Ninomiya Kazunari's "It" (More), November 2011

[ltgmars.livejournal.com]

Transcription and translation by me. Please credit if using!

You can find the scan/translation index for this column here.


第３５回：終わりの学び
35: Learning from Endings

ニノは、"テレビの人"だ。映画を撮っている時も、コンサートツアーの時期も、週の半分はテレビの収録に費やしているし、家にいる時も、ゲームをしていない時は、たいていテレビを観て過ごしているという。
Nino is a "TV person". Even when he's shooting a movie or when it's concert season, half of each week is devoted to recording for TV. And even when he's at home, when he isn't playing video games, he usually spends his time watching TV.

「今日は、家を出る直前まで、『ヒルナンデス』を観てた（笑）。ニュースとか、情報バラエティとか、なんか帯番組ってクセになるよね」
"Today, I was watching Hirunandesu up until I left the house (laugh). Whether it's news or information variety shows, watching shows that air at the same time every day has become a habit."

子供の頃から、テレビが好きだったわけではないという。
But it isn't the case that he's liked television since he was a child.

「野球中継しか観ていないような子供だった。学校から帰ってくると、夜は、じいちゃんの工事の下にある食堂で、ひとりで野球観戦してた」
"I was a kid who only watched baseball broadcasts. After I came home from school, at night in the cafeteria below my grandpa's factory, I'd watch baseball games by myself.

本格的にテレビを観始めたのは、この世界に入ってからだ。
He only truly started watching television after he entered this profession.

「記憶にある好きな番組は、V６の深夜番組『VVV６』。長野オリンピックの後くらいに、長野博くんの"長野の五輪"っていうコーナーがあってさ。長野くんがひとりで障害物競争とかハンマー投げた挑戦するんだけど、シュールでホントに面白かった。もともと、長野くんが好きなんだよね。優しくてフラットさがあって・・・・・・うちでいえば、なんとなく相葉くんに近いかも（笑）」
"One show I remember liking is V6's late-night show, VVV6. Around the time of the Nagano Olympics, Nagano Hiroshi-kun had a segment called 'Nagano's Olympics'. Nagano-kun would do things like an obstacle race and hammer throwing by himself, and it was surreal and really funny. I'd liked Nagano-kun to begin with. He's kind and easy-going...... if we were to put it in terms of Arashi, he might somehow be similar to Aiba-kun (laugh)."

子供だった十数年前は、いわゆる“深夜番組”が全盛期だった。それらの番組を観て、大人な気分を味わっていたのだと笑う。そして、嵐初の冠番組も、『真夜中の嵐』という深夜番組がスタートだった。
When he was a child ten or more years ago, it was the golden age of late-night programming. He laughs, saying that watching those shows, he was able to taste what it felt like to be an adult. And Arashi's regular programs started with Mayonaka no Arashi, a late-night program.

「それから、『Cの嵐！』、『Dの嵐！』、『Gの嵐！』があって・・・・・・。あの頃はロケにもよく出ていて、けっこうバカバカしいことができたのも楽しかったなぁ。特に印象的だったのが“UFOを呼ぶ”企画。UFOを呼べるっていう人に会いにいったんだけど、『呼ぶことはできるけど、実際に来てくれるかはわからない』って言われて、それがオチ（笑）。今思い返しても斬新な企画でしょ？」
"From there, we had C no Arashi, D no Arashi, G no Arashi...... Back then, we used to go on location a lot, and it was fun to be able to do so many idiotic things. One that sticks in my mind was the "Call UFOs" segment. We met people who said they could call UFOs, and they told us, "We can call them, but we don't know if they'll actually come for us," and that was the punchline (laugh). Looking back on it now, it was a novel project, wasn't it?"

今でこそ、テレビの中でも絶妙なチームワークを繰り広げている嵐だけど、テレビに出始めた頃の彼らは、とてもシャイで不器用だった。
Especially now, even on TV, Arashi reveals their exquisite teamwork, but back when they first started appearing on TV, they were very shy and unskillful.

テレビは不特定多数の人が観るから、冷静さが必要
Because TV is watched by unspecified numbers and groups of people, composure is important.

