Ansatsu Kyōshitsu’ (lit. ‘Assassination Classroom’), ‘Haha to Kuraseba’ (English title: ‘Nagasaki: Memories of My Son’), ‘Last Recipe - Kirin no Shita no Kioku’ (lit. ‘Last Recipe - Memories of Giraffe’s Tongue’), ‘Kensatsugawa no Zainin’ (English title: ‘Killing for the Prosecution’) and so on.
① When seated at a table, he often settled into this pose even without being told. During the photoshoot, he used the notebook computer that was brought in as a prop to browse news sites and as though talking to himself, gave this thoughts on news that caught his attention. (Feb 2012 / Ch 038)
② At the cameraman’s request, he was dressed in an outfit inspired by Miyamoto Hiroji of Elephant Kashimashi. Our stylist was pretty particular about the details, from the way the buttons were left unfastened to the way the sleeves were rolled. (Aug 2012 / Ch 044)
③ Similar to the ‘resting chin on arms’ pose, the ‘face on table’ pose also often made an appearance. Others include the standard poses ‘squatting slightly and looking small’ and ‘loitering with both hands in his pockets’. When it comes to photoshoots, the cameraman avoided giving directions as far as possible so that his expressions and poses would appear natural. (Feb 2013 / Ch 050)
④ He went blond for the sake of his drama ‘Kurumaisu de Boku wa Sora wo Tobu’ (lit. ‘I’ll Soar to the Skies in my Wheelchair’). During the 10 years of serialisation, his hair has varied a little in length, but this was the only time there was a major change in colour. He mentioned that in order to bring out the reality of the role, he deliberately had his hair bleached a little earlier so that the black roots would be visible as it grew out. (Sep 2012 / Ch 045)
⑤ This was shot at a certain designer’s house. As this was during busy December, our cameraman figured he must be tired and told him, “You can sleep if you want”. At that, he kept his eyes shut for the whole time and appeared to have really fallen asleep. (Mar 2012 / Chapter 39)
―Page 37―
Number of times ‘It’ was shot on location: 96
Initially, when we defined ‘on location’ as ‘anywhere besides in a studio or house studio’, the count was 88. But the moment Ninomiya-san saw that number, he exclaimed, “That can’t be right! It was 120 times on location!” To Ninomiya-san, “anywhere I can feel a breeze is 'on location'. The rooftop of a studio is also a location”. After a recount using that definition, the result was that 80% of the shoots were on location. On what he secretly thought about “such a location-loving series”; all is disclosed on page 40!
⑥ This was a rare session where we had a glimpse into his workplace, as the photoshoot was done in the studio dressing room. Incidentally, Ninomiya-san normally just has his hair done and doesn’t take much time. Mysteriously enough, his skin seems to get clearer every year. (May 2014 / Ch 065)
⑦ For some reason, construction sites tend to periodically crop up in ‘It’ photoshoots. Maybe it goes with the air of ‘where something is being created’ of the series. For this session, we obtained special permission to shoot in the construction site of the current TV Tokyo Headquarters. When Ninomiya-san reminisced, “in the past, there used to be a hotel here that was famous for being very old”, even the construction staff were surprised. (Jun 2014 / Ch 066)
⑧ When readers were asked to vote for their favourite photo to commemorate the pre-100 chapter of the series, this was the chapter that got second place. Even back when this issue of the magazine was being sold, everyone was talking about this ‘serious sex appeal’. The rhinestone-studded necktie was specially made for this photoshoot. (Sep 2014 / Ch 069)
⑨ This is the expression of one used to being told they look ‘eternally 17’. The first season of his variety show ‘Nino-san’ began in the spring of that year, and this was shot around the time that they announced that the second (and still currently continuing) season would be broadcast regularly. (Dec 2013 / Ch 060)
⑩ Though the photoshoot took place in May, we had fireworks on the rooftop of a studio near the sea. While the staff were worried that Ninomiya-san might come in contact with the sparks, he looked unconcerned and said, “how big do you think the pillars of flame next to us during concerts are?” (Aug 2014 / Ch 68)
―Page 38―
Ranking for the colours worn in ‘It’: First place, blue
“I tend to dress people that I like in blue,” professed our stylist Iga-san. True to those words, blue came in overwhelmingly in first place with 31 times out of the colours of clothes he chose for ‘It’. Second place was white with 20 times, third was grey and black, with 14 times each. Fifth place was shades of green and red with 10 times each. Also, the frequency of which he wore parkas was at 10% overall, followed by knitted turtle-necks, buttoned shirts and then overalls (jumpsuits), in that order of frequency.
