Translation: More 2008.11・Ninomiya Kazunari: The Road Leading to Him
New Serial Start Commemorative
Special Interview
First Section


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The Road Leading to Him

Ninomiya Kazunari

Why are we this charmed by him?

As a member of Arashi of course, he continues to be evaluated highly, Ninomiya Kazunari, 25 year old. Called by the pet name "Nino" he is loved by a lot of people, and even as he stands at the leading edge of the age, he says coolly things like, "We still have an insufficiency in our real ability. Even though it was expected, we suddenly can't grow." While at first glance he has the appearance of a normal guy, in fact, his calmness and purity, his cuteness and charm... and, he has a great number of fascinating faces. In order to go after this "Mystery of Nino," before the new serial in January―first we asked about the road he's followed.


Interview and Article/Yoshirei Photography/Sai Hair and Make-Up/Hattori Yukio Styling/Nomura Masashi

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That people would like a weirdo like me is puzzling but appreciated


As a child I was bullied.
I liked being by myself

The day this interview was done was several days after the end of 24 Hour TV, the day before starting Arashi's second Asia tour. When asked "Are you a little tired?" he replied, "I don't think I've slep even 5 hours in these 3 days. There's preparation for the concert tonight as well, so I guess I won't be able to sleep? Now might be on the side of quite busy. But, there's nothing to be done about it. Because look, Arashi, right now, is hot (smile)."

He speaks with a bright and detached tone of voice. While he and others acknowledge his "fear of strangers," somewhere, there's an atmosphere of friendliness hanging around him, a mysterious person―. After coolly announcing, "For about 10 years, I didn't tell my true feelings to anyone, I think," he showed a face that wasn't hiding his great happiness when he said, "Tomorrow's concert is 70,000 people? The National Olympic Stadium, it's an incredibly big place we're doing this at." Now, we've been fascinated by how it seems we could catch what he's thinking now but can't. We stopped wanting to know about the road he walked to get here. "Probably, I'm a weirdo (smile). I don't think I am at all, but everyone keeps telling me I am, so I think it's probably about time I should just go ahead and acknowledge it.

When I was a child, I was a kid like Nobita-kun [1]. I only played with girls, and I was strangely good at cat's cradle. In school as well I wasn't popular, but just the opposite, I disliked people. Actually, in elementary school I was bullied. Oh, this is kind of heavy conversation, sorry (smile). I don't know the reason, but I guess I had something that made me an easy target. But, I don't think there was any damage done. Because no matter what they did to me, I didn't react. I didn't really care about the bullying, and I hated when attention was brought to it. The teachers had it as the topic of their morning meeting, and the 'Bullies, raise your hands!' stuff was tough. As best I could, I wanted to just not to stand out. At the time I had friends, and I joined the baseball team, but it wasn't that it was my sole salvation, because I was basically just the type that likes being alone. Now, I'm in a group doing this kind of work, I can't believe that is fun."

I think the work of an idol
is close to close to that of a creator

He entered Johnny's Jimusho in his first year of middle school [2]. He participated as a Johnny's Jr., and at 16 he had his CD debut as a member of "Arashi."

"At the beginning it was an extension of my club activities. I went to dance practice on my way home from school. At the time Johnny's Jr. was really fired up, we had a regular TV show, and there were a lot of chances for people to get to know my face. Before I realized it, my work had increased, and I was debuted. I was really blessed. For over 10 years I've come along doing this work, but I don't have any memory of hardship. Even though it was hard on me physically, there are people who have it worse. In the first place, on top of my personality, I don't feel as hardships what everyone says are hardships. Things like, 'A while back I did a lot of auditions, and even if I passed them, they were all roles as extras," too, it wasn't really, you know, at the time, that's all there was, so I just did those as carefully as I possibly could. I didn't have an ambitions towards being an actor either, so I didn't have that 'I didn't enter the entertainment world just to do this kind of thing" kind of dissatisfaction. I advanced enjoying that places at those times."

He has no fixed idea that "Being an extra is unhappy, being the lead is happiness." No matter what he talks about, Nino has his own -ism. When the Hollywood film he appeared in Letters from Iwojima (2006) was showered in high praise domestically and abroad, it seems he was saying, "My occupation is not actor but idol." Because more than his acceptance into the circle of Hollywood actors, he had pride in his own path as an idol in Japan.

