Happy Birthday Leader!
It's our venerable Leader's birthday (or at least, it is in my time zone)!! Yaaaaay! Happy Birthday, Leader! He's turning 37. XD
I thought I'd make him a birthday post to celebrate all the things that are so awesome about him. Well, not all the things. I could have talked about how he's such an incredible guitar player, or how he works hard as TOKIO's leader, or how he's written the group some lovely songs, but. . . I didn't.
First, obligatory birthday picspam. Many of these are from ptristan's incredible TOKIO pic uploads, which you can get to here. The rest are pretty much my shoddy screencaps, with a few from boys_paper.
To start with, Leader when he was young and cute! It happened! Possibly younger than the above picture, which is him at 22, and definitely cuter:
I can't get over how cute he looks! Loveable, almost attractive.
This is so old-school idol! I love it! He looks like he could have been in HikaruGenji or something. If you ignore the crop-top sweater he's got on.
Too drunk to what, Leader??
There ya go, one of him rocking out on the guitar.
As you, ah, probably know, Leader is in TOKIO. They're a bunch of very good-looking men. I think this can be rough on Leader. Look at him! They all look so snazzy in their suits, and he looks. . . like Leader.
He knows how to make the best of the situation, though.
This picture, text by ptristan, is probably the story of Leader's life. I bet that happens to him every time he goes outside - he's just attacked by a monkey.
Leader with a man-purse.
Can you spot where Leader is in this picture?
That's right, he's the one in knee-socks with his shorts pulled up to his armpits. XD
And he's proud of it!
Just one more.
On the Sports Days, everyone else has their name on the back of their shirts. XD
I may have made a collage of the many hairstyles of Leader:
I'm really into Leader's inability to pull of idol hair. He seems to think "Ok, the mohawk didn't work - I know! I'll try Elvis hair!" I actually love the Elvis hair, but nevermind. But he can look so cute and normal when he doesn't do weird things to his head - look at the bottom left! Strangely enough, I grew even more fond of him as I was making this. He's adorable! In a way where he doesn't always look quite human. . .
I've also been compiling a list of "Leader Moments," or "times when Leader was the punchline." It's not complete because. . . there's just too many of them, but here's what I have so far. . .
The HEY!x3 guys are excellent sources for this sort of thing. On one of their appearances, Matsumoto said, "But seriously, it's a miracle you got into Johnny's."
From HEY!x3.
Taichi: With the dorms, when we were there, there were two or three of them.
Hamada: Or, really?
Taichi: Yes. One of them is the dorm where the elite kids lived. [Shot of Leader smiling] And the other one, umm... is where a guy named Joshima lived. (Joshima is Leader, if you didn't know his actual name.) [Hamada is cracking up.] When you go to that dorm, you think "It's over."
Leader: I hadn't known that and just lived there.
Matsumoto: So did you feel it at that time? That "It's just going to end here" type of feeling?
Leader: No, at the time, I had lots of dreams. [Laughter]
Hamada: Even then?
Leader: Yes.
Hamada: How old were you then?
Leader: About 22... (The only people to debut after 22 are Leader, Sakamoto Masayuki and Nagano Hiroshi of V6, and Yokoyama Yu of Kanjani8)
Hamada: So first off, what's this? [reads his notes] "Thank you, Matchy-san." What does this have to do with TOKIO?
["Matchy-san" is Kondo Masahiko, a very popular Johnny's from the 80s. He may have been a solo singer?]
Nagase: He gave us New Year's money.
Hamada: All of you?
TOKIO: Yes.
Taichi: I mean, Leader's still getting money!
Hamada: You know, you should step down already.
Leader: Just for that time, I returned to my childhood.
Matsumoto: Leader, how old are you again?
Leader: Thirty. . . six. . . I'm a "toki-otoko" (that is, person born in the year of the dog).
Matsumoto: You're not that much younger than Matchy, right?
