[Arashi] ARASHI LIVE TOUR 2015 Japonism - Q&As - Jun
Next up is Jun's! He talks at length about the penlight from this tour and how brilliant it is-- definitely buy one if you can!
ARASHI LIVE TOUR 2015 Japonism - Q&As
Aiba | Jun | Nino | Ohno | Sho
ARASHI LIVE TOUR 2015 Japonism - Q&As - Jun
Q1. When would you think to yourself, "I'm glad I was born as a Japanese person"? At what times do you notice the nice things about Japan, or the fact that you're Japanese?
A. What would it be... I guess the four seasons, or our food culture. And "wabi-sabi" is pretty unique to Japan, I think [T/N: わび・さび = an aesthetic sense in Japanese art that emphasizes the beauty of simplicity]; we have a culture of subtraction. Of course I'm sure there are some really extravagant, gorgeous stuff out there too, but that other aspect of... the beauty of our dry landscape gardens and so forth that you have to take a step back to really see, I think that sort of thing is really Japan-esque.
Q2. Which particular era are you interested in with regards to Japan's history and traditions?
A. There isn't one particular period that I'm fond of. "Eras" are something I consider to be linked together, you see. I think it's hard to identify any one part as being whichever period. I mean, be it the entertainment that we have now or the cultural things we have, they're all things from the past that have lasted to this day. I think one of the biggest roles for those of us living at this present time is to instead figure out how we can continue to convey these things from the past.
Q3. Please tell us about sceneries in Japan that you particularly like or have left an impression on you.
A. I feel like if you were to ask about breathtaking scenery, it's a matter of how many I've actually seen myself. So I don't know... but sakura blossoms definitely leave an impression. You can only see it during one particular period of time out of the entire year, but honestly speaking I don't think anyone would go see them if they were to bloom all year. My favourite part of it is probably that aspect of transcience and when the blossoms start scattering. I'm sure there are sakura blossoms in places outside of Japan, but that sort of scenery has a really Japanese feel to it.
Q4. What does "Arashi-izm = Arashi-like" mean to you?
A. From being "80% Serious : 20% Silly" to "50% Serious : 50% Silly". It's "80% Serious" in the beginning... because we start off trying do something in all seriousness. But once we start goofing off, that ends up being more and more fun to do, so it ends up being half and half, I think (laugh). Like we're being serious about being silly. When we're goofing around, we're really goofing around. I think that's what it's about.
Q5. Please express "Japonism" in the form of a type of scent.
A. Incense, or incense sticks. Those sorts of things with fragrance. The incense that people in the past used to smell, or the perfume they used. Like those games that women used to play where they would put different fragrances in containers and smell them [T/N: He's referring to something like 香道 (koudou), which are incense-smelling ceremonies]. I've never tried it before though, so I don't know what sort of scents those are (laugh). Something like those "predecessors" are what comes to mind.
Q6. Including the cover to "Yarisugichatta Japonism Calendar 2016", which shot was your favourite out of a total of 13 shots? And if you were to recommend one type of goods from this tour, what would it be?
A. Eh? Wouldn't that be the cover? (laugh). As for what's so great about the cover, of course that would be how Nino looks on it. Other than that... I like April too, with the front and back thing going on. The three of us at the back... there's also a sense of "We're almost out of focus over here!", I really like it (laugh).
As for the goods, that would definitely have to be the "zekkochouchou!!!! light". I really wanted my idea over these past two years to come to fruition this time around. We ended up settling with the "fanlight" last year, but the concept originally started off as something we could fully automate and control from our end so we could do "FUNKY" together. We kept running into trial errors and just couldn't seem to make it work, but... since we already got it to a certain stage, we decided to have the audience operate it manually and participate that way, which was what we did two years ago. That's why I want to do a fully automated "FUNKY" this time around, as it was our original objective back then. We had "LOVE", then "DIGITALIAN", and now this year... we're likely able to pull it off for this very reason. I guess you can say this is the penlight of the next generation... of course, we're not the very first ones to come up with this system nor have we created anything ground-breaking. What I wanted to do was come up with a new form of participation for our audience despite being confined to their seats. It would be nice if we can finally pull off an evolved version of that this time, I thought. So I would like to recommend our "zekkochouchou!!!! light"!
