The India brothers, Ohno & Sakurai, have a moving reunion at Indonesia.
Ohno: This tastes SO GOOD!!
Sakurai: What is this!! Whoa. Additionally, it’s so good with the sambal!
Ohno & Sakurai: (instinctively looks at each other and breaks into an applause)
Ohno: This nasi goreng is extraordinary.
Sakurai: Agreed. This sambal sauce is good with the nasi goreng. It’s spicy, but the spice is just right. It adds flavour to it.
Ohno: I’ve never eaten anything like this. What is this!!
Sakurai: In other words, it’s completely different from regular fried rice, isn’t it?
Ohno: This is amazing. It makes me want to go to Bali.
Sakurai: Let’s eat the satay as well. …Ahhh, this tastes great as well~ Was it coriander and turmeric? The turmeric’s especially fragrant!
Ohno: Ahh… This is so good.
Sakurai: I’m starting to want to go to Bali as well. I’ve never been there before, you see. Maybe I should start considering it for real… I mean, I’m seriously blown away right now, by the tastiness of Indonesian food.
Ohno: Me too. I’m so impressed.
Sakurai: I mean, we ate with an extraordinary amount of spirit compared to all the other times, didn’t we? (laughs)
Ohno: …We didn’t stop at all.
Sakurai: Goodness~ Today’s corner was seriously great. The India brothers, who was formed during the curry instalment, have a moving reunion at Indonesia!
Ohno: Blown away by Indonesian cuisine!
Sakurai: The staff normally always give us a number of theme suggestions decided by shiritori, but this time, they gave us the list backstage during our concert tour.
Ohno: Yeah.
Sakurai: The two of us were the decided pair and we chose to point together at what we wanted to try in the list of suggested words starting with “I” that was handed to us.
Ohno & Sakurai: Indonesia!
Ohno: We were on the same wavelength.
Sakurai: It’s a good thing we decided on Indonesia in the end, isn't it?
Ohno: Yep. Indonesian cuisine is the best!
Sakurai: The India brothers were brought together for a reason through Indonesia.
Ohno: The curry I ate with Sho-kun was delicious as well, but nasi goreng is my favourite.
Sakurai: Oh!
Ohno: I like this the best!
Sakurai: I get you. The curry we made ourselves is also delicious, but foods like curry are of a familiar taste. On the other hand, nasi goreng’s tastiness was an encounter with the unknown.
Ohno: Exactly! I didn’t know nasi goreng tasted this delicious. In the first place, I tend to like ethnic foods like these. I want to remember the steps to making today’s nasi goreng and sambal. I can drink beer with just sambal.
Sakurai: The sambal is great, isn’t it! Through the tastiness, my interest in Bali has suddenly increased a lot!
Ohno: Deep frying the prawn crackers was also a lot of fun. I could watch that all day (laughs). The moment it floats up and expands makes it look like it’s alive.
Sakurai: (takes out his phone and starts searching things up) It looks so nice. I think I’ll go to Bali (laughs).

The Ohno-Sakurai pair appears for the first time in a while.
Sakurai: It’s because I’ve been involved in movies and dramas last year. I’ve kept you waiting (laughs).
Ohno: Now that I think about it, it has been a while since the last time I’ve been with Sho-kun, the two of us together. It doesn’t really feel like it’s been that long.
Sakurai: We baked pizza together, didn’t we? What I remember is that although we had plans to eat sushi together, the freshly baked pizza was so good so we ended up eating quite a large portion of it.
Ohno: We’re always thinking through everything thoroughly.
Sakurai: Exactly. I didn’t eat breakfast this morning either, with the intention to eat as much as I can today!
Ohno: Me too! India, Italy, Indonesia… The two of us have been making and eating various cuisines from around the world together.
Sakurai: Shall we visit…Indonesia once more? (laughs)
Ohno: Let’s! (laughs)
Sakurai: It might be a bit excessive to make Indonesian cuisine again, so perhaps we could do Balinese cuisine next time or something.
Ohno: That sounds good!
Sakurai: After we visit that same area once more together, where shall we head to next?
Ohno: I like Thai cuisine, but it was surpassed today (laughs). People who like Thai food would definitely be crazy about Indonesian food as well.
Sakurai: All the two of us do is eat (laughs). During our concert tour, even when we have a meal backstage after the end of our live performance, we somehow end up being the two members who stay behind until the end.
Ohno: Yeah.
Sakurai: It was like that for Fukuoka, wasn’t it? There were those who chose to go back to the hotel right after the performance ended and those who ate the local food that was prepared for us. It was up to the person to choose for themselves.
Ohno: Then, before we realised it, only the two of us stayed behind (laughs). The older two members.
Sakurai: Babbling drunkenly.
Ohno & Sakurai: Ahahahahaha! (laughs)
Sakurai: The tsukune (1) in the mizutaki (2) was delicious.
Ohno: It was, wasn’t it? The kawahagi (3) sashimi and blue mackerel also tasted great.
Sakurai: It’s the best way to spend time after a concert. After that we just return to the hotel and sleep.
Ohno: The best! I had a great time.
Sakurai: Ohno-san, you ate ramen often in Fukuoka, didn’t you?
Ohno: Yep. Once I reached the venue, I ate a bowl of ramen and slept.
Sakurai: It’s pretty amazing. Ohno-san doesn’t eat it within the span of 30 minutes or 1 hour or so, you know? He eats his ramen 30 seconds after he arrives at the venue.
Ohno: I’m starving when I reach the venue, okay? I eat ramen, rehearse, sleep. Then I wake up, eat sweets, prepare myself for the concert and then we perform.
Sakurai: You really do eat a lot and sleep often.
Ohno: That goes for you too, okay (laughs).
Sakurai: It does (laughs).
Ohno & Sakurai: Ahahahahaha! (laughs)
Sakurai: We sort of take turns sleeping, don’t we?
Ohno: That’s true (laughs). As I wake up, Sho-chan starts to sleep.
Sakurai: Not sure whether we’re on the same wavelength or not (laughs).

The talk of Bali and Nasi Goreng that won’t stop.
Sakurai: No matter how delicious it was, I didn’t think Ohno-san would finish eating it all completely. I mean, it was quite a large serving, you know?
Ohno: I’d normally leave a bit behind with that serving size. …But I couldn’t stop. I ate it all. I’ll go to Bali (laughs). The power of nasi goreng is amazing. Moreover, I like places that are near the sea.
Sakurai: It’d be nice to go, wouldn’t it! Our stomachs have been completely captured by Bali, haven’t they? (laughs)
Ohno: I’ll go to Bali (laughs). I want to relax without doing anything, with nasi goreng as my meal.
Sakurai: To relax and do nothing might be the greatest way to indulge yourself, huh? We may have opened the door to my path towards the adult’s way of travelling (laughs).
Ohno: Exactly~ Sho-kun seems like he could manage for around one day.
Sakurai: Eh?
Ohno: If you go to Bali, you seem like you could manage to not go anywhere for around one day (laughs).
Sakurai: The hotels at resorts usually have a number of restaurants near them, right? I wouldn’t be satisfied if I don't at least complete my conquest of them (laughs).
Ohno: Ahh~ (laughs)
Sakurai: I don’t want to fail by missing out on even one meal!

T/N:
(1) Tsukune (つくね) is a Japanese chicken meatball, usually grilled.
(2) Mizutaki (水炊き) is a kind of hot pot dish famous from Fukuoka in which fish or other kinds of meat and vegetables are cooked in unseasoned fish broth and dipped in tangy Ponzu sauce.
(3) Kawahagi (カワハギ) is a Japanese fish, commonly known as thread-tail filefish.

No. 112 - "The Whereabouts of Love"

Image source: Twitter

Hectic days continue over the busy end of year and New Year’s. How do the earnest feelings of his, which he keeps hidden, transform and colour those days? Where is the path that only he follows headed towards?

This interview was conducted at the end of last year, as the concert tour was approaching its final stage. There are always new endeavours which Arashi pursue in their live performances, but this time’s one has been especially new. Within it includes Ninomiya Kazunari and Aiba Masaki’s unit song, UB, which is an example of a novel dance performance and superb combination play. Overflowing with both warmth and humour, it felt like you could see the pair’s intentions, individualities, and even their relationship. When asked, “Was the song’s choreography a production you suggested?” he answered with a look, slightly more joyful than usual.

It wasn’t exactly my suggestion. The staff gathered various ideas for us and amongst them all, I only nominated UB’s dance to be the one we chose. It’s a dance by a German pair of dancers, which was of a style I had never come across before, so I thought that it would be something that the audience would also enjoy. I asked those dancers to help us with the choreography, but I also thought about the production before and after the dance.

A performance with the ideas to surprise, please and move the hearts of their audience. There’s no doubt that its realisation is a result of his natural foresight and because he is, as he often states, “Arashi’s number one fan.”

I wonder about foresight? I mean, I originally aimed to make people laugh more with that dance. I thought that they’d laugh when they watched the two of us dance to that unusual dance. However, in the midst of us pondering about the production, the choreographer in charge of the entire concert suddenly told us, “When the two of you dance it, it’s somewhat moving rather than something laughable.” They’re a choreographer who has known Aiba-san and I for a long time, so that may be why. As a result, we decided to stop our plans of trying to make the audience laugh (laughs).

It’s true that the emotionally moving aspect of the dance won over its humorous appeal.

Everyone says that. Even though we had no plans to make it emotionally moving, it seems that our intentions didn't shine through (laughs).

What is the difference between a musician and an idol? He considers the meaning behind their activities.

Despite his laughter, he appeared to be perplexed. Was it dissatisfaction at moving those who were in the audience emotionally? With the mention of that question, he continues, “I guess I’m glad that they were happy with it in the end, but you know……”

It’s a disposition that happens in variety shows as well. The song is something we found really amusing, so we tried to do something funny with it, but the humour fell flat (laughs). In regards to the live performance of UB, we thought about how we could create a touching performance to do with the relationship that exists between the two of us. Once you’ve continued for a long time, you intend to understand what would generally make the fans happy. For example, I think there are many who want to see us to stay as the unchanging, close group of five people who messes around together. But we ourselves continue to transform and evolve, without being stuck in time. There are always feelings of wanting to offer something new, or something more interesting beyond our current selves and to have our fans watch us as we do so.

His earnest desire to maintain Arashi’s existence as “fresh, high quality entertainment” is probably strong.

I’ve wondered whether our activities over the past nearly 20 years would hold much meaning if we couldn’t win our fans’ interest in the entertainment we currently offer, over the closeness of our group, or our personal lives. With musicians, their audience may be drawn by the musician’s music or lifestyle and gather for that reason, but it’s difficult when it comes to idols. I’m grateful when people think, “he’s cute and he’s a good person, so I like him!” However, it’s hard to see the true nature behind that, isn’t it? There are probably occasions where we aren’t being assessed properly based on our entertainment alone.

Love is equal to his everlasting affection towards his supporters. He is also conscious of the enviable problem he faces – he wants to be loved for his productions more than for his existence. Perhaps that worry is something that arises from the overwhelmingly positive public image Arashi has had for a long time.

Hmm. But, I wonder what a positive public image really means in the first place? Of course, Arashi are all wonderful people through and through (laughs). I rarely see the public and those around them display dislike towards them (laughs). But with a positive public image, the people around us would help display that when we appear on variety shows. In other words, it doesn’t exceed the product of a constructed image. That’s why, I’ve honestly never paid attention to positive public images, nor do I think of it as anything that has much meaning. After all, I want people to enjoy themselves watch the interesting things we produce with everyone around us and the things we honestly think fits the occasion at those times. It’s really as simple as that.

The other 4 members talk about the current Aiba Masaki—
--We’d like Aiba-san to temporarily excuse himself while the other four members talk about him. First of all, what sort of mode do you think Aiba-san has been in recently?
Matsumoto: He has been watching martial arts for the past year or so.
Ninomiya: He has been watching it constantly.
Sakurai: He has always liked it from before, but it feels like his interest in it has recently been revived.
--Has Aiba-san’s figure changed as a result of it?
Ninomiya: No, since I don’t think he’s trying to participate in a competition for it or anything (laughs).
Matsumoto: I wouldn’t want him to (laughs).
--What is a quality which is “something that only Aiba-san can do,” that you respect in him?
Ninomiya: Aiba-kun? The fact that he’s lively!
Matsumoto: He’s the only one who everyone constantly demands a huge smile from.
Sakurai: Even though Aiba-kun is already showing a radiant smile, the cameraman still demands him to keep smiling more, so it’s like, “You still expect him to smile more?”
Ninomiya: I always end up thinking, “How far can this person go?” He’s remarkable.
Ohno: When the five of us have to do an interview together, you can really sense how hard he works. He realises that everyone expects the most energy from him (laughs).
--Aiba-san also works as the supervisor for the concert goods, too, doesn’t he?
Matsumoto: Ever since Arafes ’12, I believe?
Sakurai: Yep. Ever since he started to supervise the concert goods, I feel like there has been an increasing number of occasions where he expresses his opinions during the meetings for our concerts and albums.
Matsumoto: He’s the one who is aware of the payment and delivery deadlines, after all.
Ninomiya: Yeah, and also the budget.
Matsumoto: He’s also an excellent editor, for example, when we created the Yarisugichatta Calendar (1) (laughs).
Sakurai: That was brilliant, wasn’t it?
Matsumoto: He attended meetings for it in advance, scouted for an appropriate location for the shoot and decided on the final location. He arrived at the site first and already decided our poses and explained things clearly like, “Next is this shot.” “Alright, please look this way,” so that after around 10 shots were taken, it all ended smoothly.
--He managed to host last year’s NHK Kouhaku Uta Gassen perfectly too, didn’t he?
Matsumoto: You’re right. Although it was mostly entertaining from our perspective (laughs).
Ninomiya: Yeah, though it was really just us who found amusement in it.
Matsumoto: It was because he already started crying during the interlude of One Love in our medley, which comprised of 3 songs altogether (laughs).
Ohno: He must have felt relieved (laughs).
--Didn’t you start laughing when you realised, Ninomiya-san?
Ninomiya: Well, I just thought, “that was fast.” (laughs)
Sakurai: Nino was roaring with laughter and started signalling a look towards me, so I was wondering, "What was so funny?" When I saw Aiba-kun and realised that he was crying, I understood where his amusement came from (laughs).
Matsumoto: There’s also the fact that it made it hard for me to sing properly during my solo before the last chorus (laughs).
Ninomiya, Ohno, Sakurai: Hahahahaha!
Sakurai: Our fans and the staff were probably moved at the sight, but unfortunately it's a bit different for us, since we were on the stage together (laughs).
Ninomiya: That was honestly a masterpiece, wasn’t it? (laughs)
--Rather than the fact that Aiba-san managed to handle being the emcee, there was more talk about Aiba-san crying, wasn’t there?
Ninomiya: That’s true. Then again, he was offered the job because people were certain that he could handle his role as the emcee, wasn’t it? Offers don’t come to people who one feels uncertain could fulfil their role or not. We fully understand that he’s someone who can handle the job well. He was the only one who was anxious about it. Everyone who were cheering him on probably realised that, as well.
Ohno: He’s really reliable, so I could watch him with ease.
Ninomiya: There was no reason to feel uneasy about him hosting.
Ohno: Yep, there was absolutely no sense of uneasiness.
--Did you laugh as well when you saw Aiba-san cry, Ohno-san?
Ohno: I laughed, but I understand that he probably got caught up in the moment that was full of pressure. That's why he ended up like that. I nearly got caught up in the same feelings as well (laughs).
Matsumoto: No, that doesn’t make sense. You weren’t even a host (laughs).
Ohno: It was a really close call. It wouldn’t make any sense to anyone if both of us started crying (laughs).
Ninomiya: They’d be like, “why is he crying?” (laughs)
Sakurai: Ah~ I kind of wish that had happened now (laughs).

The other 4 members talk about the current Matsumoto Jun—
--Please tell us what you respect about Matsumoto-san.
Ohno: The fact that he’s able to set habits which he desires of himself and stick to them. For example, things like being able to set dietary restrictions and the sort.
Ninomiya: That’s true. There’s also his habit of drinking lots of water.
Ohno: He suddenly comes up and tells me things like, “We need to drink 2 litres of water every day.” (laughs)
Sakurai: 2 litres? Wasn’t it more?
Ninomiya: Whatever it was, it was a large amount.
Aiba: The amount is so great it feels like he’d get sick from it (laughs).
Ninomiya: No, that’s not true. On the contrary, drinking a lot of water is healthy, isn’t it? (laughs)
Aiba: He’s constantly aware of those sorts of things – aware of the latest information.
Sakurai: Did you see him ask his manager for some coffee before? He was like, “this amount of coffee is worth 3 servings, so could you please divide it into 3 and pour me one with only 1 serving’s worth?”
Ohno: I did.
Sakurai: I often have moments where I end up going, “what was that all about?” (laughs)
Aiba: We don’t point that out or anything, though (laughs).
Sakurai: There wasn’t a right timing to say it, so I wasn’t able say anything (laughs).
Ohno: There’s no end to the new things he starts, so you never get bored of observing him.
Ninomiya: He’s very stoic, isn’t he (laughs).
--In 2015, the corner Matsumoto Jun’s This is MJ started on Arashi ni Shiyagare, which has increased the public awareness of Matsumoto-san’s tendency to put in all his effort into things, as well as his loveable side.
Sakurai: That corner turned out really well. He transformed from “Matsujun” to “MJ.”
Ninomiya: Yep. He’s not even “Japan’s MJ,” and instead simply the “MJ.” (laughs)
Sakurai: How should I explain this… People may tend to have had their image of him as someone who’s extremely cool, so I think it’s great that through this, people have more opportunities to understand a different, charming side to Matsujun.
Aiba: I get you. Those characteristics of him have existed from the past, but it wasn’t really shown publicly until the corner started.
Sakurai: It can be unpleasant if the atmosphere doesn’t allow teasing to happen during moments of unexpected blunders. But in this, it’s mostly not the case so most people would probably realise, “Oh, it’s alright to tease him during these moments.” (laughs)
Ninomiya: That’s true.
Ohno: Seeing him work his hardest in it makes me go, “Ah~ He’s doing his best, how nice.” The fact that he executes the corner with his utmost effort makes it even more interesting, and I find the resulting products incredible.
--I wonder how Matsumoto-san himself feels in regards to the corner.
Ninomiya: The other day, what he said himself was…… “It can’t be helped anymore.” (laughs)
Aiba, Ohno, Sakurai: Ahahahaha!
--In other words, he may have initially not wanted to show that side of himself?
Sakurai: Nah, I think there’s a side of him that is probably relieved at being able to show it more easily now. I’m not Matsujun so if I’m wrong I apologise, but I think the need to “become the expected Matsujun” has decreased as of late.
Ninomiya: When we’re together as the five of us, there needs to be someone who takes on the role, after all.
Sakurai: Yeah. That’s why, contrarily…… we were unable to fulfil the perfect, attractive role that Matsujun took on (laughs).
Aiba, Ninomiya, Ohno: Hahahahaha!
Sakurai: We have tried challenging it though!
Ninomiya: Yeah. We had a period of time in which we gave it a try, but we didn’t succeed (laughs).
Aiba: Once we failed it twice, that was the end (laughs).
Ninomiya: Strict, isn’t it? It’s similar to sports.

