Yabu Kota - WITH (April 2022)
This afternoon, with Yabu-kun.
As well as being a member of Hey! Say! JUMP, Yabu Kota-san is also an active MC for a soccer programme. Although he's not the type to strongly push himself to the front, he is actually a talented singer, dancer and actor who has worked hard to refine his skills. This time, we've created a special story inspired by "What if Yabu-kun was around you? Please enjoy the 6 pages that will make you happy just by imagining it.
Office
"Good work!" You come back to the office after a long day of walking around the company business. Huh? No one is here? As you are looking around, you heard Yabu-kun's voice from the back. "Everyone's having lunch. I thought it would be lonely if you came back and everyone was gone, so I waited for you (laughs). What do you want to do? Do you want to go to lunch together now?"
What is your work motto?
Hmmm~ It changes depending on the type of work I do, but I think I want to provide something a little above expectations. For example, butai tickets are expensive, aren't they? So, it's not enough to be just "up to scratch". I want to aim for a quality that makes the ticket price seem cheap. To achieve this, I have to carefully build up each [skill] one by one. When I make mistakes in the choreography or lyrics, I don't think it's good to make a joke out of it. Even if it's painful, I want to face my mistakes and grow.
How do you communicate with the people you work with?
I think it depends on the position where you're standing from, but when I'm the leader, rather than taking the initiative to liven things up, I try to show a bit of clumsiness and create a less tense atmosphere. There's some good parts about a tense atmosphere, but it's not good for younger people to feel intimidated, so I try to make them feel at home.
How do you deal with people you don't vibe with?
Of course there are times when I think, "Wow, this person is like this...". But once I think, "I don't mind this person anymore", that's the end of it. For example, if someone has a bad drinking problem, I might try to get as drunk as them. After I become the same way and after we've been going out for a while, I give them a proper sermon (laughs). I try to talk to them after I've built up a certain level of rapport with them.
What do you do when you have a problem at work?
I ask for advice with the members or people who are close to me without hesitation. Thankfully, there are a lot of people close to me who do similar work. I see Hiromitsu (Kitayama) from Kis-My-Ft2 quite often and we talk a lot. If I have a new job, when I think about it alone, I have too strong a self-image of 'this is how I am', and it is difficult to expand my imagination. But when I talk to other people, I can get an unexpectedly 'different picture of myself', and I think, 'I see'. Sometimes I make decisions based on that, so when I ask for advice, I might be thinking, "I want someone to give me a push".
Shopping
Today, you meet up with Yabu-kun, who asks you to accompany him on a shopping trip. 'My business partner Takaki-san, it's his birthday soon. I don't know what I should get him as a present. He said he likes the ocean, but I don't know what to get him. I'll get you a coffee and we can think about it together, okay?"
Do you like shopping?
I think I might like wandering around aimlessly window-shopping, rather than shopping itself.
I also go to the first sales of department stores in the New Year (laughs). I surprisingly like department stores. Furniture, tableware and clothes... It's interesting to see all sorts of things.
Do you dislike going shopping with women?
Not at all, I'll go with them! Well, if it gets too long, I might get a 'bothersome' look on my face (laughs). I think when I hear the question, "Which suits me better?", I'll choose my words carefully, but I'll be honest about it. But to be honest, I'm not interested in... shopping with women (laughs).
What kind of woman do you like?
A girl who wears a brand bag, but knows more about 100-yen goods than you'd think! If someone said something like, 'I know of a fridge product that will hold wasabi and ginger tubes well!' to me, I might get a bit flustered (laughs). I feel like she's a girl who can lead a proper life, so I think it would be okay if we were together in the future. I like someone who doesn't live a life of debauchery (laughs).
What is your favourite girl's fashion?
Seriously, I don't know (laughs)! As long as she's not covered in lint, isn't it good?
What's relatable that happens to Yabu-kun when shopping?
