I have had several problems over the past month with my photobandwidth being exceeded, so I have decided to go semi-friends. From now on, all photos will be placed under Friends only posts.
Normal text only posts will remain as they are. If you want to remain in my friends list, please leave a message.

If you have never commented before and I have no idea who you are, sorry, thanks for lurking.
If I have sort of remembered that you have commented before, I'll add you to the list. 

Went to watch the Chipmunk at work today. The weather was great, it was a perfect day to shoot his drama. So, I had one and a half hours of chipmunk kakkoi-ness. The chipmunk was dressed in a black jacket and scarf. He was working 3 jobs really, at the same time. In between shoots, while the crew was preparing the set, he was giving interviews as well as posing for magazine shots. This was the first time I have ever stood around and watched a drama filming, and watching him, I realised something : it must really hard to be in the limelight all the time, with so many pairs of eyes on you. There were only about 60 pple today, just bystanders. How much harder it must be to concentrate if there were hundreds or thousands more. You put on eyedrops, pple stare, you get your nose powdered, people stare, you do a monitor check, people stare, you pose for the cameras, pple stare somemore. Of course, concerts are different, the work there is getting starred at, but for other normal day-to-day work, I can imagine it takes great powers of concentration just to shut everything that is irrelevant out.

He would run to the monitors to check everytime a shoot finished and he was able to concentrate on his work even though he knew there were all these pairs of eyes on him. In between takes, he would pose for the cameraman for his magazine shoots. With him like within 20m from me looking so cute and kakkoi, I was dying to go kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa there and then, but under the circumstances, it would have been insane for me to do that, so I had to contend with silent kyaaaaaaaas in my heart and mumble to myself every few secs.....'kakkoi!!!!' CHO Kakkoiiiiiiiii') ^ ^ ;

You could tell the fan girls there the moment you saw them. There was this girl who went there to watch him and she brought his mini uchiwa. O_o I didn't think that was very appropriate, There was another girl who brought binos!!!! It's a dorama shooting for heavens sake, not an Arashi con!! There is an appropriate time and place for everything, sister.

When it was over, he took off his jacket and scarf and gave it to his assistant, revealing a suit underneath (OMG...... I nearly died again there - kakkoiiiiiii) . Then he strode off, with his entourage, followed by the horde of groupie fangirls trailing after him. All the while, he ignored them, and walk away like nothing was happening, despite the fact that there was mad scrambling going on behind him. XD
( What perfect timing, he wrapped up as I had to run to my next appointment. How considerate! :p)

As i watched him disappear out of sight, I couldn't help but think that fame is really a double edged sword.

I went to Pi's solo con yesterday.
It turned out better than I expected, but there were some parts of the concert where I was laughing so hard at the senseless english lyrics tears came out of my eyes.

OMG! that event was the epitome of cuteness. Put 5 cute guys together with Mickey and gang, and u can get diabetes from all the cuteness and sweetness going on there.

No, I didn't win a ticket and I didn't buy one, but I managed to see them all the same. ^^ I couldn't hear them very well but I could see them very well from where I was.

The show took place in the Central harbour of Disney sea and started at 8.45pm and lasted for 40 minutes. There was a conical structure that was lighted up like a Christmas Tree in the middle of the harbour and the show started with tiny boats as well as big boats coming out and circling around the struture in the harbour. It was very dark at first, then the lights came on and we could see the members, each on a boat.
(of course, then came the kyaaaas too!) There was a giant screen at the end of the habour so we could see that clearly.

They were each on 5 different boats, each with a different Disney characters on each boat. (Erm, I wonder if nino felt seasick at all :P)

Jun was with Mickey and Minnie
Sho was with Donald and Daisy
Aiba was with Snow White (not too sure if the dwarfs were on the boat. :P,) (well, they were dwarfs, right, so that was why I prob couldn't see them)
Edit: After reviewing the footage on brunch, it seems it was Pinnochio, not Snow white. No wonder there were no dwarfs XD XD
Nino was with Aladdin
Ohchan was with Chip and Dale

Formation of the boats in the harbour from left to right (if my memory serves me right)

JUn -> Ohchan -> Sho -> Nino -> Aiba

There were also 3 different stages on land, in front of the fans, at three different points. They came on stage a few times during the concert and ran from stage to stage. Sho was center stage.^^ at first, then it was Jun/Nino.

They started with 'Jingle Bells' (as its almost Christmas) , followed by 'We wish you a Merry Christmas' as the boats went around the harbour, with the Disney character and all the arashi members waving to the fans.

