201711 H Interview (V) (Fin) – ARASHI

Q: The upcoming ideal sketched by ARASHI five members.
A: (Giggle) It’s joke (that he said “ARASHI was always at top” at the beginning of the interview). Though it’s joke, we five really were allowed to experience various things. We really have tried everything I can think about.
M: Probably we five haven’t tried doing musical together (giggle).
A: (Giggle) Right. It’s difficult to think about things we haven’t tried, really we are allowed to have various experiences, it’s very difficult to think about what to do next, right?

Q: What is the ideal sketched by you five?
All: ………………
M: …… The feeling now is the same as our discussion (on “untitled”) (giggle).
N: Yup, right so, this question is difficult to answer.
A: It’s not that we go forward facing this ideal, but rather we go on a road, which we don’t see the front, one step by one step and have feeling “Ah, now this road is like this”. It’s like mountain climbing.
M: Like you climbed Mt. Fuji (in “ARASHI ni Shiyagare”).
S: You are influenced (by the location filming) (giggle).
A: (Giggle) So if I use mountain climbing as example, if it’s bright, if you see the road upfront it would be tough. Rather than walking thinking about “I have to reach until here”, it’s more comfortable to walk in the night, in the real darkness, with the feeling “Ah, I have reached thus far”.
S: In brief, to continue the work without visible, big goal (is better).
A: Yes. I think this would be more comfortable.
S: Yes, let’s put it down with bold font. Congratulations (giggle).

Q: But it’s difficult to use example to depict ARASHI.
A: Probably so.

Q: So if Leader is to use fishing as example?
N: Let’s try once.
O: …… Speaking of fishing, well there is period that one doesn’t have haul at all, and then suddenly, one catches a big fish which no one was able to catch before.
A: Rival, rival.
M: Are all people in the same boat?
O: All are in the same boat fishing, and one catches a big fish. Then, other people gradually get their fish too, I who am the only one who don’t have fish get anxious. Then, I also catch a fish, but others catch bigger fish then, and this process repeats.
All: (Giggle)
A: I don’t get it because this example is so special (giggle).
M: Has the message be conveyed? (Giggle)

Q: (Giggle) I see.
S: “I see”!? (Giggle)

Q: So at the end, you five pass the time…
O: The time we five passed accumulated.

M: I don’t quite understand myself, and I don’t quite understand if considering from the perspective of the group as a whole, if I stay bit distant and see the other four members, perhaps I would come up with some thoughts. Perhaps this was the case during “Are You Happy?”, unexpectedly when I thought about “that person” (think in the perspective of individual member) my imagination expanded. Also when it is difficult to think big in the perspective of five members or of ARASHI, if the perspective is bit changed I may think “Ah, this (performance) is good”.

Q: Like considering the things of the whole group including yourself with other four being like a mirror.
M: I think so in my own sense.

N: The ideal and reality is rather close to each other, right? We don’t quite have complaint (to our reality) when we embrace our ideal. The things we do normally are close (to the ideal we depict).

Q: The assignment ARASHI five members face from now on.
M: To borrow Aiba-san’s words, it should be to discover the mountain, isn’t it? What mountain to climb. I notice that among the various experiences we have had thus far, it is important that we decide which thing to do. It would be meaningless if it is not that we all want to climb that mountain. Decide “so, we’ll go here”, “then let’s go there”, what’s more, we five together cheer “3, 2, 1” then climb the mountain. What thing to do – no, rather than what thing to do, it is more important for us to well face the same direction.

Q: If you five don’t face the same direction you won’t discover, if you five are together you would discover and because of this you five continue producing album and concerts.
M: Of course. It is not in negative sense, “if we can do this a bit more here”, I think there is a desire for improvement in it. But rather than this, it is more important (to think about) what the things we have now would become.

A: The front (of the album) is still invisible. Fans have not listened to the songs yet, though we have tried our 100% to make the album, later there will be live performance, and the songs themselves will be enlarged to 120% or 130%. In this sense the songs are still unfinished, aren’t they. Fans also make the songs grow bigger and bigger.

S: It’s a challenge (“Song for you”).

N: This is already the base isn’t it (the “you” in the song “Song for you”). Starting from our debut song, basically we have been singing with this theme. There are barely songs we sing for ourselves, because there are people who are listening so we sing, this is really close to the base of the base of our thoughts. … This is a masterpiece (giggle).
M: Was it not long?

Q: No, I am attracted, like watching a film.
M: You give a good comment.

Q: I don’t think it long at all.
A: Eh~. It’s 11 minutes long.
S: It lasts for the whole break time (giggle).
M: But in this sense, the original theme we sing was totally different. However since this is a song starting with remark “suite song”, indeed it should be the story that can only be told by our own words. From there the route was revised to the song now. But though there are our own stories, we don’t just pinpoint on this point. There is scope that would be great to be conveyed to people listening to this song. Our fans would of course think about us, when people who are not our fans listen to this song, it would be great if they would listen to it without such thought.

Q: The kizuna spun by ARASHI five members from now on.
A: Does our relationship change?
S: I can’t come to the image that there will be new relationship. As for kizuna, for instance, if it is like something like a rope, thus far five threads twine and twine, and the rope becomes thicker gradually. Therefore, we don’t quite think about making this thick rope even thicker, rather we want to treasure this rope. Indeed even I try to explain it in words, people other than us five can’t really understand this feeling. Simply speaking, we think this is a concrete kizuna, there are also things that are simply cultivated by time. Well I am not sure if this would bring any resonance. Because such ARASHI’s kizuna is only here. Whether the same kizuna can be felt elsewhere, indeed we can only feel this kizuna here.
N: If a person can understand this kizuna, he is already ARASHI.
S: Congratulations to him then (giggle).
M: Let’s do it with six people (giggle).
S: (Giggle) “From today you are ARASHI”.
M: “I’m ARASHI~” (giggle).
S: (Giggle) What would it be from now on. What do you think? Aiba-san.
A: U~m…… I am not conscious of new things. However, perhaps I want to experience the upcoming things with different feelings. I don’t consciously want to twine the kizuna.

Q: The live ARASHI five members will make from now on.
M: Speaking of current situation, though it is still not completed, I think it would be very experimental and very challenging. Starting from the title “untitled” is also like this, and the songs of this album are also like this. Of course though there are certainly forms we have gone through thus far, there are new things we’re going to do. We ourselves are also looking forward to it, this is a live that we are excited about things not seen before.

S: Though we are allowed to do various works, indeed the moments of concert are the greatest reason of our existence to show ARASHI is ARASHI, we hope to steadfastly deliver good performance. Though it’s conventional to say so. Indeed only during concert can the most genuine ARASHI be seen. In variety shows ARASHI has variety show’s costumes, during our individual works it’s also different from the genuine ARASHI. Therefore, we should do nothing but delivering good performance.

Q: So we can have expectation to the concert?
M: Of course. Should it not be so?

(Fin)