When I go to buy a hat but end up buying something else and fail to complete your original mission, and you return and you're like "Ah! I went to buy a hat!". I get distracted (laughs). I go to look at jackets or knitwear or whatever catches my eye at the time, and I get absorbed in that. And then I'm like, "Oh, I was hoping to wear the [hat] tomorrow!" That kind of thing often happens (laughs).
Driving
A leisurely drive to a famous offal stew (motsuni) restaurant. When you put on your favourite playlist, your heart beating as you see the profile from the passenger seat, Yabu-kun says, "I really like this song." as he begins to sing in a pleasant voice.... Huh? Isn't he singing too well?.
If you were to drive, where would you go?
I often go out with a destination in mind, not necessarily to 'this area', but rather, "I want to go to this ramen shop". Until we arrive, I play music and talk, things like that... I sometimes leave photo albums and magazines in the car so that my friend in the passenger seat doesn't get bored.
What are you particular about in your car?
Ummm, I don't think much. There are usually two plastic umbrellas in there (laughs)! I also keep a pair of sunglasses for driving. They protect me from UV rays, but they are the light-coloured type, not pitch-black. I enjoy wearing sunglasses in the car because I don't wear them much in everyday life anymore since I'm wearing a mask.
When did you get your licence?
I think I was about 20 years old. It's a gold license (Smug face) (T/N: A gold license means when someone hasn't had any violations or accidents for more than 5 years, and is marked on their card).
Are you good at parking?
Hmmm, neither good or bad (laughs). I'm not bad at it, but I do pick my parking spaces. I go round and round~ in circles, and then I say, "No, maybe I'll go with the earlier spot." (laughs).
Do you have any 'my car rules'?
It's not so much a rule, but I guess I try not to leave rubbish in my car. Even with plastic bottles, if a friend tries to leave a bottle in the holder, I say, "Hiromitsu, take it with you!" (laughs)
What music do you play in your car?
I play J-pop, like Mr. Children. Also, even though it's part of my job, I play demo tracks. I can concentrate on listening to them rather than listening to them all the time at home, and I sometimes end up singing along with them.
Home
You mumble, "I'm hungry" while watching TV, and Yabu-kun says, "Should I cook something?" as he gets up and heads for the kitchen. Before you know it, he'd become a capable cook, you thought. You take this opportunity to carefully check his bookshelf. He reads quite a lot of different books.
Tell us your speciality dish!
Huh?! Mentaiko (Walleye pollack) pasta, I guess. When I go home after a few drinks with friends and we feel like we 'haven't had enough to eat' and I'm like, "Do you want to eat at my place?" So sometimes I make 'shime' for them (T/N: Shime - last meal eaten after restaurant hopping). I can now do something like...... boil pasta, toss with walleye pollack roe and butter, and add a little chrysanthemum juice! People say quite often that it's delicious~ so I'm happy.
What book are you reading at the moment?
A book by a soccer commentator! It's not easy for me to read novels these days. I like Isaka Kotaro-san and Harada Maha-san, and also the works of Abe Kazushige-san. I'm not too particular about genre, and I also read works by Mishima Yukio.
Have you been cooking lately?
I started doing it because of stay home. Before that, I used to order delivery or go out, but now the idea of, "Let's cook!" comes to me. Pasta, fried rice, all the things that you can make in one plate, I guess. Although I don't make croquettes... (laughs), but I do deep-fry things like ham cutlets! Since I have to make my own snacks for drinking, too (laughs).
Do you have elaborate dishes?
I do! After all, since I started cooking, I have more tableware! What I have learnt recently is that "a big plate, with a little bit of food arranged on it, looks nice" (laughs)! Also, there are Imari porcelain ones (T/N: Imari porcelain is the name for Japanese porcelain wares made in the town of Arita, in northwestern Kyushu), East-Asian lacquer ones... You can choose from the "hometown tax" (T/N: System where taxpayers can choose to divert part of their residential tax to a specified local government). Storage can be a bit difficult, but you don't have to worry about having too many plates, do you?
Are you good at housework?