After that the Disney characters disappeared and the concert proper started. From what I could make out from the muffled sounds I could hear, the set list was :

BEAUTIFUL DAYS
LOVE SO SWEET
HAPPINESS (The volcano was spewing fire, fireworks in the background, )

BELIEVE (5 of them were each on 5 dfferent smaller speed boats and were racing around the harbour, with fireworks in the background, Sho was rapping from the boat in the middle of the harbour, that was a sight you dont see often)

ONE LOVE (they did this from a barge in the middle of the harbour. The barge is a 'boat version' of the carts u see in their concerts, they are on top of it, and giant monitor screens are right below it. This time, the screens were 360 degrees and very clear, so although it was slightly far away, we could see them clearly. They did the full furitsuke for this song)

A.RA.SHI - they were all on the same barge and sailed from the stage on the left side to the right side of the harbour. In the middle of the harbour, around the conical structure, were blazing concentric rings of fire.

KITTO DAIJYOBU - They again moved to the middle of the harbour, the lights went off, and then Mickey burst out of nowhere, onto the stage!!! So Mickey was in the middle surrounded by the 5 of them, and they were all doing the furitsuke for Kitto Daijyobu. My god, Mickey can really move!! and the choreography was perfect! It was sooo cute to see Mickey do the 'Lucky lucky baby' moves with the 5 of them around him.
Edit: Again, after looking at the footage, it seems that it was not Kitto Daijyobu, it was that mickey mouse song: M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E. As I said, I couldnt hear them very well, so what I made out was Kitto Daijyobu beacause of the hand movements, but I was wrong. Sorry for the misrepresentation.

They finally ended with 'Wish you a merry christmas' and sailed out of the harbour, with Mickey and gang, waving all the time to fans..

The 5 of them looked like they were really enjoying themselves, despite the cold, and if they were happy, we were happy too. It is really a rare event to see them and it was a nice touch to combine some christmasy stuff / songs.

I couldnt really make out the the costumes they were wearing, but they did look like they were wearing some christmasy santa hoods. ^ ^ (yes and no double parkas anywhere. XD)
All in all, it was a really great show; it was a nice combination of Disney style pyrotechnics plus Johnny style razzle dazzle. ^^v

Thumbs up!

Nov 15th
Ohno Satoshi

Hello, This is Ohno.

You guys must be tired from the Sapporo concerts.

It was really fantastic! Everyone was in high spirits!

Its been about 1.5 months since we had the last round of concerts and I was wondering if I could move my body at all. But, it turned out fine.

But well, I am now 29 years old and I had aching muscles for three days after the concerts. (laughs)

However, I cannot forget the faces of everyone who came to see us.

Everyone was so happy.

There were alot of males in the audience, so didn't it feel a bit like it was as if we were having one big family gathering?!

There was really a feeling of togetherness in the dome.

Everyone was great.

I said that in the last greeting too, let's do this again soon ne.

If we all wish for it, it might soon happen.

I am thankful to all those who came to see us and to all those who have supported us.

Thank you very much!


Nov 14th
Ninomiya Kazunari


Sapporo!!

I feel that its really been a long time.

It was enjoyable.

Really enjoyable.

It was great.

Really great.

When we reached the dome, we wasted no time and wolfed down on miso ramen!

It was very delicious!!

The Shio Ramen was also delicious.


..........Hey?!


I have only been eating nothing but ramen!!!

Well, well...


That is not true really,

after the concert , didn't we all go out for a meal?

But, whatever we eat, its delicious.

In Hokkaido, that is.


Well.

Today we will have one more concert, so yoroshiku!

So, I am back, after spending 2 great days in Hokkaido, eating yummy seafood, soaking in the hot springs and watching 5 cute guys romping around the stage.
People who have not been initiated into the world of Johnny madness might disagree, but this is my idea of a of a great holiday.

The Sapporo concerts started cold enough, after we spent 3 hours in the freezing rain queuing for goods on Day 1, the 14th. The goods line looked shorter than it looked, but looks were deceiving. It might seem like pure coincidence, but it seems that it has been raining alot during Arashi concerts this year. First, it was Kokuritsu, then it was the Arashi challenge week live and then now Sapporo. It rained the whole day and as a result, people were still streaming in even after 6pm, the stipulated start time. The thing about Sapporo Dome is that the Arena does not have an exit, like Tokyo and Osaka Domes, which means that to get out of the arena, one would have to tromp thru the stands. That made the time taken to get in and out of the dome even longer than normal.

