[TRANS] Matsumoto Jun's effort in Arashi's "Last 1 week"...Rare participation in Kouhaku discussion

[karened]

Also on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/arashickarened/status/1346296646452166659?s=20

I’m not a fan of Josei Jishin’s articles, but this article gave some insights on how busy they were in the last week of the year, as well as how they are appreciated by different TV stations and people working in the industry.

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Matsumoto Jun's effort in Arashi's "Last one week"...Rare participation in Kouhaku discussions by the artiste himself

It was just past noon on 25 December; a week left before Arashi's hiatus. We found Matsumoto Jun in Tokyo. What caught our eye was the fact that he was wearing short-sleeved T-shirt in the cold weather.

He left the building which houses a gym he frequented. Holding a down jacket in his hands, he got onto a car driven by an agency personnel.

All members of Arashi gathered for meetings and rehearsals starting from the noon of the 25th. They were to perform at the Music Station SP that night. It was about 11pm by the time everything ended (industry personnel).

By the way, on the day before, the 24th, the live broadcast of final episode of Fuji TV's program, VS Arashi, ended. It was probably difficult to go to the gym in the midst of this packed schedule, but perhaps the desire to show his professionalism to his fans roll the very last moment spurred him to do the physical training.

A TV station personnel said that he was simply impressed by the sight of Arashi's "Last one week".

"They appeared on the programs of various TV stations while in the midst of preparing for their New Year's Eve concert. I think it must have been very busy and challenging. For sure, the thought of 'We want fans to have fun' had a major part, but staff from the TV stations also felt the members' sincerity and were deeply moved. They had graciously expressed their memories and gratitude at each TV station.

For example, during the final episode of Fuji TV's VS Arashi:

"We debuted with the Volley Ball World Cup. Thank you to Fuji TV and also those involved in the World Cup, for giving us the opportunity to create a storm (Arashi)." (Sakurai Sho)

During TV Asahi's Music Station SP, a program in which they had appeared on since their Johnny's Jrs days:

"The youths who stood on the steps of NTV greeting Tamori-san in the past are now standing here like this, singing. I am grateful for this. I will try to continue on." (Ninomiya Kazunari)

(T/N: I translated the full comment from Nino to give context)

"I was 14 years old back then. I'm now 40 years old, Tamori-san." (Ohno Satoshi) 

Also, they appeared on TBS's 62th Japan Record Awards via a pre-recorded performance broadcasted on the 30th. When asked about their turning point:

"Although I wasn't in it, it's definitely Hana Yori Dango (the TBS drama which Matsumoto Jun had a leading role) right? (Laughs)" (Aiba Masaki).

■Participating in the Kouhaku meetings because "I don't want to do things halfway."

In addition, there was an NTV personnel who told us about the 5 of them off-camera. On the 26th, the final episode of NTV's Arashi ni Shiyagare, which had ran for over 10 years, aired a 4 hour live broadcasted SP.

"Even in places off-camera, the smiles of these 5 persons never stopped. After the broadcast ended, the members and staff gave each other high fives through the acrylic boards. Some of the staff were tearing. The members were sent off with a round of applause."

The program which Arashi chose to conclude their "Last one week" was HNK's Kouhaku, which they join from their live streamed New Year's Eve concert. According to a related video production personnel, he felt Arashi's exceptional passion since the Kouhaku production plan meetings held in mid-December.

"I heard that Matsumoto-sa directly offered to have remote meetings with Kouhaku's production staff. It's rare for artistes themselves to participate (T/N: in such meetings). Arashi sang 3 songs and the staff in-charge of each was different. It seemed that one of the teams had differences in opinion with Matsumoto-san and they held a discussion under tensed atmosphere for nearly an hour.

Matsumoto-san said, "I don't want to do things halfway, so I won't compromise. I want to do things in a stoic (T/N: disciplined) and professional manner."