① The cut for this publication was a hood-wearing version. There was a long rainy season in this year, and it was also raining on that July day of this photoshoot. We gave up on shooting ‘on location’, but when the rain abated for a moment, we went onto the rooftop. As a matter of fact, out of the 120 times, it only rained 11 times. In other words, the chance of rain was less than 10%. Ninomiya-san is a true blue good weather charm! (Oct 2015 / Ch 082)
② “You just took shots of my profile,” he said to the cameraman. It just goes to show the power of attraction of Ninomiya-san’s profile. This is the only time he was photographed from the left, facing directly up, though. (Aug 2015 / Ch 080)
③ To commemorate the pre-100th chapter, the 96 chapters’ worth of photos were spread out on the studio floor for the photoshoot. The staff were asked which was their favourite photograph and three of them coincidentally picked the same one. When told this, Ninomiya-san said, “I bet I can guess which one!” After looking at the overall spread for about a minute, he went, “it’s this one, right?” and got it in one shot. (Mar 2017 / Ch 099)
④ Revisiting Daikoku Pier, Yokohama, the location of the first chapter. The first thing he said for the 100th chapter was, “I hate boats”. Struck by the similarities to the first chapter’s “I hate the sea” from 8 years ago, the staff couldn’t help laughing. (Apr 2017 / Ch 100)
⑤ Although there were some frequently chosen colours in the 120 chapters, this was the only time he wore the exact same outfit. Can you guess which chapter had the same outfit? Have a look at pages 32-33. (Dec 2016 / Ch 096)
―Page 39―
Number of times eating during an ‘It’ photoshoot: 5
There were surprisingly few times where he ate during a photoshoot. It might be because of Ninomiya-san repeatedly mentioning how he “isn’t particular about food”. The five items on that meagre menu are carbonara, coffee, hot dogs, a charcoal-fired mixed grill (mushrooms, peppers etc) and wonton noodles.
⑥ He himself has said, “it’s because I don’t eat very prettily (laughs)” and doesn’t seem fond of being photographed as he eats. However, there isn’t the slightest sign of this during the photoshoot while he ate these wonton noodles. Since the portion size was a little large, there was one scene where he asked the cameraman, “want some?” (Jan 2018 / Ch 109)
⑦ It was midsummer and the air-conditioning in this Japanese-style house wasn’t very efficient, hence the photoshoot of him fanning himself with the uchiwa. Still, Ninomiya-san barely broke a sweat and seemed to be enjoying himself talking about games and his gaming buddies. (Oct 2017 / Ch 106)
⑧ There were only 3 times where we visited Ninomiya-san on site of his other jobs. Chapter 110 took place shortly after a live broadcast at a TV station, Chapter 111 was before a recording session, and then this chapter was after filming for a variety show at another TV station. (Sep 2018 / Ch 117)
⑨ It was the end of March; the photoshoot was deliberately done to capture how the cherry blossoms were starting to scatter. It was a little out of sync with the publication timing of this early summer issue of the magazine, but ‘It’ always makes it a point to capture the essence of ‘now’ via the changing flowers, greenery, colour of the sky and so on. (Jul 2018 / Ch 115)
⑩ A museum on its day off. Surrounded by dinosaur fossils of great intensity, he quietly read the information panels and diagrams. Just when we thought he might be a dinosaur enthusiast, he said, “I’m not interested in them”. On top of that - or perhaps he was pre-empting our questions - he said, “I’m not interested in the universe, either”. Incidentally, this was the only time he wore glasses for a shoot for this series. (Jul 2017 / Ch 103)
― Page 40―
Expressionist, philosopher, challenger - all describe Ninomiya Kazunari. For 10 years he’s whole-heartedly continued to walk this path, and he has various hidden sides to him.