The other 4 members talk about the current Ninomiya Kazunari—
--What’s a fad that you know Ninomiya-san has been into recently?
Aiba: Aside from games?
--Aside from games.
Matsumoto: ……Aside from games?
Aiba, Matsumoto, Ohno, Sakurai: ……(silence)……
Sakurai: Okay, wait. Regarding this, he’s really only into games, even more than you’d ever imagine (laughs).
Aiba: All he does is play games, after all.
Matsumoto: If you take games away from him…
Sakurai: There’s nothing left (laughs).
Aiba, Matsumoto, Ohno: Ahahaha.
Sakurai: I’m just joking, that’s not true.
--What sort of games does he play?
Sakurai: There’s Pazudora, of course, but during the period we have our concerts, he brings some sort of large device.
Matsumoto: He comes with an entire suitcase specially prepared for his gaming needs (laughs).
Sakurai: Not a suitcase for the concert performance, like you would normally expect (laughs).
--What do you think of Ninomiya-san who can continue to spend his time gaming non-stop?
Sakurai: Well, it’s probably perfect that his work is this (laughs).
Aiba, Matsumoto, Ohno: Ahahahaha.
Matsumoto: (laughs) If he wasn’t doing this job, he seriously wouldn’t be able to game during his break time and all. If he worked at a regular company as an employee, he’d probably be fired immediately (laughs).
Aiba: He’d have to work at a company that produces games (laughs).
Ohno: I’ve never seen Nino sit idly, after all.
Sakurai: That’s why, it’s probably his method of refreshing himself. Isn’t it necessary to have some time off to yourself, not thinking about anything in mind?
Ohno: Yeah.
Aiba: That’s true, I agree.
--Ninomiya-san often says that he has “the most fun in variety shows.” How has he been in recent variety shows?
Aiba: It seems like he’s been enjoying his time a lot. He always seems really lively on it.
Matsumoto: He seems to be enjoying his time, doesn’t he?
--Why do you think Ninomiya-san has such a high capability to read the atmosphere?
Aiba: Well, wouldn’t it be because he’s always observing his surroundings? It’s like he’s always overlooking everything.
Matsumoto: That’s true. It’s as if he’s looking over everything from above us.
Sakurai: It’s sort of contrary to what we’ve just talked about, but there are moments when Nino suddenly disappears from the room. It’s like, “Eh? Nino’s gone.” During those moments, I sometimes think that he left as a result of reading the atmosphere of the place (laughs).
--Ninomiya-san received the Japan Academy Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role. What sort of positive points are in store for Arashi?
Matsumoto: It’s not like it’s something we received as the five of us (laughs). I think it’s amazing that he managed to receive such an influential award, since it’s his own personal achievement. The only thing is, he has the tendency to bring up the topic out of nowhere in variety shows and make it into a gag because of his personality. I think that that’s very Nino-like, though (laughs).
Aiba: You normally wouldn’t, after all.
Matsumoto: There’s no way you would (laughs). I’ve never heard of anyone make the fact that they received the Academy Awards into a joke and go, “I managed to get the award.” (laughs)

The other 4 members talk about the current Ohno Satoshi—
--How has Ohno-san in 2017 been?
Aiba: He had light skin in the first half.
Ninomiya: You’re right, he was fair skinned then (laughs).
Aiba: Then starting from around the middle of the year, he started to become darker (laughs). I realised that Leader was spending his days in fulfilment when I saw that he slowly darkened, though.
Matsumoto: I heard that he caught tuna the other day.
Sakurai: Wow.
Ninomiya: He’s able to fish tuna, huh?
--From the past, Ohno-san has continued to choreograph his own solos and songs such as Carnival Night part 2. However, the proportion of the choreography he is responsible for has increased ever since the Popcorn Tour. He has even worked on the dance for singles like Bittersweet. Do you feel that he has changed in any way as the number of choreography which he is responsible for has increased?
Sakurai: Whether he himself has changed? Nope, there’s no such thing.
Matsumoto: Yeah, there’s a possibility that he’s hoping to not have to do it if possible (laughs).
Aiba: Hahahahaha.
Sakurai: We’re basically requesting him to do so against his will, after all (laughs).
Ninomiya: Yeah.
--Are there any peculiarities in the choreography which Ohno-san creates?
Matsumoto: They’re easy to remember. The variations are clearly distinguishable. He’s a performer himself, so he knows the right amount of movement which would be necessary and how they should be carried out. With the fact that we would be dancing and singing at the same time factored in, he’s really good at finding a balance in his choreography.
Ninomiya: That’s true, it really is easy to remember.
Matsumoto: Aside from that, he’s also really good with expressing moves which we’ve requested (laughs). For example, when we request that we’d like it a certain way, he’d go, “Oh, alright. I got it.” Then, we leave everything else to him. We discuss and decide on the final moves together by majority vote, so he’s very flexible with what he produces as well.
Aiba: He’s also strangely fast, both in regards to the time he takes choreographing and proceeding onto the next stage.
Sakurai: He’s unexpectedly impatient (laughs). Although most would probably imagine him to be someone who takes his time doing things, that’s not actually the case.
Ninomiya: Yeah, that’s why he probably wants to finish teaching us all the choreography as soon as he can.
Sakurai: He goes home immediately after work, too. Although, Nino’s the same in that aspect.
Ninomiya: That person’s seriously fast in heading home.
Matsumoto: He’s really impatient when it comes to fishing as well, isn’t he?
Sakurai: He is. He hands you lots of lures (laughs).
Aiba: I see~ (laughs)
--Is his method of managing choreography different from other choreographers you normally work with?
Matsumoto: It is. He doesn’t count the beats within his dance. While Leader tells us, “this move, then this, then this and this,” we stand behind counting the beat on our fingers (laughs).
Sakurai: But well, we can follow what he tells us intuitively to an extent. If we were taught choreography the same way by other choreographers, we probably wouldn’t understand, but we’ve been together from around the time we were in junior high school, so it’s a special case.
Ninomiya: That’s true.
Aiba: Yep.

The other 4 members talk about the current Sakurai Sho—
--What sort of role does Sakurai-san have when the five of you are together?
Matsumoto: He often consolidates everyone’s opinions together. During meetings, when everyone expresses their opinion and goes, “I’d like to do this a certain way,” he combines those ideas and suggests, “What about we do it this way, then?”
Ohno: Yep.
--When Sakurai-san is absent in a meeting because of other work or a similar reason, does someone else out of the other 4 members take on his role?
Matsumoto: No, we don’t. The five of us are basically always present during meetings together, you see.
Ninomiya: If something like that happens, then we just don’t hold the meeting.
--Sakurai-san once mentioned that he “wanted to enter his 30s as soon as possible,” but now that he’s actually entered his 30s, do you feel like he’s changed at all compared to the past?
Ninomiya: I’ve never really perceived him with the conscious thought that he’s in his “30s,” though.
--What about if we talk about Sakurai-san in the past 5 years or so?
Matsumoto: Hmm, well, perhaps turning 30 was quite significant. Was it during the time we were in Hawaii? He mentioned something along the lines of, “I thought Arashi would end within 10 years – around the time I’d be in my late 20s.” That’s why he probably didn’t think that this group would sustain its activities for this long. In that sense, entering his 30s…… at what timing, I wonder? The past few years has been really well balanced in terms of group work and solo activities, hasn’t it? We’ve been holding our concerts, and he continues to work for NEWS ZERO as well.
Aiba: Either way, he seems really busy, doesn’t he?
Ohno: Yep.
Aiba: I often see him nap in our dressing room backstage with really weird postures, so I always worry that he would hurt his neck.
Ninomiya: He sleeps with his neck twisted at 90 degrees, after all (laughs).
Ohno: I’m amazed he can sleep so soundly.
Ninomiya: He’s busy, that’s why he’s tired enough to sleep with such postures.
Ohno: When I look at his schedule, it’s always really packed.
--But everyone has times when they get really busy due to things like drama filming and concerts clashing too, right?
Ninomiya: That’s true, but for us it’s only during fixed periods of time. In his case, he’s always really busy. I observe him and realise that I personally wouldn’t be able to handle his schedule.
Aiba: That’s why, if you think of it that way, he definitely has good stamina and is great at using his time well. He has a jam-packed schedule even outside work. All he talks about recently is games though (laughs).
Ninomiya: Yeah, he’s recently become a gamer (laughs).
--Eh? Is that true?
Matsumoto: Yeah, although it doesn’t really come up in magazine interviews.
Aiba: Yeah, it doesn’t.
Ninomiya: It was unexpected, wasn’t it?
Matsumoto: Apparently, he played games yesterday too.
Aiba: Really? Wow.

The 5 of them talk about the current Arashi—
--From now on, I’d like to ask the five of you about “the scene you are currently seeing,” along with what beliefs you currently hold as you face yourselves as Arashi.
Everyone: Alright~
--The new album, 「untitled」, probably expresses the “current Arashi” the most effectively right now. What kind of theme did you decide on for this year’s album?
Aiba: I feel like we decided it on it together after gathering the ideas from numerous meetings.
Sakurai: If I remember correctly, that was the case.
--The album’s title literally means “untitled.” You’re really challenging yourselves by choosing “no title” as the concept of this album, aren’t you? I wonder whether that musical experimentalism is something that has only become possible to do as the “current Arashi.”
Sakurai: That’s probably true.
Aiba:, Ninomiya: Yeah.
Sakurai: If you opened up the options to something as wide of a concept as “no title” to the “Arashi” of the past that hadn’t been moulded into shape yet, you’d end up realising that there’s really nothing to produce anything out of. (laughs) That’s why in that sense, I believe it’s something that could only have been possible with the present Arashi that has continued to exist for 18 years. Following on from the challenging title, the content is also challenging, so I don’t think it could have been possible if it wasn’t for the current Arashi. Then again, I feel like our productions each time are all like that.
Matsumoto: Exactly. Each year, we decide on a theme and for the past for years, we’ve been doing a lot of reflecting as well. Last year, we focused on “updating the current Arashi,” and this year, we thought it’d be important to look beyond us and discover how we can express ourselves next by trial and error.
--Not to mention, one can’t even start to imagine what sort of concert will be created.
Matsumoto: True, our album production generally involves holding concerts as well. Of course, we create our album with the aim of making it something which people can enjoy in itself, as the songs and as a disc. But isn’t our production this time somewhat incomplete, even with a concert? That’s our concept for it, after all. We’re expressing our ideas in a new way that is different from how we’ve approached things before. We wouldn’t know whether we are successful in connecting the concepts we’ve produced with our audience unless we perform a concert.
--The live performances that all of you create yourselves is, in a sense, the place where you are able to express the core of yourselves the most. However, what sort of meaning does “singing and dancing” presently hold to Arashi?
Aiba: Hmm, the first job we were allowed to do whilst we were a Johnny’s Jr. was “singing and dancing,” so it’s our origin. That’s why, we don’t really do it whilst consciously thinking of its meaning to us.
Sakurai: Yeah. Just like as Aiba-kun said, it’s what we started with. The variety shows, dramas, movies, and in my case, journalism, that we’ve been allowed to appear in comes after that. To describe it in an extreme manner, the place where Arashi has continued to simply exist as Arashi is in the area of singing and dancing.
Ninomiya: Yep.
Sakurai: In a way, it means that concerts aren’t necessarily special when compared to everything else that we do. It’s paradoxical, but it becomes something that becomes increasingly special as a result. After all, there are more opportunities to see us through the other work that we do, considering all that we’ve been allowed to appear on.
Ninomiya: It’s truly something to be grateful for.
Matsumoto: That’s true. Furthermore, being able to release an album each year and hold concerts annually really is a blessing. It wouldn’t have been strange for us to not be able hold concerts even if we wanted to, due to circumstances. Things like not being able to hold concerts because of circumstances related to the venue, a member’s individual work or being unable to fit it into our schedule. None of that has happened to us so far. Although… The fact that we don’t generally compose our own music is probably a reason why (laughs).
--How are you currently feeling in relation to the concert right now, Ninomiya-san?
Ninomiya: Hmm, I guess it’s my feelings of gratitude. I have nothing but gratitude towards the fact that we’ve been able to hold concerts each year, and that so many people continue to come to our concerts to watch us.
--What about you, Ohno-san?
Ohno: I’m obviously grateful, but there’s also the side of me that is always surprised each time. Like, “Ah, there are this many people who have come to see us.” That doesn’t really change.
--This goes back quite a bit in time, but I feel like Arashi entered a new chapter starting from Popcorn in 2012, in relation to your concerts. In 2009 to 2011, it was the “Arashi that fans want to see,” but the gear shifted to “the Arashi that Arashi wants to see” in 2012. Do you have a sense of it happening within yourselves?
Matsumoto: Not for me. The reason why Popcorn (2012) was produced was because there was Scene ~Kimi to Boku no Miteiru Fuukei~ (2010) and Beautiful World (2011), after all. Let’s see… I think the year we produced Beautiful World was a year when everyone thought a lot of those sorts of things.
--It was the year the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami occurred, after all.
Matsumoto: The words that popped up in our songs, along with the things the members were thinking about at the time were all on the same wavelength. Following on from the course of events, we decided to approach pop-style music directly in our next album. That’s why, rather than saying that something changed from that point, it’s more accurate to say that because we experienced the time before that we were able to construct all the succeeding productions. This year’s「untitled」was also something that has come to shape following on from the release of THE DIGITALIAN, Japonism and Are You Happy?
--How about the Hawaii concert, then? I felt like I was able to see a change in the atmosphere within Arashi between the time before you left for it and after you came back, highlighting the significance that concert had on the group. What sort of impact did the 10 days in Hawaii bring about to Arashi?
Ninomiya: It’s the same answer as I gave before, but I guess it’d have to be that we were grateful to everyone, first and foremost.
--Is it gratitude towards the fact that you were able to step into Hawaii again?
Ninomiya: No, at the end of the day we can step into Hawaii anytime we’d like, but with our own efforts? We held a concert there, where the people who came to support us gathered together in the same space as people who have supported us on the other side. That’s not something that happens often.
Aiba: I’m pretty sure it was quite difficult to organise. There were quite a lot of people who flew across to watch us, too.
Ninomiya: There were even aeroplanes that were specially organised for the sake of it.
Aiba: I really have nothing but gratitude, seeing that there are people who are willing to go through so much to spend time together with us.
Ninomiya: Yeah. But I don’t know the answer to your question on what sort of impact that experience left upon us.
Matsumoto: Even though we celebrated our 15th anniversary, it wasn’t as if we decided that we’d continue forever amongst ourselves. It’s not as if it’s a given that we’d continue what we’re doing forever now, either. But at that time, we were able to reflect on the fact that we had managed to continue on for 15 years, and I really think being able to hold our anniversary concert on the land which Arashi was formed was something big. People who were involved with us on various TV shows came along with us and we filmed recordings there as well. I feel like we were given that time as a reward. But it’s now something of the past, so it’d be more precise to say that everything, not only our experience in Hawaii, contributes to mould the current Arashi.
--I see. Amongst that, Arashi continues to experiment with new stages and renew their passion. I wonder how you’ve continued to create rich stages over the past 18 years?
Sakurai: One of the main reasons for it is probably because we lose interest in things easily.
Matsumoto: That’s a huge reason, isn’t it?
Aiba: We find that it’d be more difficult to preserve our present condition. We don’t have the courage to try what we’ve already done one more time, so we end up wanting to try something new instead.
--Concerts are also where the five of you can spend a long time together as well, isn’t it?
Sakurai: Exactly. The other day the five of us drank together after Osaka’s Waku Waku Gakkou, in one of our rooms. Then Aiba-kun started taking out pickled ginger and biscuits from his bag after drinking so I was like, “What…… did this person even come here to do?” (laughs)
Ninomiya, Ohno: Hahahahaha.
Matsumoto: He probably brought food from home for all of us, expecting the five of us to drink together (laughs).
Ninomiya: He tends to bring a whole bag of food with him, you see (laughs).
--By the way, what sort of atmosphere was created when you drank together?
Ninomiya: Well, when the five of us drink together, around half of what we talk about is related to work, so we don’t exactly drink with much excitement and go, “Yaaay!” (laughs)

