barbosa2007 | MORE Oct 2009 - The Scenery as Seen by Arashi

While his acting skills have been highly rated by world famous producers and directors, Nino claims that everything [his projects] was derived from the work that Arashi received. “It wasn’t like I had a particular interest in acting.” A self-proclaimed “Arashi’s No. 1 fan”, he freely demonstrates the love for Arashi as though he’s been married to the group.

Has your love for Arashi changed over the past ten years?

Not at all. That’s because I have very little friends. (laughs) I’m bad at working at things by myself, so it’s been a really great help to have the other four members around.

What kind of existence are the Arashi members to Nino?

They’re a mysterious bunch. If things went the way they normally were, they would exist as friends. But they’re friends, family and also workmates. Sometimes we communicate like a married couple… So they really play all sorts of roles in my life.

How do you see Arashi as a group?

I think above anything else, we’re a group that tries to live up to the expectations placed on us. However, we’re really just a bunch of regular older brothers who decided to come together. A few ordinary older brothers who happen to take really good looking pictures. [translator’s note: Oh, Nino you rascal.]

Don’t you think that Arashi is the nation’s idol right now?

We’ve had various work opportunities as Arashi. I do stage plays, Sho-chan reads the news, so on and so forth. On top of that, we’re not status-conscious people so it’s been easy for us to try all sorts of different things.

Well, it shows that you guys aren’t idle idols.

We couldn’t afford to be idle idols at the beginning. We were really reserved,, so even when we made an appearance in Live Countdown programs, it felt as though we almost weren’t featured on TV at all. Actually, in the year 2000 before I turned 18, I watched Aiba-kun, Sho-chan and Riida perform A.RA.SHI. on TV. I kept cheering them on, saying, “Go for it! Stand out among the crowd!”

Ahahahaha.

But you know, that’s precisely our strength. We seem to fit in no matter what situation we’re in. There are big brothers like us on the streets, so even when we appear in dramas, it seems like we’re family. Somehow our inability to step into the spotlight became the plus point to work hard. So I guess we can afford to be idle idols now?

Matsumoto-kun talks about Ninomiya-kun’s ten years

He’s a reliable person who has his own views and does things at his own pace. However, he doesn’t show that at all on the surface. He doesn’t play the leading role in Arashi, but looks at things objectively from a different angle. He’s been like that since the beginning. However, I came to hear from a common acquaintance that Nino has totally changed on the set of Ryusei no Kizuna. He has become more aware of his acting and a dependable presence on set. Oh, so he’s different when he’s [not with Arashi]. That kind of made me happy.