NAKAMARU'S ROOM
1st issue
A stage play by himself, commentator, YouTube...Nakamaru Yuichi is having a lot of different activities.Nakamaru will invite other artists from Johnny's & Associatesand with his particular point of view, he will dig into the true character of his guests in this new serialization.
Guest Yamada Ryosuke-san (Hey! Say! JUMP)
[First part]
Yamada: Is it okay for me to be here in the first volume of this series?
Nakamaru: It's okay (laugh). I decided it after consulting it to the editorial department.
Yamada: After receiving the offer to do this, I was told it came from yourself, Nakamaru-kun, so I couldn't turn it down (laugh). We are now actually part of the same team after all.
Nakamaru: Then I'll go directly to the questions regarding YouTube's Janino Channel. To beging with, how much were you interested in YouTube?
Yamada: For me, more than YouTube, what I wanted to do was doing live streamings of video games. When I was thinking which platform should I use, the offer came. I was told, "With this team, we can probably create something interesting," so I said "sure." I already watched YouTube a lot before that.
Nakamaru: Yamada-kun, you play games on your PC, don't you? I've never played (on PC) before, what's fun about it?
Yamada: It's really fun! You'd become addicted (laugh). I play every day until 5 or 6 in the morning. And at the sooner, I start playing around 5 PM.
Nakamaru: ...isn't that terrible? It's amazing, but isn't it terrible? (Laugh)
Yamada: It is, but I'm addicted (laugh). The good thing about playing on PC isn't just the games. You can be connected with your friends who are online. And once you are connected, you can't stop talking. Since you can talk to other people, playing becomes something you can do forever. I play with friends of many different professions and age. That's why I don't have many real-life friends. But I have a lot of online friends (laugh).
Nakamaru: Then you are increasing your friends that way. It doesn't matter if you meet them in real life or not.
Yamada: It just me thinking one-sidely of them as my friends, though (laugh). But that comes after playing every day with them. Aren't there many Johnny's who like video games? And Nino-san (Ninomiya Kazunari) even played a game for YouTube, but I want us to be like an open place and invite other people to play with us online.
Nakamaru: Well, isn't our channel a pioneer? Probably everybody envy us. Because they can’t be on YouTube even though they want to. And that's when Yamada-kun comes to play (to invite them to play games).
Yamada: Let’s do it together (laugh). Apart from games, in that channel I want to laugh out loud with you, Nakamaru-kun, and I want to see you in really high spirits.
Nakamaru: I don't know if it's only me, but I don't think of YouTube as work. At least, at the moment. When it's TV, I do see it as work and I feel I must be in high spirits. But for YouTube, I feel like I don't need to force myself.
Yamada: That's true. That's why you did the Forbidden Questions Corner, didn't you? You were in such high spirits as someone would be at 3 in the morning (laugh).
Nakamaru: Hahaha. I want to keep working hard making those kinds of videos (laugh).
Yamada: Saying things like, "Yes, I'll do it" in a really low voice (laugh). But that is also good. That’s the good thing about YouTube.
Nakamaru: If you think that was good, then I'm happy.
Yamada: Isn't it good to keep doing it without forcing ourselves? If I played games I would be in high spirits too and it probably would truly be as I am normally playing games at home. I'm really looking forward to see you doing something you really like.
Nakamaru: Yes... No, I don't think I'd change that much.
Yamada: Not even when you play games?
Nakamaru: There are times when I go "ugh" while playing. And maybe I swear suddenly.
Yamada: Hahaha! I want to see that (laugh).
Nakamaru: There are more things I want to ask you, like, you are really an introvert, aren't you?
Yamada: Yes. I look like an extrovert, but I'm an introvert (laugh). That's why I'm really happy that it's the 4 of us on YouTube. (Kikuchi) Fuma is quite an extrovert, though (laugh).
Nakamaru: Right!
Yamada: I think it's perfect with the members we are (laugh). Not only it's easy (with the four of us), but also, even though Nino-san and you are big senpais, you don't make us feel any pressure. Of course I still feel some and I wonder if it's okay to speak freely to these senpais. Because up until now, any senpai has never been this affectionate towards me. So I'm really thankful for being able to do something this way with Nino-san and you.
Nakamaru: The balance of the team is perfect. Probably it's all thanks to Ninomiya-kun's taste.