To do things intermittently – the Arashi from now on.
--During the round-table discussion in 2012, you mentioned something along the lines of, “Feeling like you’ve reached a path from a couple of years ago that doesn’t exist on a GPS.”
Sakurai: We sure said some cool stuff (laughs).
--Ohno-san also mentioned that you’ve “gone past various situations” to the extent that you’re now “looking forward to experiencing the unknown that is beyond.” 5 years have passed since you said that, but what sort of path is Arashi presently advancing on?
Matsumoto: What sort of path do you think we’re on? (laughs)
Sakurai: Contrarily, what do you think?
--(laughs) I think that you’re at a place where you cannot see the sight beyond yourselves. There are less sudden changes occurring in your surroundings, and whilst receiving the support from a large number of fans, you’re seeing the vision of how to steer the direction of “Arashi” from now on.
Sakurai: I wonder, I also wrote about it a bit in the new album’s lead track, but I feel like we’re currently situated beyond the dreams our past selves had imagined of our future. We’re not clear on where we currently are…… but on the other hand, at this point, we’ve been allowed to live our dreams for quite a number of years already (laughs). So, I feel like we are aware of where we’re roughly headed towards.
--Is it like you realise that, “It’s probably in this direction we’re moving towards,” even though you’re still amidst the mist?
Sakurai: Hmm, I don’t know which direction exactly since the road we’re on isn’t marked on our GPS, nor does our ship have a destination set, but I can kind of feel that the five of us are all facing towards the same direction. It’s not that we’re moving towards a pinpointed destination that we’ve decided upon, alright? But instead more that I kind of get the feeling that we’re all probably heading towards the same course.
--Do you feel that way as well, Ninomiya-san?
Ninomiya: Yeah, of course.
Matsumoto: That’s why, we don’t know whether the path we’re on is a good or bad one, but it’ll be the path we create as long as we decide on it together after discussing what we should do amongst ourselves. If we were to say that what we’ve done up until now is the path we’ve produced, I think it’s also possible that we may end up wanting to revisit another path that we’ve walked on before. I believe that the most important thing right now is for us to decide on the path together for all of us to walk on.
--MORE had its 40th anniversary and Arashi had their 18th anniversary this year. It’s probably quite tiring to have things to do intermittently, but do you have a strong awareness that Arashi will turn 20 in 2 years’ time?
Ninomiya: I’ve never paid attention to the number of years, nor to any numbers in general. It’s not like I’d receive any special bonus from continuing on for 20 years, either (laughs). We don’t receive an extra holiday or anything. It doesn’t serve as an indicator to how much hard work one has put in, as well. Leader once said in the past that, “Our 10th anniversary will automatically be celebrated, so let’s treasure our 9th year.” He often said it jokingly, but I don’t think we should ever forget those words.
Matsumoto: Yeah, we haven’t thought of our 20th anniversary at all. Just like with our 18th year and our 15th and 10th anniversaries, it’s nothing but an outcome of what we’ve done. I don’t even want to think about this, but the chances of one of us injuring ourselves before we reach our 20th anniversary isn’t zero, after all. We can’t imagine a future so far ahead of us.
Aiba: That’s so true. I mean, we don’t even know what will happen in the week to come (laughs). 2 years is a long time for us.
--Well then, I’d like to listen to each of your opinions on what you think the Arashi that follows the trackless path will become from now on, along with what sorts of things you’d like to challenge and end this discussion.
Matsumoto: I don’t know how we will become. Of course, I imagine the sorts of things we’ll encounter beyond us, but I definitely do not believe that it’s something that would automatically come to reality. The fact that we’ve continued to “be Arashi” for so long makes it something so natural, but…… I think we must constantly think about not taking it for granted. Rather than thinking about what lies beyond us, I think it’s more important to thin about how we’d like to spend our present days. Although it’s quite common to do so.
--What about you, Ohno-san?
Ohno: Well, although Aiba-chan was diagnosed with lung pneumothorax in the past, I think the fact that we’ve somehow managed to come to where we are now without anyone getting sick is simply something that’s quite miraculous. It probably shows just how much responsibility everyone realises they hold towards work. That’s why, I’d like to prioritise health above everything else from now on, as well (laughs).
Matsumoto: The comment he’s been planning to say has been announced (laughs).
Ninomiya: It’s exactly as Leader said. I think the fact that we continue to enjoy what we’ve been doing is most wonderful, so I guess I’d like us to continue from now in aim of doing exactly that.
--What about you, Aiba-san?
Aiba: What the current Arashi does is all in hopes of “making people who support us have as much fun as possible,” honestly speaking. When we have concerts, people go through a lot in order to see us. There are many who transport themselves all the way to the venue on top of paying money for it, so I work in hopes of making those people enjoy themselves.
--Sakurai-san, please comment as well.
Sakurai: Hmm, the idea of “continuing what we do” means that our current job connects to our next one, and the next job connects to the one after. It applies to both my solo work, as well as work for the group. Since we don’t know anything else aside from the “present” we are entrusted with, I believe we can only pour our blood, sweat and tears into the “present.” On the other hand, I think it’s amazing hearing the idea of having a 20th anniversary. Thanks to our seniors who have paved a path for us ahead, it feels natural that we’re here as a group, but I didn't think we would continue what we’ve been doing up to this stage, where we’re nearing our 40s. That’s why, I don’t know what to expect from now on at all (laughs).
--“If you pour all your efforts into the present, you’ll be able to see the shape of things in due time,” is it?
Sakurai: I might not be able to see anything, even if I work my hardest. But even so, I believe that the chances of seeing the shape of the path is zero if I don’t put in the effort, so I have no choice but to give it my all.
--Thank you very much for all your answers. When everyone was completely wrapped up in the hype that is Arashi during your 10th anniversary, you laughed it off, saying that, “the situation was just like a bubble.” However, the reason for why that bubble hasn’t popped must be because you’ve continued to face forwards together with all that you can.
Sakurai: I’d like to think so, as someone who is related to the group (laughs).
Ninomiya: That’s true (laughs).
Aiba: Our “I don't know” is said positively, after all (laughs).

Notes:
(1) The 2016 calendar sold as part of Japonism's concert goods






While I try to keep my translations as close as possible to the original text, it may not be 100% accurate. Feel free to correct any mistakes you may find!

Please do not repost/retranslate without permission! Thank you.

(Image source: 榎本卤蛋)


--This time’s talk theme is: “The five members of Arashi discuss the past and the future from now on.” Please talk about the ten topics that will be given in which some will also relate to your new album, 「untitled」.
M: The five of us are meant to discuss the topics together, right? Understood.

--Up until now, there have been many instances where we’ve heard about the growth of each member. From the stories, there are many areas where it seems that you have not changed at all from the time before you debuted as Arashi. We often end up thinking that, “you were all Arashi from the start, after all.” How do you all perceive the time before you became Arashi?
M: The time before we are Arashi is ages ago, though (laughs). Even Leader, who debuted when he was eighteen years old is now thirty-six, so he’s now been Arashi for half his life.
O: Yep.
S: We’re all of similar age and we were a part of Johnny’s Jr. together during the same period, so we have a lot of memories shared between us. Things like listening to a popular song during a specific period in time, or being the back dancers for our seniors, or experiencing something that happened during our stay at a hotel for a concert together. Hence, although we weren’t a part of the group that is “Arashi,” …saying that we’re like childhood friends may be a bit of a stretch, but we spent a lot of time together. If you were to ask us if we suddenly became Arashi during our press conference on the 15th of September in Hawaii, I’d disagree. Instead, it felt like we still weren’t really Arashi yet during the press conference and our CD release.
--Within the album, there’s a song called Song for you which has a line that says, “a name we weren’t used to, the cruiser we suddenly boarded.” (1) In relation to what you were saying earlier, does it mean that rather than your debut being a switch in which Arashi was immediately shaped, it was more that the Arashi we know gradually came to be?
S: Yeah, I think it was something that progressively formed.
M: I mean, during our group’s formation, I was speaking to Leader with honorifics.
O: Now he’s speaking to me in casual speech (laughs).
M: We’ve been working together for the past 18 years now, so forgive me, okay~ (laughs)
A: The individual experiences of releasing various singles and holding concerts despite the lack of song repertoire contributed to the sensation of us being a group. The start was quite difficult. We borrowed a lot of songs from senior groups to sing during our concert because of it.
S: We only had one song released at the time, after all.
A: We once sang A.RA.SHI three times during a concert.
Around what time did you start to grasp the reality that you had become Arashi?
M: I believe we performed with the sense of understanding that we had become Arashi during our first concert. At least I did. It was already half a year after our debut by that time.
S: Yeah, I think our first concert was meaningful in raising our awareness of the situation. But in terms of whether Arashi itself had been moulded into shape at the time, I’d disagree. It’s more like we built it up bit by bit. Plus, it’s hard to say whether it’s complete right now as well. It might change shape from now on, so it’s hard to clearly establish what Arashi is.
N: I feel like that self-awareness of being Arashi is probably something that slowly builds up ever since we were told that we were going to become Arashi. Until then, we had been working with other Juniors as the back dancers for our seniors. I started to become more aware of my identity as Arashi ever since we had been clearly told that we were to become Arashi, when we still worked a lot behind-the-scenes.
M: As expected, it’s something that strengthens after a period of time, so wouldn’t time be an important factor? Many of us have collaborated in various areas during our time as a Johnny’s Jr. For example, my stage performance with Aiba-kun and Nino in Stand by Me, or Aiba-kun and my appearance in Kinki Kids’ drama Bokura no Yuuki: Miman Toshi. Everyone had established their own respective relationships with each other. However, there was never a chance to work collaboratively together with the five of us, so I think that the atmosphere which defines Arashi was something that developed after the five of us became Arashi. It's a product of the time we've spent together.

--The next topic is “the moment you felt the desire to make Arashi big in industry.”
S: It’s probably the time when Aiba-kun read out his letter on 24 Hour TV for me. When he said, “Let’s achieve our dream to reach the top,” I realised that the determination of becoming the top was common between the five of us. We were given the opportunity to be the main personality for 24 Hour TV in 2004, but I wasn’t exactly conscious about it as a job for only the five of us. After all, in reality, Higashiyama-senpai had helped us out a lot……and although I felt the desire to work hard at it, I was somehow unable to get driven up to it. So, the moment Aiba-kun read the contents of his letter during a time I was feeling such things, I once again realised that the five of us were facing towards the same goal.
--Aiba-chan, do you remember that?
A: Of course, I do (laughs). When I finished writing the letter, I had a person from the agency check over it first. Initially I wrote, “Let’s make sure the five of us sell a lot in the music industry,” but they recommended for me to change the way I phrased that a bit.
S: Was it because it was too crude?
A: Yeah (laughs). That’s why I changed it to, “Let’s achieve our dream to reach the top.” It’s a phrase I poured my emotion into.
--Did everyone feel the same about it?
O: We spoke about it a lot around two to three years after we debuted, so when Aiba-chan reaffirmed it on 24 Hour TV, I felt that it was a reminder for the five of us to move towards achieving our goals again.
N: I felt like it was a rare occasion, though. I’m surprised he declared it out loud. Even if we had the same thoughts, we’re not the type of group who voices it aloud much.
A: We don’t normally express things openly, do we?
--So, the fact that the five of you are normally much more reserved when it comes to stating your ambitions made the fact that he clearly announced it much more meaningful.
S: Yeah… You see, the discussions that Ohno-san mentioned previously mostly consisted of me or Matsujun clearly stating such objectives. That’s why, seeing someone who didn’t normally talk about such things suddenly state their dreams so was personally very impactful, particularly since it was also a surprise.
N: The declaration was something which could only have happened at that specific moment.
S: The only thing is, he was crying so much I couldn’t tell half of what he was saying (laughs).
A: (laughs) I guess that’s true.
N: He was the one who was moved the most (laughs).
A: I was touched at how well I wrote the letter (laughs).
--In specific terms, what did you envision yourselves in becoming?
S: At the time, I wanted to become a group that could do various things. To put it simply, I wanted to be able to work with solo activities as well as group activities. But we didn’t really produce any strong results nor influence with our work, so I felt a bit impatient with the current state of things at the time.
M: I dreamt of performing at domes and Kokuritsu at the time. I went to various concerts of both seniors from Johnny’s as well as other artists, to see the sort of things we could learn from their concert performances. I was specifically hoping for us to be able to achieve those dreams, and I’d say we were able to in the end.
--How do you feel about it, Aiba-san? You’ve achieved that dream.
M: Were we able to reach the top?
A: We did (laughs).
Everyone: (laughs)
M: It’ll damage your image if you claim that, you know (laughs).
A: Right, then let’s stop (laughs).

--Next is the time you were lost in wonderment as Arashi became increasingly popular.
M: Personally, I’ve never felt any sense of that confusion, but the words of the other members during our Around Asia concert at Tokyo Dome in 2007 left a big impression on me. They continued to say that, “no matter how big our concert venues become, we will continue to do what we’ve always done.” The fact that our venues have become larger may be seen by some as signifying an improvement to the stage we perform on. But we must make sure to bring all our fans who have continued to support us all this time along with us – to walk towards the next stage together. Those words which all the other members kept saying left a huge impression on me. I wasn’t thinking about it that way at all (laughs).
S: We’ve been the type of group who have kept a close distance between us and our fans, so when we announced the fact that we would be performing at domes and Kokuritsu, I’m sure there were many fans who felt uncertain about it. That’s why everyone may have decided to reassure them that it would not change by vocalising those words of reassurance.
M: I have the strongest impression of Sho-kun and Nino being particularly adamant about it. Everyone mentioned it though.
N: We didn’t change and what we were doing didn’t change either, yet it felt like everything around us had changed. We had always talked about how grateful we were to be able to hold a concert every year, so I probably voiced that because I felt that performing at a larger stage came with the responsibility to ensure we did not leave our fans who had continued to support us.
O: During our 10th anniversary, there were feelings of wonder and confusion to the extent I was thinking to myself whether it would be okay to have everyone celebrate it that much. We planned to stay just as we always were, but the staff around us kept congratulating us. I remember that period as a time in which I was unable to completely grasp reality.
A: My schedule during our 10th anniversary was extremely packed the whole year with all the work we were given the opportunity to do. Though, rather than confusion, I felt like I was living through everything really fast. I felt like I wasn’t able to process each day that went passed and kept thinking to myself, “this is bad, I have to fully appreciate each day as I spend it.”
--The five of you are unexpectedly the type who are cautious when it comes to being praised and complimented by those around you, aren’t you?
Everyone: (laughs)
N: (laughs) That might be true – very true. We were like, “you’re lying, right?” “No way~”
M: “We definitely won’t be deceived.” (laughs)
--Why don’t you let yourselves get carried away?
S: I wonder why? (laughs)
N: Isn’t it because we have never seen anyone become successful by letting compliments get to their heads? There’s probably that conviction to not allow that to happen within every one of us.
--I see. It’s something that you were all aware of from seeing previous experiences of other people?
S: It’s true that it’s something that didn’t need to be said out loud. I got the gist that the five of us were all thinking the same thing.
M: The period in time may have been a factor, too. We’re from the period of the Bubble economy, after all (laughs).
--It might be a reason for Arashi’s symbolic atmosphere – that sense of stability.
M: The fact that we easily distrust others (laughs).
S: It may be.

--The moment fans taught you Arashi’s magnificence?
S: This was during our Asia tour for me. We had an interpreter with us at the various cities, but there was an immediate reaction even when we spoke amongst ourselves during our MCs. In other words, there were fans out there who found out about Japan, learnt Japanese to the extent they could understand it because of Arashi. I thought that was amazing, along with the surprising realisation that we can actually be the reason for people’s decisions. It’s unimaginable that we could be the reason for why some people decide to learn Japanese.
M: It’s the same with dramas and varieties, too. The other day, when I met a Korean person, I was told that one of the lines I said in a drama was unforgettable, even though I don’t remember the line myself.
N: You can’t help it when you’re the one who’s saying it.
M: Yeah. I’ve also been told that they listen to variety show talks and remember them. They also tried copying the way Nino teases others on variety (laughs). I found that really interesting.
--In variety shows, there’s a natural rhythm in the communication that the five of you display with each other, so there are people learning from it.
S: It shouldn’t something one can learn a lot from, though. The variety show they said they watched was probably the one where we were wearing T-shirts with holes to show our nipples (laughs).
N: It was around the time we played Sugoroku (in Arashi no Shukudai-kun), right?
A: There was also Tutankhamun’s curse (laughs).
M: (laughs) For me, I also get really happy when I hear stories about friendships amongst fellow fans. For example, there are stories of a lot of people who go into various different stores after a concert. Many of them have Arashi goods and start talking to each other. There are cases where they become good friends afterwards. Or stories that there are people who clean up leftover rubbish outside the venue after a concert before they go home. When I hear that there are so many fans out there who forge and treasure their relationships through our concerts, I feel really grateful.
--You realise the various settings in which people are influenced by the activities the five of you, don’t you?
S: I guess so. Though I’m not usually self-aware of it.
M: I want to try coming across to an outing with fellow fans by coincidence just once. I don’t want to aim to meet them, but I want to encounter them by pure coincidence and try drinking with them (laughs). Like, “how was today’s concert?” and they could answer with areas which they felt could be improved (laughs).