"'Pride' is too cool, it's embarrassing (smile). Songs and acting and talk, I only grasped what I was given flatly and did it normally, but.... As a result, there is a strong sense that I am an idol. I think the work of an idol
is close to close to that of a creator. Usually we're normal people. A long time ago people might have wanted idols to be a façade, but it's an existence where your real self is visible, and Arashi is like especially close older brothers, right (smile). But, when those older brothers wear nice costumes and sing and dance, they can make a space that's beyond recognition. At times they can seem cool or interesting. Deciding and offering appropriate expressions for that place yourself, and being able to make the people watching have fun is being an idol. Of course at concerts; dramas and movies and variety shows are the same too. I guess I have a professional awareness about that. Everyone has one thing that other people can't make come true. For me, I think that's what this work is."

When I'm with Arashi I can be honest,
and I think strangely of that me

Even about the high esteem and hot popularity he's recieved as Arashi and as Ninomiya Kazunari these few years, he's calm and objective.

"Arashi, is a mutation. Idol groups usually get the most attention around the time they debut, and after that they gradually move towards equilibrium, but to have new fans increasing in the eight or ninth year.


Kazunari Ninomiya
Born June 17th, 1983, born and raised in Tokyo. In '99, he had his CD Debut as "Arashi." As they look towards their 10th year since forming, now even more their popularity continues to swell. As an actor as well he's held in high esteem. The drama Ryusei no Kizuna (TBS), in which he plays the lead, starts on 10/17 at 10PM.

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I used to dislike people, but now, being with Arashi is the most fun


Of course we're happy about that, but of course we're getting close to our tenth year, so we're not overestimating ourselves. After concerts we used passionately talk about things like 'Why didn't they get excited at that part!?" while eating, but now we understand that that's an insufficiency in our real ability. But, on top of knowing that, we also have an immaturity like, 'We want to multiply by an unknown number, we should be able to go even farther' (smile)."

Although he evades by mixing in jokes when talking about himself, when talking about Arashi, he becomes much more straightly eloquent.

"I wonder what it is. There's hiding embarrassment as well, but I can talk honestly about Arashi more than individually, and I can work hard (smile). Well, more than doing things as a group, the situation that the time I'm with in the group is the most interesting is ideal. Arashi is, you know, at work we're stoic and serious, but we're people who don't lie to our own feelings. It's on our faces when we're tired, we're tired, when we're happy, we're happy. It's nothing fancy, but we do our work with all of our might. When I'm in this kind of group, I can become honest too, and, really, it's fun. ...It really is weird, isn't it? That there was the me that disliked people a long time ago, huh (smile)."

In this year's 24 Hour TV, Nino read a letter addressed to Arashi's members. The words "I'm glad I met you," from the normally poker-faced man, and also the faces of the members moved to tears was very impressive.

"Right now is an age of insufficient communication. Cards and digital tools and such are increasing, and people are able to live without touching each other. That's why, with the people out there you're supposed to meet, you definitely can't continue on only passing each other by. Inside that, for about 13 years from out Johnny's Jr. days we've been together even while having this or that. While writing the letter I felt, that's an incredibly important thing. It's not just the five of us. The surrounding staff and the fans are the same. Because I've been blessed with a lot of meetings, I'm here. Meeting them, that this much of a weirdo could come to be liked is puzzling, I think, but appreciated (smile)."

Wonderment, happiness, kindness.... On that profile, more than words, lots of emotions run together. In October the drama he stars in, Ryusei no Kizuna, also starts.

"I think always being able to receive new work is happiness. Dramas and concerts are both analog jobs, right? Meeting lots of people head on and making something together is fun, and from there, something else should start yet again."

Making new meetings, his still unknown road will continue on from here forward.




TRANSLATION NOTES
[1] Nobi Nobita is the main human character in Doraemon. Return
[2] 7th grade in the US. Anyone turning 13 between Apr. 1st and March 31st the next year is in their first year of middle school. Return


Special thanks to yuckie_chan who is the originator of these scans (post locked).