Yamada: Yes, I think he's amazing. Nobody else would have come up with these members. This isn't the best way to say it, but... I think our channel is a mess (laugh). What we are doing isn't something extraordinary, don't you think? But each of us is showing a side of ourselves that isn't idol-like, and we are being seen as normal people, just as YouTubers. And it made me think that only a genius could have come up with something as good as this. And I'm also talking about your editing work! But I'm a bit worried about your health. In the video we made when we reached one million of subscribers, you looked really bad. I was at home and got really worried about you. I heard you filmed it while having a concert. That’s quite tiresome so I wondered if you were alright.
Nakamaru: I also thought that it was the first time in a long time that I looked like a zombie (laugh). I filmed it right after the concert ended so it was terrible.
Yamada: It really made me think that unless Fuma and I learn how to do the editing, you will end up dying (laugh). That's how worried I was.
Nakamaru: Now that we've come to this, I'd like to teach you all how to edit a video.
Yamada: ... (Silence)
Nakamaru: It's really easy! But if you get too obsesses with it, you'd end up working on it endlessly and it will burn you out. Learning how to add subtitles can be done in just 15 minutes so you can do it!
Yamada: Eh!? Is that so... Then, I'm counting on you to keep doing it from now on! (Smile)
Nakamaru: No, no, that's weird! Follow the conversation!! (Laugh) Changing topics, JUMP's got a lot of members compared to other groups and it made me think it must be hard. In my case, the most members we have had is 6 and it was already quite hard. How do you do it?
Yamada: I'd be lying if I said there isn't any problem. The moments when our ways of thinking towards work don't match are inevitable. And I think that depends on who are your group mates. What I think it's good about our group is that we really get along very well. Like when Inoo and I went to watch Chinen (Yuri)'s stage play... Or once every 6 months all members go out to eat together.
Nakamaru: For real!? That's good. Is that something you guys have decided to always do?
Yamada: Yes. And generally we also see each other on private. On those conversations we have on our off time, we sometime also talk about work. So they are like a bonus. Because when we need to talk about work, it's hard to have all the members present at once. Because if it's just 3 people, it's easier talking like, "I think it's better this way," "No, I'd do it this way."
Nakamaru: I see. A good communication is important.
Yamada: It is. What I'm going to say now... Might cause Kamenashi (Kazuya)-kun to get mad. But one time when I met Kamenashi-kun on our private time, we were talking about how we are quite similar. Like our role in the group.
Nakamaru: You are both the front men.
Yamada: At that moment, Kamenashi-kun said, "I haven't talked much with the members lately." And that was the first time that I ordered something to a senpai and said, "Talk to them" (laugh). I continued, "If you don't talk to them, there will be a lot of things you won't understand."
Nakamaru: So something like that happened...
Yamada: KAT-TUN has now 3 members. You have also gone a long way together so I think you have a lot of things to talk about. I think you all have different opinions for sure. I don't know if I'm the right person to say this, but... I think Johnny's is full of professionals. If you talked more to each other, I'm sure you'd be stronger.
Nakamaru: (Staring) Yes.
Yamada: So we've got 2 objectives today, haven't we? You will talk with your group's members and you'll buy a PC to play PC games!
Nakamaru: Objectives that only I will have to fulfill, isn't it? (Laugh)
Yamada: Yes (laugh). Well, going back to what we were talking about, the hardships a group goes through... Actually in my group we haven't gone through many, thankfully. Well... There was a time when I thought of quitting, though.
Nakamaru: Is that so? When was that?
Yamada: When I was 18 years old or so. Weren't a stage play called Johnny's World? During the 3 moths I kept doing that, I also had to film a drama and I was going to have a solo debut, so it was a really hard period for me. Regarding my solo debut, at first I turned it down. Originally, JUMP was supposed to sing the theme song of Kindaichi Shonen no Jikenbo. Some things happened and then it was decided that it would be "Yamada's solo" and... I said, "I don't want to."
Nakamaru: Why you didn't want to?
Yamada: The other members are important... Or rather, it was a period when if I did it alone, something might have been ruined. That happened even before we had established our member's colors. It was so soon, I didn’t want to do something just by myself. I really said that I wanted the group to do it, but it was futile. I couldn't do much, I was still going to school. I was awfully busy. At that moment, I told my manager, "After all of this ends, I want to quit the agency." And, "It's too much. I can't anymore."
Nakamaru: Because you were still a teenager.