--A moment you felt a sense of responsibility as Arashi?
S: My answer for this is similar to the one for the third question, but it was probably around the time we were allowed to hold our concerts at domes and similar venues. Up until then, we were performing album tracks for around ninety percent of our concert set list. In other words, we performed things that we wanted to show to our fans at that present moment. But from a certain point, there was a need for us to increase the amount of songs everyone would recognise in our set list – songs like A.RA.SHI, Happiness and Hadashi no Mirai. The amount of people who came to our concerts for fun without knowing about us much probably increased since we started performing at the dome, so there was an increased sense of responsibility for us to display the Arashi everyone loves and knows to everyone who came. I remember discussing it a lot with everyone at the time.
--I wonder if you started to see that you were about to continue doing what you did at the time?
S: I wonder… Honestly, I was quite confused at the time.
--In the song, Mikan, there are rap lyrics which Sakurai-kun wrote that says, “from the darkness to the light, we create our own path to a new age, we were simply naïve at the time.” (2) Initially I thought that you were aware of yourselves forging your own path to the future, but it seems as if that wasn’t the case, after all.
S: If I was to explain the rap, after “we were simply naïve at the time,” there’s a phrase that says, “the present is future beyond our dreams.” That basically refers to what I said previously – days that I would never have expected to come true is what we are experiencing now. There are areas which will be difficult to explain in detail, though (laughs). But it’s true that I had Arashi in mind while I was writing the rap.
M: Furthermore, simply put, there’s a strong sense of responsibility that Arashi consists of the five of us. If anyone was to leave it wouldn’t be Arashi anymore. There are also instances where one of us have gotten sick or injured in the past eighteen years, and if it’s you who has gotten sick, you feel apologetic because you feel like you’re creating trouble for the other members. That’s exactly why in a sense it’d be easier if someone could easily replace one of us during such times, but of course that’s not an option. There’s rarely been occasions where one of us has gone, “I’m feeling unwell today, so we’ll go with just the four of us today!”
O: We’re strong.
M: Our immune system is, yeah? (laughs) It might be pretty fundamental, but I feel the sense of responsibility then.
--Even though you joked around about how strong your immune system is, I think you’ve got high emotional strength as a group. The fact that you’re resolute on appearing on stage as the five of you is proof of that.
O: If we start feeling a bit unwell in our personal lives, we make sure not to force ourselves, though.
N: Although he gets himself this tanned (laughs).
M: If he starts feeling unwell outside work, he makes sure to prevent working himself too hard by not going fishing (laughs). Right?
O: I wouldn’t go, not even if the wind was strong on the day.
N: (laughs) It’s just a matter of the weather, then.
O: I’d capsize and Sho-kun will come to save me from a helicopter and drag me up on a rope and it’ll be aired on NEWS ZERO (laughs).
A: Do you want to go fishing to that extent? (laughs) You’re not a fisherman, alright.
O: That’s why, I’ll make sure to avoid reaching that kind of extreme situation (laughs).
--(laughs) But in the end, you’re all conscious of the fact that you’re a member of Arashi in any situation, aren’t you?
S: I wonder… I guess I’m always aware of that fact, but it’s not like I keep thinking about it day and night. How should I describe it? It’s like since it’s a reality, that’s all there is to it.
M: Isn’t it something that you don’t necessarily have to be conscious about anymore?
S: That’s true. It’s like, “I’m Arashi.” That’s it.
A: As for me, I felt a strong sense of responsibility when I had pneumothorax in the past.
M: We were already appreciative that you were able to go with us.
A: I got pneumothorax around a week before we left for Hawaii so I wasn’t sure whether I would have been able to ride the plane to Hawaii for the fan event at the time. But I miraculously recovered at an astounding rate so I was able to go in the end (laughs).
N: You wouldn’t normally say that yourself (laughs).
A: (laughs) It was really close. I wasn’t able to sing or dance, so I couldn’t help but contemplate about it during the talks I was able to participate in. I felt frustrated, like, why this timing?
M: It’s a regret that was relieved with the decision to hold our 15th anniversary concert in Hawaii though, right?
A: Yeah. There’s a long story to our Hawaii concert from the perspective of someone who knows about it (laughs).
M: But well, I think you had a really strong determination. I mean, the rest of us thought that we’d be going with only the four of us. Plus, although you said that you recovered miraculously, you hadn’t fully recovered at the time, you know (laughs).
A: (laughs) I hadn’t. I was still undergoing treatment.
N: You probably wouldn’t be allowed to go if it happened now. It’s a situation where you could possibly worsen your condition in the aeroplane. No matter how much you ask, you probably wouldn’t be allowed on the plane in this current age.
--The five of you seem to hold a very strong sense of responsibility as a member of Arashi, even from before.
N: Yeah, we do.
S: We might have a strong sense of responsibility, but it feels normal to us.

--The sixth topic onwards will be in relation to the Arashi from now on. I’d like to ask the reason you named the newest album 「untitled」.
N: How did you like it when you heard it? Was it cool?
S: He’s leading you on (laughs).
--(laughs) First of all, I wondered just how many other artists could actually work with this sort of title aside from Arashi.
M: Tell us more, tell us more! (laughs)
--It’s a title which seems usable, but there’s also a chance some people may be in disbelief thinking, “What are they doing, trying to make their title seem deep?” But you can’t help but feel like the title really has a deep meaning when it comes to Arashi. If I had to relate this to a band who could come up with such a title, it’d be a group like Mr. Children. Other than that, I wonder if there would be any other idol or pop group aside from Arashi where this sort of title would be practical at all.
S: We’re honoured to hear that.
M: My friend just told me, “so you haven’t decided” instead (laughs).
N: (laughs) He has a fair point, doesn’t he?
--How did you think about and decide on the title?
S: We wanted to challenge ourselves. It’s become natural for us to try something new each year nowadays. It was new for us as we produced THE DIGITALIAN in 2014 and Japonism the year after, as new as it was when we conceived the laid-back Are You Happy? after Japonism. They were all things that were new to us, but we wanted to make this year’s album particularly full of challenges. We talked a lot about how challenges aren’t all about singing a new music style. Instead, really fun songs we’ve never done before, along with really moving ballads could also become challenges for us. We agreed that cool songs for the five of us to dance to doesn’t necessarily mean the only method of challenging something new. All in all, we chose this title with our desire to produce new things that are different to what we’ve done in the past.
--The deep thought that goes into how one should represent new challenges in music – I particularly find it interesting how you seem to take it one step further and try to extend your boundaries.
M: If we discuss the recent years, we explored the theme of the far future that is beyond us in THE DIGITALIAN and the year after that we chose a theme that was the complete opposite. We focused our album, Japonism, on the country we were born and raised in, along with the defining Johnny’s entertainment we’ve continued to produce. It was a theme explaining that we can realise the things we should be doing in the present by learning about the past. After that, we produced Are You Happy? in the hopes of embodying 2016 so it was inevitable that the next thing we would think of is a theme that focuses on the future from now on. We’ve reminisced about the past a couple of times during the past few years, so it feels about time to start moving forward towards the future again. We included those feelings of expectations for the future within our album production.
--By the way, was everyone in full agreement with each other about the concept?
S: Not really. There were twists and turns and everyone’s ideas were everywhere so it was quite difficult, actually. We were quite indecisive.
--When the title 「untitled」appeared as an idea, did everyone accept it with no qualms?
N: I wonder…?
O: I don’t remember (laughs).
N: Didn’t we spend quite a bit of time choosing the theme of our newest album?
S: I forgot the details of how the process went, but I felt like it was more difficult than usual every other year.
M: Well, the idea of “what will happen beyond us” is hard to grasp, after all. It’s easier with “the present” as the theme because we can just produce things we currently want to try and the music styles we currently enjoy. When it comes to Japonism and its theme of the past, it was easier to think about and we decided to have each of us individually execute a performance each. But when it comes to “what will happen from now on,” everyone has difficulty trying to get a grasp of what they can envision, so it’s hard to put into words when we try to discuss the possibilities with everyone. That’s why, there were a lot of meetings this time that were unproductive (laughs).

--The next topic is something that flows on smoothly from where we have left off, so I will continue on. What sort of projects do the five of you ideally want to challenge from now? Aiba-chan previously mentioned that you had reached the top (laughs).
A: (laughs) That was a joke, though. I said it as a joke, but well, I’m really grateful that we’ve been given so many opportunities to experience all sorts of different things. I feel like we’ve been able to do all the things I can think of so far.
M: On top of everything that we’ve done, maybe a musical with the five of us (laughs).
A: (laughs) That’s a good idea. We’ve been allowed to do so many things to the extent where it’s hard to think of new ideas to suggest. It’s also hard to envision what sort of new experiences we could have from now on, right?
--The word “Unfinished” (3) is a keyword that appears to consistently appear within the concept of this album. It might be hard to put into words, but what sort of ideals does Arashi have?
Everyone: ……………
M: ……How we currently feel is the same as how we feel during our meetings (laughs).
N: Yeah, he’s exactly right. That’s a hard question.
A: It’s not like we’re chasing after any goals. Instead, it’s more like we’re walking step by step on a path in which we can’t see beyond us and stop once in a while to realise where we are. It’s as if we’re climbing a mountain.
M: You just climbed up a mountain (on Arashi ni Shiyagare) after all.
S: He’s being influenced by it (laughs).
A: (laughs) If we compare it to mountain climbing, it’s tough to continue walking when it’s bright and you can’t see the path beyond you. Rather than planning to walk a certain distance by a certain time, it’s less strenuous to walk in the dark at night without knowing where you’re going and stop to realise, “Ah, I’ve come this far.”
S: In other words, it’s easier for us to work amidst the darkness in which you’re unable to see a specific goal you plan to reach—
A: Yeah. I think that it’s easier that way for me.
S: Alright, they’ve decided on which sentence of yours they’ll increase the font size of on the page. Congratulations (laughs).
--It seems like you’re able to explain yourself in more detail with the analogy. I’m starting realise how hard it is otherwise to explain how Arashi thinks.
A: That might be true.
--Well then, shall I ask Leader to answer the question in terms of fishing? (laughs)
N: Let’s try it once.
O: …If I was to compare it to fishing, there was a period in time when we were completely unable to fish anything. Then out of nowhere, we were suddenly able to fish an amount no one has ever fished before.
A: Compared to our rivals, he means.
M: Is everyone riding on the same boat?
O: Yep. Everyone’s fishing on the same boat and someone suddenly fished a really big fish. One of us caught a big fish and everyone else follows except me. As a result, I start to panic. In the end, I end up with a catch, but someone else caught something bigger and it just goes back and forth.
Everyone: (laughs)
A: His method of explanation is so peculiar so you don’t get it, right? (laughs)
M: Is it making any sense? (laughs)
--(laughs) I see.
S: “I see”?! (laughs)
--In other words, the five of you spent time together—
O: Which all accumulated into one outcome.
--I wonder if you have ideals for work that are constantly in store as a result of the pause before the sudden accumulation.
M: I only know for myself and not everyone else, but when I take myself out of the picture and look at Arashi as consisting only of the other four members, there are ideas that I want to work on which come to mind. I was able to imagine a lot of ideas by thinking about the other members in Are You Happy? for example. Whilst it’s difficult to think about it as Arashi, there are sometimes ideals which surface in mind by changing the perspective I look at ourselves.
--It's sort of like the other four members are mirrors for you to think of ideas.
M: Yeah. It’s how I personally think, though.
--Putting Arashi’s ideals into words is very hard, but it appears to me that it definitely exists. Therefore, I’m sure you’ll continue to progress powerfully.
N: In fact, aren’t our ideals and reality quite close together? It’s to the extent where we're not dissatisfied at all with the reality we’re faced with. I think our ideals are quite close to what we’re currently doing right now.

--The next question connects to this question: What sort of challenges does Arashi want to face together from now on?
M: I think if we were to put it into Aiba-san’s analogy of mountain climbing, it’d be to explore the mountains. Things like deciding which mountain we should climb next. I believe it’s important for us to choose which mountain to climb ourselves after all the different experiences we’ve had. We should also decide as a group, because there’s no meaning to it if there’s someone who doesn’t want to challenge the climb. It’s a climb which everyone does together, after all. In terms of what it is—it doesn’t matter as much, in my opinion. It’s more important that everyone is facing the same direction.
--You have a very positive mindset even when it comes to discussing challenges. You don’t think about what you’re missing as a group but instead what you can do with your current selves. It’s difficult to find it without everyone facing towards the same direction, but considering the fact that you have continued to successfully produce albums and concerts all these years gives me confidence that the five of you will find the answer.
M: Of course, we do have the desire for improvement which is why we sometimes give suggestions here and there. It’s not quite like we point things out in a negative light, though. At the end of the day, I think it’s more important that we think about what we can currently work with.
--When the keyword「untitled」came up as you were naming the title of the album, did you feel like you saw a new mountain to climb?
A: The path in front of us is still completely dark. On top of the fact that our fans haven’t heard our album yet at this point in time, we still have to increase our efforts from 100% to around 120%~130% as we plan the concert performances. The full impact of the tracks still hasn’t been completed in that sense. The fans’ reaction would also contribute to the significance of the songs, too.
--The track, Song for you, is a remarkable tune even within this album.
S: That song was a challenge for us.
--It felt like you were challenging something new and on top of that, it seems to portray the tale of Arashi’s journeys up until now. Furthermore, the “you” in “Song for you” personally left a strong impression on me. Did you sing this song with a particular intention in mind?
N: The meaning encompassed within the song is probably to do with our roots as an artist. I think it’s generally been the case every time from our debut song up until now. We don’t normally sing songs for ourselves. Instead, we sing for those who take the time to listen to them. I think that the feelings we’ve incorporated within the song are related to our origins.
--And it became this incredibly epic song when you incorporate those feelings directly into the song production?
N: It is incredibly epic, isn’t it? (laughs)
M: Did it feel really long?
--No, I was completely drawn in. It felt like I was watching a movie.
M: You sure said something good!
--It didn’t feel long at all.
A: Huh~ Even though the song’s eleven minutes?
S: Your lunch break will end in no time if you listen to it repeatedly (laughs).
M: The theme of what we planned to sing was initially completely different to what we ended up with. We ended up changing it after there was discussion where we concluded that it has to be based on our own story as an artist. The reason for that was largely because this song was labelled as the one and only musical suite in our album. After our discussion, we scrapped our initial plans and shaped it into how it is now. However, we aren’t claiming that the story is strictly ours despite our basis for its conception. We just wanted our music to reach those who take the time to listen to them through our tale. I’m sure that many of our fans will interpret the song the same way we produced it when they hear the song, but it’d be nice for those who aren’t our fans to interpret the song differently if they have the chance to listen to it as well.

--There are unit songs in this album which comprise of various groupings. As a result, I think that the relationship between individual members are a point to look out for in this album, along with the group relationship as a whole. What new relationships will the five of you forge between each other from now on?
A: Will our current relationships change?
S: I can’t really imagine it transform from how it is right now. To compare the bonds between our members to a rope, it’s like the five of us are individual strings that have continued to tangle with each other and formed a thicker, sturdier rope. That’s why, I can’t really imagine that it would be possible to make the rope any denser, but I’d like to continue to treasure the rope as it currently is. It’s really hard to explain it in words to people who aren’t us. To put it simply, there’s no real basis for how others can empathise with our situation. Although it’s true that time has fostered the bonds between us and increased its strength, there’s more to it that I can’t describe. Arashi’s bonds are special to us. Even if other people may say that there are similar bonds that exist elsewhere, I don’t think the bonds within Arashi exist anywhere else. That’s why it’s so hard to explain.
N: If someone said they understood, then they’d be a member of Arashi.
S: They should be congratulated (laughs).
M: Let’s work with the six of us from now on (laughs).
S: You’re Arashi from today (laughs).
M: You’re Arashi!! (laughs)
S: I wonder how it will be from now on. What do you think, Aiba-san?
A: Hmmm…… I don’t think we would consciously think about changing it. There is a chance something could change as a result of a new experience, but we don’t really plan how we want our relationships to become.

--Well then, the final topic is: the concerts Arashi will perform from now on. In a way, this question is highly relevant to the concert that you will be performing soon for this new album. What sort of ideas do you have so far?
M: At this point, there’s still a lot that needs to be completed, but I think the end product will be something that is quite experimental. Both the album title, 「untitled」and the songs within the album have been the same, after all. I think that there’ll be lots of fresh aspects to look forward to, along with similar features which we have continued to implement in our live performances each year. It seems like it’ll become a concert with innovative features which we can enjoy and look forward to producing as well.
--Arashi’s live performances always appear quite challenging, both physically and mentally. Although I realise that challenging yourselves is an important process for the quality of performances you produce, it seems like it’s going to be a lot of tough preparation for you in the months to come.
S: I believe that we all feel strongly about wanting to deliver a satisfying performance for everyone who comes. After all, concerts define who we are. While we are allowed to explore other areas of work in the entertainment industry, concerts are essentially the purpose of what we do. Even though it seems like a clichéd answer, concerts are the one place in which we can demonstrate Arashi’s raw identity to our fans. We switch to different gears for variety shows and probably switch as well when we do our individual jobs. Therefore, we feel like we have to deliver an impressive concert performance representing the true Arashi.
--Every new concert performance, Arashi always produces something new. Amidst the talk of the new album, 「untitled」 the idea of a “raw Arashi” performance popped up. I’m looking forward to it. It’s alright for me to expect a lot from the five of you, right?
M: Of course!


Notes:
(1) The lyrics: “聞き慣れないネーミング　突然乗り込んだCruiser”
(2) The lyrics: “暗闇から光、僕らが拓いていく時代、なんてあの頃はいきがり”
(3) Also the meaning for their lead song in their new album 未完 (Mikan)

While I try to keep my translations as close as possible to the original text, it may not be 100% accurate. Feel free to correct any mistakes you may find.

Please do not repost/retranslate without permission! Thank you.

To everyone listening to BayFM, good evening. This is Sexy Zone’s Sato Shori. This is the second episode of VICTORY ROADS, which started last week. Yesterday… or well, to explain it, this radio is pre-recorded, so the second episode is being recorded today, which is the day after the first one aired. You know how the radio airs at 9 PM? I barely made it home to listen to the first episode. There’s a reason for that, and it’s because I went to watch V6-san’s concert at Yokohama Arena yesterday. After the concert ended, I went to greet them afterwards. It was 9:29 PM by the time I arrived home, which was only possible thanks to my manager’s miraculous driving skills. I just barely made it home – while I was entering my residence, I was opening up the site on my phone to listen to the radio. There was only one minute left until it started, after all. The elevator came just as I arrived on time, but there was another man who was waiting for it ahead of me and was already getting on it. But since I thought I wouldn’t be able to listen to the radio on time if I missed the elevator then, I ran as fast as I could to stop the man and got on it. Even though I normally never run in the lobby. Eventually, I made it on time to listen to the first episode. I’m so glad I made it in the end. I couldn’t help but want to listen to the first episode of my first solo radio show, which also happens to be my first solo regular show, after all. That was my hectic story of the night I hurried to listen to my radio. Moving on, we’ve received a number of responses from the airing of our first episode, so I’d like to introduce them now.