I never did any of it when I lived at home and my room was kinda messy (laughs). But now I live alone and I'm forced to do it. I like cleaning the bathroom. After all, I'm the one who goes in there, so I want to keep it clean. What I don't like is washing and folding laundry! Like when I come back from tour after 3-4 days, and I'm like, 'Oh, I don't want to do it!' But if I don't do it, I won't have clothes to wear tomorrow (laughs)! I reluctantly do my best.
The Bistro
"Do you want to meet up a bit earlier today?" It's an important day that you thought you had definitely forgotten, but you remembered it. When we arrive at the restaurant, Yabu-kun is dressed in a suit, which makes you unintentionally nervous. But Yabu-kun is his usual shy self as he says, "I have no idea what kind of flowers these are at all."
Do the members drink with each other?
After concerts, I had to watch soccer matchs in the middle of the night for work. But I had quite a bit of time before then, so Chinen and I drank in my room. Then, the manager came and Takaki (Yuya) came, and after that more and more people came. I thought if it was just Chinen I could go straight to bed, but Dai-chan (Arioka Daiki) and Yamada (Ryosuke) were there too. In the end, I tidied up with my manager and watched soccer while rubbing my sleepy eyes (laughs). Takizawa-kun (Hideaki) taught me to be "cleaner than when I arrived". That's why I always put my glass and plate at the end of the table when I leave a yakiniku restaurant or anywhere else.
What do you like to drink?
I like beer, I guess I like everything... I'm not really particular about anything, but I keep whisky in the freezer. The high percentage alcoholic drinks don't freeze, they turn thick, but that's kind of delicious (laughs).
What if you want to go out for a drink?
When I go out with friends, I don't make a fuss of it too much, and we usually go to a normal izakaya or something in a side street. I like offal stew and fried horse mackerel, so a place with good food like that is good. It doesn't have to be a private room at all!
What do you end up buying at the conbini?
Well, isn't there 'something lottery' type of thing that often has collaborations with anime works? However, it's not easy to find good ones like figures, only stickers and key rings (laughs). I just keep them in the toilet for now, but lately they just keep piling up (laughs). I also buy crunchy pickled plums.
As well as being a member of Hey! Say! JUMP, Yabu Kota-san is also an active MC for a soccer programme. Although he's not the type to strongly push himself to the front, he is actually a talented singer, dancer and actor who has worked hard to refine his skills. This time, we've created a special story inspired by "What if Yabu-kun was around you? Please enjoy the 6 pages that will make you happy just by imagining it.
Office
"Good work!" You come back to the office after a long day of walking around the company business. Huh? No one is here? As you are looking around, you heard Yabu-kun's voice from the back. "Everyone's having lunch. I thought it would be lonely if you came back and everyone was gone, so I waited for you (laughs). What do you want to do? Do you want to go to lunch together now?"
What is your work motto?
Hmmm~ It changes depending on the type of work I do, but I think I want to provide something a little above expectations. For example, butai tickets are expensive, aren't they? So, it's not enough to be just "up to scratch". I want to aim for a quality that makes the ticket price seem cheap. To achieve this, I have to carefully build up each [skill] one by one. When I make mistakes in the choreography or lyrics, I don't think it's good to make a joke out of it. Even if it's painful, I want to face my mistakes and grow.
How do you communicate with the people you work with?
I think it depends on the position where you're standing from, but when I'm the leader, rather than taking the initiative to liven things up, I try to show a bit of clumsiness and create a less tense atmosphere. There's some good parts about a tense atmosphere, but it's not good for younger people to feel intimidated, so I try to make them feel at home.
How do you deal with people you don't vibe with?
Of course there are times when I think, "Wow, this person is like this...". But once I think, "I don't mind this person anymore", that's the end of it. For example, if someone has a bad drinking problem, I might try to get as drunk as them. After I become the same way and after we've been going out for a while, I give them a proper sermon (laughs). I try to talk to them after I've built up a certain level of rapport with them.
What do you do when you have a problem at work?
