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mottoyomitaiBoth of their solo interviews will be up first, followed by the short cross-talk ^^ Both of them were hard workers from young and it's very inspiring to read about how they continue to strive to carve out a place for themselves! The way they tease each other in the cross-talk is adorable, too :>
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Cover person: Nasu Yuto (Keio University)
The reason for perfection: A beautiful figure, overflowing with talent. Laying out the high-level abilities he obtained through his diligent hard work, he nonchalantly smiles a gentle smile. The only person he doesn’t want to lose to is himself. Facing the mountain’s peak, he’ll climb towards it one step at a time.
[ T/N: The theme of the little summary is based on “climbing”, as Nasu’s first name (“Yuto”) contains a character that means “to climb”. ]
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Nasu Yuto (Bi Shounen), who has written on his official profile for Johnnys & Associates that his special ability is “studying”, passed the middle school entrance examinations for his top choice of middle schools, Keio Chutobu Junior High School, and has now progressed to being a 3rd-year university student at Keio University’s Economics faculty. He entered Johnnys’ at 14 years old, and continued to strive at his studies in this elite private school despite his busy schedule. He’s even said that “there was always not enough time, I was perpetually in a pinch”, but despite that he continued to battle with himself.
Do you like studying?
I think I probably do. For me, I used to not be able to study. But around when I was in my 4th year of elementary school, I went to a cram school, and I came to understand for the first time a mathematics problem that I’d never been able to solve. That was fun and made me really happy, so I think after that I started to like studying. It was really just a simple text-based question, but I caught on to the logic behind it, and was like “Ah, this is what it’s talking about!”.
When you were studying for the middle school entrance examinations, how long did you study for?
In the summer after my last year of elementary school, I did nothing but study (for the entrance exams). It was around 16 hours a day. At the time, as expected, it was really tough. I was a pitcher in a baseball club team back then, but even when the team managed to get to a good place in competitions I totally couldn’t go for baseball. After school, too, I’d used to go and hang out with my friends, but many times I felt like I couldn’t play any more, and that I had to endure.
Both of my parents were the type of people to tell me to sit down and study, but ultimately I pulled through thanks to my own motivation. I went to visit the school I was aiming to get into, and I really thought that I wanted to get accepted there, so I told (myself) that I’ve got no choice but to make sure I pass (the exams).
What subjects are you good / bad at?
I’m good at mathematics. I think that it’s because I had a positive encounter with mathematics. Also, I like books, so I really love the reading comprehension questions that they have for Japanese. I often read biographies since childhood, so I’m also good with history. I found it interesting how the stories were real, but still had a fantastical feeling to them.
For subjects I’m bad at, it’s got to be physics. It’s kind of not very interesting... I did ask the teacher lots of questions during lessons, but when it came to studying for it I just did what I could (within reasonable limits) (laughs). I liked chemistry, though. My interests are spread across science-type and arts-type subjects, I think.
For the subjects you’re good at, do you have a recommended study method?
For mathematics, I used the “textbook guide”. I noticed that the textbook that the teacher was using was different from our own, and was like “Eh, what’s that?”, so I looked it up and bought it. As it turns out, it contained really easy-to-understand explanations, and had solutions for all the problems in the textbook. I’m not the kind of guy who can get things in a flash, so I did all the practice questions to memorise how to solve them, and then figured out how to tackle the advanced questions*. I think that the more of those you can solve, the more you’ll pull ahead.
[ T/N: Referring to additional questions that test things not expressly set out in the textbook. Usually considered optional learning. ]
For history, I think what was a big help was that I was able to remember many things because I liked it. I’m good at memorising things. I don’t really have any original methods for doing so, but I’d go over things over and over quite a lot. Before tests, I’d try to recall the contents of my notes while in the bath, and made it so that I didn’t waste any time spacing out.
I’m the type to study regularly (rather than at the last minute). There were times during my school days where I crammed at the last minute, but I’ll never forget how tough those times were. I’d be incredibly sleepy during the actual test, so I was like, “Ah, I’ll never do that again”.
Thanks to Sakurai Sho’s words, I thought, “I’ll study”
How do you stay refreshed while studying?
I’ll move my body. During middle school, we’d all study together for an hour, and then play dodgeball or volleyball for 20-30 minutes, and then go back to studying, something like that.
Even in high school, I had a group of people I regularly studied with. There were more than 5 of us, and everyone would face the wall and study, you know (laughs). We’d fix a length of time and focus, and then during the breaks we would chat. I was really blessed with (good) friends.
Have you taught any of your comrades in Johnnys’?