There is really nothing much to report of the concert setlist and what they did, really, because I think the only thing that they changed in the setlist was the final song, from 'Seasons' to 'My Girl'. Everything was the same as Osaka.

I think they changed the set slightly, the alignment of side hanamichis - as they released more tickets at the last minute. There were extra seats added were really at the side - corners which were really you couldnt totally really see everything. So they changed the angle of the Hanamichis to cater to the people who were really at the sides. And they would spend more time at the corners, waving at the fans there, who, from their angle, probably couldn't see alot of things.
The areas right at the top of the Dome, areas which i didnt even know there were seats, every seat in the Dome was filled.

This was dramatic difference from just a year ago, where despite the fact that it was the last venue of the Dream-A live tour, all the seats at the back of the dome were empty. There were even 当日券 - you could just roll up and get a ticket for the day, they weren't sold out and fans were selling tickets at below cost price and fans giving up tickets in pairs and fours were a common sight on the ticket exchange boards. Fast forward a year, and even the most awkard corners of the dome, the seats that were almost touching the ceiling of the dome　(天井席) were filled up, and the tickets generally didn't go below cost and fans letting go of tickets at cost price to another fan were not really a common sight on the boards.

Back in 2005, when SMAP was very much THE idol group in Japan, I still managed to get a stand ticket at Sapporo Dome, 12 rows from the front, at cost price from the auctions. The same seat this year, for the Arashi concert, would have gone for at least three times the cost price. Its really a testimony that they have come a long way to where they are today, but they are still pretty much the same bunch of silly guys that debuted in the transparent costumes 10 years ago. I liked what Ohchan said at the final greeting during the concert on the 14th. He said about their rise in popularity - 'If we ever look like we are getting too big for our heads due to the fame, please bring us back to the ground.'

I saw more guys and foreign fans at this concert, Korean, Chinese, English and dads with kids and even a guy cosplaying Yattaman (in full attire). They guys also noticed the pattern of the crowd and made all the guys yell out 'arashi daisuki!' during the MC. Jun, in his closing speech, thanked all the fans in Japan as well as all of their supporters in the world, for their support all these 10 years.

I bring you the MC on the 15th:

S: YAY!!! YAY!!!
Fans: 'YAY!!
S: We are Arashi!
O,N, A: (bowing) Yoroshiku!
J: You guys enjoying yourself!
Fan: YAY!!!!
S: Well you guys are very enthusiastic today. We are glad that you are enjoying yourselves. Could you please sit down for a while because we would like to chat with you.
J: Yeah, there is still a long way to the end of the concert.
Jun goes to the side of the stage to change his shirt. Capt stares at him.
Fans: 'KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA~~'
S: Thank you for coming to our concert today. You know, I noticed it yesterday too, don't you think that there are alot of males in the audience?
N: Ohhh.
J: Let's listen to the voices of the guys.
S: Ok all the men out there, including the boys in the audience, could you raise your voice?
J: What do u want them to say?
N: 'Arashi Dai-suki!!!'
Fans: 'HAHAHAHA'
S: There are quite alot of them in the audience, so please yell in unison!
J: Let's hear the manly voices.
S: Ok, let's go!
Men in audience: 'ARASHI DAI-SUKI!!!!!'
(Female fans and Arashi were very surprised!! It was pretty loud! I was really surprised too!)

Arashi: 'WOW!! wee!! Sugoi!!!'
S: iiya iiya,iiya!!
A: This is great! We are happy!
S: I want to hear it one more time!
J: OK this time just 'DAI SUKI ' will do.
S: Sorry, but ladies in the audience, could you please keep quiet.
Se~no~
Males: 'DAI-SUKI!!!!!!'
Everyone: 'HAHAHAHAHAHA'
N: This was louder than last time!
S: Sugoi
A: Suge~ I wonder how many are out there.
S: the guys who have come to see us in Sapporo, your voice really stands out. And they really try to catch our attention. During 'Hadashi no mirai', there was this guy that did this: 'sticks two fingers out and winks. trying to look cool'. How should I react?!!
N: aren't u happy?
Fans: HAHAHAH
A: And there were some people with short sleeves.
S: OK shall we listen to the female voices too!!?
Fans: YAY!!!!
S: So what shall we say? Sugoi, we heard the guys say 'DAI SUKI' to us.
'Aishite ru?!'
Fans: KYAAAAAA~~
A: It's not something u yell out. (yells out AISHITE~~RUUU~~'
N: OK in that case, don't say it too enthusiatically. I'm not one who says it often though.
N,J: OK let's go with 'Aishite ru'
S: People who don't love us, please also say it. se-no!!!!
Fans: AISHITE RU!!!!!!!!
J: I love you guys too!!!!!
Fans: 'KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA~~~'
O: What happens if you say it in a low voice?
A: you want the guys to yell it out?
N: what kind of segment is this!?
S, J, A, N: we are very happy. thank you very much.

