Arashi at National Stadium Photobook Translation (Part 1 of 6)
This is hands down the longest translation I've done to date, so be prepared to read a TON... it is the 50-page crosstalk at the end of the Arashi at National Stadium Photobook (which is really nice, by the way)~!
They talk about each of their concerts at Kokuritsu in order, and look back at their memories and (to my amusement) their major fails XD It made me want to go back and watch these concerts all over again, (and I did for a few) now that I know some of their thoughts about them ^_^
Not surprisingly 5 x10 and the first Arafes were the longest sections.... in fact I wanted to do 2 years per post, but they got so long I had to put each concert into its own post...
I also color-coded the interview because I like the colors XD Easier (and more fun) to read, I think.
At any rate, please enjoy~!
Arashi has had concerts at the Kokuritsu (National) Stadium for 6 years in a row, ever since their first time in 2008. They sat down for a special talk to look back at those 6 years standing at “that place” each year. We present it to you, with almost no cuts, as they watch their concerts from each year and talk about them.
We would like you to freely talk about each of your concerts at the Kokuritsu Stadium, your impressions, memories, and great moments from them. At any rate, it will be quite a lengthy talk, so please tell us!
Everyone: Ok. We’ll do our best!
*From here on, explanations of what DVD scenes they are watching will be in [ ]
<2008 arashi marks ARASHI AROUND ASIA 2008/ 9/5 (Fri), 6 (Sat)>
--It’s 2008, your first concert at Kokuritsu Stadium.
Ninomiya: We took tons of pictures (at the rehearsals etc)!
Sakurai: Yeah we did!
Aiba: Yeah.
--What did you do with those pictures?
Ninomiya: I have them on my computer.
Matsumoto: Me too.
Sakurai: Me too. Actually, didn’t I give (the pictures) to you all too?
Other 4: Yeah, we got them.
-- You turned into “Arashi’s cameraman” didn’t you, Sakurai-san? (lol)
Sakurai: Developing enough for 4 people was a lot of work (lol).
Aiba: Sho-chan’s camera was super big too (lol)
Sakurai: Hahahaha! I was seriously into it.
Aiba: We were all just taking them normally with our cell phones, but Sho-chan had a huge, real camera.
Ohno: All of (my pictures) were of Sho-chan.
Sakurai: Oh, that you took with your camera?
Ohno: Yeah, my digital one.
Ninomiya: Ehh~!
Ohno: Tons of pictures of Sho-chan holding this gigantic camera…
(All laugh)
Sakurai: I was just so happy (lol). I thought we’d never be there again. I probably was thinking it’d be our first and last (Kokuritsu concert).
Ninomiya: Who wouldn’t think that though.
Sakurai: I thought it would just be a one-time thing.
Matsumoto: But you know, I… always wanted to do it. Just once, there (at Kokuritsu).
--Yes, you were saying that. But, back then, the only one who said that was Matsumoto-san.
Matsumoto: Yeah, looking (at the 2008 DVD) just now, at the documentary part, Sho-kun was saying stuff like, “It’s a totally unexpected accident.”
Sakurai: Yeah… that’s what I thought (wry smile)
--Ninomiya-san was saying, “This wasn’t a goal of mine or anything.”
Ninomiya: Yeah, it wasn’t at all.
Matsumoto: You said that, didn’t you? I’m sure we all had different feelings, for me, it was a place I’d always wanted to do a concert at. To have that come true made me really happy.
Sakurai: Really happy. In the end, (at the real concert) the view coming out on stage the first time… I don’t think I’ll ever forget it. It was “Love so sweet”…huh? Was (the first song) "Love so sweet”?
Aiba: You forgot…?
(All laugh)
--Even though you just said you’ll “never forget it”…
Sakurai: Hahahaha!
Matsumoto: Didn’t take you very long to forget (lol).
Sakurai: But, in terms of the view of the Kokuritsu Stadium, I was seeing that from the rehearsals. I saw plenty of the view when there was no audience there. But, I mean… especially the first song, “Love so sweet,” when we entered (the stadium) from the very middle. That 360 degree view of Kokuritsu filled with our fans was… really the best part. Even though, after that, we were able to see it another 5, 6 times. But that first time seeing it… was really amazing. I’d never seen anything like it before.
Matsumoto: It’s enough to leave you shaking.
Ninomiya: It was the first time we’d seen something like that, after all.
Aiba: In the first place, I hadn’t really been to Kokuritsu that much before.
Sakurai: Oh, normally you went to Marine Stadium?
Aiba: Yeah, yeah (lol)
Matsumoto: Chiba doesn’t have one after all.