When one of our members, (Sato) Ryuga, was in his 2nd year of high school, I taught him mathematics. Ryuga’s not really someone who’d studied a lot, so he couldn’t even reduce fractions to a common denominator. Man, he was pretty much like an elementary schooler (laughs). I was shocked. I’ve also taught (HiHi Jets’ Inoue) Mizuki-kun before. Well, there were times when I thought that I didn’t really have the time to spare, either... (laughs), but it made me happy to be relied upon.
When the tests period clashed with our stage productions, I’d study world history and stuff while backstage. Generally, there was always not enough time and I was perpetually in a pinch, so I had no choice but to change up (my outlook). It’s ultimately about battling with myself, after all. Of course, it’d have been possible for me to just give up on my tests, but I’d suppress that thought, and keep studying without saying anything. I think I was able to do that thanks to the perseverance I’d trained up when I was studying for the entrance exams.
When you were in your 1st year of high school, you received advice on your future path from a prominent senior of yours, Sakurai Sho-san?
It was when I’d just been placed in a group and didn’t really have a vision of my future, so I had felt vaguely uneasy. Sakurai-kun told me, “It’s not that Johnnys’ is the only right path, you know. Being employed by a company, or starting up your own business, those could be the right path, too.” He pointed out many different paths I could take so that I wouldn’t struggle even if I ended up stuck in my journey as a Johnnys’.
I was relieved and was able to relax a little, and it also helped to broaden my perspectives. I thought to myself that I had to do my best in my studies, for the sake of when I found a (university) faculty I wanted to get into.
Why did you end up choosing economics?
I chose to take economics for our optional lessons in 3rd year of high school, and I found it really interesting that I could apply the things I was learning directly to my daily life. Also, I was appearing in Ikegami (Akira)-sensei’s show, so I thought that (economics) would be useful for that.
What I find interesting in my university lectures are the lessons on contemporary society. It’s a series of lessons that question what we take for granted in our daily lives. For example, why labour has become an obligation / responsibility in Japan and South Korea; we’ll think about things like that.
When I’m not working, I think it’s important to enjoy my daily life as a student, whether that’s by studying or by hanging out with my friends. I’ve got quite a few friends around me who have already received tentative (job) offers from companies, so when I listen to them talk (about it) I feel really stimulated, and it spurs me on to do my best as well.
I started taking lessons in (accounting) bookkeeping because I thought it would be good to get some qualifications as well, but it’s more complicated than I thought, and there’s many things you need to memorise. I do admire public accountants, but when I see how my friends who are working to become public accountants are struggling, I can’t really say lightly that I’d like to get that qualification.
What about your goals from now on?
First, as Bi Shounen, I’d like for us to quickly catch up to our seniors who are engaging in a variety of activities. This year, we finally got to do a tour, which is something that I’ve always said I’d wanted to do, but if you look at King & Prince, they’re already doing a Dome tour.
Personally... someday, I’d like to return to my own university and try lecturing. There are lectures where they’ll invite all sorts of special guest lecturers to come and talk about things like “I’m doing this kind of work”, so I’d like to become someone respectable, someone who can get invited back (to speak) in around ten years or so (laughs).
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Cover person: Ukisho Hidaka
Shouldering everyone’s dreams… Cheery and amiable, he’s a natural idol who can make anyone happy. Nobody knows of the hard work he puts in behind the scenes, and there are days where even he feels down. But there are people waiting for him, so he’ll spread his wings, and fly to anywhere he wishes.
[ T/N: The theme of the little summary is based on “flight”, as Ukisho’s first name (“Hidaka”) contains a character that means “flight”. ]
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He’s aiming to receive a lawyer’s qualifications, while continuing to be an idol. For 3rd-year Rikkyo University student Ukisho Hidaka (Bi Shounen), that is an impressive ambition to be carrying. He passed the middle school examinations and was accepted into Rikkyo Ikebukuro Junior High School, and even after entering Johnnys’ at 14 years old he has continued to hold true to his dreams and his sense of curiosity, and continued on with his studies. What is this other side to Ukisho, who is known and loved for his playful character?
How did you motivate yourself to work hard for the middle school entrance examinations?
In my elementary school not many went to cram school, so in my class it was me and one other guy who were the top 2 in terms of studies. We were always battling it out to come out on top in tests. We were rivals, but in the end we became friends.
I heard from my teachers about this only later on, but it seems that he said “I was able to do my best because Ukisho was there”, so I thought “Man, that makes me happy~”. I was also spurred on (by him), you know.