Yamada: That was the first time I said it. I think that was the only time I've said that I wanted to quit. Has it ever happened to you?
Nakamaru: I've never wanted to quit. In the first place, I only joined the agency because I was lucky. I was 15 and finishing the third grade of middle school. At that age, if I quit by any reason, I thought that then I would start quitting anything else that came after that.
Yamada: I see.
Nakamaru: Is being the front man of your group something you always have to keep in mind?
Yamada: I don't act like one. I don’t think of myself as a self-important person. My (public) character does, though (laugh), but my real character doesn’t. No matter what I do, I'm always thinking of how it can benefit the group and I've always been wanting to be like a "window" for the group since JUMP was created. We have fascinating members. So I don't mind being the entrance that lets the other members to go anywhere they want.
Nakamaru: What if you included the members' hobbies into the group?
Yamada: Yes. Actually, I've always been thinking about that.
Nakamaru: It's something important. I also think that fans must be happy that you always put the group first. Because what is distinctive with Johnny's is the groups.
Yamada: That's right. Because individually we wouldn't be able to become super famous. I'm Hey! Say! JUMP's Yamada Ryosuke. That's why I've been able to come this far. I'm thankful to the members and the agency. Although... I don't know if I'm starting to be insane, but I had actually planned to be more "rigorous." But in shows like School Kakumei! I'm just an ordinary person. But as I said before, my character is self-important, so there are moments when I lose sight of myself and I don't know if that's good or not (laugh).
Nakamaru: Certainly, it must be hard for front men and other people who always have to act like a "star."
Yamada: When I'm invited to a TV show to do the promotion of a movie, the host or the other people there don't know that I'm the one being teased in School Kakumei! and they treat me like a "star," and when that happens, I wonder if it'd be better for me to make some jokes.
Nakamaru: (Laugh) No, but thinking about it calmly, when people is told that you are going to come to the show, it's normal that most people treat you like a star.
Yamada: I'm grateful, I'm really grateful. But I'm used to behave like in School Kakumei! so... I become impatient (wanting to make jokes) (laugh). If I have to choose, the real me is the one who makes jokes. But I actually wanted to be someone like Kamenashi-kun, Kimura (Takuya)-san or Tackey (Takizawa Hideaki)...
Nakamaru: You still have time to be like them (laugh).
Yamada: No, no (laugh). But well, fans also enjoy the way how I am. And thats's something to be grateful for.
Nakamaru: By the way, I also wanted to ask you this. In JUMP, who is the one in charge of producing the concerts?
Yamada: This year's concerts were produced by Arioka (Daiki) and Chinen. Up until now it was mostly me.
Nakamaru: Is that so? Why did it change?
Yamada: I was tired.
Nakamaru: I see (laugh). You are taking a break this year.
Yamada: Last year I had 4 filmings. And I had group activities at the same time. The concerts were decided... And I thought, "Why do I have to work this much?" (laugh). These past 4 or 5 years I was in charge of the production and the staging. I decided everything to some degree and then talked to the other members about it.
Nakamaru: I don't know but... With so many members, there must be a lot of people who doesn’t agree to your ideas. Don't you hate it?
Yamada: I got really mad those times (laugh). Having to produce a concert while learning my scripts... Some time ago I said, "The right and left cerebral hemispheres (artistic and rational parts) are strongly separated so it’s hard to think like that!” (Laugh) I was blankly stared at and was told, "Isn't that wrong?"
Nakamaru: That would make you angry, right? (Laugh)
Yamada: It did (laugh). But some other time we had another talk. And the same thing happened, so this year I asked them for help (instead of just complaining).
Nakamaru: I see. Maybe it was a good thing after all. From now on, when you are having group activities for a long period of time, I think it's better to let more people experience different jobs.
Yamada: This year the ones in charge were Chinen and Arioka. But they were online concerts. There were a lot of things going on in my head too. I thought they were really great so I'm thinking of having them take care of concerts from now on. I think I've been taking the responsibility for so many things until now.
Nakamaru: Producing a concert is very difficult because you need to constantly check the latest trends on fashion and know about the newest technology, isn't it?
Yamada: That's right. And I wasn't good enough for all of that. Arioka and Chinen made me realize of that after the concerts they produced. They really must have paid attention to many things and been aware of everything. I'm really glad to have let them do it.
一To be continued in the next issue
Thank you very much for taking the time to translate this!
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