Mail: I was able to enjoy a fantastic time listening to Shori-kun’s radio. I sincerely hope that it will continue on years and years from now on. I can feel Shori-kun’s bashfulness hidden within the smugness Shori-kun displays over the radio. I really think that the atmosphere you radiate, along with the warmth in your voice makes you someone perfect for the radio. I feel comforted listening to your voice on a Friday night. It’s a truly pleasant radio show. The Johnny’s corner also consists of famous music which even those who may not be necessarily knowledgeable about Johnny’s can thoroughly enjoy. Thank you very much for the wonderful time, fitting for a tiring end of the week. I hope to send more mail from now on, too.
…Is what it says. I guess they’re right. I’ve been selecting trendy songs that I like. The Johnny’s Select corner also presents wonderful Johnny’s songs. I’d like everyone to also pay attention to my song choices and listen to them from now on. Am I emanating haughtiness? (ding-ding!) I guess I am. I even think so myself. (laughs) It’s really apparent. It’s somewhat embarrassing for me, you see. I can’t seem to gain the confidence I need without putting on a complacent attitude. It’s basically a façade to hide my nervousness. Anyway, just as I previously mentioned, I put a lot of thought into the song choices I make for this show. With that, I’d like to present the opening number for VICTORY ROADS tonight. Following on from our first episode’s opening number, which was Paul McCartney, this time it’s this stylish track: John Lennon’s Cleanup Time.

***
That was a track from John Lennon’s solo album Double Fantasy. When I went on a trip alone to England, I created a playlist that consisted of The Beatles’ songs and played it on shuffle. I wasn’t able to listen to the other tracks from Double Fantasy much, but Cleanup Time kept popping up on shuffle. When I listen to this song, I’m reminded of the time I walked along the London townscape, with this cool London rock music entering my mind from my left and right earphones. Although the song title, Cleanup Time, means… what? “Time to clean up” in English? (laughs) I wasn’t aware of what the song title meant, but it reminds me of the times I enjoyed during my voyage alone to England. I like this song, and so I decided to air it on here. There will most likely be fans out there who plan to go on a trip to England alone, so I’d like to recommend those who are going to listen to John Lennon’s Cleanup Time during the start of your trip and when you arrive at your destination.

This is VICTORY ROADS presented to you by Sexy Zone’s Sato Shori. I’d like to continue to introduce to you some mail which we have received from everyone this week.
Mail: Good evening, Shori-kun.
Good evening.
Mail: I realised that Shori-kun appeared on the TV program Sukatto Japan. From the preview, it seems like you acted as a university student who goes to a driving school. Did you take the driver’s test and obtain a licence? Please tell us.
It aired on the ninth of this month. My role was a university student who was going to a driving school, and following the theme, I called the older lady “ma’am.” It wasn’t that I thought that she seemed old enough to be called ma’am, okay? The theme was romance with an older woman, and it was written in the plot that I would call her “ma’am.” I attempted performing a love story with an older woman set at a driving school. I’ve obviously never experienced it in real life, so while I was a bit confused and fumbled around at the new challenge, I tried my best. It seems like everyone who was watching in the studio got really hyped up, so I’m very happy. In regards to whether I actually got my driver’s licence from the driving school, I didn’t. I’ve actually gone to a driving school twice before. I managed to get a temporary licence, but I wasn’t able to go beyond that level by the set deadline. I had a lot of work to do and all, so I wasn’t able to pass for a proper licence within the six, nine months? That was set as deadline. I’m learning how to drive a manual car, but since I’ve gone to a driving school twice, I’ve basically gone through the same amount of training as those who already have their licence. That’s why when I went the second time, the instructor was surprised at how well I was able to drive. Initially, that instructor didn’t expect that I would be able to handle changing between both pedals during the practical training. But I was able to do it immediately, so he was all like, “who is this person? Amazing, a star has appeared!” Personally, I didn’t think it was particularly impressive since I had already gone through training the first time. But well, in the end I wasn’t able to get my licence the second time either. The next time I go will be my third time, so I’ve kind of become demotivated… But anyway, I’ll probably get it one day, so I will announce it once I do.

Alright then. From last weekend to this weekend, I’ve been appearing on various music and variety shows including Sukatto Japan. I appeared quite a lot, didn’t I? I was also allowed to appear on VS Arashi together with our seniors, Arashi-san. I went together with Matsushima and we were placed in the same waiting room backstage as Arashi-san. I was so nervous because Matsushima and I were in the same small room as the five members of Arashi. Like, wow, everyone in Arashi had gathered together in that room! Of course, we were grateful and took the opportunity to mingle with them, but we were really anxious. I mean, they’re people on the other side of the TV screen! (laughs) On top of that, there was also the feeling of nervousness because we were in the company of such wonderful seniors. So, of course, we felt tense as their juniors as well but…… I couldn’t help but continue to think about how they’re people from TV. We also talked with them quite a bit. In particular, Sho-kun asked us a lot of questions regarding work, like how things are going, and what we’re planning right now. So, I explained to him what sort of work Sexy Zone has completed so far, and he responded very attentively. The memory of being nervous in the same green room as Arashi-san remains very vivid. So yeah, it was a week in which I was given the opportunity to appear in many variety and music shows.

Sato Shori presents this song for Johnny’s Select on 13th October, 2017! In regards to the track I chose this time… I went to V6-san’s concert at Yokohama Arena on the day the first episode aired, the sixth of this month. They were honestly so wonderful… Watching them made me realise how they truly embody a mature artist who is well established. It made me want to try to pursue their footsteps as an artist. Although the song I have chosen was not sung in the concert, it’s a song I enjoy so I’d like everyone to listen to it: V6-san’s Hoshi ga Furu Yoru Demo.

***
V6-san’s Hoshi ga Furu Yoru Demo is something I find… perfect for singing practice might be a rude way of putting it, but it suits it in the sense that it has the right emotion about it. I believe it’s an incredibly magnificent song in which one can learn many things from. I’ve been using it for my singing practice. I was recommended this song from Kishi Yuta-kun in Johnny’s Jr. who told me, “what about you practice singing with this song?” (laughs) He’s acting almighty, isn’t he? (laughs) But well, I’m grateful to him. I mean, he’s good at singing. He suggested for me to practice singing with this song and even gave me an instrumental version. (laughs) I have no idea where he got it, but I ended up getting the instrumental version of the track from him as well. So, my memory of this song is of Kishi-kun recommending me it for singing practice. Yes. It’s such a beautiful song, isn’t it?

This is VICTORY ROADS presented to you by Sexy Zone’s Sato Shori. Ever since we started this show, we’ve been receiving a large number of mail from everyone. Let me introduce some to you.

Mail: Good evening, Shori-kun.
Good evening.
Mail: I was born and raised in Chiba so I’ve continued to listen to BayFM for quite a long time. I’m very happy that I’m able to hear Shori-kun’s voice on the radio, that is now a part of a routine that I had gotten used to. From the point of view of someone who was born in Tokyo, what sort of impression do you have of Chiba? Have you ever visited Chiba? I love Chiba, so I would love it if Shori-kun learns more about Chiba’s charms. Please come visit Chiba if you have the time.
…Is what it says. I visit Chiba a lot. The land of dreams* is also situated there, after all. We also film there a lot. When I acted in Summer Nude, which is a drama that had Yamashita-kun as the lead actor, we filmed at the beaches of Chiba. Also, if you mention the beaches of Chiba, Sexy Zone’s newest single, Gyutto, was also filmed in the area of Katsuura City. We filmed at a school which had a beach just beyond it. The kanji for the school had the kanji of “Katsu” in “Katsuura,” which also exists in my name, “Shori,” so it kind of felt like it was my school. I didn’t say anything when we were filming the PV since it’d seem like I have a huge ego. Plus, it’s not something I needed to mention publicly, right? In reality, I kept thinking to myself that I owned the school. (laughs) That was probably how I viewed things the entire time we were shooting for the PV. (laughs) There’s quite a lot of places to visit in Chiba, isn’t there? Yeah. Alright then, I’d like to present you the last song for tonight, but before that we received the following mail.

Mail: Good evening, Shori-kun.
Good evening.
Mail: Congratulations on your solo radio show.
Thanks!
Mail: On my way to work, I’ve been listening to Gyutto continuously. The lyrics, “somehow get a job and marry someone, you’ve managed to come all the way here, so you’ll be alright**” resonates in me. I came to Japan on exchange the first time because I love Sexy Zone and now I’m a working foreigner here. Working overseas as a foreigner has its difficulties, but I feel encouraged by these lyrics. By the way, how does Shori-kun overcome tough times when you face them? Please tell us if you have any effective method you know of.
Difficult times, huh? The person who sent this mail is someone from another country… That means that they must have studied Japanese really hard, right? I mean, they’ve sent us this email completely in Japanese. As someone who can only speak Japanese, I think that being able to learn a completely new language is something respectable. What do I do when I face tough situations…? Hmmm. Well, contrary to popular belief, I’m actually the type who’s not very confident. For people who also find it difficult to be confident, it might be good to trust yourself and your abilities excessively. I personally try to trust myself a lot on a regular basis. In other words, it might be good to overestimate yourself and make yourself feel superior. Doing things like telling yourself verbally that you’re confident, or that you’ll definitely be okay. In fact, I’ve managed to survive as Sexy Zone’s centre by thinking of these things. (laughs) Whilst I don’t think it’s good for people who are already confident to boost their confidence any higher, it might be a good solution for those who struggle with low self-confidence. I’d like those with low confidence to learn to like themselves through trust of oneself and gain confidence. Lastly, as a good luck charm, the staff have written down that they’d like me to say “gyuuuuutto.***” (laughs) I wouldn’t do it myself, but… I’ll do it since I’ve been asked to. I’ll say it, so hopefully it will become a good luck charm. (laughs) Gyuuuuuuuu~ ……Is that alright? Is it okay? I wonder. (laughs) The director is beaming a smile at me right now. (laughs) He’s smiling, so it should be alright. I’m sure the fans will also be happy with that. It’d be great if that’s the case. Well then, I’d like you to listen to this song next. It’s a coupling track from our new single Gyutto, which was released on the 4th of October: Sexy Zone’s Rainbow Light.

***
In Rainbow Light, there’s a rap that starts from the second verse onwards. The one in charge of that rap is a rare talent named Matsushima Sou. (laughs) He’s actually a member of Sexy Zone. I actually went to visit Sou-kun when he was recording the rap. He was pretty cool recording the singing and rap parts before he noticed I was there, but after he noticed me he started overdoing it and being all, “yeah, yeah, yeah!” He became someone who completely missed the point. The director even told him after that he was overdoing it and he ended up getting in trouble. (laughs) Well, I guess you’d naturally end up trying to act cool in front of another member. I think that’s a loveable point of his. All in all, I’d like you to pay close attention to Sou-kun’s rap in here.

This is the second episode of VICTORY ROADS presented to you by Sexy Zone’s Sato Shori. How was it? I heard that the first episode trended on Twitter. Although I don’t know what I did that was so amazing, but people have told me that it went really well so I’m really happy. I don’t know what’s going to happen with the second episode, but well, trending on Twitter isn’t everything. Instead, it’d be nice if this radio can reach a wide range of people and be the source of someone’s smile. I’ve been doing this radio show with those feelings in mind. Everyone, thank you so much for hyping things up and even getting us trending on Twitter. We’ll be waiting for more mail.
***
I saw the site for this show. It has that American... Californian image of a road with the text VICTORY ROADS. It looks pretty stylish! The site looks cool, so please check it out. That’s it tonight for Sato Shori’s VICTORY ROADS on BayFM. It will end now. Is it alright? Let’s finish up. (laughs) I’ll present Sato Shori to you as well next week. That’s it from Sexy Zone’s Sato Shori.

*He’s referring to Disneyland here.
**「普通に就職して、誰かと結婚して、ここまでやってきたんでしょ？大丈夫」
***Japanese onomatopoeia for hugging tightly.

Disclaimer: This translation was done purely by listening only, so it may not be 100% accurate. Feel free to correct mistakes you find in my translation!

Please do not repost/retranslate without permission. Thank you!

Shori: Good evening, everyone. I am Sexy Zone’s Sato Shori.
Sou: And I am Matsushima Sou.
Both: Please treat us favourably.
Sou: Today is the second day. Well then, let’s go.
Shori: Oh, understood…
Sou: (laughs)
Shori: Alright then. Let me introduce the opening mail for today. Mail: Good evening, everyone.
Sou: Good evening.
Shori: Let me read their question. Mail: Whose voice in Sexy Zone do you like the best?
Shori: I should mention that this person likes Sou-kun’s laughter.
Sou: Eh, no way! I’m actually pretty self-conscious when it comes to my voice.
Shori: Mail: I like Sou-kun’s voice… Although, after that they put in a question mark.
Sou: Aaah~ So they’re not actually sure that they like my voice.
Shori: No, I’m sure they do. The text was probably just garbled.
Sou: Ah, it wasn’t properly read by the system? (laughs)
Shori: Yes, people who have cute handwriting tend to have their message distorted by the system. You have to be careful.
Sou: Oh, that means everyone has to be careful from now on too.
Shori: Yep. It’s the newest system going by QR code, you see. (laughs)
Sou: (laughs)
Shori: That was a joke. (laughs) Though we are using the newest technology available.
Sou: Hmmm, my laughter? My friends had just teased me about it the other day, saying that it was awful.
Shori: But well, the fans probably think that it’s… I wonder how I should describe it… a laughter overflowing with energy? (laughs)
Sou: (laughs) Do they really think that?
Shori: Yeah. They probably get energised listening to it.
Sou: Actually?
Shori: Yeah. So, what do you think? Out of the members, whose voice do you like the most?
Sou: When it comes to our voices, I often hear people around me say that my voice and Shori’s sounds identical.
Shori: Ah, that’s true.
Sou: People seem to find it hard to recognise whose voice is whose when hearing the two of us talk together over the radio.
Shori: I get it.
Sou: Yeah, so I’ve been thinking that perhaps our voices are actually pretty similar. But when you ask me whose voice I like the most… Well, I think Marius’ voice is gentle and easiest to figure out who it belongs to.
Shori: Huh, is his voice gentle?
Sou: Isn’t it gentle? It’s sort of mellow. In the first place, he has a higher pitched voice from the rest of us, right? Like when he talks.
Shori: Ahhh, yep.
Sou: Yeah, so that’s why I think his is easy to listen to.
Shori: I see.
Sou: Yeah, what about you?
Shori: I like Fuma-kun’s voice when he covers TOKIO’s music, when it has that sort of rock-ish touch to it.
Sou: Ah, so it’s limited to that?
Shori: Rather than just limited to that, it’s more like I particularly enjoy his voice when he performs in a band.
Sou: I get you. His voice is wonderful, after all.
Shori: His voice when he performs rock songs is really cool.
Sou: I think his voice suits a various range of genres. He suits rock, and the same goes for ballads, as well.
Shori: Yeah. But Kenty’s is also remarkable. When we perform in Yokohama Arena, his voice reverberates all throughout the arena.
Sou: It resounds really well.
Shori: Yeah, so everyone’s voices have their own appeal.
Sou: Yep, and Shori’s and mine are twins.
Shori: Actually, I never agreed to that.
Sou: (laughs) I’m sorry, I apparently misunderstood.
Shori: Yes.
Sou: I assumed that myself.
Shori: Yes, you did. But well, you’re free to think so as you please.
Sou: Ah, so it’s fine if I think so. (laughs) You won’t charge me if I do?
Shori: No, I wouldn’t. If you’re just doing it as you please, you’re free to think so yourself. (laughs)
Sou: Well then! This will be the first song, won’t it?
Shori: Yes.
Sou: What should we put on?
Shori: Well, since they asked us about our voices, and because we’re a group that represents the word “sexy…”
Sou: Should we put in a sexy song then?
Shori: Yes, well hmmm, since we talked about laughter… we have none. (laughs)
Sou: None?! Are you serious?!
Shori: Wait, what about Congratulations?
Sou: Oh, that might be good. The 2016 version.
Shori: Yep. It’s a song that aims to cheer people on. Alright, I’d like everyone to listen to Congratulations.
Sou: If that’s the case, could we play it from the second verse? That way every member has a singing part.
Shori: Alright, let’s put it on.
Sou: Please listen to Sexy Zone’s Congratulations (2016 ver.).