「テレビでも雑誌でもそうだけど、ほかの人がいても、最初の頃は５人だけで固まってしゃべってた（笑）。各々が人見知りだったのもあったけど、５人でいる感じがいちばん面白いと思ってたの。あんまりしゃべらないから、ディレクターさんに思ったことはなんでも言っていいんだよって言われて（笑）。俺の場合、好きに話したら、今度は『相葉くんや大野くんにキツすぎる』って毎週のように苦情がきた（笑）。それは個性かもしれないけど、当時なりに冷静に考えてたところもあったんだよね。あの頃から嵐は仲よかったけど、それをテレビで見せてもねぇ？今ならともかく、１０代の少年たちが仲よさそうに遊んでるなんて普通でしょ？仲間にもキツく切り込むくらいが、観てる人も面白いだろうなって思ってたから変えなかった。ま、よほどのことを言わなければ大丈夫だろうなって勝手に思ってたから、直さなかったのもあるけど（笑）」
"It's true with TV and with magazines, but even if there were other people there, we used to just bunch together as five and talk amongst ourselves (laugh). Not only were we all shy around strangers, but we also thought that being together as five was most interesting. Since we didn't talk much, the director-san told us, 'You can say whatever you're thinking.' (laugh) And then in my case, when I said what I wanted, they'd say, 'You're too hard on Aiba-kun and Ohno-kun,' and I'd get that objection every week (laugh). That's probably my personality, but even back then, I also was thinking about it levelly. We've been close since back then, but even if we show that on TV, right? Now it's another thing, but boys in their teens getting along well is normal, isn't it? I thought it'd be interesting for the people watching to see someone cutting into his buddies like that, so I didn't change my behavior. Though, well, it was also because I figured it'd be fine as long as I didn't say anything too extreme, so I didn't bother changing (laugh)."

テレビへの主演経験を重ねるほどに、自分に求められていることを肌身で感じ、テレビではどうあるべきかの指針を身につけてきた。
To the extent that he's gained experience appearing on television, he feels in his body what they're asking of him, and he's come to develop in his body an compass of how he should be on TV.

「テレビについては、嵐のファンだけじゃない、不特定多数の人が観るっていうのは強く意識してるかなぁ。だから、番組の観覧があったりして現場が盛り上がってる時も、冷静ではあるよね。テレビに限らず、オレたちの仕事は求められていることに答えること。そこは番組のカラーによっても違うけど、経験を積むうちに何を求められているのかがわかるようになってきたかなぁ。いろんな経験のおかげだけど、いちばん大きかったのは、“終わった経験”だと思う。だって、これまでオレたちは、何本もの番組の“終わり”を経験してきたからさ。いいかげん、気づけよって話だよね（笑）」
"I'm strongly conscious that TV isn't just watched by Arashi fans but by unspecified numbers and groups of people. So even when there are viewers and the set is getting lively, I stay calm. Not just limited to television, but it's answering what's being asked of us in our jobs. So that changes depending on the what each show is like, and as I've gathered more experience, I've been able to understand what's being asked of me. It's thanks to all kinds of experiences, but the biggest is experiencing an ending. We've experienced a number of show endings up till now, yeah? It's like, 'Enough already, figure it out!' (laugh)"

ここで、あえて“終わった経験”から学ぶというのがニノらしい。
Daring to learn from experiencing endings is very Nino-like.

「ネガティブに聞こえるかもしれないけど、終わることは自然の摂理だから。よく、『今の嵐なら終わらないよ』って言ってくれる人がいて、素直にうれしいけど・・・・・・。自然の摂理はそうじゃないわけで。だからこそ、今しかないって思えるわけでしょう？」
"This might sound negative, but endings are nature's providence. There are people who often tell us, 'If it's Arashi as you are now, it won't end,' and I'm truly happy to hear that, but...... That's not what nature has in store for us. And it's precisely because that's how it is that we can think, 'All we've got is right now,' right?"

“終わりは始まり”ともいうよと言うと、うなずいた。
When we said, "It's said that endings are beginnings," he nodded.

「新しいチャンスがなければ、“終わり”を生かせることもないけどね。何ごとも、振り返った時に思い出すのは、いつも始まりよりも終わり」
"Though if we didn't get new chances, we wouldn't make the best of endings either. Whatever it is, when I look back on it, what always comes to mind is the ending more than the beginning."

テレビについて話しているうちに、深夜番組の嵐がまた観たくなった。
And while talking about television, we've started yearning to see late-night Arashi again.

「今すぐは、無理かもしれないけど、ああいうのは今も好きだよ（笑）」
"We probably can't do it right away, but even now, I still like that kind of thing (laugh)."

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Kazunari Ninomiya
１９８３年６月１７日、東京都生まれ。『フリーター、家を買う。』スペシャルドラマが１０／４放映。ライブDVD［初回限定版］の得点映像になっていた、「嵐の強化合宿」（嵐５人だけで山中湖に合宿する模様を収録）について聞くと、「あれは、オレが旅に行きたいねって言ったのがきっかけなの。旅に行くほどの時間はとれないってことで、合宿になったみたい」とニノ。どうして旅を提案したの？「だって、みんなが観たい嵐ってこういうのかなと思って。テレビじゃできないことだしね」。・・・・・・ファン心理、よくわかってる！
Born on June 17, 1983 in Tokyo. The Freeter, Ie wo Kau special drama airs on October 4th. We asked him about the "Arashi's Training Camp" (a recording of what happened when just the five members of Arashi lodged together at a mountain lake) that appears as an extra for the limited edition version of their live DVD. "That all started because I said, 'I want to go on a trip.' We weren't able to make the time to go on a trip, so it turned into a training camp." And why did he propose a trip? "I figured this is the kind of Arashi everyone wants to see. It's something we can't do on TV, after all." ...... he really understands the fans' mentality!

Comments

[addictedarashi.livejournal.com]

Thank you for translating!