Chapter 121
The other side of an idol
The idea to have one shot each from the 120 chapters - a decade’s worth of photos - on a two-page spread was actually proposed by Ninomiya-san. The only thing was, when asked about the various photos his response was, “I totally don’t remember”. He’s often contrary, doesn’t say what’s really on his mind and gives different reasons depending on when you ask, but MORE has been with him for 10 years; that’s exactly why we know you can’t take his words and actions at face value. As proof of that, in the next breath he casually added, “This was the one we shot at Roppongi, right?”
I thought, 'why me'? I still think that even now, though (laughs)
――What’s it like looking back on these 10 years?
“It felt like we shot on location every time. I thought, this team really likes going outdoors, huh?”
――So you didn’t like that, huh?
“Mm, I hate the cold and I hate the heat, too (laughs). The only time of year I didn’t hate was spring, I guess.”
――But you never once said you hated it or asked to stop doing photoshoots outdoors.
“I mean, if you tell people who believe shooting on location is good that it sucks, that’s kinda cruel, right? (laughs) So that’s just kindness on my part (laughs). As far as I’m concerned, all 120 times were location shoots.”
――Any locations that left a lasting impression?
“The time when the snow really piled up (Chapter 40). Despite the fact that it was freezing cold, we shot on the rooftop. And then this one (Chapter 91); I remember thinking that flower shop was really cold. Tokyo Tower (Chapter 84) was the worst. We had to climb stairs like there was no tomorrow in the pouring rain! (laughs) Like, y’know, I’m sure we could find other places with red steel structures if we looked hard enough! (laughs)”
After his litany of complaints, he quietly murmured, “how nostalgic”. This must surely be what he actually feels. In fact, while shooting this issue’s cover, we had an unexpected grumble of “man, I’ve aged” from him. Even if it was partly in jest, that was pretty rare.
――Over the course of this series, the atmosphere and the way the contents were expressed have undergone several stages of transformation. For instance, in the first two years or so, expression-wise there tended to be smiles, though content-wise it wasn’t so cheerful. In the middle, there was more ‘theories on such-and-such’ and then in the latter half, it felt like you talked about things in a more long-term or philosophical view.
“Mm. I guess so. Probably because I’ve also grown up (laughs).”
――When the series started, you were 25 years old. Why did you agree to take it up?
“Because the agency told me, ‘you’re starting a series’. I did wonder why it was in MORE, though. It wasn’t like I’d worked with them much before (laughs).”
――Apparently until about the second year or so, you’d ask ‘why me?’ and ‘when will it end?’ every single time.
“It wasn’t MORE specifically. Personally, I’ve never been good with women’s magazines. I’ve never tried to hide that attitude. The questions that women’s magazines ask may be questions that women want to ask, but as a man, it’s difficult. Say I was asked, ‘what do you reward yourself with after completing a big project?’ and I responded with, ‘the big project itself is my reward’, they’d tell me, ‘some kind of object, please’ (laughs). Since I don’t say the kind of things that girls would like, I’ve never thought that I give a particularly good impression in women’s magazines. Ultimately, it’s just my individual view. The other four always give proper answers and I’ve always thought, ‘how admirable’ while listening from the sidelines (laughs). So I’ve always had that sense of ‘why me?’ from the start. Well, I still do, even now (laughs).”
――You found it that hard to deal with…?
“It’s different with this series. I get to talk freely here, after all. It might be best to just enjoy what you can without dwelling on it too much, but naturally as you gain more experience, there are times when you have to frankly speak up when you don’t like something. If you don’t, your juniors will suffer - that’s something I’ve realised lately. I figure that there are things that we can change. In the past there were times when they’d say idols don’t go to the toilet (laughs). Somewhere along the line, times have changed to the point where that’s the joke. Since times and values are different now, the ways idols ‘should be’ are gradually changing. Same with how I get to talk about the other sides of myself in this series.”
――Did you think of using this series in MORE as a tool to convey the other side of ‘Nino of Arashi’?
“Mm. I guess back then I figured that if I did so, fans would come to understand my personality to some extent, and that it’d also help the readers of MORE get to know what I’m normally thinking about.”