***

Shori: Moving on, let’s introduce the next mail.
Sou: Come on!
Shori: This mail— (laughs) What the heck is “come on!” meant to mean? Oh, whatever. This mail is from Hokkaido’s “Camel Brothers.”
Sou: I wonder if they’re from Dubai.
Shori: (laughs) I just told you they’re from Hokkaido.
Sou: But if they’re camels they’d be from Dubai, wouldn’t they?
Shori: Well, that’s…… I guess……….
Sou: Sorry. Please continue.
Shori: Let’s do that.
Sou: This is fun.
Shori: Mail: Good eve— (laughs) What do you mean, “this is fun”? Are you an elementary school student? Am I reading a picture book to you or something?
Sou: (laughs)
Shori: Mail: Good evening. Sorry for suddenly asking, but what is something you’d like to eat during this season? For me, I want to eat… meat buns. That was close. (laughs)
Sou: That was really close. (laughs) You actually had to seriously think about what to say next.
Shori: I can’t believe it, I nearly said camels because we were talking about camels.
Sou: (laughs)
Shori: I have a habit of mentioning the animal when you mention an animal.
Sou: It was the same when we talked about capybaras. (laughs)
Shori: Exactly. When we were talking about capybaras, my answer to the question became capybaras, too. Just then, a camel’s face eating grass—
Sou: Popped up as an image in your head? (laughs)
Shori: Yeah, it was a close call. Mail: When the weather gets cold like it has gotten right now, you start to want to eat meat buns, don’t you?
Sou: Yeah.
Shori: Mail: There are different types of meat bun. What type of meat bun does everyone like the most?
Sou: I like pizza buns. I never get sick of eating them.
Shori: Ahhh. Pizza buns are delicious, aren’t they? It's the one with the red sheet, right?
Sou: Yep!
Shori: Perhaps it’s because it’s originally Chinese?
Sou: Maybe.
Shori: I like steamed pork bun.
Sou: Ah~ They’re delicious! They have a rich flavour to them. When I start eating them, I can never stop.
Shori: (laughs)
Sou: (laughs) Oh, sorry about that. I couldn’t help but be passionate about the flavour of them because I like meat buns as well.
Shori: Oh, do you like them that much?
Sou: Yeah, I do. I came to love meat buns from watching a scene with meat buns from Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away.
Shori: Was it the scene with the Chinese food?
Sou: Yeah.
Shori: The scene where the parents turned into pigs, right?
Sou: Yep. From then I came to like meat buns.
Shori: There aren’t many who would start to like meat buns from watching that scene, I don’t think. (laughs) It would be traumatic instead. (laughs)
Sou: Like… you know when Sen* receives a large bun from one of her seniors? I think it had red bean paste in it or something, but when I watched her eat the bun, I wanted to eat meat buns so I ate some and started liking them. Though what I ate was a pizza bun. (laughs)
Shori: You… (laughs) I can’t believe you watched someone eat a red bean bun, started liking meat buns but ended up eating pizza buns. It’s quite…
Sou: (laughs) Yeah, it evolved.
Shori: I guess you were quite conflicted.
Sou: I was. But yeah, steamed pork buns are also delicious.
Shori: They are.
Sou: There are increasingly different types of meat buns recently, too.
Shori: I don’t know many of the various types of meat buns recently but…
Sou: There are also buns that have characters associated with them too lately.
Shori: Oh, really?
Sou: I’d like everyone to please check them out, if possible.
Shori: Yes. Well then, that’s it for today’s mail. Please continue to send us mail.

Shori: This is the end. Onto recent news: Sexy Zone’s new single, Gyutto, is on sale now! It’s a wonderful song.
Sou: That’s right, it’s a very warm song.
Shori: It is.
Sou: Just by listening to this song, you’d end up wanting to hug someone.
Shori: Yeah, because it’s just so heart-warming.
Sou: Yeah. (laughs) I didn’t know what I was trying to say for a second there. It’s a song that makes you want to cuddle with someone.
Shori: He’s been wondering that for the past five years.
Sou: Thank you. (laughs)
Shori: (laughs) We choreographed the dance together and Fuma-kun also helped write the lyrics. We also created the PV together.
Sou: We produced a lot of the features on the single ourselves this time, didn’t we?
Shori: Yep. The reason for that is?
Sou: What is it?
Shori: When we thought of how we could convey the warmth within our production, we believed it’d be best if we could produce something that’s so-called, “handmade.” That’s why this time, although it wasn’t everything, Sexy Zone helped contribute their own ideas to the production. In that sense, there is warmth to the single.
Sou: I feel like we’ve completed a lot of self-produced creations recently, don’t you agree? Of course, our stage performance is one thing, but we also thought up ideas for the illustration we drew on the back of Yobisute’s CD cover, didn’t we? Thinking about it like that, I feel like producing aspects of our creations ourselves really help communicate our direct feelings to our fans. I’d like to continue doing the same from now on. Well then, please have a listen to our song Gyutto.
Shori: Gyutto is on sale right now. This track is the theme song for Fuma-kun’s drama, Wagaya no Heya De Aru, airing on Mondays.
Sou: Furthermore, Nakajima Kento’s movie, Miseinen Dakedo Kodomo Janai, will be in theatres from 23 December this year. Kenty plays the role of a teenager who is not yet of age.
Shori: Isn't everyone?
Sou: Ah, is that so? Well then, please watch it in movie theatres if you have the time. We’ll be waiting.
Shori: Please do. Well then, this was Sexy Zone’s Sato Shori…
Sou: and Matsushima Sou.
Both: Bye-bye!

*The character Chihiro from Spirited Away (2001).

Disclaimer: This translation was done purely by listening only, so it may not be 100% accurate. Feel free to correct mistakes you find in my translation!

Please do not repost/retranslate without permission. Thank you!

To everyone listening to BayFM, good evening. This is Sato Shori from Sexy Zone. VICTORY ROADS starts from today. It’s something worth celebrating, isn’t it? I’m alone right now so I’m not sure whether I should clap or not…but well, let’s just clap. (cheers & claps) The first episode starts today. This radio show will be the first that I, Sato Shori, will deliver alone. It’ll be my first show without the other Sexy Zone members with me, so I have to continue speaking for the show to continue. Even though I’m alone, I’d like to enjoy chatting by myself to the best I can. The opening was pretty cool, wasn’t it? It used the sound from Sunshine Smile and went, “BayFM!” I’m glad that my solo song was arranged to fit the introduction. I’ve wanted to host a solo radio show from a while ago – about a year ago. But unfortunately, I haven’t had the opportunity to do so, at least not until I heard people discussing the start of this show, BayFM’s VICTORY ROADS. In some sense, my dream from a year ago has come true. I’ve finally been allowed to do something I’ve requested from a year ago, so I’m really nervous right now, but I will do my best! Since this is the first episode, shall I explain the radio show name VICTORY ROADS? Though you probably know, already. “Victory” represents my name “Shori” and it isn’t “rose” but “roads” instead. [T/N: In Japanese, the words become homonyms ローズ] There may be some people out there who don’t know, but we actually held “sexy roses” of honour (laughs) during our debut. So, together with the symbolic rose meaning, the radio show name means Shori’s road. There may be older listeners who listen to the radio in the car so the meaning of “road” can rise from that as well. It’d be wonderful if this radio show can be one which the audience can enjoy listening to music and fun talks on. With all those feelings, the name VICTORY ROADS came to be. I probably will be in your care with this show for the next 10 years or so… I look forward to it. Please treat me well. It seems like I can’t help but get nervous because it’s the first episode. I end up getting stuck with formalities and such. With that said, I would like to present the latest Sato Shori every Friday during this timeslot. There are probably fans out there who are curious about things I don’t normally talk about, so I’d like to let listeners out there have a chance to know about it through this radio. Of course, I’d also like to hear stories from the listeners as well, so please send lots of mail to this show. Well then, let’s move on to the opening number for VICTORY ROADS. It will be the first song and significant for starting us off, so I picked a song with the feeling enclosed – everyone, please listen to Paul McCartney’s Coming Up.

***

The opening number was the live version of Paul McCartney’s song, Coming Up from the album Back in the World. I believe fans know that I like Paul, while others may think my music sense as good, or are surprised that I’m talking about Paul. But I played this song hoping I’d gain your favour. (laughs) He performed this song live on a set that I felt was perfect for VICTORY ROADS. It was set somewhere outside on the roads of England or somewhere similar. When I watched it, I felt that this song was really nice. Furthermore, this song is somewhat newly known in Japan. It’s an old song from the past that isn’t by The Beatles. But it doesn’t feel old at all, instead I think it’s really trendy. I wanted something groovy, so I chose this song.

***

This is Sato Shori of Sexy Zone’s radio show which started today: VICTORY ROADS. Since today’s the first episode, I’d like to do a self-introduction.

Mail: Good evening, Shori-kun. Since this is the first episode—
Oh, wait. Let’s do this.
Mail: Good evening, Shori-kun.
Good evening!
Mail: Since this is the first episode, I believe there are still many out there who don’t know you too well.
That’s true.
Mail: For that reason, I want you to do a detailed, serious self-introduction which you haven’t done in the past. I’m very happy that I’ll be able to listen to the Shori-kun I love talk for around 30 minutes. I plan to listen to your radio every week without missing it. I’m cheering you on!
Alright, let’s do my serious self-introduction. This is… honestly a bit troublesome (laughs) but it’s something that the fans seek, and it’s for the sake of my first solo radio show, so let’s do this. Time left until my serious and detailed self-introduction in 3, 2, 1!

My name is Sato Shori. I was born on 30 October, 1996. I am currently twenty years old. 30 October… that should be easy to remember, right? I’m from Tokyo. I’m an elite from Tokyo – I’m from the Tokyo of Tokyo. Being born in such a location, I’m a true city boy. My name was given to me by my parents with the meaning that my birth itself symbolised a win. I personally believe it’s a great name. As for why I joined Johnny’s, I joined when I was… how old was I? Fourteen? Then I debuted around 11 months after I joined. In that sense, too, I’m truly an elite. I was born and raised in the middle of Tokyo then debuted just eleven months after I joined the agency. I’m the elite, Sato Shori. (laughs) Our, Sexy Zone’s debut was decided in September, then we had our debut in November. My first performance on stage was at NHK Hall for the event Nenmatsu Young Touzai Uta Gassen where the Juniors and seniors gathered to perform. I remember being very nervous for it. Also, I’ve been a part of the cast for various dramas. The year is now… 2017? Yes, okay that’s right. (laughs) Well, I’ve also played the main role for the movie Haruchika, which showed in theatres this year. In other words, I was the main actor. Aren’t I amazing? Born and raised as a city boy in the centre of Tokyo, debuted just 11 months after I entered the agency, and now I’ve also been the main actor for a movie. Simply put, I’m an elite. Pleased to meet you all. (laughs)

Well then, since this episode marks the start of the show, we previously asked our listeners to send us lots of mail when we announced that this radio show would start. I’d like to answer as many mails in the limited timeframe we have. Eh?! …Just then the director told me that we received 10 times the amount they originally expected would come. I’m not sure how much they expected… I really don’t know… But well, I’m happy to hear that nevertheless. It just shows that many of our, Sexy Zone’s fans cooperated with us and sent a lot of mail to us. Thank you very much.

Mail: Good evening. I have a question for Shori-kun. What do you think about the other members of Sexy Zone? Since you’re alone, please tell us honest thoughts that you wouldn’t usually announce as well.
Eh? Ehhhh… Am I meant to answer this? Isn’t it a bit embarrassing for me to say my honest opinion? Well, I was asked so I guess I have no choice but… I believe I am fortunate to able to have met such wonderful members. If it wasn’t for the four of them, I wouldn’t have thought of wanting to do what I do with the five of us. Yes. I’m going to gain popularity by saying this, you know? (laughs) Well, since I’m alone, I said something inspiring for the first episode. But honestly, if it wasn’t for the other four, I don’t think I would have been able to like Sexy Zone as a group to this extent. I like the other members, yep. Alright. Please let me finish off with just that. (laughs)

Sato Shori presents this song for Johnny’s Select on 6th October, 2017! The reason why I chose the song today… Well, it’s a song that has lyrics that are seemingly sad but it portrays the message that although separation is hard, it connects to new encounters. It’s a song that pushes you to move forward. In particular, the part where Sho-kun raps is really good. There’s Sakurap after the second verse which has really inspiring lyrics, one where you’d be encouraged to work hard at work. It’s a song with a very deep message, so I’d like you all to listen to this, including the rap. I tried choosing a song which has the positive message to face forward to suit the first episode of this show. Well then, please take a listen to Sato Shori’s Johnny’s Number for this week: Arashi-san’s Still…!

***

I came to learn about this song from the CD I borrowed from our member, Fuma-kun. I asked him to lend me Arashi’s All the BEST! album around the time after our debut. The reason why he had it was because Fuma-kun’s dad was involved in the production of Arashi’s A.RA.SHI so he has Arashi-san’s CDs. So, when I asked to borrow All the BEST! from him, he lent me it, telling me about how Sho-kun’s rap in Still… is encouraging. If you read through the lyrics of Still…, it really represents Fuma-kun’s view of life and his passionate self. Its lyrics make you realise just how much Sho-kun has influenced Fuma-kun so I’d like Fuma-kun’s fans to try and listen to it as well. Furthermore, it’s personally memorable for me of the times after our debut when I kept forgetting to return the CD and ended up giving it back really late.

***

This is Sato Shori’s radio show VICTORY ROADS which started today. I previously said this, but again, despite the fact that we hadn’t started airing our first episode yet, we received so much mail. Thank you so much. Onto the next mail, let me introduce it.

Mail: Shori-kun, congratulations on your regyular** show!
I just realised I’m not used to saying regular show properly. It’s my first regular show, so I’m full of excitement.
Mail: With this, I have something to look forward to every Friday. I will do my best at school with the excitement of listening to VICTORY ROADS in mind. Since the name of the show means “the road to victory,” please tell us something Shori-kun wouldn’t lose to anyone in.
I wonder… Something I wouldn’t lose to anyone in. Well, if I had to say something, I’d say my face. (laughs) Wait, hey, it’s not like I can avoid saying it, right? I’m basically made to say it. I personally don’t think so myself, but my face has been called a national treasure, so… Plus, if I was asked whether I liked my face, I’d say I do, so I guess my face is something I wouldn’t lose to anyone in. (laughs) Well then, we received a lot of mail, so I’d like to continue reading many more mails in the future episodes that are to come.

Well then, I’d like to deliver this track as today’s final song. We received this mail.

Mail: Good evening, Shori-kun. Congratulations on your solo radio show. I’m excited to listen to your radio every week. As part of the new single, Gyutto’s special recording, everyone in Sexy Zone went to the beach together to celebrate the conclusion of Summer Paradise, right? Please tell us any interesting stories from the time you went. Please do your best at work. I’m cheering you on.

That’s right. Our single that was released on the 4th of October, Gyutto, had the recording of the Otsukaresama segment that was mentioned by the mail. It was a part of the limited-edition B version of the single. For the segment, we decided to film a segment on Sexy Zone’s summer vacation. We went to the beach and stayed overnight at a traditional Japanese inn which had hot springs. But that part isn’t included in the special segment on the single. It’s now just a shared memory between the five of us. This single is the theme song for Fuma-kun’s drama, Wagahai no Heya De Aru, so please watch the drama as well. With that said, this will be the final song for today. Eh? It’s already the last one? Does that mean the radio will end right after the song finishes? …Oh, there’s still a bit of time afterwards. (laughs) I’m sorry, I really am. I got too excited. (laughs) Well then, it will be the final song for today. Please listen to Sexy Zone’s new single, Gyutto.

***

In regards to this single, I previously mentioned that we stayed at an inn. Well, in fact, we only reserved two rooms for the five of us, so we had to split up into groups of two and three. Even though I kept telling them that I wanted a room to myself… I ended up being in a group with Fuma-kun whilst Kento-kun, Marius-kun and Matsushima-kun were in the other group. But when I returned from the hot springs to our room to sleep, Marius somehow ended up being grouped with Matsushima-kun. Then, I naturally just ended up sleeping in that room. Fuma-kun probably went to Kento-kun’s room, which ended up splitting the group into the older two and the younger three. That must have been something FumaKen fans would be happy about, wouldn’t it? They definitely would, wouldn’t they? Riiight? (laughs) I said something good, didn’t I? Well then, we filmed the PV with the warm atmosphere similar to our stay at the inn, so I’d like you to watch it too if you have the time!

This is VICTORY ROADS presented to you by Sato Shori. It’s already time to finish up. That was fast~ Is it okay to leave it like this? Should we change it to a one hour special? Or perhaps a three hour one? (laughs) Okay, okay. That was a joke. That was fast. I guess it means that I had fun. I’ve been wanting to do it since a year ago, after all. I guess it just proves that I’m not lying when I said I really wanted to do it. There were probably areas where I wasn’t able to tell you as much as I could have, so I apologise for that, but it was really fun on my side. Please continue listening to VICTORY ROADS from now on too. It was my first time doing a solo radio show so I was really nervous. During our radio shows, Sexy Zone usually has the other four members talk about a wide range of things during radio shows, while I meddle with them, but since I’m alone this time I was worried how well I could do it alone. So, I’d be honoured if you were able to enjoy today’s episode.

***

…And with that, will this end once I finish things off? Oh. (laughs) The director… (laughs) I dragged it on for too long? (laughs) He’s telling me that I’ve been speaking too much. No, no, no! Ah, thank you. Well, I guess I spoke too much. I did plan to speak as much as I could for thirty minutes. Plus, it’s the commemorative first episode so I did my best. In that sense, it probably felt like it ended quickly because I spoke so much. Well then, since it’s the first episode, I’d like to end this nicely, without slipping up on my words. This is it tonight for BayFM’s Sato Shori, VICTORY ROADS. I’ll present Sato Shori to you as well next week, bye-bye!

**Shori slips up on his words and pronounces レギュラー番組 (regyuraa bangumi) as レグラー番組 (reguraa bangumi).

Disclaimer: This translation was done purely by listening only, so it may not be 100% accurate. Feel free to correct mistakes you find in my translation!

Note: I also cut a few minor parts out towards the end because all he was explaining was the radio program's email and blog info.

I am also @matsucasso on Twitter, so you can also catch updates from me there!

Please do not repost/retranslate without permission. Thank you!

Are You Happy? Pamphlet Translation - Sakurai Sho




A concert that can be watched in an easy going, relaxed manner… It would be wonderful if it could become that kind of concert for everyone to enjoy.

Firstly, in terms of the title we decided on, Are You Happy? was my idea, but in reality, there was actually another (title idea) that I initially recommended. At the time when we had to choose between that title or the staff’s idea, I suddenly came up with a different idea. Like, really suddenly (laugh). Rather than just Happy. (period) it’s the question Are You Happy? so there would most likely be those who answer, “Yes, I’m happy” and conversely those who reply, “I’m not happy.” In other words, the starting point was our objective to present “human emotions” through the variety of songs incorporated in our album. In conclusion, there isn’t any song that I would consider as a “not happy” song. But the idea of the album “containing various emotions” … my thoughts most likely associated it to this year’s sad news in Kumamoto and Oita [1] amongst others during the time of the album’s creation.