Taichi: That's right. About 4. . . 4 years.
Hamada: Only 4 years! 4!
Taichi: Yeah, so actually, Leader is at Matchy-san's level.
Hamada: You need to be on the giving side.
Leader: Well, to be fair. . .
Hamada: Are you giving money to the ones younger than you?
Leader: No. . .
Matsumoto: Why do you always receive?
Leader: Well, it's because I don't really have the chance to see any of my kohai.
Taichi: But, we're part of the Countdown Concert each year.
Matsumoto: Everyone gets together.
Taichi: Yes. So we definitely see them. Our kohai.
Matsumoto: Right? [Leader giggles]
Taichi: That's when we get money from Matchy-san.
Yamaguchi: While the other sempais are giving out New Year's money, he is standing really still in the corner. [Hamada smacks Leader]
Mabo: It's embarassing to watch Leader receive New Year's money.
From Yoko & Hina's Recommen.
Next week’s ranking is “celebrities who don’t look their age."
Yoko says how the other day while he was watching TV, Kokubun Taichi was on some show and they showed his age (33). Yoko+Hina both think that he doesn’t look 33 at all, not even 30. Everyone in TOKIO too don’t look their age… but.
Yoko : I think Leader matches his age.
Hina : Maaa, only Leader.
http://ttthhbbbtt.livejournal.com/7416.html
A whole bunch from Nagase's Oshareism interview:
Ueda: Moving on. Oh. From TOKIO's Leader. Joshima-san.
Fujiki: Laughter...
Nagase: It's amazing to get laughs just from a name.
Ueda: I'm jealous of that.
Nagase: Yeah me too.
http://community.livejournal.com/to_ki_o/34708.html
Ueda: Well, more information from Leader.
Nagase: Yes. OK.
Ueda: Leader has it good. Why is it that we just have to say his name and people laugh?
Nagase: It's not fair, is it?
http://community.livejournal.com/to_ki_o/34873.html
Ueda: But Joshima Leader says, "He won't forget [his wallet] for me when it's the two of us."
Nagase: Really?
Ueda: And what else..."Even though he talks normally to all the other members, he still speaks in polite form to me and I feel left out." He sounds like a lover trying to get attention.
Nagase: Ewww. That's gross.
Ueda: Why don't you forget your wallet when you're with Leader?
Nagase: So the thing is, it's uncomfortable when I'm alone with Leader.
Ueda: Why? Why?
Nagase: I don't know what to talk to him about.
Ueda: Why? You've been members together for a long time!
Nagase: Like in the toilet and we're next to each other. And with all the members other than Leader, I talk to them normally. Like with Taichi-kun we talk about "I just went to that place" or "Yeah, he's doing well." And we do soccer together so the conversation goes that way. I don't know what to talk about with Leader.
Ueda: Talk about stuff like that. Like if Leader did soccer...
Nagase: That person doesn't have hobbies. So we have nothing in common to talk about. The moment I go into the toilet, his back has this aura of sadness. Like he's tired out. And the thing that comes out of my mouth is "Domo"
Ueda: It's that hard to talk to him?
Nagase: Yeah.
Ueda: But Leader sounds pretty lonely. He's saying forget your wallet every once in a while. To tell the truth, as a request, I don't get it, but, I really don't get, but I think it might be good to forget your wallet sometimes.
Nagase: I see.
http://community.livejournal.com/to_ki_o/34873.html
As you may or may not know, in the Johnny's Sports Days (or J-Sports. The same? Different?) the competitors sometimes get put into little groups, usually of 2 or 3, and have little "dance battles" in which they perform a brief dance together. Anyway, Taichi was with Sho, Nagase was with Koichi, everyone's just paired off randomly. And they only find out who they're with on the day of the thing, as far as I can tell. Anyway, in the 2003 backstage material, you see them finding out who their partners are, and everyone just sort of listens and nods and stuff. Then they announce that Leader is with KAT-TUN's Tanaka, Taguchi, Nakamaru and Ueda. . . and everyone cracks up. They said a few things I think understood, too - Taichi says "Whoa, pretty good, huh?" And then a few people said "Leader sugoi." XD It was the only one that got a reaction.