Aiba: There’s no Kokuritsu there (lol). So, it made it that much more special. I was really moved, that first concert. Also, the part with the balloons floating away… I remember that really well too.
Ninomiya: The balloons were pretty. Also… it was kinda like a wall.
--A wall?
Sakurai: Oh, you mean, with all the people there?
Ninomiya: Yeah. It looked like a wall made of people.
Matsumoto: From watching the DVD, I think the fans in the front rows could be seen really clearly. At that first concert. Well, the angle might make a difference too. There’s lots of shots where the fans can be seen behind us. The first half of the concert was bright (outside), so I remember being able to clearly see the fans.
Ohno: I also… really remember the moment we first came out. I got a bit embarrassed when we went on stage.
Sakurai: Embarrassed…?
Ninomiya: You were embarrassed?
Ohno: Yes.
Other 4: (All together) What, why?
Ohno: The fans were unexpectedly close… much closer than I had anticipated.
Other 4: Ehhh~!
Ohno: It felt like they were close. I was just picturing it as a really big place with all the cheering fans, and thought they’d be farther away. I thought, “Oh, they’re actually this close.” After that, I thought, “Kinda… embarrassing!”
Sakurai: Hahaha! That’s funny (lol). Even though we’d been doing it for 9 years before that, you were embarrassed?
(All laugh)
Ohno: We were outside, so I could see them clearly…
Sakurai: Ah, I see.
Aiba: Being outside does make it easier to see them.
Ninomiya: Since it’s brighter.
Matsumoto: An official cameraman took a wide-angle photo of our first Kokuritsu concert, during the first song “Love so sweet” when we came on stage. That photo is still the wallpaper on my computer. After all… it’s a great memory. Sho-kun said the same thing earlier.
Sakurai: The wallpaper on my laptop is a picture of the 4 of you riding on the lifter before my solo song, during rehearsal. I’m not even in the picture…!
Ninomiya: Hahaha! That’s because you’re the one taking the picture.
Sakurai: Arashi, from my point of view!
(All laugh)
Sakurai: The members singing “Sirius.”
Ninomiya: When we were rising up on the center donut (*is what that stage is called), right?
Sakurai: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Matsumoto: This was the year that we first got to do a 5 Dome Tour. We were able to also do Kokuritsu the same year. Not only that, but this Kokuritsu concert was the start of our Asia Tour, right?
Sakurai: Yeah, after this Kokuritsu concert, we went on our Asia Tour. Oh yeah… the days before I went to Beijing (to be a newscaster for the Olympics), I was frantically trying to write the lyrics for “Re(mark)able,” and I worked on it until the morning…I just remembered that now. Even thinking about it now makes me shudder. That feeling of the deadline closing in on me.
Matsumoto: We were pretty busy then. There was 24-hr Television, and the Olympics…though, we didn’t do that one (lol).
Sakurai: Hahaha! You’re right…I was there (at the Olympics), but you’re right.
Matsumoto: The rest of us just watched it on tv.
(All laugh)
--Was there a reason that “Love so sweet” was the first song for your first Kokuritsu concert?
Matsumoto: We were deciding between “Kansha Kangeki Ame Arashi” and “Love so sweet” originally. Since we wanted to express our gratitude and everything. And this might sound weird now, but…I thought we could do “Kansha~” for the next year. Not necessarily at Kokuritsu, but for our 10th anniversary, I meant. I wanted to do as new of a song as possible, and this song (Love so sweet) has become one we use a lot when we want to sing something that’s an “Arashi-like song.” So that’s how in the end we decided on “Love so sweet.”
--This year was the one that also had a few happenings/accidents… like Aiba-san’s pants bottoms getting ripped, and Ninomiya-san falling during a backflip.
Everyone: Ah~!
Aiba: Yeah, that did happen (lol).
Sakurai: So that was this year.
Aiba: I ripped the bottom of my pants. And then from the next day on, I was the only one that had this… skirt thing wrapped around me.
Sakurai: “THE Emergency Treatment!”
Aiba: Yes exactly… (lol). That outfit was embarrassing.
Ninomiya: You had something extra added on?
Aiba: Yeah, it got added (lol).
Matsumoto: Hahaha! On the DVD, you do have something wrapped around you (lol). But, it’s amazing. They fixed your outfit in one day for you.
Other 4: Yeah, that’s true.
--During the part with the water fountains, you guys got soaked (lol).
Matsumoto: Yeah, we were drenched. And since we were outside, we thought “Let’s jump in the water!” and had a pool ready for us (during the encore). The first day it was Aiba-kun, and the second day was Riida.
Ninomiya: It was you two, back then. It was pretty cold, wasn’t it?
Ohno: It was cold!
--The bathing suit (swimming trunks) that was used was Matsumoto-san’s own pair, right?
