
[Ohno Satoshi Interview]
Q: Your impression towards ARASHI members before debut?
O: MatsuJun was small. When I first saw him in the “Junior Catalogue” (books introducing Jr. released from 1996 to 2004), I was surprised “there is such a cute kid!”. Nino didn’t give me a feeling that it was our first time to meet. He was so openhearted like we might have met somewhere else before or like my relative. When I had performance in Kyoto, he came to Kyoto as guest, in our free time we played badminton in lobby all along. Sho-chan ... we are in similar age, we have talked about various topics. He was the first one among Jr. to adopt the popular things like colour contact lens. As for Aiba-chan, we only started real conversation at the Jr. concert right before debut, I thought “this person is easy to chat with”. Though I didn’t recall at all what we have talked about, we were very excited talking though it was almost the first time we met (giggle).
Q: What if you direct the member’s solo corners during live?
O: (Without hesitation) I refuse!!!! Because I definitely would ask everyone to do things they normally won’t do. If they do such rare performance, the audience and the staff would think “what is it all about?”, they themselves would also think “why do I have to do this?”, when they are asked to do surreal things, and I watch such freezing atmosphere from beside, I would enjoy it so much like “they’re wretched, they’re wretch” (giggle).
Q: If you are to gift each member a place like house or villa or workplace?
O: I want to gift MatsuJun a tatami room, like a mini temple. So that he can consolidate his spirits when he is tired. As for Nino, a small boat. I want him to overcome his seasick (giggle). Sho-chan is cooking station. The professional cooking utensils are grouped, the facilities are well prepared, lots of ingredients are put in the refrigerator, I want him to be a situation that “you can make whatever cuisine you like”. As for Aiba-chan, a room with muscle training equipment. Whether people, no matter who, would kick and punch a sandbag once it’s put there, I hope Aiba-chan would test this for me. I think he would do it with all his efforts. And I want to put a camera in such rooms I gift to members (giggle).
Q: What visual or theatre work would you like members to make?
O: As for MatsuJun, a documentary like “Jounetsu Tairiku” without “Jounetsu” (Note: passionate) recording his private life for one month. I don’t need passionate comments (giggle). I like the film “Cast Away” (2000), I want Nino to do a film like that. It’s a story of a man’s survival when he’s left alone on an uninhabited island, of course there is no game on an uninhabited island. I wonder what Nino would do in such condition (giggle). As for Sho-chan, a serial drama where there is no scriptline at all. Because I have an impression that he has always been doing drama with lots of scriptlines. Fufu. As for Aiba-chan, I want to watch his theatre work since long time. But there is no way for me to do direction. I just want to see members who are different from what they have been.
[Sakurai Sho Interview]
Q: If you could exchange with members 20 years ago before debut, what would you do?
S: If I became Ohno-san I wanted to paint. He is good at painting, I think he has a different angle seeing and perceiving things. It would be interesting to paint with such talent. As for Aiba-kun, because he has been fashionable since then, I wanted to enjoy his fashion (had I become him). As for Nino, I wanted to play the catcher in baseball tournament. I don’t know how to play baseball at all, if I became Nino I wanted to try grass baseball. As for MatsuJun, um ... He told me that because his high school has lots of celebrities in entertainment industry, it was gorgeous. I wanted to enjoy such gorgeous high school life (giggle).
Q: What if you direct the member’s solo corners during live?
S: As for Ohno-san, I hope he’d sing tranquil ballad. With beautiful dance which is not vigorous at all. I hope to listen to his singing. As for Aiba-kun, because he challenges difficult thing every time, and he had tried climbing to high place with just a cloth, I can only ask him to do swinging in the air. Like a “can you do such thing?” series (giggle). I hope Nino would play guitar. He had played electric guitar few years ago, I hope he’d play an acoustic, calm, and warm song. As for MatsuJun, it’s great if he’d do showy things. I hope he’d do state-of-the-art performance using the lighting and setting which is the very essence of singing and dancing entertainment, like the performance of Michael Jackson. A feeling like doing what MatsuJun wants to do as he likes, with he himself composing the techniques that nobody can ever think about (giggle).
Q: If you need to decide the residential places of members other than yourself?
