Guest: Inohara Yoshihiko from V6 (part 1)
Nakamaru: I've worked with Inohara-kun on a drama called "Hayami-san to Yobareru hi" (2012), but actually the first time I worked with you was in 1999 or 2000. The first time I was allowed to do back dancing for Tonisen (T/N: 20th Century) on their national tour.
Inohara: Ehhh!
Nakamaru: Maybe there were so many Jr. that Inohara-kun didn't notice me.
Inohara: I kind of know that Nakamaru-kun was on the tour, but to be honest, I don't really remember.
Nakamaru: That's right. It was a long time ago, and I had just joined. And at the time I thought Tonisen's tour felt very homey.
Inohara: Eh, really!
Nakamaru: You talked a lot even to the Jr., and you even teased us on stage.
Inohara: What tour was that?
Nakamaru: ....... You were throwing paper tape at the end.
Inohara: Ah, yes, yes, yes! At that time, the producer said, "From now on, we'll use paper tape" and I thought, "It's nice to connect with the audience like when you're going away on a boat. I threw the paper tape from the stage to the audience, connecting with them.
Nakamaru: Yes.
Inohara: After that, we played Hikaru Genji's song "Tsurugi no Mai", and I had to cut the paper tape I had tied together to the sound of the introductory "jakin" (laughs).
Nakamaru: That doesn't make any sense (laughs).
Inohara: That's how we joked around at every encore (laughs). We couldn't be cool in front of the kouhai when we were doing that. I think that's why you felt at home.
Nakamaru: So that's the background (laughs). But nowadays, there are fewer and fewer fun performances like that.
Inohara: That may be true.
Nakamaru: Personally, I like the old one better. But I also like nowadays cool, stylish, and fashionable style.
Inohara: There's a lot of that kind of thing going on now, and V6 is getting that way too. But I was thinking the other day about what Johnny-san praised us the most, and it was a VTR that we made and played during the live. Nagano-kun, Sakamoto-kun and me were playing in the pool and I got too excited and dropped Nagano into the pool. Of course, Nagano-kun had been a doll since the middle of the game.
Nakamaru: Yes (laughs)
Inohara: When we swung the Nagano-kun doll around and sent it flying, it crashed into a wall and eventually died (laughs). And everyone cried, "Nagano-kun!" Then, Nagano-kun appeared like an angel and sang earnestly.
Nakamaru: That's creative! (laughs)
Inohara: We made it while joking around, and Johnny-san said "It's great. It's got a great story" (laughs)
Nakamaru: Speaking of which, I was praised by Mary (Kitagawa) once. I once did a documentary of sorts on whether or not I could bungee jump from 20 meters height during a live performance at the Tokyo Dome, but I couldn't jump. Mary said, "That was the funniest thing" (laughs). That's what it is all about, huh?
Inohara: Some people listen to the song and think, "This is wonderful!" while others think "Oh, I have to go to the bathroom." But with a project like bungee, you think about going to the bathroom after watching it.
Nakamaru: Yes (laughs)
Inohara: In the end, it was like, "You're actually not jumping?!" (laughs). I think Mary felt she could identify with that.
Nakamaru: Now that I think about it, you sure like to joke around, don't you?
Inohara: Yeah. There was a time when Nagano-kun and I and other Jr. members followed Shonentai on their national tour, but we were told that the Tokyo show would only be backed by TOKIO. While watching the video with the background so poorly lit that it didn't look like it was lit at all, we made up the choreography that we had been doing since we were ninjas, and added the missing parts ourselves. We had been touring all over the country, and we thought, "only TOKIO in Tokyo? what a joke".
Nakamaru: That's a tough one.
Inohara: The members of Shonentai and everyone else said, "These guys are funny, so why don't we do TOKIO plus these guys?" Around that time, in opposition to TOKIO, we were given the nickname "rural" (laughs).
Nakamaru: No way (laughs). But what was it like when Inohara-kun was a Jr.? Were Shonentai your absolute senpai?
Inohara: Yeah, yeah.
