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. 

 
 
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)

STIFF, but very very very cute. And I am not referring to his O△X#. 
(although you get a nice close up of his ahem! jeans in one shot)   ^ ^ ; He looks great in those jeans.

What he lacks in the acting, he makes up 120% in the cute department.

The character in the manga is stiff, so i guess he's playing the part. (imagines Aibachan trying to be ri-da-) DUH..... 

......... taichi is whinning again. ^ ^

'Today was Gochi-day. (ie, he was at the filming of Gurugurunainai)
The guest was my junior from Johnny's!!
I just absolutely cannot lose, especially to this guy!!!
I already pay for him when we go out outside of work, and now, will I have to pay for him, even on the TV programme?
My pride cannot take it!!
Well!! What will become of the battle?
Watch out for it!


hehehehe.....

9/25 (JUN)

Osaka~~♪

It was very enjoyable. Yes.

During the concert, I remember that Osaka was the venue of the first day of our 1st Concert (the place was Osaka Castle Hall, tho)

Since then, its been 10 years, and various things have happened.

The moving stage was also first used in Osaka.  (and at that juncture in our history, I remembered that we did received alot of help and cooperation from the people related to the management of Osaka-jyo Hall)

and Osaka was the place where we had our first taste of a Dome concert.

Its great that we could come here again.

At any rate,

The mood in Osaka concerts are great.

It felt really great.

And that got me into really high spirits and I did some things that I don't normally do. (And that surprised me too)

And for that, both the fans and myself, we enjoyed it, right?

Everyone's feelings  were clearly conveyed through. 

Let's get together again sometime. 

Well, enjoy the concerts tomorrow and the day after too. 

2009/09/25
Matsumoto Jun


 
9/26 (Aiba-chan)

The second day of the Osaka leg of the Tour has finished...

It was very enjoyable!

When everyone is in unison, that is really fantastic.

After the concert on Day 2, everyone went to eat Okonomiyaki.

Arashi, the Juniors, the band members.......

This is the first time since Kokuritsu where everyone could go and so everyone was more pumped than usual.

The Okonomiyaki was also delicious....

Today, we will make the last concert of the Osaka leg of the Tour a fantastic one. ( ^ _ ^)v



9/27
From Sakurai Sho

Hello.

this is Sakurai.

We had a very fulfilling 3 days in Osaka. 

Yesterday, we went to have Okonomiyaki with the juniors, the band members and the staff. 

And we had our closing party. 

That shop, we have been going there since we debuted.  

At the very last, an okonomiyaki with the words

'Arashi Congratulations on your 10th Anniversary'

was prepared for us.

I was happy.

Very happy.

And when we saw that, at ate it,  everyone who was part of the tour were in high spirits.

Well.

from now, the tour takes a little breather.

I am looking forward to when I can meet everyone again. 

During the interim, there is the first episode of VS Arashi, which has gone prime time, and Himitsu No Arashichan, etc..

Ah. The location shoots for the Jiken SPs  are going on smoothly. 

We will work hard to ensure that we get good results for the experiments. 

Wait for me!!! Hatsushima~~~~~~~


2009/09/27
船長
(Boat Captain)

（船長だって！！うける！（笑））

The MC on the last day was the funniest. I have not laughed like this in an MC for a long time.  ^ ^

Combining the Day 1 and Day 2 reports because I had no time to update yesterday.

 

well......... I went again today. Fans were giving away tickets at less than half price, I really like listening to live music, I think they are pretty cool guys and I was hoping some interesting guests would turn up today, so I went. The seat was a less crappy seat compared to yesterday's. This time, i got to see more of their faces and less of their butts.

Taiichi mentioned that (Oguri) Shun was among the audience today. I don't know if he was joking or not, but I scanned the 'kankeisha' (関係者）seats but didn't see him. Then i scanned the area where the JE guests would sit if they attended the concert. There was a bald guy, a girl and a few other very 'unjohnny' like characters occupying those seats. So, I figured that no johnny would be appearing. 
They were more relaxed today, compared to yesterday, I guess because there were no reporters and TV cameras around.
 
And so, since there was no press, no TV cameras, all the shimo-neta (XX rated talk) came out. ROFL. And they continued to rib Riida and Mabo about the leopard prints they were wearing. I noticed that they (esp Taichi and Nagase) love  to poke fun at the audience when they get a chance. During the MC, there were 3 girls who got up to go to the bathroom or wherever, and Taichi saw them, pointed at them whilst looking at the rest of his band members,   'Hey look, we have 3 people already going home, and we've barely started'.

Then, they started poking the Kankeisha.   These are people who have connections with Tokio, like maybe their stylists or photographers and their families, or business partners of J-storm or whatever. They occupied pretty good seats, on the first floor, facing the main stage. But whilst the rest of the fans were bouncing away in their seats. these Kankeisha, maybe about 100 of them, sat in their seats like Zombies. Never lifted a finger to clap to the music, most of them looked really bored out of their minds.

In the end, Taichi made them all stand up, (including his mom, who I suppose was in the kankeisha seat, and who had come to see her son prance around on stage in the afro-ken wig and sunglasses) and made them clap to the music. And in the chorus of Do-Do-Do, Nagase made the arena audience, then the first floor  and 2nd floor audience parrot the '♪Do-Do-Do♪' after him. We all did it enthusiastically, but when it came to the Kankeisha....


Nagase: 'do-do-do-do-do-do~~'♪  Kankeishaaaaa~~~


Kankeisha: ..........................................


So he tried again. Nagase: 'Do-do-do-do-do～～～　♪ 　Hai!!!! KANKEISHAAAAAA~~~' (Nagase's expression was priceless, eyes wide open, big smile, like expecting them to yell back at him like the fans would do)

Kankeisha : ......................................................

Fans : started laughing at the kankeisha: hahahahahahahha ( >v<) 

Finally he tried one last time: (he was really ribbing them) XD: 'do-do-do-do-do'♪ HAI KANKEISHAAAAAAAAAA~~~ (pointing mike at them)

Kankeisha: ...............................................................................................

Fans: ROFL........

Tokio is the first group I have ever seen making use of their kankeisha to entertain the audience.

'Don't look like you are attending a funeral, you guys got pretty good seats, while the rest of the fans had to pay for their ticket or contend with seats where they can only see our butts. So please, at least look like you are appreciating our music and don't look like zombies'-- was the message clearly given to them by TOKIO.

And my impression of these guys went up a notch. They are really a cool bunch of guys.