This time, each member supervised an album track as their “under the supervision” (aka. USV) song. Once again… everyone took on new challenges in the production of their USV songs. Everyone pushed their boundaries quite a fair bit, so I was surprised. I thought, “Everyone’s really trying something different, aren’t they?” It was really interesting. It’s like… it turns out that each of the five of us really splits apart (laugh). Every time, I’ve been saying how “there’s a wide range of songs included!” I’ve been saying that, but I meant that there are a variety of songs included despite there being a theme. I think they’re albums that could only be created by those who are like us – in other words, groups that generally don’t create their own songs. The range of songs this time is a bit… too wide. It’s like, one minute we’re in the desert, next minute we’re suddenly heading towards the South Pole! It’s that great of a level (laugh). Even the singles are all really different. Usually I tend to relax once I reach the track from a single whilst listening to the album, but this time it’s like, “It’s accelerating even more?!” (laugh) I believe it’s the first time I’ve viewed the track singles in such way, and as a result…… it honestly has to be under the title Are You Happy? If not, it can’t possibly wrap up the songs conclusively in one album (laugh). The question mark, “?” is very important, okay! Since we’re not in any way providing an answer to the album title… it gives quite a tricky, or in other words it has a mixed bag sort of vibe (laugh). It has truly become an album that packs “the present Arashi.”

About the USV track, how would you say this… You see, I’m placing around 80 to 90% of my enthusiasm on the rap [2] sung by the five of us in this time’s album production (laugh). Generally, there have been songs containing rap connected through a mic relay between one line and the next, but there hasn't really been a song with rap sung verse by verse. Also… the overall image I envisioned of the song is something I think people would realise by listening. It’s the idea of the five of us being dispersed in various places, and then coming together… not quite like the gathering of alumni, but we “reunite” together. I imagined the feelings of reuniting after a while and wrote it into five parts. If you ask, “What would those feelings be?” It’s related to the things we said a lot during the final speeches of our concerts in the past. Members aren’t family nor friends… and of course, they’re not lovers either. “Members” cannot be explained by anything but the word “member,” and it has its own special meaning… is what’s often said. But to me, Arashi is both family and friends and, well, not lovers but… (laugh) I believe that Arashi encompasses all those words, and so I wanted to incorporate that thought into a song. That’s why when I sing “my friend” [3] at the end, it’s… how would I say this, a very important phrase to me. Since Yume de Ii kara (2005) [4] there’s been someone I know who has been adding scratch noise to our music for me, and in this song, they ended it for me with the scratch noise, “my friend,” [3] “let’s return, let’s dance.” [5] I think… this way, it really conveys my feelings. I wrote the beginning two verses (rap lyrics) in the round-trip flight for the Rio Olympics coverage. As for the remaining three rap parts, I wrote it in Japan, to initially prepare five parts. From there, my concern was, how should I split the vocal arrangements? Initially, I thought I would take the first part, but then I decided against it. Then I thought, who should go next? That was ultimately the way I decided how to divide the vocal parts up. As expected, the outcome after everyone’s vocals had been recorded was… really good. I like it quite a lot, you know. The image I have of the live performance is exactly as the same as my image for the song. It’s just trying to figure out how to present the idea of “the five of us being dispersed in various places, and then coming together.”

As for my solo, Sunshine… I rediscovered a song I listened to during my high school days, so I sort of felt nostalgic (laugh). Then, I thought it’d be nice to produce a track with that song’s vibe, and it started from there. In the end, though, it became something different (laugh). As expected, it turned out that way. I wanted to have a track with “that song’s vibe” for its nostalgic feel, but it’s just the song itself that’s nostalgic, and it’s not like mine would become nostalgic because of that reason (laugh). That’s why, when you ask why I chose this song, it’s simply because I took a liking to it (laugh). That, and the fact that it was peculiar. Firstly… it’s sung normally in the first chorus, it has a rap part in the second chorus, then it goes to the bridge. When it reaches the interlude, it becomes something like a dance part, and afterwards it turns into a call and response… which was why I thought it was unique. I had the impression that the structure of the song was interesting. It’s that within one song, the images it depicts change… or should I say, the emotions within the song keep changing. So since the song’s ambiance was interesting, I felt the outcome would also be something interesting. There’s not a lot of rap included this time, so whilst recording I kept thinking about what to do with it. Ultimately, I wrote the rap to suit the image of a cheerful song. It’s just that… I still don’t have any idea at all of what I’d like to do with the stage in the live performance (laugh). That’s something I still have to continue to think about, I guess.

Although we’re still having meetings right now to discuss how we want to transform this album into a concert, last time’s Japonism was produced to the finest details, which is just one of those things that makes me think that Matsujun’s amazing. In some ways, Matsujun’s creation of last year’s live performance had the tense atmosphere of something new that can’t be simply called a concert or a show. This time we passed on that idea and instead, we decided to crack down on our usual approach to a meticulous concert. We thought “let’s add some playfulness to our live performance.” That was the starting point of this time’s album – before we even decided on the title. As a result, that “carved opening” and “playfulness” points to a concert that’s more laid back than last year’s, although to what extent, I still don’t know myself. It would be nice if it could become a concert that everyone could enjoy with smiles on their faces. I wouldn’t call it quite the opposite of Japonism’s “charm,” but… it would be nice if it could become a concert that can be watched in an easy going, relaxed manner. Honestly though… What sort of concert will it become? I’m really looking forward to it.

T/N:
[1] - The 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes were a series of earthquakes, including a magnitude 7.0 mainshock which struck at 01:25 JST on April 16, 2016 beneath Kumamoto City of Kumamoto Prefecture. (Source: Wikipedia)
[2] – Are You Happy? Track 15. To my homies
[3] – To my homies lyrics: “友よ” (tomo yo)
[4] – One Album Track 12. Sakurai Sho solo
[5] – To my homies lyrics: “戻ろう 踊ろう” (modorou, odorou)

Aaaand the interview section is done! So far I'm planning to do the cross-talk after this, and we'll see where it takes me. I saw the "happy" photo section being translated on tumblr whilst I was being slow so I might just leave it up to them.

Thank you Toni (tapsilogue) for all your help correcting sentence structures and clarifying sentences (as much as possible) and just helping me out so much in general!!! I know it was difficult with IRL getting in the way of fandom life, and I'm very very very extraordinarily grateful. <3 I have no confidence that the quality I would have produced alone would be sufficient to getting people to understand what each interview was saying lol. Anyhow, hope you all enjoyed reading the interviews! :D

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAREST SHO, BTW! <3 I respect and admire all aspects of you so much - your lighthearted, easy-going nature, balanced out with your work ethics. You are a huge inspiration to many. <3 I hope you have a special 35th birthday that's as wonderful as you! :)

Images are taken from my own pamphlet. Please do not repost/retranslate without permission! Thank you. :)



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Are You Happy? Pamphlet Translation - Ohno Satoshi




The album title alone projects a cheerful image, but cheerful things don’t all necessary mean “happy” things, and there are different forms of happiness. It would be nice if we could convey this through our concert.

This time, the album title Are You Happy? has a cheerful image, doesn’t it? It’s conceptually different from Digitalian and Japonism, and projects the strong image from the word “Happy” in itself. How should I say this… it has a much more casual vibe? (laugh) I feel that it’s a word that can be expressed in so many ways because people interpret it differently. Every single song is like a rich meal… which is why I felt really full upon finishing listening to one song, I guess? To the extent where I was so surprised I thought, “Eh?! There are still more songs after this?!” (laugh) This time, each member supervised a group track as well as their own solos. I… get confused by which song’s which, like, “Eh? Which one’s their solo?” (wry smile) The under the supervision (USV) songs which each of the four of them took under their wing have genres that differ quite a bit from each other, and it has each of the members’ characteristic touch. I also think that the feel of the tune in Don’t You Get It and the perspective conveyed in the lyrics have the overall balance most suitable for the lead track in the album. It’s really an album with a wide range of songs that gives the impression, “There’s a lot of songs in here!” (laugh)

Now that I think about it, there aren’t any singles that are ballads in the album this time either, are there? There’s only a calming type of song like Miles away (Ohno’s USV song). If you ask why I chose this song? I’d say that it’s because I wanted to produce a song that emphasises the lyrics… or more specifically, the ad-libs, since I realised that I haven’t really listened to the other members sing them before. Up until now, the vocal parts have been divided in a certain pattern, after all. When it comes to ad-libs, I’m usually the one assigned. But if we keep it that way all the time, it would get boring, wouldn’t it? (laugh) With that, I carefully split the vocal parts for the members throughout the song production like, “Here I’d like Matsujun to sing the ad-lib,” and, “It should be Nino here.” I wanted to split the vocal parts into a pattern that’s different from the usual. They’re vocal parts only I can assign…? I guess you could say that. That’s why the recording staff were somewhat surprised. (laugh) It was probably because the vocal parts were split in a way that was different from how the recording staff would generally do it. I was even told by the members that “the vocal parts were complicated.” (laugh) I wonder if that’s the case? Personally, I actually like it. The finished product with everyone’s voices in it turned out to be exactly as I imagined it to be, so I was really happy. It turned out to be a good track. After we finished with the song, I repeated it many times, thinking, “It’s so good!” (laugh) I almost immediately decided on the vocal parts, you know? I also immediately decided on the song, thinking its vibe was nice. From there, I loosened the tempo and little by little inserted the ad-lib parts. It’s a song that also has quite a lot of falsettos and harmonies along with ad-libs in the vocal parts. It was fun thinking about how to layer everyone’s voices nicely within the song… and about other things. Intuitively, I approached this the same way I thought up our choreography in the past. After all, when I choreograph our dances, my initial thought is, “If we dance as the five of us, would it become like this?” From there, I try to imagine the final outcome. It was the same when I was supervising the song for the five of us, where I thought, “What if we did this type of song together?” or “What if we split the vocals this way?” Thinking about it was a lot of fun. I still haven’t decided how I want to perform this in our concert though. I have thought that it might be interesting for the five of us to stand side by side in a line. I think it’ll be good to have a simple performance without any special enhancements. Then again, things might change after we have meetings for our concert since we’ll still add stage effects to the live performance as well. But I feel that this song will shine even on a simple stage.

Up until now, we haven’t been in charge of a song aside from our solo, made to be sung by the five of us. It was something new. I thought everyone had an interesting attempt at each of their own productions, and it certainly felt refreshing hearing the other members’ USV songs, realising, “Oh, so it’s like this.” (Similarly, in other members’ USV songs,) There were also songs that already had set vocal parts where you’d go, “Whoa, that’s unusual,” since the split parts are different from the norm as well. Sho-kun’s (USV song) To my homies was unusual in that way too, you know? That rap… I laughed by myself. (laugh) I laughed a lot from the start in the part that goes “HA HA HA.” Sho-kun was the one who decided the singing parts there as well, but in reality, it hadn’t been matched up to each member yet when we recorded. So I listened to the demo Sho-kun provided, and memorised it. You see, because raps are fast, for someone like me… Even if I read the lyrics while I sing, if it’s in kanji [1] I can’t sing along immediately. Unless I write in the pronunciation using hiragana, [2] I can’t keep up to the rap speed at all. (wry smile) That’s why… I prepare by running through it one time, then once I can say it all together, I start the recording of the song. I gave my all to it, but that “HA HA HA” part had no emotion to it at all, did it? My rap is like… a bad-mannered guy’s rap, or like it had the, “What is wrong with this guy… He’s so rude!” sort of feel to it, didn’t it? (laugh) Even I think so when I listen to it myself. Although… overall, the end product became interesting. (laugh)

As for my solo… I’m always troubled with how I should go with it every single time. Honestly speaking, I don’t know anymore. (laugh) I can’t even imagine what I want to do myself so this time, I sort of thought, “Whatever, let’s just try jumping into it!” That’s why… there’s no particularly deep meaning in this time’s Bad boy production. (laugh) But I did have the image of dancing, and I planned to take it seriously and just jump straight into it. That’s why in terms of the song itself, I explained that I wanted “this sort of feel” to the tempo, and had it created for me. The choreography emphasises on the steps. So that those who watch the dance would think, “He made his choreography complex again...” (laugh) That’s how I’d like it to become. Then again, that’s still a work in progress. I’ll do my best. (laugh) This time, my plans for being in charge of the choreography are… which ones, I wonder? At the moment, it seems like I will be doing the choreography for my solo and TWO TO TANGO, but I’m still not sure. We’ll have to continue discussing it in our concert meetings. I really can’t believe… that a month from now, we’d have started our concert tour. (laugh) It’s going to become the next concert following our Japonism Arena Tour. Anyway, right now, I’m just thinking hopefully, “Can’t November come sooner?” (laugh) Because although the meetings and rehearsals are tiring, once the tour starts I’m able to think “Everything’s all right!” to myself. Can it just start soon? (laugh)

This time’s concert, Are You Happy? has a cheerful image from its title alone, but cheerful things aren’t all necessarily “happy” things. When you talk about happiness, there are different forms of it, so… it would be nice if we can convey that through our concert. It would be great if it becomes a concert everyone is able to enjoy!

T/N:
[1] – Kanji (漢字): are the adopted logographic Chinese characters that are used in the modern Japanese writing system, along with hiragana and katakana.
[2] – Hiragana (ひらがな): is the basic Japanese phonetic script. It represents every sound in the Japanese language.

First and foremost, thank you to the wonderful Toni (tapsilogue) for taking time out to edit my translations very thoroughly from her busy schedule during the festive season and when RL is at its peak at being hectic. <3 Second of all, sorry for the delay! In the midst of work, vacation and family time, although it was already in the stages of editing when I posted Nino's, this took longer than expected. ;;

Anyway, enjoy~! Sho's one is in the editing stages but probably won't be released until the beginning of next year, so let this be a belated Christmas and early Happy New Year present!!! 💙❤💚💛💜 :D

Images are taken from my own pamphlet. Please do not repost/retranslate without permission! Thank you. :)



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Are You Happy? Pamphlet Translation - Ninomiya Kazunari




The under the supervision (USV) songs supervised by each of the members are, of course, an aspect of the album which you should look out for. However, the other songs on the album are all songs of the same high calibre, so I would be grateful if people would be able to enjoy the entire album as a whole.

Are You Happy? It’s a good album, isn’t it? This time, everyone chose songs they had to supervise in production. Isn’t it good? This way, there’s a whole range of songs included. It’s an album that has never been created up until now, hasn’t it!

My USV song, WONDER-LOVE, was chosen upon knowing of everyone’s USV track decisions. In other words, I thought it would be good if it became the balancing element when some things were lacking or when others stood out too much. If you ask me what to look out for in this song, it would be the “dance.” This time, everyone will most probably dance in their solo songs, but that’s not the case for the songs we sing as the five of us. I thought, “We’ll probably only dance in Aiba-kun’s Seishun Boogie, wouldn’t we?” so I decided I would make my track a danceable song. This song has the live performance as its starting point. What I wanted to try doing this time was the idea that “only those who sing will dance.” The people who aren’t singing don’t dance until it’s their turn – instead, they’ll walk or stop altogether. I wanted to showcase a performance where “only those who are singing are working their hardest.” (laugh) I brainstormed using that as my basis, so up until the chorus, we don’t sing in unison at all. Then, by the second verse, we sing in solos, pairs, trios, quartets, and then as the five of us… Then, we sing as the five of us and decrease as a quartet, trio, pair, and then solo… That was the sort of vocal arrangement assigned. Then, in the final part – just the final part – we finally sing as the five of us. I’m creating it that way to work with the visualised concert staging.

In this time’s solo, Mata Kyou to Onaji Asu ga Kuru, the highlight is “sound” – the emphasis of sound. Well, I thought it was something lacking in the solo songs that I write myself. You see, I was asked by the record label staff again this time if I “wanted to write my own solo.” I was told things like, “We believe the fans are also looking forward to it.” I was told that over and over again. But you know, I have a bad personality (laugh). The more I’m told to do something, and the more I’m praised for doing it, the more I end up not wanting to do it. (wry smile) You see, the reason I started to write my own songs was to showcase my own personal appeal, like, “I can do things like this too, you know.” It’s like introducing sides of myself: “I can play the guitar too,” “I can write songs,” and “This is who I am.” More than trying to give the song’s perspective of the world or how writing lyrics add meaning to the song itself, I think it was more that personal appeal that I aimed for. That’s why I never thought my writing was something in demand. Then, in the past two to three years, I haven’t been creating my own songs, but I keep getting told about it more and more. Whenever I keep getting told about it, because of my personality… you know (laugh). Right now, I don’t write my own songs at all. After all, I haven’t been listening to any music, only Arashi’s (laugh). The only songs with vocals which I have been listening to are all Arashi’s. That sort of musical desire I had before… I don’t really have that right now. The fact that I’m working all the time is a factor, I think. Before, I had a lot of spare time on my hands, and no one really knew who I was. That’s why there were a lot of parts I composed myself. It’s definitely a factor that I have less and less free time as I go on, and I feel inside myself that my interest in a lot of things has also decreased, so here I am now.

Musicians tend to have the desire to express themselves and want their thoughts heard, don’t they? But I don’t really feel that way. For example, even if I do write lyrics, I might be able to write my own lyrics about anything, but there are occasions where I won’t be able to sing them. In that sense, idols are not exactly free in the way they are able to express themselves. Because I’ve been doing this under such conditions this entire time, I expressed myself through the composition itself rather than the lyrics. Ultimately, the song itself held a higher priority. That's why this time, although I’ve been credited for writing part of the lyrics, I only adjusted little bits here and there. Really, I was mainly playing around with the sound the entire time instead. I fiddled around with it quite a lot, and I also thought about and played around a lot with how I should sing the song. I fret over areas like where I go “hmm~.” In that sense, rather than creating the song myself, it’s more like I contributed (laugh). Professional creators are really amazing. As expected, people who create music for a living… they are on a completely different level. I ended up thinking, “There’s no need to make my own, is there?!” (laugh) It was so high a level that I thought that way. Also, whenever I explained that I want something done “this way,” it would gradually be accurately reflected in the song itself. In that way, I think I might have become better at explaining myself (laugh).