S: As for Ohno-san, it should be a calm house near the seaside. To build him a house like those that can been seen in Kahala of Hawaii. As for Aiba-kun, a house embraced by greens where he can energetically do farming or gardening. As for Nino, it seems he doesn’t go out of his home (giggle). It seems a house near shopping streets with sense of living would suit him. As for MatsuJun, right in the middle of New York! Because he likes going to watch theatre works and concerts, it’d be great for him to live in an environment where he can go to Broadway.
Q: If you need to do casting of members for film or drama?
S: As for Ohno-san, action film. The action scenes he acted in “Shinobi no Kuni” was marvellous. As for Aiba-kun, also action film. He recently watched the latest film of “Mission Impossible”, he himself likes action films. As for Ohno-san, it’d be action film with refined movement like those of Bruce Lee. As for Aiba-kun, it’d be actions “can such action be done?” like those done by Tom Cruise. Aiba-kun is doing life-risking things even in variety shows, I think he’d survive no matter what happens (giggle). As for Nino, a large-scale historical drama like Taiga drama portraying the life of a person. Seems he fits such a drama for Ninomiya Kinjiro? (giggle) MatsuJun would do SF. There is a drama “Black Mirror” using various technologies. I want to see him acting in such near-future real SF.
[Aiba Masaki Interview]
Q: If you could exchange with members 20 years ago before debut, what would you do?
A: It’s difficult (giggle). Is it fine to talk about my impression to the members when we were Jr. before debut? Well ... because Leader has been staying in Kyoto for long time for theatre performance every day, well, if I became Ohno-san at that time ... I probably would have a scenery trip in Kyoto (giggle). I was very impressed that Sho-kun took care of both his study and his Jr. career at that time. He came to the lesson room in his school uniform. I had an impression that MatsuJun was very short and small at that time. Nino was pretty much the same as he is now (giggle). But, because his skin has always been pale, if I became Nino in the past it’d be great to go to suntan salon! (giggle)
Q: What if you direct the member’s solo corners during live?
A: As for Leader, I want to hear him sing the refreshing songs of Medium Tune. I like very much the last solo vocal chorus of Leader in “Season” (2009). I want to deliberately hear him sing on a simple stage setting. As for Sakurai-san ... surprisingly he seems fit rock music. With one mic stand. It seems I can see the side of him which I’ve never seen before. As for MatsuJun, a sorrowful ballad. As for Nino, I want to hear him play acoustic guitar.
Q: If you are to gift each member a place like house or villa or workplace?
A: Because Leader has to keep his dark skin, anyhow let’s gift him a house with terrace (giggle). What suits MatsuJun? It’s good to be in the metropolitan. Let him live in the very center of metropolitan! Because Sho-kun usually dines out, a house near restaurant should be good, right? The very top floor of the building where various types of tenants operate substantially below! Because it seems Nino doesn’t quite go out of his home, anyhow it’s good to gift him a house with completed facilities. A comfortable home where he can have anything even he doesn’t go out.
Q: If you need to do casting of members for film or drama?
A: I would have Leader act an adventure film like “Indiana Jones”. A role who conducts research on archaeology, intelligent, and rides horse. That would actually be exactly the role of Indiana Jones (giggle). As for Sho-kun, a work muddling with human relationship and era, I hope he would show us a new side that we don’t know at all. As for MatsuJun ... what about horror film, like zombie film? Same as Sho-kun, a “series showing the new side”. Ahahaha. As for Nino, historical work. Even it’s not the Japanese setting it’ll be fine ... like “Sangokushi”. Maybe he suits the role of Zhuge Liang Komei!
[Ninomiya Kazunari Interview]
Q: Please tell us what members evolved and improved in these 20 years.
N: I haven’t perceived members individually at all (giggle)! Each of us has various works other than ARASHI’s works from time to time, depending on this, I think our visual aspects and experience will be different, and there has been a lot of changes over these 20 years. Therefore, ARASHI still wants to experience more even now. Though it may be said to be “evolving”, the fact that experience makes a person should be the same for everyone, right? Well, what we have changed vastly over these 20 years, if I were to say, I think it’d be “composure”. I think having composure not only in terms of feeling but also in various other aspects is a very big thing in terms of getting old.