Ninomiya: That’s right! It was.
Matsumoto: Yes (lol). Watching (the DVD) just now, I was thinking, “Where..did those trunks go?”
--(Lol) Eh, you don’t know where they are?
Matsumoto: I don’t know where they went (lol).
Sakurai: Wait, so… did you (Aiba, Ohno) borrow his swim trunks, wash them and return them?
Aiba, Ohno: …. (trying to remember)
Matsumoto: After the first day, the staff person washed them.
Sakurai: I see.
Matsumoto: After the second day, I took it home wet (after Riida used them)…
(All laugh)
Sakurai: Laundry service was included in the loan plan?
Matsumoto: Yes, it was (lol).
Sakurai: Oh, that’s a really great deal!
Ninomiya: That plan is a bargain.
Aiba: Even more so because we didn’t have to bring anything!
(All laugh)
Matsumoto: We finished the concert. And then, I went home and did laundry by myself (lol).
Ohno: For that…why did we wind up using MatsuJun’s? Did we not have one?
Sakurai: We probably didn’t have any others.
Matsumoto: I brought it during rehearsal… of course, we hadn’t talked about where we were getting the swimming trunks from. I just had a pair at home, so I brought them.
--You guys planned to jump into a pool, but no one brought swimming trunks?
Matsumoto: Only one of us (decided by janken) would be jumping in, after all. It was only vaguely planned out (lol). We knew we would be jumping in during the encore, but exactly how it was going to happen wasn’t really thought out. So we decided to have the person who lost at janken to jump in. And I had one pair of swimming trunks at home, so I figured that would work…
Ninomiya: All I had to do was win at janken. If I brought (swimming trunks) in, it’d be already admitting defeat (lol).
Sakurai: I wasn’t assuming I was going to lose either!
Matsumoto: I didn’t lose at janken though. In actuality, I only washed them, without even using them myself…
(All laugh)
Sakurai: You’re right! You didn’t even wear them.
--Not only that, you had just bought those swimming trunks, right?
Matsumoto: Yes, that’s right!
Aiba: Ah! So the first person who wore them…was me!?
Matsumoto: Yes! I bought them when I went overseas, and they’d been sitting at my house since. But you know…it’s not like I could have the members wearing swimming trunks that I’d used before. So, it’s ok… (lol)
Ninomiya: They disappeared somewhere without you ever getting to wear them (lol).
Matsumoto: Yes… I can’t find them anymore (lol).
--This year, it rained on the second day, didn’t it?
Matsumoto: It was towards the end of the concert. During “Pikanchi Double”? Oh, “WISH.” It started raining hard while we were singing. At the end with “Gorimuchuu” it was pouring… we were all sliding around on the stage at the end when the band was holding the notes long (lol).
--Ohno-san looked like he was having so much fun sliding around…
Matsumoto: Spinning around on your knees (lol).
Ninomiya: You always have a blast at times like that.
Ohno: It was so fun. But afterwards, I got warned by the staff. “What if there was a nail or something sticking out on stage? Be more careful,” they said.
Sakurai: Ahhh…that’s true.
Aiba: It could happen.
Sakurai: That never occurred to me before. But they’re right.
Ninomiya: Yeah.
--Ehh…you were doing it just like that, without much thought?!
Ohno: Fufu….hahaha!
Matsumoto: Well, (the weather) was an accident. We hadn’t been planning on it at all.
Ninomiya: Yeah, that’s true.
Matsumoto: We’re singing in the rain, “Today will be clear skies” (lol). When we left, and as the fans were leaving, it continued to pour.
Aiba: Yeah… it rains a lot that time of year too, right?
Matsumoto: Yeah, that’s true.
Sakurai: The end of August…
Matsumoto: And the beginning of September. After that (concert in the rain), I heard… that even though we were able to use the mikes during the actual concert, afterwards they wouldn’t work anymore, so they had to buy all new ones.
Sakurai: Yeah, the staff was saying that.
--At that time, Ninomiya-san wasn’t sliding though.
Ninomiya: I didn’t slide. I wasn’t sure what we would do if all the mikes broke. I thought it’d be good if at least one of them could still work during the concert.
Matsumoto: You remember that well.
Ninomiya: Yeah, I still do.
Matsumoto: At last year’s Arafes, we sort of parodied it, even… rather, at this time (the performance of the 1-2 years at Kokuritsu) we went over it a lot.
--At this first time at Kokuritsu, you guys rode all the way up to the Olympic flame torch from the outside of the stadium.
Matsumoto: Yes. Ogura Tomoaki-san was talking for us, right? (*While they were moving, Ogura-san was talking about the Kokuritsu Stadium on the main monitor) He was explaining some of the history of Kokuritsu Stadium, and we were getting on this work platform-type thing to ride up.
