The Arashi Encyclopedia - Pia 09 (5/5)

[barbosa2007]

Finally, letters T to Z.

What I loved about this portion of the interview:
- Ohno's clueless wrapup and Matsujun's marvellous intervention.
- Arashi's passion for Xio Lung Bo.


 

Edited to add: I understand that Soup Dumplings are written as Xiao Long Bao in Mandarin; Pia magazine wrote it down as how the Japanese would pronounce it (Xio Lung Bo) and if you listen to the members talk about it during their AAA tour, they do pronounce it as such. I did not change the spelling so as to make as little changes to the translation as possible.
 

Jun: What was the timing for the Bird Man? (Tori Ningen, hence the T association)

Aiba: About two seconds. After shouting, “Let’s fly!” I plunged drastically.

Ohno: That was dangerous.

Aiba: That was freaking scary. I really believed that I would fly!

Sho: You’re quite the optimist! (laughs)

Aiba: I had no thoughts of falling at all! Even in the worst case, I thought I would glide for a few meters.

Nino: That’s Japan for you!

Sho: And as you think along those lines you took on the challenge to fly in a kite or as a bird… You’re a survivor!

Bird Man (Tori-ningen)

A manual flying machine which can carry a single person. Aiba, with help from a few students, tried to fly like a bird using a hand made glider. This was broadcast on the Fuji TV show, Mago Mago Arashi.

 

Sho: It would have to be Ultra Strong Game. Even now, whenever I see Take-chan (Takeda Nobuhiro), I talk to him about it. We say stuff like, “Hey, let’s go to Australia again.” (laughs)

Nino: But we had such a great time there!

Aiba: The atmosphere was like that of a graduation trip.

Jun: I remember when we were competing in games that had a punishment, Sho-kun’s running speed was no joke. (laughs)

Nino: You mean the Beach Flag race, right?

Ohno: He was even faster than Aiba-chan!

Sho: I guess I detested the punishment game, which was skydiving…

Ultra Strong Game

A special program broadcast by Nihon TV, with Arashi as the main personalities. The members of Arashi pit their strengths and wits against various athletes and celebrities in Australia.

 

Aiba: The impetus for our debut was volleyball, and each time there was a competition we have the chance to sing in the Yoyogi Stadium…

Nino: When we held our concert there several years later, the rest room felt really nostalgic…

Sho: Although it was really tough back then. We hadn’t gotten used to moving from location to location back then. Now that Hey, Say, Jump! is in the same position we were back then, we feel like we have to support them.

Volleyball

The impetus for Arashi’s debut was the 1999 World Volleyball Cup series. Arashi was the image character for the games.

 

Sho: Just before this, we had this talk within the members on what we put in that time capsule. The five of us came together and cycled at Wakkanai, which was the only place featured in the last Mayonaka no Arashi.

Ohno: But we cycled 35km!

Sho: You have a good memory! (laughs)

Nino: We were all scrambling for the electric bicycles since there were only two of them.

Jun: Yeah, we exchanged our bicycles along the way.

Aiba: I wonder why they didn’t prepare 5 of them in the first place! (laughs)

Jun: We cycled all the way through the night until dawn. Haha. It’s our good point that we just grit our teeth and do it.

Sho: And, without fail, Hatori-san was there as well. (laughs)

Wakkanai

The train station which the five members arrived at for the last episode of Mayonaka no Arashi in 2002. The boys started their journey in Kagoshima and travelled to the northern tip of Japan, Souya Misaki. In that vast piece of land, the boys buried a time capsule which they intended to open ten years later.

 

Jun: X has got to stand for Xio Lung Bo! (Translator’s note: Soup dumplings, my favorite!)

Nino: We certainly ate them!

Ohno: We were eating them from the morning in Taiwan! I wonder how many the five of us ate?

Aiba: Although I have no idea, we certainly piled up those bamboo baskets! (Soup dumplings are traditionally served in bamboo baskets. I highly recommend that you go try some in they’re available in your vicinity.) You can’t tell when you have to stop when it comes to Xio Lung Bo, I guess.

Sho: Wanko Xio Lung Bo. (Translator’s note: Wanko here refers to Japan’s wanko soba, which are an Iwate speciality. The soba is served in tiny bowls which are refilled repeatedly. Refer to the Harisenbon episode of AnS for a live demonstration.)

Xio Lung Bo

Arashi’s favorite Chinese dim sum, and a must-have. You can view their delighted faces as they enjoy these dumplings in the Arashi Around Asia DVD.

 

Jun: My first performance as a backup dancer for our sempai took place in Yokohama Arena.

Ohno: We travelled there by train…

Nino: That was the only place in Yokohama that I knew how to travel to without using a map.

Sho: I had this impression that Nino’s mum always gives us amazing pickled plums as refreshments. Although we stopped getting them when we started to perform in the Domes, does it mean that it was a famous product of Yokohama?! (laughs)

Aiba: When we were in Yokohama, all our mothers came to our dressing room.

Sho: Recently, the only person who came to our dressing room is your dad. (laughs)

Yokohama Arena

A 20-year multipurpose hall with a capacity of 17000 people. Up till now, it has hosted 56 of Arashi’s concerts.

 

Ohno: Isn’t Arashi about the only group who does round table talks whenever they have an interview? [Translator’s note: Fans, is that true?]

Jun: It’s true that we have a lot of round table discussions.

Sho: You know, when I read our discussions, I think to myself, “That’s really interesting!”

Jun: (laughs) There are times when we gather together just so that we can have round table talks, right? We said stuff like, “We would like to record our comments together so could you please photograph all 5 members at the same time?” (laughs)

Nino: It’s the opposite, isn’t it? That we weren’t considering the visuals. Somewhat like a radio show.

Jun: And the one thing which is memorable about round table talks is that Ohno DOESN’T TALK! (laughs)

Sho: But Ohno-san is pretty much the person who rounds up our round table talks, yes?

Nino: How do you feel, Riida, now that we’ve reached the letter Z?

Ohno: Well, today’s round table talk was fun~ We reminisced about many things.

Nino: Which memory did you recall the most today?

Ohno: Sammi, which had begun to slip my mind, and other stuff…

Aiba: You recalled your own stuff?! (laughs)

Ohno: Let’s return to our starting point in our 11^th year and go at it with a new and refreshing feeling.

Jun: So you mean to start from Zero? (referring to the current letter being discussed)

Ohno: Wow, you’re good! (implying that he never thought about it that way)

Everyone: (bursts out laughing)

Ohno: Yes, it’s a start from square one (zero). Let’s give it our best shot!

Zadankai, Round-table discussions

The epitome of Arashi interviews.

Comments

[pinknpuzzled.livejournal.com]

love love arashi interviews...
always so interesting and funny ♥

thanks you so much!! ^_^