When he was 25, he was already focused on the future, with the mindset of ‘what’s stopping me from being an adult?’. 20 years ago, ever since Arashi’s debut, they were already treated as adults. So for him 10 years ago, he was already an adult.
He doesn’t explore his sense of curiosity, whether in others or himself.
His outlook on work, life, love… We’ve heard all sorts of anecdotes in this series. Even so, ultimately what it boils down to is an unshaken, simple conviction and philosophy. And then over the 10 years, he always kept saying, “I have no interest in myself”.
――Though you’ve been saying you’re not interested, over the past two years or so you’ve been objectively telling us more about yourself.
“Yeah, but that’s just looking at the bigger picture. I don’t have the slightest sense of curiosity. I mean, if I ended up taking an interest in myself, I would gradually become unable to respond to what’s asked of me (laughs). I’d like to be able to keep doing my job unburdened by things. For instance, what if I was actually a really sporty person; I just never really did any sports. But once I know that I excel at running, I might want to take part in a full marathon, and if I clocked up a good time, I might start thinking of trying for the Olympics. Could you support me like that? Or if I listened to music all this while and then got interested in Western music, what would you do if I suddenly said, ‘I can only express myself in entirely English lyrics’? Wouldn’t that be intense? (laughs) It’d be terrible if I ended up going in an unthinkable direction that I couldn’t come back from, right? Right now, I look at my position from an objective viewpoint, but apart from that, I don’t try to explore myself.”
―Page 41―
――Why do you have that mindset?
“Probably because I’ve always been constantly asked about it - about myself. Stuff like, ‘What are you currently obsessed with?’ or ‘What are your hobbies?’. I don’t know how many times I’ve said ‘born 17th June 1983’ in my teens (laughs). When you keep on having to dispatch that sort of information, you start losing interest in yourself. Also, I’ve always thought that I basically don’t understand people, so I’ve never really been the type to feel much of a sense of curiosity about them (laughs). I mean, I’ve been together with the guys in Arashi for about 22 years, but it’s not like I know everything about them (laughs). It’s not like we’ve been together 24/7, 365 days a year. When one of us says, ‘sorry, can you grab that?’, there are still times when we hand over the wrong thing. Of course we have a higher percentage of getting it right than other people. But it’s still not 100%. Even so, I think it’s unreasonable to expect to understand someone’s personality or essence. The only person who can understand you is yourself. If I knew there was someone elsewhere who knew everything about me, I might explore more, though.”
We planted each seed in order to shine at concerts
Well then, could it be through this series that he first found a side of himself? Harbouring a fleeting hope, I asked him that. He immediately squashed that idea: “I suppose so. But as for what that is specifically, I have no idea”. Naturally, this man is as unwavering as ever.
―Page 42―
He calls himself ‘an uneconomical idol’ because he occasionally talks about things that can’t be written about. Not in the sense that he exposes things nobody knows about, but in the sense where things in printed form can be misunderstood and he makes it a point to express himself in a way where it’s difficult to interpret his true intentions. So why does he say things that he knows can’t be used? Here, for the first time, he tells us why he’s so resolute on that point.
――So you say things that you know may not end up in print.
“Mm. I’m a good talent who says enough so that there’s a usable base level of material, of course (laughs). But if I just keep saying unusable stuff, then those around me will have to find something that they can use, otherwise they won’t be able to fill their word-count. So I’m always thinking about what to do so that what I say will remain. That’s the challenge.”
――I didn’t know that. So up until the second year or so, did you feel that the interviews for this series weren’t very pleasant?
“Initially I was still sounding it out, but I really did just go with the real talk in this series. I totally didn’t think of it as a chore or a pain.”
――What made you feel that you could share your other sides with MORE?
“This is just my opinion, but the moment that I feel the most ‘Arashi’ is during concerts. Something that I’m grateful for in Arashi is that we’re a group that gets to do concerts every year. Concerts are the only time when five normal guys you could probably find anywhere get to shine. This new form of idols is something I want to hold dear. I guess it’s something like Ultraman. Once the concert ends, we go back to being normal humans (laughs). As such, for anything other than concerts - be it variety shows or series like this - I want to really leave behind a universal sort of presence where you could really see what’s behind the mask. Girls tend to want to nurture things, right? Like, when someone they’re supporting makes it big, the more mainstream they get, the more there’s a tendency to lose interest (laughs). But at the same time, there’s something that feels good about that sense of ‘though yesterday you were so close by, today you’re beyond my reach’. Once they know that ‘oh, they’re going to come back to me anyway’, then girls feel all the more relieved, after all (laughs). The five of us have planted various seeds outside those concerts in order to allow everyone to feel that way.