ARASHI LIVE TOUR 2015 Japonism - Q&As
Aiba | Jun | Nino | Ohno | Sho
ARASHI LIVE TOUR 2015 Japonism - Q&As - Jun
Q1. When would you think to yourself, "I'm glad I was born as a Japanese person"? At what times do you notice the nice things about Japan, or the fact that you're Japanese?
A. What would it be... I guess the four seasons, or our food culture. And "wabi-sabi" is pretty unique to Japan, I think [T/N: わび・さび = an aesthetic sense in Japanese art that emphasizes the beauty of simplicity]; we have a culture of subtraction. Of course I'm sure there are some really extravagant, gorgeous stuff out there too, but that other aspect of... the beauty of our dry landscape gardens and so forth that you have to take a step back to really see, I think that sort of thing is really Japan-esque.
Q2. Which particular era are you interested in with regards to Japan's history and traditions?
A. There isn't one particular period that I'm fond of. "Eras" are something I consider to be linked together, you see. I think it's hard to identify any one part as being whichever period. I mean, be it the entertainment that we have now or the cultural things we have, they're all things from the past that have lasted to this day. I think one of the biggest roles for those of us living at this present time is to instead figure out how we can continue to convey these things from the past.
Q3. Please tell us about sceneries in Japan that you particularly like or have left an impression on you.
A. I feel like if you were to ask about breathtaking scenery, it's a matter of how many I've actually seen myself. So I don't know... but sakura blossoms definitely leave an impression. You can only see it during one particular period of time out of the entire year, but honestly speaking I don't think anyone would go see them if they were to bloom all year. My favourite part of it is probably that aspect of transcience and when the blossoms start scattering. I'm sure there are sakura blossoms in places outside of Japan, but that sort of scenery has a really Japanese feel to it.
Q4. What does "Arashi-izm = Arashi-like" mean to you?
A. From being "80% Serious : 20% Silly" to "50% Serious : 50% Silly". It's "80% Serious" in the beginning... because we start off trying do something in all seriousness. But once we start goofing off, that ends up being more and more fun to do, so it ends up being half and half, I think (laugh). Like we're being serious about being silly. When we're goofing around, we're really goofing around. I think that's what it's about.
Q5. Please express "Japonism" in the form of a type of scent.
A. Incense, or incense sticks. Those sorts of things with fragrance. The incense that people in the past used to smell, or the perfume they used. Like those games that women used to play where they would put different fragrances in containers and smell them [T/N: He's referring to something like 香道 (koudou), which are incense-smelling ceremonies]. I've never tried it before though, so I don't know what sort of scents those are (laugh). Something like those "predecessors" are what comes to mind.
Q6. Including the cover to "Yarisugichatta Japonism Calendar 2016", which shot was your favourite out of a total of 13 shots? And if you were to recommend one type of goods from this tour, what would it be?
A. Eh? Wouldn't that be the cover? (laugh). As for what's so great about the cover, of course that would be how Nino looks on it. Other than that... I like April too, with the front and back thing going on. The three of us at the back... there's also a sense of "We're almost out of focus over here!", I really like it (laugh).
As for the goods, that would definitely have to be the "zekkochouchou!!!! light". I really wanted my idea over these past two years to come to fruition this time around. We ended up settling with the "fanlight" last year, but the concept originally started off as something we could fully automate and control from our end so we could do "FUNKY" together. We kept running into trial errors and just couldn't seem to make it work, but... since we already got it to a certain stage, we decided to have the audience operate it manually and participate that way, which was what we did two years ago. That's why I want to do a fully automated "FUNKY" this time around, as it was our original objective back then. We had "LOVE", then "DIGITALIAN", and now this year... we're likely able to pull it off for this very reason. I guess you can say this is the penlight of the next generation... of course, we're not the very first ones to come up with this system nor have we created anything ground-breaking. What I wanted to do was come up with a new form of participation for our audience despite being confined to their seats. It would be nice if we can finally pull off an evolved version of that this time, I thought. So I would like to recommend our "zekkochouchou!!!! light"!