Translation With Member Solo Interview
大野智
Q: The impression of Arashi members before debut?
O: Matsujun was very small. I saw his photo for the first time in Junior Meikan (an introduction book of Jhonny’s Jr. which published from 1996-2004). I was surprised to find out that cute boy would be in our group. For Nino, I have no first impression about him. I thought that I’ve met him somewhere, his presence was like a relative. He came to Kyoto to watch my stage play, we played badminton all the time during our free time. Sho-chan and I were close in term of age, we talked about many things. He was the fastest in following the color contact lens trend among the juniors. I talked properly with Aiba-chan for the first time when I met him during the junior concert. I got the impression that he was so easy to talk with. I don’t remember what we’re talking about, but we had so much fun, albeit that was our first meeting.
Q: What kind of performance do you want the other members to do if you are told to become the director?
O: (Immediate answer) I refuse!! I definitely will do something out of the box. I’m sure that the staffs and the audiences will think ‘what makes they did that kind of performance?’ and I’m sure the members will think the same way, something like ‘why do we need to do this in the first place?’. Perhaps I’ll have them to do some surrealism stuff and will watch that awkwardness from afar (laugh).
Q: What if you have a chance to give the members a present in a form of a house, a second house, or a workshop?
O: Tatami house for Matsujun, something like a mini temple, so he can relax and recharge there when he gets tired. A small boat for Nino, because I want him to overcome his seasickness (laugh). A kitchen for Sho-chan, completed with professional cooking tools. I’ll fill the fridge with various ingredients and I’ll tell him to cook whatever he likes. I really want to put him in such situation. A training room for Aiba-chan, I wonder if he would kick and punch the sandbag with sweat all over his body. I’ll be recording them in each room with my camera (laugh).
Q: What kind of movie/stage play do you want the members to get involved?
O: I want Matsujun to be featured in a month documentary. Something like ‘Jyonetsu Rikujo (on fire land)’, but let’s erase the ‘passion’ part, I don’t need any ‘on fire’ comment from him. I love the movie ‘Cast Away’, that’s one is for Nino. A story about a man who must survive in a non-habitant island. Of course, there’s no game there, I wonder what will Nino do in such condition (laugh). A drama series with no script for Sho-chan, because he always plays a drama with many scripts, fufu. I want Aiba-chan to act on a stage play. But, I won’t become a director for them, I only want to see something different.
櫻井翔
Q: If you can swift yourself with the other member 20 years ago before debut, what will you do?
S: I want to become Ohno-san and tried to paint. I think someone who can paint, capture and see the things in different way. It’ll be interesting if I can have that talent and paint something. Aiba-kun has been so stylish, I want to try and enjoy his sense of fashion. Nino had become a catcher in baseball tournament, I don’t understand baseball at all, so I’d love to try. Matsujun…mmmm, I’ve heard that there were many public figures in his high school, I want to know how it felt to be there (laugh).
Q: What kind of performance do you want the other members to do if you are told to become the director?
S: I want Ohno-san to sing a ballad song. Something which isn’t extreme ballad, where we can watch his dance too. I want to hear him singing. For Aiba-kun, he has been doing the challenging things. He even climbed up onto a single cloth, so I think the only thing left is trapeze. The continuation of “he can do something like that!?” series. I want Nino to play guitar while singing, he had played an electric guitar before, this time, I want him to play acoustic with a soft melody song. I want something flashy for Matsujun, perhaps dancing and singing like Michael Jackson. I want him to use all kind of complicated lighting technique, something that no one has ever seen before, maybe it’s more like letting him do something he likes (laugh).
Q: Where do you like the other members to stay?
S: A house on the shore for Ohno-san. Like what we’ll find in Kahala, Hawaii. Aiba-kun loves outdoor activities, a place where he can do gardening with many trees around it. Nino tends to stay indoor all the time (laugh). A place nearby shopping district, where he can enjoy his daily life. Matsujun will be in the middle of New York, he loves watching stage plays and concert, so perhaps a place where he can go back and forth to Broadway.
Q: What kind of movies/dramas you want the other members to play?
S: Action movie for Ohno-san, he did amazing action in ‘Shinobi no Kuni’. I think Aiba-kun also fit for action. He watched ‘Mission Impossible’ a while ago, he loves that kind of genre. Ohno-san can play an action like Bruce Lee with all the complicated movement, meanwhile Aiba-kun like Tom Cruise, with impossible movement. Aiba-kun works for many varieties shows and do a lot of physical activities, I wonder why he’s still alive (laugh). I want Nino to act for Taiga Drama, perhaps playing an important historical figure like Ninomiya Kinjiro (laugh). SF for Matsujun, there’s a drama which us ‘black mirror’ technique, I want to see something futuristic like SF.
二宮和成
Q: Can you tell us about the members’ evolution after twenty years?