Ninomiya: That was quite the…terrifying vehicle to ride in.
--You were all saying how scary it was.
Aiba: That was scary.
Matsumoto: I mean…how big was it? It was box about 4 x 2 meters.
Ninomiya: Yeah, it was pretty small.
Matsumoto: And, that box went up about 25 meters. It starts out horizontal, but when it gets to the top, it’s more vertical. And then, we had to move over to the stage, but the stage didn’t have a guardrail or anything. So, moving to that stage, and then standing there on it, was really scary.
Sakurai: For me…I was so scared, I don’t even remember it. I forgot all about it becoming vertical and stuff…
(All laugh)
Matsumoto: It went vertical, and we moved to the stage one by one in a line.
Sakurai: No…I can’t think about it.
Matsumoto: When we moved to the stage, there was a gap between them too.
Ninomiya: Yeah, there was. They can’t make them fit right up against each other.
Matsumoto: And then, we finally get there on the stage, and when the torch lit up, it was super hot!
(All laugh)
Sakurai: Yeah! That was pretty bad.
Ninomiya: Yeah, it was.
Ohno: Yeah… it was pretty hot.
Aiba: It depends on the wind, huh? It can be really different.
--How was the view from the torch, the first time you stood there?
Sakurai: In terms of the view from the torch, I think… when we went there for preparations, the view was the best.
Matsumoto: Yeah.
Sakurai: And you could see the city in the distance… that’s a view I’d never seen before either. During the concert… that’s all I’m concentrating on. So there’s no time to be like, “Oh, pretty”
Matsumoto: Yes, the view from there was really awesome. I think it’s my favorite view at Kokuritsu.
Ohno: I took pictures from there with my digital camera during rehearsal. You know, normally you look at the main stage from the torch? But more than that, I was interested in the view in the other direction (from the torch, opposite the stage).
Matsumoto: Eh! That way?
(All laugh)
Ohno: Because there’s nothing back there.
Ninomiya: Yeah, you were saying that. I remember you getting all excited, saying to yourself, “I feel like I’ll get sucked in.”
Ohno: Yeah, that’s how I felt (lol). Because…there no rails or anything there.
Matsumoto: Can’t believe we were able to do that.
Ninomiya: It was pretty scary…
Aiba: The people who weren’t able to go to the concert were watching us from the ground there. Probably, it was scarier for those watching than for us, on that ridiculous lift/machine. Really.
--It was a very simple lift.
Aiba: Yes! Very simple (lol).
Sakurai: I gained even more respect for those people who do that sort of work (in high places).
Aiba: Like those people who wash windows on skyscrapers…
Ninomiya: Yeah, seriously.
Sakurai: Also… the morning of the concert, our Arashi flags were all lined up in the place where they had each country’s flags flying in 1964 (during the Tokyo Olympics). In the morning, when I came for rehearsal I saw them outside, and it was just so cool! Like, it was our fort or something.
Matsumoto: Yeah…that’s why from the 2nd year on, we made the Arashi character (on the flags) a bit bigger!
Sakurai: Hahaha! Because we were so happy (lol).
--I see. The first year, the “A” was the main part of the design.
Matsumoto: Yes, for the first year.
Ninomiya: Since it was hard to tell what the mark was supposed to be.
Sakurai: Those flags were really something.
Ninomiya: On the DVD just now. The part where we’re all saying our comments, when we said, “We’re off! (to our Asia Tour)” and the atmosphere in the stadium was like, “Have a good trip!” that part was really great. At our first Kokuritsu, we were saying that this was the start; that we’re off on our way. And the applause was sending us off, to go to Asia. I thought it was really nice, warm.
Matsumoto: Yes. We never thought we’d be able to be there for 6 years in a row…or rather, at the time, we didn’t even think we’d do it 2 years in a row, so we made a “best version” of Arashi…right before going on our 2nd Asia Tour, what would our best version be like? That’s what we tried to do with this concert.
---------------------------------------------------------------
There's the end of the AAA 2008 part!
As always, my translations will remain public (unless someone goes and steals them... please don't. I'm glad to give permission to use it, I would just like to be asked)
Please leave me a comment if you can! This translation took me about 3 weeks to do (and also an obscene amount of time getting the formatting right on LJ), so I do very much appreciate your comments~
I may not get time to respond to them all, but I love to hear what you guys thought, which parts were your favorites or made you laugh, etc etc. Anything at all, really! ^__^ But, since there I had to split this into so many parts, definitely don't feel like you need to comment on every one of them (unless you'd like to, of course)
Part 2 - 5 x 10
Part 3 - Scene
Part 4 - Beautiful World
Part 5 - Arafes
Part 6 - Arafes '13
Thanks so much for reading!!