Nakamaru: In terms of the number of people, was it much the same as now?
Inohara: There weren't many. When I joined there were about 100 of us, including the self-proclaimed Jr.
Nakamaru: Self-proclaimed Jr.?
Inohara: The security was so lax back then, I don't really know but there were people who said, "you definitely didn't pass, did you?" (laughs).
Nakamaru: Eeeeeh (laughs).
Inohara: Well, there were fewer people than now. As for the competition, it seems high but it was low.
Nakamaru: Were they like rivals but also close friends?
Inohara: Yes. Also, it was kind of already decided who was going to be on the Hikari Genji tour and who was going to be on the Shonentai tour. Like, "I'm in the Shonentai camp," or "I'm in the Hikari Genji camp." However, I didn't have that many jobs back dancing for senpai, so I also backed for SMAP, and I also backed for KinKi Kids, even though they were my kouhai.
Nakamaru: I see. Was Kinki before their debut?
Inohara: Right. Kinki started appearing on music shows at that time.
Nakamaru: Oh
Inohara: It's pretty much a turning point whether you want to back a kouhai or not.
Nakamaru: Were you given a choice?
Inohara: When asked "it's Kinki but come", there were those who said yes, and there were those who said "No, to back kouhai is a bit..."
Nakamaru: It's complicated.
Inohara: Nagano-kun and I said, "No, no, it doesn't matter."
Nakamaru: When you think about it, today's Jr. are blessed, including our generation (T/N: KAT-TUN's generation). We have a chance to be on TV, and there are many seniors, so we have a lot of work as backup dancers.
Inohara: In the sense that there's nothing to lose. But the competition is tough, right?
Nakamaru: That might be true.
Inohara: That's part of the reason why Nakamaru-kun started boipa (T/N: beatbox), right? Maybe you thought you had to do something different to survive.
Nakamaru: That's exactly what happened.
Inohara: I think the younger kids, feel that even more.
Nakamaru: True.
Inohara: In that sense, back then, we were just following orders. They allowed me go up the stairs little by little. It's true that I never had the chance to be on TV at first. When I heard that SMAP was going to be on a variety show, I just sat down and watched it on the TV at the office. Like, "Wow, there they are, there they are! They're saying something funny!"
Nakamaru: That's kind of nice (laughs).
Inohara: When SMAP came back, I said "I watched it, it was funny!" and "These are the people who were on TV just now!" (laughs)
Nakamaru: You got excited (laughs).
Inohara: That's how rare it was for us to appear in a variety show.
Nakamaru: The competition may be high right now, but you could also say that there are many opportunities. So I don't have that feeling anymore. Like "Was that you on TV!?"
Inohara: Does Nakamaru-kun have any connection with the younger generations?
Nakamaru: Not at all. Only up to SixTONES.
Inohara: Do you work with SixTONES often?
Nakamaru: Not much, but I've worked with them on a show (T/N: Shounen Club). But I've hardly even met anyone younger than them. I'm not sure if I've met the upcoming Naniwa boys. Have you?
Inohara: Yes, I have. Micchi (Shunsuke) played the role of my son in the movie "461 Days of Bento".
Nakamaru: He's really young.
Inohara: I'm pretty sure he turned 19 the other day, same age as me when I debuted.
Nakamaru: That's right. By the way, Micchi-kun is from Tokyo, right?
Inohara: No, no, Kansai. We just said he's on Naniwa Danshi (laughs). (T/N: the Kansai region used to be called Naniwa, and part of Osaka city is still called Naniwa)
Nakamaru: Oh yeah, right (laughs).
Inohara: What can I say (laughs)? But aren't there any Jr. you think are cool?
Nakamaru: ........ I really don't think it's a good thing, but I don't check the Jr. No one comes to mind now.
Inohara: Well, but yeah, it's not easy unless you're working together or something.
Nakamaru: Inohara-kun often gets involved with kouhai. Even on TV programs.