N: I didn’t pay attention at each member (laugh). Sometimes, all of us work for a project outside of Arashi. For these twenty years, I think a lot of things have changed, depend on those works we’ve done before. That’s why people still watch and listen to Arashi even now. I think we can call it an evolution. The experience shaped people, I think it applies to everyone. But I think what change the most after twenty years is the feeling of having a plenty of leeway (I don’t know how to translate yoyuu to English, it’s more difficult that I thought). That’s the biggest evolution beside getting older.
Q: Have you thought something like “I don’t want to get older”?
N: For twenty years, Arashi has never experienced a decay, it applies to our physical strength as well. I think because we’ve been trying to do our best in order to fulfill everyone’s expectation. Of course, we’ve been declining in term of skill and physical strength, we can’t deny that, but I think the fans support us not just because we were in our teens or twenties. That’s why it’s better to focus on what we can do now. I never think of ‘wasted away.”
Q: What if you can switch with the other member 20 years ago?
N: I don’t really remember how was everyone doing that time (bitter laugh). If I can tell our younger self from my present time, I will say ‘if you work on everything seriously, good think will wait for you’. That’s all, I guess.
Q: What kind of solo performance do you want the other members to perform?
N: That’s difficult. It isn’t my job to do that and I don’t think I’m capable enough (bitter laugh). I’m not a type of a person who can do the staging stuff”, but more to the directed side.
Q: What if you have a chance to give the members a present in a form of a house, a second house, or a workshop?
N: I’m not paying enough attention at their lifestyle, so I can’t tell…(laugh). For instance, “I love log house, let’s give this house as a present”, but they eventually don’t like it. At the end of the day, they wouldn’t stay there. Before giving a house to someone else, let’s build our own house in the first place (laugh). What about two-family-house or we can make it five-family-house. Everyone can stay there, but it isn’t a share house. We live in the same building but with different household and different entrance, I think that will be interesting (laugh).
相葉雅紀
Q: If you can swift yourself with the other member 20 years ago before debut, what will you do?
A: That’s difficult (laugh). May I talk about their junior era? Riida was in Kyoto for a long time and did a lot of stage plays, if I were him, I would have gone sightseeing (laugh). Sho-kun attended high school and became junior at the same time, he often came to the lesson with school uniform. Matsujun was very short back then. Nino, meanwhile stays the same all the time (laugh). But his skin is always fair, if I were him, I would have gone to tanning salon.
Q: What kind of solo performance do you want the other members to perform?
A: I want Riida to sing a medium tone song, a calm song. I really love his solo part in ‘Season’. I want to hear him singing in a simple state set. For Sakurai-san, I think rock theme also suits him. Using a single stand mike, I guess we can see something new from him. A heartbreaking ballad for Matsujun. For Nino, I want to listen to him singing a persistent song.
Q: What if you have a chance to give the members a present in a form of a house, a second house, or a workshop?
A: Riida has to keep his skin tanned, so a house with a veranda (laugh). I think a house in the middle of urban area fits Matsujun. Sho-kun eats outside a lot, maybe a house which located close to restaurants. A place with a lot of tenants and delicious beer. Nino doesn’t go outside, so let’s give him a house with everything inside, where he can do everything inside the house.
Q: What kind of movies/dramas you want the other members to play?
A: An adventure movie for Riida, something like Indie Jones. Someone who does a research, someone intellectual who ride a horse. Wait, that sounds like Indie Jones himself (laugh). I want Sho-kun to be featured in a movie with human relations theme and such. I want him to show us something completely new. For Matsujun, perhaps horror movies with zombies and similar to Sho-kun, I want him to show us something new. Ahahaha. Nino can play in a historical movie, it doesn’t always to be Japanese character, maybe ‘Sangokushi (a manga story of three kingdoms of China)’ or Shokatsu Ryou Koumei (Chinese) fits him.
松本潤
Q: When you look back to your live performance in the past 20 years, which of your solo has left a deep impression?
M: Nnn, what is it? I think it was in 2003 or 2004, I don’t really remember, the song entitled ‘La Familia’. I wrote the lyrics by myself, but in the end, someone helped to finish it. Perhaps I wasn’t capable enough to do such project (laugh). I was thinking about the live concert as well, so I couldn’t really concentrate in writing the song. Perhaps it was better to save it as a stock.
Q: What kind of solo performance do you want the other members to perform?
M: It’s difficult, what should I do with the present Satoshi? (laugh). I’ll have him sing the popular songs over and over again. I want to see Satoshi sings the popular or Japanese traditional songs. I want Sho-kun to play trumpet or trombone, I think it will be interesting (laugh). Maybe it isn’t a solo corner. I want him to play in a place like blue note (a high-end jazz venue in Tokyo). For Aiba-kun, the musical member. He can become one of the “Great Showman” members. I want him to be Hugh Jackman (laugh). Maybe the Daniel Day-Louis from ‘Nine’ is also good. Nino looks like a young Prince, he plays music and dancing. He plays solo guitar and suddenly dance, I really want him to do something like that. His costume will be like a prince too, I think it will fit him well.
T.N: It takes faster than I thought. The last part will be the members cross talk where they compliment each other in the best way possible LOL. I’ll try to finish it next week or perhaps next-next week.
I hope you enjoy this part as well.