They talk about each of their concerts at Kokuritsu in order, and look back at their memories and (to my amusement) their major fails XD It made me want to go back and watch these concerts all over again, (and I did for a few) now that I know some of their thoughts about them ^_^
Not surprisingly 5 x10 and the first Arafes were the longest sections.... in fact I wanted to do 2 years per post, but they got so long I had to put each concert into its own post...
I also color-coded the interview because I like the colors XD Easier (and more fun) to read, I think.
At any rate, please enjoy~!
Arashi has had concerts at the Kokuritsu (National) Stadium for 6 years in a row, ever since their first time in 2008. They sat down for a special talk to look back at those 6 years standing at “that place” each year. We present it to you, with almost no cuts, as they watch their concerts from each year and talk about them.
We would like you to freely talk about each of your concerts at the Kokuritsu Stadium, your impressions, memories, and great moments from them. At any rate, it will be quite a lengthy talk, so please tell us!
Everyone: Ok. We’ll do our best!
*From here on, explanations of what DVD scenes they are watching will be in [ ]
<2008 arashi marks ARASHI AROUND ASIA 2008/ 9/5 (Fri), 6 (Sat)>
--It’s 2008, your first concert at Kokuritsu Stadium.
Ninomiya: We took tons of pictures (at the rehearsals etc)!
Sakurai: Yeah we did!
Aiba: Yeah.
--What did you do with those pictures?
Ninomiya: I have them on my computer.
Matsumoto: Me too.
Sakurai: Me too. Actually, didn’t I give (the pictures) to you all too?
Other 4: Yeah, we got them.
-- You turned into “Arashi’s cameraman” didn’t you, Sakurai-san? (lol)
Sakurai: Developing enough for 4 people was a lot of work (lol).
Aiba: Sho-chan’s camera was super big too (lol)
Sakurai: Hahahaha! I was seriously into it.
Aiba: We were all just taking them normally with our cell phones, but Sho-chan had a huge, real camera.
Ohno: All of (my pictures) were of Sho-chan.
Sakurai: Oh, that you took with your camera?
Ohno: Yeah, my digital one.
Ninomiya: Ehh~!
Ohno: Tons of pictures of Sho-chan holding this gigantic camera…
(All laugh)
Sakurai: I was just so happy (lol). I thought we’d never be there again. I probably was thinking it’d be our first and last (Kokuritsu concert).
Ninomiya: Who wouldn’t think that though.
Sakurai: I thought it would just be a one-time thing.
Matsumoto: But you know, I… always wanted to do it. Just once, there (at Kokuritsu).
--Yes, you were saying that. But, back then, the only one who said that was Matsumoto-san.
Matsumoto: Yeah, looking (at the 2008 DVD) just now, at the documentary part, Sho-kun was saying stuff like, “It’s a totally unexpected accident.”
Sakurai: Yeah… that’s what I thought (wry smile)
--Ninomiya-san was saying, “This wasn’t a goal of mine or anything.”
Ninomiya: Yeah, it wasn’t at all.
Matsumoto: You said that, didn’t you? I’m sure we all had different feelings, for me, it was a place I’d always wanted to do a concert at. To have that come true made me really happy.
Sakurai: Really happy. In the end, (at the real concert) the view coming out on stage the first time… I don’t think I’ll ever forget it. It was “Love so sweet”…huh? Was (the first song) "Love so sweet”?
Aiba: You forgot…?
(All laugh)
--Even though you just said you’ll “never forget it”…
Sakurai: Hahahaha!
Matsumoto: Didn’t take you very long to forget (lol).
Sakurai: But, in terms of the view of the Kokuritsu Stadium, I was seeing that from the rehearsals. I saw plenty of the view when there was no audience there. But, I mean… especially the first song, “Love so sweet,” when we entered (the stadium) from the very middle. That 360 degree view of Kokuritsu filled with our fans was… really the best part. Even though, after that, we were able to see it another 5, 6 times. But that first time seeing it… was really amazing. I’d never seen anything like it before.
Matsumoto: It’s enough to leave you shaking.
Ninomiya: It was the first time we’d seen something like that, after all.
Aiba: In the first place, I hadn’t really been to Kokuritsu that much before.
Sakurai: Oh, normally you went to Marine Stadium?
Aiba: Yeah, yeah (lol)
Matsumoto: Chiba doesn’t have one after all.
Aiba: There’s no Kokuritsu there (lol). So, it made it that much more special. I was really moved, that first concert. Also, the part with the balloons floating away… I remember that really well too.