I ask for advice with the members or people who are close to me without hesitation. Thankfully, there are a lot of people close to me who do similar work. I see Hiromitsu (Kitayama) from Kis-My-Ft2 quite often and we talk a lot. If I have a new job, when I think about it alone, I have too strong a self-image of 'this is how I am', and it is difficult to expand my imagination. But when I talk to other people, I can get an unexpectedly 'different picture of myself', and I think, 'I see'. Sometimes I make decisions based on that, so when I ask for advice, I might be thinking, "I want someone to give me a push".
Shopping
Today, you meet up with Yabu-kun, who asks you to accompany him on a shopping trip. 'My business partner Takaki-san, it's his birthday soon. I don't know what I should get him as a present. He said he likes the ocean, but I don't know what to get him. I'll get you a coffee and we can think about it together, okay?"
Do you like shopping?
I think I might like wandering around aimlessly window-shopping, rather than shopping itself.
I also go to the first sales of department stores in the New Year (laughs). I surprisingly like department stores. Furniture, tableware and clothes... It's interesting to see all sorts of things.
Do you dislike going shopping with women?
Not at all, I'll go with them! Well, if it gets too long, I might get a 'bothersome' look on my face (laughs). I think when I hear the question, "Which suits me better?", I'll choose my words carefully, but I'll be honest about it. But to be honest, I'm not interested in... shopping with women (laughs).
What kind of woman do you like?
A girl who wears a brand bag, but knows more about 100-yen goods than you'd think! If someone said something like, 'I know of a fridge product that will hold wasabi and ginger tubes well!' to me, I might get a bit flustered (laughs). I feel like she's a girl who can lead a proper life, so I think it would be okay if we were together in the future. I like someone who doesn't live a life of debauchery (laughs).
What is your favourite girl's fashion?
Seriously, I don't know (laughs)! As long as she's not covered in lint, isn't it good?
What's relatable that happens to Yabu-kun when shopping?
When I go to buy a hat but end up buying something else and fail to complete your original mission, and you return and you're like "Ah! I went to buy a hat!". I get distracted (laughs). I go to look at jackets or knitwear or whatever catches my eye at the time, and I get absorbed in that. And then I'm like, "Oh, I was hoping to wear the [hat] tomorrow!" That kind of thing often happens (laughs).
Driving
A leisurely drive to a famous offal stew (motsuni) restaurant. When you put on your favourite playlist, your heart beating as you see the profile from the passenger seat, Yabu-kun says, "I really like this song." as he begins to sing in a pleasant voice.... Huh? Isn't he singing too well?.
If you were to drive, where would you go?
I often go out with a destination in mind, not necessarily to 'this area', but rather, "I want to go to this ramen shop". Until we arrive, I play music and talk, things like that... I sometimes leave photo albums and magazines in the car so that my friend in the passenger seat doesn't get bored.
What are you particular about in your car?
Ummm, I don't think much. There are usually two plastic umbrellas in there (laughs)! I also keep a pair of sunglasses for driving. They protect me from UV rays, but they are the light-coloured type, not pitch-black. I enjoy wearing sunglasses in the car because I don't wear them much in everyday life anymore since I'm wearing a mask.
When did you get your licence?
I think I was about 20 years old. It's a gold license (Smug face) (T/N: A gold license means when someone hasn't had any violations or accidents for more than 5 years, and is marked on their card).
Are you good at parking?
Hmmm, neither good or bad (laughs). I'm not bad at it, but I do pick my parking spaces. I go round and round~ in circles, and then I say, "No, maybe I'll go with the earlier spot." (laughs).
Do you have any 'my car rules'?
It's not so much a rule, but I guess I try not to leave rubbish in my car. Even with plastic bottles, if a friend tries to leave a bottle in the holder, I say, "Hiromitsu, take it with you!" (laughs)
What music do you play in your car?
I play J-pop, like Mr. Children. Also, even though it's part of my job, I play demo tracks. I can concentrate on listening to them rather than listening to them all the time at home, and I sometimes end up singing along with them.