J: Today, it seems we have the most number of people ever, in the Sapporo Dome. Even more than the Japan series baseball matches.
Fans: HAHAHAHA
N: Sugoi, we appreciate your coming.
S: Yesterday we all went for a meal.
J: That was really delicious. We went to a shop recommended to us by Ooizumi You-san, whom I am acting with. Since he is from Hokkaido, I asked him introduce a place to us.
fans: Eh.....
J, A,N: it was very delicious.
S: we felt that we had become adults.
N: yes, I agree.
S: We went to eat sushi. It was a small place, and we sat around the counter. The shop was so small, only 5 of us could go in
A: Yes not those sushi places with the conveyor belt.
S: yes if it were the conveyor belt , then the converyor belt would just be rotating around us!
S,N: We felt that we had become adults.
A: Yes, the sushi was in small bite sized pieces.
S: Yes, it looked like someone shrunk it.
N: that is very adult, don't you think?
S: and then when the maguro (tuna) came out, for a moment, I though that Ohno Satoshi, who was sitting next to me, had become a foreigner. When he was eating the Tuna, he went 'OH MY GOD!!' (Sho screws up his face, closes his eyes and goes OH MY GOD!' XDX D)
Fans: HAHAHAHAHHAHA
O: that maguro was delicious!
S: When I was wondering what he said, I realised he said 'Ooma- no - Maguro' (ie, The maguro that was from Ooma, in Aomori prefecture, which is supposed to be premium stuff) XD
N: (to capt) you couldnt remember, could you?! (I wonder how drunk capt must have been) XD
S: When you got back what did you guys do?
A: When I got back, I turned on the TV to watch a soccer match. It was Jpn vs South Africa. The I opened the script for 'My Girl' and tried to memorize it for my shooting the following day.
N: Hang on, you mean that u have shooting today?
A: No its tomorrow.
J: Well, it was past midnight, so technically is the next day.
N: Ohhh
A: And when I opened the book at looked at the script, I fell asleep and when I woke up the next morning, the book was over my face. Like in the manga.
N: Aiba-san, i think you didnt even read a word of the script and fell asleep.
A: hehehehe. Shochan how about u?
S: I didnt do anything and went to sleep immediately.
A: well we ate a ton and drunk alot. we were very full and satisfied.
J: Well, its been some time since we had a concert, hasn't it? And the oldest of us, is now 29.
S: Your birthday is next week right?
Fans: YAY!!!
N: What do u want?
A: From the 4 of us.
O: U guys giving me something? no, no, its fine, really.
J: Look, he is looking very happy!!
O: But I am not asking you guys to give me anything.
N: But we are asking you what you want! What do you want most now?!
A: If its expensive, we'll share the cost.
N: Don't worry about the price.
O: OK, I want a BOAT!!
Fans: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
J, S, A, N: HEY...........well.... that...hmmmm.....(looking very doubtful that they can buy him a boat)
O: But you guys just said not to worry about the price!!!!!
N,A: Sorry, but we can't buy you a boat!
J: hey, how about a boat made of salt bricks!!!
S: As boat captain, I can give u a boat made of blocks.
O: Hey that is embarrassing!
S: Embarrassing!!? We really put all our effort into building that boat!!
N: what shall we buy you?
A: we always cant decide what to buy for another members birthday
N: What does a 29-year old want?
O: Well I want to buy the fishing rod myself.
N: Well, that is personal, I understand.
S: Didn't you say you wanted one of those industrial freezers?
J: what do u want to do with an industrial sized freezer in your home? are you going to use it?
O: Well, I need it to put all the fish I caught....
N: can one of those industrial sized freezers fit through your door?
J:My image of those freezers is that it is made of concrete. Can the floor take it?
O: Well I did some checking. There are various types......
S: Hahaha you really checked!!!
O: There are small ones.
A: you want that?
O: yes I want that?
N: You want a freezer, right?
N: Ok we can think about that.
O: Thank you.
J: Its 11 more days to go right?
S: Next Sunday?
O: hmm I think...so

END OF MAIN MC.