Ninomiya: The balloons were pretty. Also… it was kinda like a wall.
--A wall?
Sakurai: Oh, you mean, with all the people there?
Ninomiya: Yeah. It looked like a wall made of people.
Matsumoto: From watching the DVD, I think the fans in the front rows could be seen really clearly. At that first concert. Well, the angle might make a difference too. There’s lots of shots where the fans can be seen behind us. The first half of the concert was bright (outside), so I remember being able to clearly see the fans.
Ohno: I also… really remember the moment we first came out. I got a bit embarrassed when we went on stage.
Sakurai: Embarrassed…?
Ninomiya: You were embarrassed?
Ohno: Yes.
Other 4: (All together) What, why?
Ohno: The fans were unexpectedly close… much closer than I had anticipated.
Other 4: Ehhh~!
Ohno: It felt like they were close. I was just picturing it as a really big place with all the cheering fans, and thought they’d be farther away. I thought, “Oh, they’re actually this close.” After that, I thought, “Kinda… embarrassing!”
Sakurai: Hahaha! That’s funny (lol). Even though we’d been doing it for 9 years before that, you were embarrassed?
(All laugh)
Ohno: We were outside, so I could see them clearly…
Sakurai: Ah, I see.
Aiba: Being outside does make it easier to see them.
Ninomiya: Since it’s brighter.
Matsumoto: An official cameraman took a wide-angle photo of our first Kokuritsu concert, during the first song “Love so sweet” when we came on stage. That photo is still the wallpaper on my computer. After all… it’s a great memory. Sho-kun said the same thing earlier.
Sakurai: The wallpaper on my laptop is a picture of the 4 of you riding on the lifter before my solo song, during rehearsal. I’m not even in the picture…!
Ninomiya: Hahaha! That’s because you’re the one taking the picture.
Sakurai: Arashi, from my point of view!
(All laugh)
Sakurai: The members singing “Sirius.”
Ninomiya: When we were rising up on the center donut (*is what that stage is called), right?
Sakurai: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Matsumoto: This was the year that we first got to do a 5 Dome Tour. We were able to also do Kokuritsu the same year. Not only that, but this Kokuritsu concert was the start of our Asia Tour, right?
Sakurai: Yeah, after this Kokuritsu concert, we went on our Asia Tour. Oh yeah… the days before I went to Beijing (to be a newscaster for the Olympics), I was frantically trying to write the lyrics for “Re(mark)able,” and I worked on it until the morning…I just remembered that now. Even thinking about it now makes me shudder. That feeling of the deadline closing in on me.
Matsumoto: We were pretty busy then. There was 24-hr Television, and the Olympics…though, we didn’t do that one (lol).
Sakurai: Hahaha! You’re right…I was there (at the Olympics), but you’re right.
Matsumoto: The rest of us just watched it on tv.
(All laugh)
--Was there a reason that “Love so sweet” was the first song for your first Kokuritsu concert?
Matsumoto: We were deciding between “Kansha Kangeki Ame Arashi” and “Love so sweet” originally. Since we wanted to express our gratitude and everything. And this might sound weird now, but…I thought we could do “Kansha~” for the next year. Not necessarily at Kokuritsu, but for our 10th anniversary, I meant. I wanted to do as new of a song as possible, and this song (Love so sweet) has become one we use a lot when we want to sing something that’s an “Arashi-like song.” So that’s how in the end we decided on “Love so sweet.”
--This year was the one that also had a few happenings/accidents… like Aiba-san’s pants bottoms getting ripped, and Ninomiya-san falling during a backflip.
Everyone: Ah~!
Aiba: Yeah, that did happen (lol).
Sakurai: So that was this year.
Aiba: I ripped the bottom of my pants. And then from the next day on, I was the only one that had this… skirt thing wrapped around me.
Sakurai: “THE Emergency Treatment!”
Aiba: Yes exactly… (lol). That outfit was embarrassing.
Ninomiya: You had something extra added on?
Aiba: Yeah, it got added (lol).
Matsumoto: Hahaha! On the DVD, you do have something wrapped around you (lol). But, it’s amazing. They fixed your outfit in one day for you.
Other 4: Yeah, that’s true.
--During the part with the water fountains, you guys got soaked (lol).
Matsumoto: Yeah, we were drenched. And since we were outside, we thought “Let’s jump in the water!” and had a pool ready for us (during the encore). The first day it was Aiba-kun, and the second day was Riida.
Ninomiya: It was you two, back then. It was pretty cold, wasn’t it?
Ohno: It was cold!
--The bathing suit (swimming trunks) that was used was Matsumoto-san’s own pair, right?
Ninomiya: That’s right! It was.