Q: Have you thought of “Don’t get old!”?
N: In these 20 years, we ARASHI five people, there hasn’t been once that we felt something was lost or declined, not even our physicality. In terms of ARASHI, since we think our utmost work is to respond the wishes of people from time to time who seek us and want to see us, what we do is just to pick up these wishes well and manage ourselves. Though I think one day our skills and physicality would decline, I think our audience don’t want to see us doing things as we did in our teenage ages. Since I think it’ll be fine as long as we always think about what “ARASHI nowadays” is, I don’t consider at all things like “decline”.
Q: If you could exchange with members 20 years ago before debut, what would you do?
N: I didn’t quite remember what they were at that time (bitter smile). If I at this moment may say one word to us at that time, “from now on, if you all work earnestly, it isn’t such a bad thing”. Just this word.
Q: What if you direct the member’s solo corners during live?
N: It’s difficult! I haven’t tried this in my work, and I don’t think I can do this (bitter smile). I am the one who is directed to perform but not the one who directs others to perform!
Q: If you are to gift each member a place like house or villa or workplace?
N: I can’t think of any because I didn’t pay much attention to the life of each member ... (giggle). Even I give a house to another member in an excited manner like “log house is good~”, if he doesn’t like it he won’t live in it. In the first place, if I can manage to gift a house to others, I’d rather build my own house first (giggle). Though it’s just my thought, there is two-family house, isn’t it? So if it’s possible to make a five-family house, it may be good to build a five-family house to group us into one building. It’ll be a building which isn’t share house, but each house is totally independent from others, the interior design of each house would also be different according to the preference of each member. The entrances are also different, just they are all in the same building. It’d probably be interesting (giggle).
[Matsumoto Jun Interview]
Q: Looking back the live over the past 20 years, which solo of yours was impressive to you?
M: What should it be?? Um, which year was it. About 2003 or 2004, though I could only roughly remember, the song “La Familia” (recorded in DVD “2004 ARASHI! Iza, Now Tour!!”). Thinking about having lyrics that could reflect my own feeling at that time, it was the first time I wrote lyrics myself. At last, it was in a co-composing manner, half of the lyrics was composed by others (Note: SPIN-san). When I did this I thought “I am not suitable to lyrics writing” (giggle). I had to consider the creation of live, there was almost no time for me to concentrate and write lyrics, it was a very difficult delivery. In fact, it was fine if I saved the stock, but by all means, I’d think about “what I want at that time”. As for creating thing, in my case, it’s not “because there is such thing, let’s use it”, but with such idea “because I want to do this, I shall create this”. If the content of the live is not confirmed, I can create nothing. Because I had to create the live along with lyrics writing, it was relatively difficult. From then I almost don’t write lyrics myself. However, as for “La Familia”, I write the lyrics that could only be written at that time, the content was like telling myself the story of future while looking back the past. Because it’s the timing we vividly rush into our 20th anniversary, singing “the time thus far and now and future”, I think this is the song that I would mention.
Q: What if you direct the member’s solo corners during live?
M: It’s difficult. What is it, what I want Satoshi nowadays to do (giggle)? ... I want nothing but him singing famous songs. I want to see Satoshi sing folk song or Japanese ballad without dancing. As for Sho-kun, I want him to play brass musical instrument like trumpet or trombone. Simply, the visual will look cool, isn’t it (giggle)? As this would be a rare chance, just don’t make it a solo corner, instead I want him to play at chic place like Blue Note Tokyo (giggle). I want Aiba-kun to act musical number. The number of “The Greatest Showman”. I want Aiba-kun to play the role of Hugh Jackman (giggle). It’ll also be good to play the role of Danial Day-Lewis in “Nine”. As for Nino, I want his solo corner to be in a style with playing musical instruments as well as dancing, like what Prince did at the early stage. I want him to do something like when audience thinks he’d played solo guitar, suddenly he dances. The costumes would also be very exaggerated like those of Prince. Surprising this may suit him.
Congratulations to 5x19.
Welcome to 5x20.
I wish you all the very very best, with peace, health, joy and lots of love be with you five angels.