Well then… I talked about a lot of things, but in my solo this time, I’m going to dance! I think you’ll understand what I mean in relation to “dancing,” for the first time during the performance itself. When everyone sees me dance, I think I’ll be able to understand whether they think, “As expected, the Nino who dances is cool,” or see it as “somewhat ordinary.” (laugh) I haven’t properly danced for the past few years, after all. I may have done some tap dancing and other challenges, but I only danced during the tap dance part. The choreography afterwards is up to me, after all. That’s why this time, it’s back to the simple “singing while dancing!” mindset in me. Although I’m still thinking about the performance set. Somehow, I felt that dancing briskly to a quiet song would be cooler than energetically dancing to fast paced electronic dance songs and black music. [1] Wouldn’t it be thrilling to not dance and instead just sing to danceable music? That original concept became the production theme this time around. I looked up various things on the internet and thought a lot of things were nice. Even now, there’s a video that I keep re-watching over and over again. It’s a sort of loose song, but performed with a fast-paced dance… which I found inspiring. This way, it’s also suitable since I think that fast-paced dancing to a quiet song gets more attractive with age. Honestly, I’ve been watching that one video the whoooole time at home (laugh). If Arashi dances like this, I thought we'd look really stylish. Although it’s very difficult… but if we’re able to manage it, wouldn’t it be really impressive? That’s why this time I would be dancing dully, just like a doll! (laugh) It’s the case for both of the songs I supervised, as well as my own solo… I guess.

I think it’d be wonderful if people could enjoy this tour. Of course, the performance on stage that showcases the USV songs directed by each of the members is a promising aspect to look out for. But in saying that… there may be people who aren’t particularly looking out for it. There may be people who think, “it’s not in my interest” that the members have produced and directed some of the songs in the album, you know? This time doesn’t the album production seem to be an overarching theme? It’s not like we’re not involved at all with the other songs that haven’t been supervised or chosen as a solo. The non-USV songs are all songs of the same high calibre, so I would be grateful if people would be able to enjoy the entire album as a whole.

T/N:
[1] – Black music (ブラックミュージック) is the umbrella term referring to music produced or influenced by African Americans. It includes genres such as R&B, hip hop, blues, gospel music etc.

The BIGGEST thank you to Toni, (tapsilogue) who once again tirelessly helped me edit through the entire translation mess despite being bombarded with so many things IRL (especially considering the festive season!) I honestly do not know what I would do without her. :') so please shower her with love!

I just have a couple of words regarding this interview, and no, not because I'm biased. (maybe I am, a little) I had the BIGGEST wave of feels from reading all the things Nino mentioned. I've said this on Twitter too, but Nino really has a way with words that enables you to think as his audience, about things that we often subconsciously don't pay too much attention to. I tried my best trying to get that across, so I hope that I did it at least some form of justice! Next up is Ohno's (which is in the process of editing). :D

Images are taken from my own pamphlet. Please do not repost/retranslate without permission! Thank you. :)



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Are You Happy? Pamphlet Translation - Matsumoto Jun




There’s freedom in music, so there are no correct answers. Whether it’s the limitless range of songs or each individual’s excitement level at the time, I think it would be nice if it could become a concert where you could feel “the present you at that time.”

Looking back over the past few years at Digitalian and Japonism both as an album and a concert, haven’t we continued to strongly emphasise following themes based on a specific concept? That’s why this time we avoided becoming particularly set on a concept as our starting point in producing this album. Instead, we thought it’d be nice to return to the idea of the “joy of music” and “our own musicality.” However, if we were to do that, we realised we had to think about how we’d have to execute it, so the five of us decided to try creating our individual productions of Arashi’s music. That then became the “under the supervision” (USV) songs. Up until now, we’ve each had our own solos to work on, and even in the songs we sing as the five of us, we’ve been able to express Arashi’s music through various methods including Sho-kun’s rap and Leader’s choreography. But this was our first time directing individual songs to line up together later. After all, the things you’d want to do as a solo as opposed to the things you’d want to do with the five of us would be different. Our individual characteristics, and the things that we included are also different. As a result, that has become the overarching concept for our album this time, which I think was an interesting approach. Even from the title, “Happy,” I believe each individual would have their own interpretations of it. It’s most likely different amongst the members, and I believe it’s also different for those who listen to it. Trying to mould those differences we have into our album resulted in the mismatched feeling found in the album following the broad spectrum of “cheerfulness.” These were essentially the circumstances we took on board in the decision of our title, Are You Happy?

DRIVE (Matsumoto’s USV song) wasn’t where I thought “I want to do this” from the start. At the start, while we were thinking about how we wanted to create our album, the five of us chose 3 songs from the demo song list which also included our lead track. Within the demo song list, there was this song in it. I thought that from the song’s atmosphere that it probably wouldn’t be chosen this time since the impact wasn’t “strong” per se. But because it didn’t show up particularly strong, I thought it suited a drive, where the night view and images of the town at night are strongly represented by the song. I personally really liked the song, which can be listened to comfortably. The other song candidate was a danceable track which I thought of choosing, but in order to attain balance with the songs chosen by the others, I chose this. I said, “Then I’ll think about this one,” and chose it. Although I already decided on it, we talked about eventually mixing the parts that was performed by musical instruments, parts we juggled around with and the guitar parts to be inserted together. But everything including the head arrangement [1] essentially hasn’t changed much from the original. When I listened to the finished album, I was surprised that it was chosen as the honourable first track of the album (laugh). As expected, it’s probably due to this song’s effortless feeling, isn’t it? Everyone probably wanted to start this album on a laid-back mood.

The solo Baby blue wasn’t step recorded [2] at all, and instead contains the whole raw performance of the instruments. Previously, I’ve had a lot of solos that were step recorded, so I wanted to incorporate the use of live musical instruments in producing the song. That’s how it came into form. In the lyrics, there’s the perspective that relates to the question mark, “?” in the title of our album, Are You Happy? The album doesn’t only give a cheerful outlook of the world. Instead, it has parts in it that ask, “How are you in the moment?” and “What about you?” We thought we wanted to make it a positive album so we decided to do it by not only featuring cheerful songs but also including songs that contain negative ideas of separation and sadness. Something like Sakamoto Kyu’s Ue wo Muite Arukou, [3] I guess. That’s the sort of impression I had. It has a very catchy melody, and the overall impression the song gives is positive and bright, so it’s become the song that “gives energy to Japan,” but in reality, the lyrics aren’t simply cheerful. The lyrics “alone” and “tears” are in it, you see. If you just read the lyrics by itself, you’d feel the sorrow and grief in the song. The fine balance achieved and the perspective conveyed through communication in the musical field was nice… I thought. If at all possible, I think it would be wonderful if the song Baby blue could… not necessarily push someone sad further onward, but instead lend support upon listening to it. Which is how the song became how it is.

Once again, I believe it has become an album that showcases great diversity in the songs it has. It’s true in the sense that it has a rich range of genre, and it has a great number of songs too. I think it’s quite a unique album (laugh). The concept itself was unusual, after all. But that’s exactly what makes the album so interesting. We have the five USV songs produced by each of the five of us, and the fact that up until today… The members have come to terms with what Arashi’s music is to them personally over the past 17 years, and to now produce music that makes you think, “They chose to do it this way?” and “Ah, this was what they were thinking about?” It’s interesting to see the difference between the things we want to depict as individuals versus the things we want to depict as the five of us. You’d think that we’re all disconnected after all (laugh). I think that the characteristic choices that are conveyed in disconnected parts is sort of the main charm of this album, though. As expected, I like all the songs everyone chose. There’s an added sense of fondness in it. On a side note, I think I’m fonder of the songs chosen by the others than the one I chose myself.

At this point, the meetings for the concert has just started, but this time we thought we’d need to challenge trying new things out, otherwise there would be a lot of things we still don’t know out there. There is also the significant increase in opportunity to communicate between members and get involved this time around with the USV song productions. The feeling that we created this album together is very strong. Presently, the fact that the songs won’t really fit together is a bit tough but… (laugh) I think it would be fun to see how far we can take the mismatch to keep things interesting. It’s like, how well are we able to organise the variety of songs together without removing their individual characteristics? In that sense, I believe it will become an album and live performance which showcases this challenge.

After all, there is freedom in music, and there are no correct answers nor particular forms that it should be aimed towards. I think that it would be nice if it could become a concert where you could feel the range we explored in the album, as well as each individual’s own grasp of “the present them.” It’s not about trying to exert the things we have and stretch our boundaries this time. It’s more about the fact that everyone has come all the way to the concert venue just to see us. In order to respond to all the support everyone has given us, I believe it would be wonderful to work hard so that it could become a performance which can be enjoyed by people and their excitement levels. It would be nice if we could give them an enjoyable sight to behold, wouldn’t it?

T/N:
[1] – A roughly outlined musical arrangement that is played from memory and is often learned by ear.
[2] – Use of a graphic editor and/or other computer programs to input precise notes for composition.
[3] – The song Ue wo Muite Arukou, (上を向いて歩こう, "I Look Up As I Walk") otherwise better known as Sukiyaki worldwide.

Once again, please shower Toni (tapsilogue) with all the love she deserves for her tireless efforts reading through and editing through my translations, making sure the English is comprehensible and smooth enough to be understood! :D Next up is Nino's.

Images are taken from my own pamphlet. Please do not repost/retranslate without permission! Thank you. :)



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Are You Happy? Pamphlet Translation - Aiba Masaki




There are rough edges in this album – in a good way. But I feel like those areas would be where we can show variety in our live performances.

While my overall impression of this album does somewhat revolve around the word “happy,” it’s not like it’s filled with songs that only project the idea of “happiness.” It’s more like a part of it is “happy” and the rest is an album where you’d go, “they can be this versatile with their songs—?!” Since the album title asks Are You Happy? as expected, the answer would not all be “happy” and most likely, there would be some who’d answer “unhappy.” This time, we didn’t limit the album to a specific image or scope in which to produce our songs, so we were able to widen the range. This then allowed us to produce an album that compiled various songs which fit different genres. I also developed slightly different impressions on the whole album between the first time and second time I heard it… I really think it’s quite a rich album (laugh). I believe it has become an album which can exceed your expectations and can be easily enjoyed over and over again.

In the “under supervision songs” (aka. USV songs) which each member was responsible for, we thought of producing songs which haven’t really been heard nor seen up until now. In Seishun Boogie, which I was responsible for, I actually decided the concept from an early stage. Though it was mostly an image I had of the live performance. It included the idea of it having Yosakoi Dance elements [1] along with Japanese elements and a certain hardness… which is similar to the manga Sakigake!! Otokojuku [2] image I have. (laugh) I matched those ideas with the Yosakoi Dance, and decided I’d like to mould it into a form never made before. That’s why ultimately, the song has the image of a group ensemble. Even in the past, I vaguely thought it’d be interesting to do a song like this. The song’s content is quite out there, so we can’t really include it as the B-side track of a single (laugh). That’s why I thought it’d be nice to do it once we found the chance.

From the image I had of the song, more ideas started popping out, and I started thinking about how I can produce a song which matches this concept. Since it is a song, I wanted a catchy chorus, but I also wanted to aim for a slightly nostalgic tune that was found in popular songs… I thought about a lot of things (laugh). That’s why the intro is quite catchy, isn’t it? It's quite a catchy song. The lyrics are as well. The lyrics have the idea of standing back up no matter how many times you get rejected… I wanted to make it into the “if pressing it once is no good, keep pressing it!” sort of lyrics. As expected, putting all those ideas into the conception of the song was difficult (laugh). In order to incorporate the various concepts, prevent them from becoming at odds against each other, and avoid any bias or areas which stand out too much, we did it again and again to attain the balance. That’s why, when the five of us finished recording our voices, the moment of completion, I was really happy. My vision had successfully been produced into a song. “It went really well!” …was what I thought (laugh). I’m completely satisfied with the end product! Although I was told by Nino that it was an odd song (laugh). Everyone’s singing was really well done too. In Seishun Boogie, there’s a part where you have to sing really fast, and in that part I thought once more that everyone was really great. Our vocals were able to match up. In this song, everything’s “sung in unison.” Normally, there would be parts where we break up to sing in pairs and trios, as well as solos, but here we sing everything as the five of us together. There’s not really a song where we sing all together like this… so I really like it.

For my solo, I thought I wouldn’t be creating a particular character with the song this time like I did with the previous two solos in particular, Disco Star and Mr. FUNK (laugh). So then I came up with Amore, although I initially thought “amore” might have sounded a bit silly (laugh). In the crucial parts of the song, the phrases “amore” and “amigo” appear, so I thought why not? That’s why I ended up deciding it as the title. Although I accidentally slipped up my words at the end. It’s not a song title you’d really hear nowadays… Plus the English lyrics at the very start of the song is also unusual (laugh). This beginning is also something I’m really set on personally. There was a Japanese version along with various other things, but I ended up finding the English one interesting and got really into it, I guess. It’s like having a start where people go, “eh… What is this? What sort of song will this be?!” which evolves into the song it is (laugh). The song’s good… It’s really good. If I was to put it into words, it has the feel of a fast food restaurant I guess. It has the unique feeling you couldn’t receive from a high-class restaurant (laugh). The melody’s also really nice. They really let me cram a wide range of things. I’m also really hoping to be able to get pumped up together with the audience in the live performance. The last two songs have been mainly me getting excited alone after all. It was mainly the audience getting pumped up in order to pump me up. I seemed to have relied a bit too much on others back then, so… (wry smile) That’s why this time I had to produce a song which would allow the audience to go along with the performance! Otherwise the audience would get tired of it, you see (laugh). Well, that’s why the song turned out this way. Rather than just dancing, I wanted to have a song which could be enjoyed together with the audience as well.

Ah~ I put quite a lot of effort into both of those songs, you know (laugh). Having to not only take care of my own solo, but also direct a song for the five of us was quite tiring. However, it was enjoyable! There has never been this method in the production of songs in the album, after all. I didn’t know what sort of songs would be created from the other members’ USV songs either. When I recorded vocals for the songs, I listened to them and was like, “Oh, it’s this sort of song?!” Our unique attributes really shine through. Leader’s [3] had vocal parts which were really complicated and difficult. Nino’s [4] also had vocal parts which were already decided upon from the start, and is a song that has never really been heard or produced by Arashi before. Sho-chan’s [5] is characteristically Sho-chan’s, which is a song that incorporates the rap he wrote verse by verse. I sang it quite a lot of times. Matsujun’s [6] is one which we sang with a refreshing sort of feel. We sort of sang it going with the flow. Now that I think about it, there’s also the bonus track [7] which doesn’t involve the members’ supervision, but counting it makes it 3 songs. With it, you’re able to see the members’ charms. It might be an album which can be particularly enjoyed by those who have watched us from a long while back and know us to the core (laugh). It’s not like you have to be concerned with who was in charge of which songs or anything, but by knowing it, you may be able to enjoy the song even more.

During this time’s live performances, I think it’ll be centralised on the member who was in charge of the USV songs we each produced, but who knows? I think there are rough edges in this album – in a good way. In each song, everyone is largely involved after all. Combining songs that have unique attributes and combining it all into one concert may be difficult, but I feel like it’ll be a performance which would show off the variety of songs we’ve produced. I believe it’d be wonderful if it becomes a tour that captures a wide range of “happiness.”

T/N:

[1] - Yosakoi Dance (よさこい) - is a unique style of dance that originated in Japan and are danced at festivals and events all over the country. (Source: Wikipedia)
[2] - Sakigake!! Otokojuku (魁!!男塾, lit. "Charge! Men's Private School") is a manga series written and illustrated by Akira Miyashita. It was originally serialized at the Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1985 to 1991. (Source: Wikipedia)
[3] - Are You Happy? - Track 14. Miles away
[4] - Are You Happy? - Track 9. WONDER-LOVE
[5] - Are You Happy? - Track 15. To my homies
[6] - Are You Happy? - Track 1. DRIVE
[7] - Are You Happy? - Track 17. TWO TO TANGO

Special thanks to Toni (tapsilogue) for all her help in correcting any grammar and English mistakes and suggestions in making the translation smoother. Without her you would all probably be tearing your hair out asking "WHAT IS AIBA TALKING ABOUT?!" the entire way through so. XD She was also the one who encouraged me to do this project in the first place. Hope you enjoyed the interview! Next up is Matsujun's. :D

Images are taken from my own pamphlet. Please do not repost/retranslate without permission! Thank you. :)



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嵐さん、１６周年おめでとうございますー
１６年分の幸せをくれてありがとう。悲しい時に力になってくれて本当にありがとう。嵐になってくれてありがとう。
いつか、会いに行きますね！

The longer I continue to fall in love with you guys, the more I wish I had been here earlier. Nevertheless, I will continue to support you from here onwards, with all that I can! <3
No words can describe my gratitude.

「五人でいる。ずっといる。
・・・これからも、ありがとう。」

2015.09.15 5x16 Anniversary

Countdown...

Only 11 more days until my flight to Japan.
I still have a lot of things to prepare before I leave though, including Spirit Week organisation, souvenirs for host family and packing.
Also, getting stuff ready to study whilst over there and also start assignments.
Things are going to be so hectic once I come back.
....Don't want to think about it, really.

Anyways, I hope things go smoothly. Something to look forward to whilst I'm there: broadcasted Arashi on TV weekly, including the July 2nd SP on VSA, as well as Sho-chan's hosting on Music Day 2015!

At long last... After a looong wait, Umi has shown herself to me. After I have stopped playing, yes. And when school's about to start all over again... lol.



On that note, I can't stand the thought of not being able to enjoy watching things 24/7 for another 10 weeks ugh. I'm stressed about school as well as my exchange planning. I really am praying for it to be sorted out asap.

For my English related text I shall be using Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) as one to use for my area of study Crossing Boundaries.

I am really glad I can use something that I'd like to think about more, and I hope it works out well!

Precious precious Nino icon change to look forward to camp with on Monday! I hope we'll be able to celebrate my friend's birthday with no problems, but I don't look forward to trying to finish reading all my English texts...

Back to school tomorrow. And this year my parents want me to start tutoring. Please make it a good one and nothing too stressful ugh.

Feeling strangely distant about tomorrow's flight for summer holidays... But looking forward to watching more VS Arashi episodes on the plane! Will surely kill the boredom that would otherwise pop up.