Matsumoto: Yes (lol). Watching (the DVD) just now, I was thinking, “Where..did those trunks go?”
--(Lol) Eh, you don’t know where they are?
Matsumoto: I don’t know where they went (lol).
Sakurai: Wait, so… did you (Aiba, Ohno) borrow his swim trunks, wash them and return them?
Aiba, Ohno: …. (trying to remember)
Matsumoto: After the first day, the staff person washed them.
Sakurai: I see.
Matsumoto: After the second day, I took it home wet (after Riida used them)…
(All laugh)
Sakurai: Laundry service was included in the loan plan?
Matsumoto: Yes, it was (lol).
Sakurai: Oh, that’s a really great deal!
Ninomiya: That plan is a bargain.
Aiba: Even more so because we didn’t have to bring anything!
(All laugh)
Matsumoto: We finished the concert. And then, I went home and did laundry by myself (lol).
Ohno: For that…why did we wind up using MatsuJun’s? Did we not have one?
Sakurai: We probably didn’t have any others.
Matsumoto: I brought it during rehearsal… of course, we hadn’t talked about where we were getting the swimming trunks from. I just had a pair at home, so I brought them.
--You guys planned to jump into a pool, but no one brought swimming trunks?
Matsumoto: Only one of us (decided by janken) would be jumping in, after all. It was only vaguely planned out (lol). We knew we would be jumping in during the encore, but exactly how it was going to happen wasn’t really thought out. So we decided to have the person who lost at janken to jump in. And I had one pair of swimming trunks at home, so I figured that would work…
Ninomiya: All I had to do was win at janken. If I brought (swimming trunks) in, it’d be already admitting defeat (lol).
Sakurai: I wasn’t assuming I was going to lose either!
Matsumoto: I didn’t lose at janken though. In actuality, I only washed them, without even using them myself…
(All laugh)
Sakurai: You’re right! You didn’t even wear them.
--Not only that, you had just bought those swimming trunks, right?
Matsumoto: Yes, that’s right!
Aiba: Ah! So the first person who wore them…was me!?
Matsumoto: Yes! I bought them when I went overseas, and they’d been sitting at my house since. But you know…it’s not like I could have the members wearing swimming trunks that I’d used before. So, it’s ok… (lol)
Ninomiya: They disappeared somewhere without you ever getting to wear them (lol).
Matsumoto: Yes… I can’t find them anymore (lol).
--This year, it rained on the second day, didn’t it?
Matsumoto: It was towards the end of the concert. During “Pikanchi Double”? Oh, “WISH.” It started raining hard while we were singing. At the end with “Gorimuchuu” it was pouring… we were all sliding around on the stage at the end when the band was holding the notes long (lol).
--Ohno-san looked like he was having so much fun sliding around…
Matsumoto: Spinning around on your knees (lol).
Ninomiya: You always have a blast at times like that.
Ohno: It was so fun. But afterwards, I got warned by the staff. “What if there was a nail or something sticking out on stage? Be more careful,” they said.
Sakurai: Ahhh…that’s true.
Aiba: It could happen.
Sakurai: That never occurred to me before. But they’re right.
Ninomiya: Yeah.
--Ehh…you were doing it just like that, without much thought?!
Ohno: Fufu….hahaha!
Matsumoto: Well, (the weather) was an accident. We hadn’t been planning on it at all.
Ninomiya: Yeah, that’s true.
Matsumoto: We’re singing in the rain, “Today will be clear skies” (lol). When we left, and as the fans were leaving, it continued to pour.
Aiba: Yeah… it rains a lot that time of year too, right?
Matsumoto: Yeah, that’s true.
Sakurai: The end of August…
Matsumoto: And the beginning of September. After that (concert in the rain), I heard… that even though we were able to use the mikes during the actual concert, afterwards they wouldn’t work anymore, so they had to buy all new ones.
Sakurai: Yeah, the staff was saying that.
--At that time, Ninomiya-san wasn’t sliding though.
Ninomiya: I didn’t slide. I wasn’t sure what we would do if all the mikes broke. I thought it’d be good if at least one of them could still work during the concert.
Matsumoto: You remember that well.
Ninomiya: Yeah, I still do.
Matsumoto: At last year’s Arafes, we sort of parodied it, even… rather, at this time (the performance of the 1-2 years at Kokuritsu) we went over it a lot.
--At this first time at Kokuritsu, you guys rode all the way up to the Olympic flame torch from the outside of the stadium.
Matsumoto: Yes. Ogura Tomoaki-san was talking for us, right? (*While they were moving, Ogura-san was talking about the Kokuritsu Stadium on the main monitor) He was explaining some of the history of Kokuritsu Stadium, and we were getting on this work platform-type thing to ride up.