Later, there's a scene with him teaching them the dance (about 25 and a half minutes in to the version linked above, I hope) which is already just surreal and, uh. . . he forgets how it goes and has to go into the corner and do it by himself for a little to refresh his memory.
Another J-Sports 03 moment: in the relay, there were four teams, so the other four members of TOKIO were all the anchors. And Leader was the starter. With Takki, Tsubasa, and Nino - he stood out a little bit. And his team ended up so behind that even Mabo couldn't help them pull through.
One of my favorite Leader moments is from Arashi’s movie Pikanchi Double. I haven’t watched the whole movie, pretty much just this part, but Matsumoto Jun’s character is apparently homesick, and has photoshopped pictures of himself to cheer up. So, because he’s training to be a chef, he photoshopped himself standing next to a famous chef. And he made himself riding on a dolphin, because who doesn’t want that? And then we see the next picture, and it’s him standing next to Leader. The girl to who, he’s showing the pictures is all “Joshima? What?" And he says, “I thought I could become like this Leader."
That’s right, Matsumoto Jun is looking to Leader for inspiration. :D
You can watch the scene here, 4:45 in.
Another of my all-time favorite Leader moments was in the TOKIO/V6 Bowling Tournament on HEY!x3 (what can I say, Downtown understand the Leader-ness.) The 11 of them were supposed to pair up, but of course it was uneven. You'd expect someone from V6 to be left out, but Sakamoto and Nagano partnered off (like the married couple that they are) and of course, Leader was left with no partner. But have no fear! The show provided! They paired him up. . . with a ten year old child. XD
Here’s a picture of their team:
Also, watch Leah Dizon create a classic Leader moment. So excellent.
I know you've all been waiting for this one:
Matsumoto, reading: At that time, Leader was living by himself in the costume room.
Leader: Yes. The dorm I was in... the old one was torn down. There was nowhere for me to go, so I lived in the costume room.
Hamada: Where was it?
Leader: For Johnny's. It's a room that held all of the costumes.
Hamada: A room for just the costumes. You lived there?
Leader: I brought in a mattress.
Hamada, seeming concerned: Wait, why was it just you?
Leader: Well, there wasn't anymore room in the apartment [where the other 4 were living together].
Hamada: You're supposed to realize it then. When that happens to you, you need to think, "Oh, I need to quit."
Leader: No, no.
Hamada: "I need to go back to Nara [where Leader comes from]."
Leader: They let me take care of the costumes. It's pretty hard work, the costumes.
Matsumoto: What do you mean?
Leader: Shonentai's costumes were hard to take care of.
Downtown: Oh, really?
Leader: They have lots of sequins.
Hamada: Oh yeah, the sequins. Yes, yes.
Leader: So if they're kept too close together, the sequins hook onto each other.
Hamada: Oh, I see. So you have to make sure that doesn't happen.
Leader: When their manager came to pick them up, I showed him where they are.
Hamada: "Shonentai is over over here. From here to here are the Shonentai costumes."
Leader: "From here is HikaruGenji. They've been separated by color."
Matsumoto: You came all the way from Nara to do what?
[Uproarious laughter.]
There’s also a few more good moments that I can’t quote, but you can find them here and here.
I have a few youtube videos as well, but embedding them here would make the load time pretty slow and it's already cumbersome. You can watch all three embedded in one place here, or you can go straight to the sources:
Leader's age.
Leader in a kickoff.
I don't know, but I love it.
I have to say, assembling this made me like Leader even more than I already did. He really is very loveable, a total sweetie. If a completely ridiculous person. I love you, Leader! In a totally platonic way!