After that, they each introduce their individual projects, as well as the dorama where the 5 of them are acting. Jun makes a mistake and introduces his dorama as 'Boku no Rekishi' instead of 'wagaya no rekishi'


As usual, the MC nvr fails to entertain. : )


PS. Jun's 'HYAKU~NEN~~♪' was perfect on the last day, after he had a disastrous attempt at croaking the day before. I was so amazed that he sang in tune, I inadvertently clapped when he didn't go out. :P
In fact everyone in the dome clapped, it was like everyone was dreading hearing the croaky 'Hyaa-ku nen!!' again for the 2nd time. (I believe Nakai fans have the same reaction when he sings in tune. XD)

Hello,

Its me.

The other day, I had an off-day.

That would probably have been my last off day for this year.

I wonder what I should do....

So, I did some careful deliberation the day before.

Should I go shopping?...

Or watch a movie?

What should... I do......

Haっ!! 　(；ロ；）！！

Right!!!

Let's go to Kyoto!





............... or maybe not.

I shall go home to the countryside!!

So I made up my mind.

I have not been able to visit my grandparents at all this year.

The way things are, I might not be able to go and say Hi to them at all this year.

So I made up my mind, and decided to hurry up to go and see them.

The next day, I rang them　up.


Grandson:

'OK, I am going to see you guys now.'


Grandmother:
'... Eh?'


Grandson:
'I am leaving for your place now.'

Grandmother:

'Eh!? Be careful on your way here.'


So with the conversation left hanging there, i got into the car and rushed off.

After a few hours, I reached my grandparents' home.

Grandmother:
'Eh..? You are alone?'

Grandson:
' Yes, I am alone.'

Ah.  right/.

This is the first time I have gone to my grandparents by myself.

So we sat in the living room, drinking tea, talking about things that were happening recently. It's been some time since I spoke to my grandparents

But it was the first time, I was alone like that.

Somehow, it felt very strange.

Whilst i was there, a door-to-door salesperson called on my grandmother.

I could hear the conversation going on at the hallway whilst I was sitting in the living room.

Salesperson:

'Did you say that your grandson is an entertainer?'


Grandmother:

'Yes'


Salesperson:
' Did you say he is a singer?'


Grandmother:
'Yes'


Salesperson
' Drama? Hmm? Drums??Ah, did u say he does dramas?'

Grandmother:
'Yes... well...'

' I do all types of drama'

I almost wanted to retort from the living room.

How should I convey such information?

Apart from this incident, the rest of the time spent with them went by leisurely.

In the afternoon, whilst drinking tea, I talked with my grandparents.

In the evening, I had dinner with my relatives. Its been too long since I last met them, so we had alot of catching up to do. It was really an enjoyable time. 

'this was my 'big purchase' (ie gain) on my off day' 

Of course, i didnt buy anything. 

I felt that I spent that day in a rich and fulfilling way.


2009/11/10
the grandson of the Sakurai Family


Nice entry.  ^ ^ ;

 
 
Hello.
 
Its me.
 
Recently, I have, as my usual routine, been training twice a week.  
Keeping it up is the key.
 
I have a personal trainer who helps me with the training.
 
For example....
 
 
I pedal on the stationary bike in front of a huge screen with shows a simulation of a cycling course,
 
.... and I breathe through my nose only at certain parts and breathe though my mouth only at other parts.....
 
... and do interval training....
 
I do all these kinds of training on the stationary bike.
 
And my pulse is monitored all this time.
 
and then...
 
 
After about 20 minutes on the bike, I get on with training with the balance ball.
 
All in all, I spent about an hour training. This is called core training.
 
 
I have been doing this on a regular basis, over the past 4 months.
 
 
Finally today, my trainer said this to me.....
 
 
" Hmm, your muscles have become more flexible!!"
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Dammit....
 
 
I can't be stiff anymore....
 
I have become a "Ex- Stiff person!!"
 
 
Well....
 
I think it is time to announce it to the world!!
 
 
 
 
Yes....
 
the "I HAVE GOT RID OF MY STIFFNESS" announcement! 
 
 
I will say goodbye to my old stiff self.
 
from now on, I will live as " THE EX-STIFF PERSON!"
 
Thanks for all the sweet memories, my stiff muscles.
 
 
And maybe again....
 
 
 
 
.....someday.......
 
 
 
 
 
.... yes.
 
Well.
 
 
As it was announced the other day,   i will be appearing in the documentary drama, " The Great Earthquake disaster of Hanshin and Awaji"
 
 
I "cranked in" (started filming) the day it was announced.
 