Ninomiya: That was quite the…terrifying vehicle to ride in.
--You were all saying how scary it was.
Aiba: That was scary.
Matsumoto: I mean…how big was it? It was box about 4 x 2 meters.
Ninomiya: Yeah, it was pretty small.
Matsumoto: And, that box went up about 25 meters. It starts out horizontal, but when it gets to the top, it’s more vertical. And then, we had to move over to the stage, but the stage didn’t have a guardrail or anything. So, moving to that stage, and then standing there on it, was really scary.
Sakurai: For me…I was so scared, I don’t even remember it. I forgot all about it becoming vertical and stuff…
(All laugh)
Matsumoto: It went vertical, and we moved to the stage one by one in a line.
Sakurai: No…I can’t think about it.
Matsumoto: When we moved to the stage, there was a gap between them too.
Ninomiya: Yeah, there was. They can’t make them fit right up against each other.
Matsumoto: And then, we finally get there on the stage, and when the torch lit up, it was super hot!
(All laugh)
Sakurai: Yeah! That was pretty bad.
Ninomiya: Yeah, it was.
Ohno: Yeah… it was pretty hot.
Aiba: It depends on the wind, huh? It can be really different.
--How was the view from the torch, the first time you stood there?
Sakurai: In terms of the view from the torch, I think… when we went there for preparations, the view was the best.
Matsumoto: Yeah.
Sakurai: And you could see the city in the distance… that’s a view I’d never seen before either. During the concert… that’s all I’m concentrating on. So there’s no time to be like, “Oh, pretty”
Matsumoto: Yes, the view from there was really awesome. I think it’s my favorite view at Kokuritsu.
Ohno: I took pictures from there with my digital camera during rehearsal. You know, normally you look at the main stage from the torch? But more than that, I was interested in the view in the other direction (from the torch, opposite the stage).
Matsumoto: Eh! That way?
(All laugh)
Ohno: Because there’s nothing back there.
Ninomiya: Yeah, you were saying that. I remember you getting all excited, saying to yourself, “I feel like I’ll get sucked in.”
Ohno: Yeah, that’s how I felt (lol). Because…there no rails or anything there.
Matsumoto: Can’t believe we were able to do that.
Ninomiya: It was pretty scary…
Aiba: The people who weren’t able to go to the concert were watching us from the ground there. Probably, it was scarier for those watching than for us, on that ridiculous lift/machine. Really.
--It was a very simple lift.
Aiba: Yes! Very simple (lol).
Sakurai: I gained even more respect for those people who do that sort of work (in high places).
Aiba: Like those people who wash windows on skyscrapers…
Ninomiya: Yeah, seriously.
Sakurai: Also… the morning of the concert, our Arashi flags were all lined up in the place where they had each country’s flags flying in 1964 (during the Tokyo Olympics). In the morning, when I came for rehearsal I saw them outside, and it was just so cool! Like, it was our fort or something.
Matsumoto: Yeah…that’s why from the 2nd year on, we made the Arashi character (on the flags) a bit bigger!
Sakurai: Hahaha! Because we were so happy (lol).
--I see. The first year, the “A” was the main part of the design.
Matsumoto: Yes, for the first year.
Ninomiya: Since it was hard to tell what the mark was supposed to be.
Sakurai: Those flags were really something.
Ninomiya: On the DVD just now. The part where we’re all saying our comments, when we said, “We’re off! (to our Asia Tour)” and the atmosphere in the stadium was like, “Have a good trip!” that part was really great. At our first Kokuritsu, we were saying that this was the start; that we’re off on our way. And the applause was sending us off, to go to Asia. I thought it was really nice, warm.
Matsumoto: Yes. We never thought we’d be able to be there for 6 years in a row…or rather, at the time, we didn’t even think we’d do it 2 years in a row, so we made a “best version” of Arashi…right before going on our 2nd Asia Tour, what would our best version be like? That’s what we tried to do with this concert.
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There's the end of the AAA 2008 part!
As always, my translations will remain public (unless someone goes and steals them... please don't. I'm glad to give permission to use it, I would just like to be asked)
Please leave me a comment if you can! This translation took me about 3 weeks to do (and also an obscene amount of time getting the formatting right on LJ), so I do very much appreciate your comments~
I may not get time to respond to them all, but I love to hear what you guys thought, which parts were your favorites or made you laugh, etc etc. Anything at all, really! ^__^ But, since there I had to split this into so many parts, definitely don't feel like you need to comment on every one of them (unless you'd like to, of course)
Part 2 - 5 x 10
Part 3 - Scene
Part 4 - Beautiful World
Part 5 - Arafes
Part 6 - Arafes '13
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