[Translation] Yume Yori, Kame. LONG INTERVIEW [part 2]
part 1
[Translation by YooLeeAna]
(Both Japanese and English are not my native languages. I'm still learning, and I'm sorry in advance if there're any mistakes in the translation 人(_ _*) )
(page 153)
While Yamapi has hundreds of fans, I only have like 2.
The first major turning point for the Kamenashi boy came when he was accepted into the Johnny's Jimusho in the first year of his junior high school.
- Do you have any memorable memories of your first day at Johnny's?
“I remember on the day of the audition, I was the only one wearing an out of fashion jersey. Everyone else was wearing the trendy Adidas, but I was wearing my dad's jersey, so I thought I would never make it. There were about 400 of us, and only about 15 people were left to watch the senpai's dance practice.
I remember when Takki and Yamapi, who had already been on TV, walked in, I thought they all looked shiny. Half of the 15 people who qualified were selected as A-grade and were interviewed on the same day. Among the ones who remain to this day are Nakamaru (Yuichi), Fujigaya (Taisuke), Tsukada (Ryoichi ) and others. On the other hand, Masuda (Takahisa) and I were in the B-grade.
I thought that I had failed after all, and it wasn't like I really wanted to join. I went to lessons at first, but it clashed with my baseball practice, and I gradually stopped going. But one day Johnny-san called me directly and called me to the studio. He treated me to unagi (eel) on the way home. He asked me, "YOU, why aren't you coming?” I replied, "Because I want to play baseball," and Johnny-san said, "Then let's play baseball at Johnny’s!”
At first, he had no positive attitude or ambition towards this world. The change of heart came in his second year since he joined the company, when he became the youngest person to be selected by KinKi Kids and V6 as one of the 16 junior members to join their national tour.
“At that time, my feeling was "Why me?" Because the other selected juniors were either popular ones like Yamapi and Toma (Ikuta) or veteran juniors who were sure of their dancing skills. In Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka, Matsumoto, Ninomiya, and Aiba, who were already nationally known as Arashi, were all there.
I was both the youngest and had almost no skills or popularity, so I would be scolded and made fun of by everyone. Toma was my mentor and he would say, "I can't help it." I couldn't catch up, even though he would enthusiastically teach me every night.
Moreover, I'm a tough guy by nature and I was dancing with a rebellious, and competitive spirit, which must have irritated the senpais even more (laughs). In the end, we got along well, but I can help but still remember feeling awfully uncomfortable.
After that, there are also many memories that I am not so happy with. The one I’ll never forget is when I went to work at NHK in Shibuya after junior high school, and we were walking together with Akanishi (Jin) and Yamapi, who I used to hang out with back then, and there were a lot of fans behind both of them. At that time, there were about 40 people behind Akanishi and hundreds of people behind Yamapi. But there were only like two people behind me (laughs).
Both Akanishi and Yamapi had already been on TV and were very popular, but even though I had experience touring all over Japan, I wasn't very well known or popular yet. After appearing in "Kinpachi Sensei," the number of fans increased, but it was still quite small.
As I mentioned in the series, the person at the agency I consulted about my high school career told me, "You're the kind of junior that would be swept away with a broom, so we can't send you to a high school that has artist program. I remember hearing those words together with my mother and crying in front of her on the way home.
Because, you know, I've been friends with people like Yamapi and those guys who used to come to my house and hang out with me, I always thought that "We are the same", and that we could go to the same high school. So I was really frustrated because I felt like I was the only one who was thrown out. I really wanted to quit the agency at that time, however President Johnny stopped me once again and I decided to stay.
But now that I think about it, it was because I went through a lot of bitter experiences that I developed determination and a rebellious spirit. I think that being forcible separated from my playmates helped me develop my current stance of "surviving as a lone wolf".
part 3