barbosa2007 | One Summer Tour Pamphlet

I’m pretty sure someone out there has translated this already, but since I was bored and ll13jl happened to provide the scans to the One Tour pamphlet I did up some questions from Nino. The tone is semi-serious, set in the style of MORE magazine.

Q: What’s your all-time favorite occasion?

A: Whenever someone has a birthday.

That’s right, I like birthdays. I like celebrations~ Like somebody’s birthday, for example. Uh huh, celebrations are really enjoyable. My own birthday?

… I don’t like it. I don’t like [having my birthday] celebrated. I wonder why? It feels fake, somehow. It’s like, even if I said, “Aah~ I feel so happy!” it comes off sounding like a lie, right? And even if I said “Eeeh~ Are you for real?!” I probably knew about it, right? I mean… I’m no good at this. Ah, you see this? (Points at a lighter modeled after a block of gold.) It was a present from Riida. At that point in time, I said, “Waa… I don’t need this~”

Why do I do badly whenever [my birthday] is celebrated? Hmmm… You see, it’s like a sham. The person who is being congratulated (i.e. myself) doesn’t seem happy. (laughs) I *am* happy! Just normally happy. I wonder why I can’t communicate [my joy]? I guess it’s because of my personality after all? Somehow, whenever I say, “Waa, this makes me so happy!” or “Thank you!” people will tell me things like, “Can’t you say it with a little more sincerity?” Every time I say “Thank you” as per normal, people go, “You can’t be really thankful, right?”

When I celebrate people’s birthdays? I go all out. And it doesn’t seem fake. When I observe their reactions, I think that other people are really amazing. They look really pleased. If they didn’t look that way they probably wouldn’t be able to communicate their happiness. I’m sure of it. (laughs) And see, Kazama-kun (another Johnny’s member) just called, but I didn’t pick up. It’s definitely a birthday call. As for why I know it’s so, it’s because we have the same birthday. (laughs) That’s why, when I return the favor I thought I would surprise him properly… But about a week has passed since then. (laughs) I wonder why… I don’t have much memories of [my birthday] celebrations. Of course I have them at home, but I don’t think I’ve had one where I was surrounded by friends going, “Congratulations!” I don’t think my friends know when my birthday is. No, it’s true, really! (laughs) Maybe it’s not that they don’t know…? I’m bad at having my [birthdays] celebrated.

Q: What’s the age you would most like to go back to?

A: None.

I don’t have any~ It’s fine to look back into the past but… Nah, I mean, I haven’t done anything significant. (laughs) I seriously looked back, you know? When I wrote this answer. I thought to myself, “I really haven’t done anything of significance at all.” So I thought, “Well, that’s that.” If I had a really great period of my life? Well, definitely I’ll write it down. I haven’t done anything important and my life ain’t interesting at all… That’s what I think. (laughs) That’s why I think that the present status quo is fine. Things are getting good… right? The present is the best~ I’m not really saying anything groundbreaking here. (laughs)

Q: Who’s the member who’s the quickest to blow his fuse?

A: Sho-kun from back then.

Sho-kun from back then had the quickest temper. I mean, Sho-kun then could blow his fuse in 2 seconds. (laughs) He lost his temper even in the Shinkansen. He got mad at the people who were walking in the middle. And then, what really left an impression was the beef bowl. (laughs) Back in the Junior days, everyone was eating beef bowl together. However, some of the guys from my year didn’t pack up after they finished eating. And I remember [Sho-kun] got incredibly angry. (laughs) I mean, he got upset at me! Saying things like, “YOU*, you’re from the same batch right? Make yourself clear!” I thought he was so mad that I apologized and said, “Sorry…”

*Sho uses the word “Omae”, instead of “Anata”. “Omae” is a rough manner of saying “you”.

I’ve never seen a senior get angry over something like that. It’s always been things like, “Dance properly!” or “Practice!” But to have someone getting angry at you and saying, “Pack up your beef bowls!” For me, never has there been or will there ever be [someone like that]. It will only be Sho-kun. You know, someone who says moral things like, “Pack up your beef bowls!”

[Sho is sitting by the side and laughing all the way. “That’s good if the chastisement is done in a nurturing manner, but I was seriously pissed, yeah?”]

That’s right. This guy was so pissed. However, 2 seconds after, he went to the stairs and practiced the dance moves for PLAYZONE. I remember that really well. [Sho bursts into hysterical laughter. “I did! I was practicing! (laughs)] Right? I mean, he got pissed off at the delivery man too. He looked out the door and went, “What?! You mean we have to pay? For a delivery made this late?” He was so scary. (laughs) And then he lost his temper at the soup containing organic vegetables. There was some sort of mistake [concerning his order]… So he got a new [soup] for free. I’m sure of it. So scary~ Whenever it came to food, he got pissed pretty often, during that period of time. (laughs) That was because he was as prickly as a hedgehog** back then. If you touched him you would get hurt, right? Probably.(laughs)

** Nino literally said, “Sharp as a knife”. But since the phrase has different connotations in English, I replaced it with the hedgehog idiom.