Home
You mumble, "I'm hungry" while watching TV, and Yabu-kun says, "Should I cook something?" as he gets up and heads for the kitchen. Before you know it, he'd become a capable cook, you thought. You take this opportunity to carefully check his bookshelf. He reads quite a lot of different books.
Tell us your speciality dish!
Huh?! Mentaiko (Walleye pollack) pasta, I guess. When I go home after a few drinks with friends and we feel like we 'haven't had enough to eat' and I'm like, "Do you want to eat at my place?" So sometimes I make 'shime' for them (T/N: Shime - last meal eaten after restaurant hopping). I can now do something like...... boil pasta, toss with walleye pollack roe and butter, and add a little chrysanthemum juice! People say quite often that it's delicious~ so I'm happy.
What book are you reading at the moment?
A book by a soccer commentator! It's not easy for me to read novels these days. I like Isaka Kotaro-san and Harada Maha-san, and also the works of Abe Kazushige-san. I'm not too particular about genre, and I also read works by Mishima Yukio.
Have you been cooking lately?
I started doing it because of stay home. Before that, I used to order delivery or go out, but now the idea of, "Let's cook!" comes to me. Pasta, fried rice, all the things that you can make in one plate, I guess. Although I don't make croquettes... (laughs), but I do deep-fry things like ham cutlets! Since I have to make my own snacks for drinking, too (laughs).
Do you have elaborate dishes?
I do! After all, since I started cooking, I have more tableware! What I have learnt recently is that "a big plate, with a little bit of food arranged on it, looks nice" (laughs)! Also, there are Imari porcelain ones (T/N: Imari porcelain is the name for Japanese porcelain wares made in the town of Arita, in northwestern Kyushu), East-Asian lacquer ones... You can choose from the "hometown tax" (T/N: System where taxpayers can choose to divert part of their residential tax to a specified local government). Storage can be a bit difficult, but you don't have to worry about having too many plates, do you?
Are you good at housework?
I never did any of it when I lived at home and my room was kinda messy (laughs). But now I live alone and I'm forced to do it. I like cleaning the bathroom. After all, I'm the one who goes in there, so I want to keep it clean. What I don't like is washing and folding laundry! Like when I come back from tour after 3-4 days, and I'm like, 'Oh, I don't want to do it!' But if I don't do it, I won't have clothes to wear tomorrow (laughs)! I reluctantly do my best.
The Bistro
"Do you want to meet up a bit earlier today?" It's an important day that you thought you had definitely forgotten, but you remembered it. When we arrive at the restaurant, Yabu-kun is dressed in a suit, which makes you unintentionally nervous. But Yabu-kun is his usual shy self as he says, "I have no idea what kind of flowers these are at all."
Do the members drink with each other?
After concerts, I had to watch soccer matchs in the middle of the night for work. But I had quite a bit of time before then, so Chinen and I drank in my room. Then, the manager came and Takaki (Yuya) came, and after that more and more people came. I thought if it was just Chinen I could go straight to bed, but Dai-chan (Arioka Daiki) and Yamada (Ryosuke) were there too. In the end, I tidied up with my manager and watched soccer while rubbing my sleepy eyes (laughs). Takizawa-kun (Hideaki) taught me to be "cleaner than when I arrived". That's why I always put my glass and plate at the end of the table when I leave a yakiniku restaurant or anywhere else.
What do you like to drink?
I like beer, I guess I like everything... I'm not really particular about anything, but I keep whisky in the freezer. The high percentage alcoholic drinks don't freeze, they turn thick, but that's kind of delicious (laughs).
What if you want to go out for a drink?
When I go out with friends, I don't make a fuss of it too much, and we usually go to a normal izakaya or something in a side street. I like offal stew and fried horse mackerel, so a place with good food like that is good. It doesn't have to be a private room at all!
What do you end up buying at the conbini?
Well, isn't there 'something lottery' type of thing that often has collaborations with anime works? However, it's not easy to find good ones like figures, only stickers and key rings (laughs). I just keep them in the toilet for now, but lately they just keep piling up (laughs). I also buy crunchy pickled plums.