Inohara: That's right. I keep in touch with the members who did the "24-hour TV" with me last year whenever something happens. Like Nakamaru, Kiriyama (Akito) also came to visit my house. There's also, Shota (Totsuka), we used to do a show together. And Fujigaya (Taisuke).
Nakamaru: So many.
Inohara: I also go to see the Jr. stage plays...
Nakamaru: You go?
Inohara: Yes, but that was before corona. Some of them I don't even know, they are rarely on stage and can't enunciate their lines clearly. Kids who blurt out their lines. It's easy to fix that, but they'll get better at it anyway.
Nakamaru: Yeah, naturally.
Inohara: There are a lot of people who are good at it, but there are very few who will put all their energy into the role.
Nakamaru: Is that more appealing?
Inohara: Yes. It really looks like a jewel. It's so sparkling.
Nakamaru: How did you come about seeing it?
Inohara: I go to see it sometimes. I want that energy.
Nakamaru: To be inspired.
Inohara: Yes. You get a different kind of energy from the Jr. I don't know, maybe I'm not interested in people who've gotten good at it.
Nakamaru: That's something Johnny-san used to say, "Just because you're good doesn't mean you're appealing."
Inohara: That's right. I understand that now, too. That's why he didn't look at us for a long time, like "you have already grown-up".
Nakamaru: Once we've made our debut, Johnny-san became out of touch, right?
Inohara: He never told me what was wrong. When SMAP was performing six times a day, Johnny-san said "Mori (Katsuyuki) will sing, so Inohara will be behind him." He said be there, that's why I was there.
Nakamaru: Yes.
Inohara: When the first time ended, he said "don't just be there." (laughs)
Nakamaru: It's difficult to get, isn't it? (laughs)
Inohara: When I said, "No, you told me to be there," he said, "Well, do it more like this and that" but I didn't understand what he meant at all (laughs)
Inohara: But the next time I danced a little. Then he said again, "That's not what I meant!"
Nakamaru: It was wrong? (laughs)
Inohara: It was wrong ( laughs ). So I thought a lot about what I should do. After that, I tried all kinds of patterns.
Nakamaru: Until the end, didn't you?
Inohara: Yes. In the end, it was at the fifth time that nothing was said to me. There was a chorus in the song, so I just asked for a microphone and tried to make it look like I was doing the chorus, but I was lip-syncing. He wasn't angry, but he didn't praise me.
Nakamaru: But that's what you thought, right?
Inohara: Maybe. But there aren't many of that kind of thing nowadays, are there? It's not common nowadays. The grown-ups go "better safe than sorry". They don't let them fail. What does it mean, because a stage play that costs so much money has 6 shows, it can fail 4 times.
Nakamaru: It's a challenge, isn't it? But it's true that Johnny-san's education... I don't know if he thought of it as education or not, but it was something like "just think for yourselves".
Inohara: Yes, Nakai-kun still says something like that."This is something I learned from Johnny-san, don't say you cannot do this because of corona, but think that because of corona you can do this." And afterwards he said, "I'm on the outside now, so I can't tell you any more than this." (laughs)
Nakamaru: That's quite a statement (laughs).
Inohara: But we are still connected in that way, and it seems like something in Johnny's is expanding not only vertically but also horizontally. I want to cherish those relationships.
Nakamaru: It's really great. It's the ideal shape. ......In that light, it's not good to have no contact with kouhai at all.
Inohara: But it's rare to find a position like Nakamaru's, uneager but consistently doing his job well. I'm sure there are many juniors who'd love to be in the same position as you.
Nakamaru: I really don't have any juniors who look up to me (laughs).
Inohara: Really? (laughs) Well, but it's okay Nakamaru-kun, just keep going at your own pace.
Nakamaru: Yeah?
Inohara: Nakamaru-kun has been showing steady results, and will continue to do so.
Nakamaru: I'll do my best to aim for Inohara-kun.
Inohara: No, no, no. Nakamaru-kun already has his own world.
Nakamaru: No, not at all. But, thank you.
(pt.2 coming soon!)
Thanks for sharing! Love seeing two of my faves together!
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