 
There are many heroic scenes in there and it is taxing both physically and mentally. Everyday, I am very happy that I have been given the opportunity to play this role.
 
I think it will be screened in the new year.
 
 
Yoroshiku Douzo.
 
 
2009/10/20
Sakurai Sho

Aiba -> Jun :  I secretly tried on MatsuJun's sunglasses when he left it in the dressing room. I will do it again in the future, thanks alot!

Aiba -> Nino: There is this underpants with the word 'NINOMIYA' written on it that has been sitting in the drawer in my house since we were Juniors. I'm going to return it to you soon. (laughs)

AIBA-> FANS : I won't say when it happened, but there was this time when all my eyebrows were gone for 3 months and I had to fool you guys by drawing it in.....


Jun -> Arashi members:  I don't have to be reserved around you guys, it's been like that up till now and it will be like this going forward.  And all you guys, each one of you have taken one each project you have seriously and in your stride, one by one, and the result is these past 10 years!!

Jun -> Fans:  How have our 10 years appeared to you? Thanks for supporting us, through thick and thin!

Nino ->Jun :  You have always been the mastermind behind our concerts. You are the brains and the heart of Arashi. The shooting for your SP drama has started, so please take care of your health.

Nino -> Ri-da-, work hard on your fishing, ne. (laughs)

Nino-> Fans:  Going forward, I will work hard at the projects I have at hand, so please support me. 

Ohno -> Aibachan:  I am sorry that the last time we went drinking in Ginza, I went home first without paying the bill!

Ohno -> Sho:  The last time we went fishing for some interview and shoot, you said that it was enjoyable. Thanks for understanding how enjoyable fishing can be. I was really happy about that!

Ohno -> Fans:  I am sorry for being too sunburnt.  But, I will go fishing again! (laughs)

Sho ->  Ohchan :  We composed a song together for our 2006 solo cons ne.  Its a really enjoyable song, and even now i listen to it. 

Sho-> Aibachan:  I am often run into you at the shops and on the street. Why don't we just go out together?! (laughs)

Sho -> Fans:  There was this time at a concert when I yelled 'SING IT~~~' during a song at you guys, well actually I had forgotten the lyrics!!! 

Hello.

It's me.

Many of you out there would probably know this from the various TV magazines: It has been decided that there would be a Part 2 to the  'Art of Words' series on Jwave radio. 

Following 'Nin Gen Shikaku', this time, the title is 'Oku no Hosomichi' 

I went on location shoots to Sendai, Iwate and Yamagata in the early part of September.

And among those location shoots, was a trip to Matsushima, in Sendai 
 
At Matsushima Bay, we went out on a rented boat for the location shoot. All of us.

We sailed around the islands in the bay and the boat captain gave us a running commentary of the area.

This incident happened when we got off the boat and were in the midst of filming my thoughts about the trip.

The Boat capt engaged my manager in conversation.

Boat Captain: I am supporting you!! Ganbatte ne!

Manager:  Yes!! I will work my ass off! Thank you very much! (grips boat capt's hand in a tight handshake)








Hhhhhhhhhhuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhh??


Mr Boat Captain!! That is my manager!!!

Sakurai, he is over here~~~~


hey manager, don't get too carried away! (in denial)

That handshake, surely, it would have been meant for me, not you!

Don't steal that handshake that was meant for me!!

Well,

Its was just conversation and there was no problem  with that or nothing technically wrong with that handshake...

So,

I am happy that I got to do 'Art of Words' again.

We went on location.... spoke to various people who knew about the history, and then recited the book....


This is a programme where we made full use of what we could, to portray the story through the radio.

I was really happy to be able to work with staff who had ambition and a piece of work with a solid storyline.

I apologize that many of you might not be able to hear this broadcast  (<m_ _ m>).....but for those who can,

Please look forward to it!!


2009/10/10
Sakurai Sho


Note: 'Oku no hosomichi' is written by Matsuo Basho, who was a poet who lived between 1644 and 1694.  Together with his disciple, Kawai Sora, he set off on a 2,400km, 6 month jouney, departing Edo (Tokyo) in 1689, and venturing into the Tohoku, Hokuriku regions before ending up in Gifu prefecture. This is the story of his travels. (Sho visited some places where Matsuo-san had gone to on his location shoots).

Matsushima is actually a group of islands off the coast of Sendai, and is said to have one of the most beautiful sceneries in Japan. For anyone who is interested :↓↓ check this out:
 http://www.jref.com/practical/matsushima.shtml

(makes mental note to go there one day)