――So everything is a means to allow you to shine brighter at concerts.
“That’s right. Like, as long as we’ve really got it down in concerts, then it’s okay for us to lead normal lives, isn’t it? I mean, if we don’t set something up where the bonus is that we get to lead normal lives, then we’d gradually get distanced from society and end up hiding. It’s not that I’m particularly doing anything because I love or hate it, but I’m upfront about things I’m not cool with and I plan to do things freely. So while we’ve eventually gotten the opportunity to do things in that way, we’re also giving our all in creating these concerts for everyone’s sake, sort of like squaring accounts for a year’s worth of doing things like that. That’s my impression of it.”
This series, which may just have gotten to the bottom of things that the man himself says he doesn’t explore, was perhaps a little reckless. Still, all the things he hasn’t talked about so far may just have been things he actually wanted to evade, just like how he carefully matches his responses to the questions and then inadvertently spills some truth... Surely it’s precisely because there have been plenty of those moments that this series has managed to continue up to its 120th chapter while maintaining the same freshness of the first chapter.
One must consider that whatever begins must, at the same time, also end.
We’ve been mesmerised for 10 years by the bottomless depths of the elusive person called Ninomiya Kazunari. Could it be that we’ve learned a little about the other side of ‘Nino of Arashi’?
――Would it be correct to say that?
“You think so, right? Then it must be so. Congrats! (laughs)”
――The way you put it...
“Hahaha, no, I think you have. But this series is actually ending, right?”
――Yes. There’s two more chapters left...
“You know, you should try re-reading what I said in the first chapter.”
―― “Whatever begins must, at the same time, eventually meet its end one day”. Why did you say something like that?
“Well, in my life, it’s always been a series of losses. You might think, ‘yeah, right!’, but the only things that I’ve received the chance to do that have lasted for long are ‘VS Arashi’ and ‘Arashi ni Shiyagare’ and the radio show ‘BAY STORM’. It’s just these three now. It might sound strange, but I was grateful I was given advance notice that it'd be the last chapter soon. I’ve had things suddenly end on me, after all. Once you’ve experienced that, well, it gets you thinking. Whatever begins will eventually come to an end.”
――So in this case?
“I guess it’s like ‘graduating’, right? Like, ‘I’m graduating from being a MORE model!’, that sort of thing.”
――Could it be that what you thought when this began - that this series would be a way of sharing the other sides of an idol - to some extent, you've accomplished that, so its role is over?
“Well, that's something I'd be embarrassed to admit, but... (laughs). But all things come to an end. Nothing lives forever. Not that I think death is the end. Ah, should I have said something like, ‘except music’ or ‘except for one’s sense of values’ or something? (laughs)”
The way he laughed it off was mixed with a torrent of light banter. But we know that's Ninomiya-san's brand of kindness, to joke about things. I tried asking if he could now feel the impending end of this series.
"You've been really good company over these 10 years. Thank you, folks."
Likewise from us. He doesn't evade it or act shy about it; he gives an unexpectedly straight answer. In the next two issues, what more will we hear from him? Although we’re truly reluctant to think of parting, whatever it is, we look forward to it.
- - - - -
Kazunari Ninomiya
Born 17th June 1983 in Tokyo. Currently in the midst of their 5-Dome concert tour, ‘ARASHI Anniversary Tour 5x20’ to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Arashi’s debut. He’s never forced a smile for a photoshoot for this series, but he has, while on location, patted the head of a boy toddling past and said, “you’ve grown!” with a full-faced smile. The air was instantly brighter; we just witnessed the power of the ‘other side’ of an idol!
|| Words / Matsuyama Kozue ||| Photography / Emori Yasuyuki ||
|| Hair & Makeup / Hattori Yukio ||| Stylist / Iga Daisuke (band) ||
You can get the full scans here.