I was studying non-stop until right before the examinations. I’d study for 50 minutes and then take a 10-minute break, and keep going in that cycle. On the day before, or 2 days before (the exam), I would be desperately working my way through the past-year questions for Rikkyo, which was my top choice school. As it turned out, during the actual test, pretty much the same questions came out for mathematics, so I was like, “Yay!”. I realised then that past-year questions are really important.
What subjects were you good at in middle and high school?
I think I did pretty okay at English. My school put quite a bit of effort into teaching it, so we’d have (English) lessons something like 7 times a week. For me, the reason why I thought that I’d want to study English was because of Western music, you know. Around that time, I also started watching Western movies, like the superhero ones, and I thought to myself, “I’ve got to become able to understand them in English”.
In addition to that, in this line of work, you might get the chance to meet famous people from abroad, won’t you. I have a dream of speaking English when that chance comes around. I’m surprised by how much progress I’ve made just by having a clear goal ahead of me.
I still can’t watch Western movies without subtitles, but sometimes I turn on the English subtitles instead. It’s something I picked up from my teacher in high school – first, you set the subtitle language to English, and then once you get used to it you can turn off the subtitles, and watch the movie over and over until you can recite the lines from memory.
For me, I can also learn about acting at the same time, so it’s truly the best. Right now, there are movie streaming services, so when I have free time I’ll watch a lot of Western movies.
What about subjects you were bad at?
Social studies. I was busy with work, so there’d be times when I fell behind in lessons. For me, I’m a perfectionist, so I really disliked moving forward when there was still some stuff that I didn’t understand. That’s why I started to think that I was bad at it.
But it’s not that I hate things that require memorisation. I really love the Civil Code that I learned about in university, and I was like, “Ah, how interesting!” when I was learning about it. The tests were fun, too. We were given copies of the Compendium of Laws,* so I’d search for answers from there while comparing against my own knowledge. It feels a little like mathematics. When I was in elementary school I was good at mathematics, so I think that ultimately, at my core, I’m a science-oriented guy.
[ T/N: The 6 main legal codes that make up the Japanese legal system: The Constitution, Civil Code, Criminal Code, Commercial Code, Civil Procedure Code and Criminal Procedure Code. ]
In university, when you go for lessons you really pick up a surprising amount. In middle and high school I didn’t really focus, so I think that maybe I should have tried to listen more attentively back then.
Influenced by Matsumoto Jun, he chose the Faculty of Law
Are you the type to work steadily at your studies? Or cram last minute?
I’m the type to cram at the last minute. I’d like, start seriously studying a week before the test, stuff like that. I think that it’s more effective that way. Even if you study regularly, you’ll end up forgetting things here and there, so if you do it all at once then isn’t that better! If I set my mind to memorising things, I’m able to memorise them, you know. I’m able to remember the Civil Code, but there are other subjects which I forget more easily... I’m clearing out the data storage and doing some cleaning in my head (laughs).
Why did you choose the Faculty of Law when you went to university?
It’s entirely the influence of Matsumoto Jun-kun. I watched the drama “99.9 –Criminal Lawyer-”, and I thought that lawyers who use their words to fight and to protect others are really cool. I’m aiming to be a lawyer, but I talk about that as a really big dream of mine. Also, I also dream of starting up my own company someday. I don’t know what kind of company it would be, so it’s just a vague thought for now. Recently, I’ve started reading books aimed at entrepreneurs.
But in the end, I think I’m in a really good occupation right now. I love talking to other people. I want to get to know all sorts of people. It might be that I love humanity, you know. I observe them frequently, like, “Ah, this person looks over here while they’re talking”, or “Wow, they sure are smiling, aren’t they~”.
As for work, I pretty much don’t even think of it as work. School is where I’m “on”, and then at all other times, including at work, I’m “off”. It’s like a break from my studies. I can relieve my stress during concerts, stuff like that. Well, there are also times when I feel close to getting crushed (by it all), though (laughs).
I say this, but actually I’m mentally not very resilient, you know. When I got scolded by my teachers in school, I’d feel really down. My mood would really plummet, like, bam. But I don’t like people knowing that about me, so I’ll always try to act cheerful, and be like, “Hehe~”. I’m the type who’d probably perpetually be affected by a failure at work. It’d be like, the Ukisho of the past was no good, but the Ukisho of now should be fine; something like that. It’s hard to explain~. But I’ll do my best!
What about your goals from now on?
Previously, I got to appear on an informational show called “Marutto! Saturday”, and the (news) announcers there looked really cool. I’d like to try out jobs that seem intellectual, like informational shows.
It seems that they did research across 45 countries about the characteristics of people who are regarded as attractive, and the top two out of that survey were “friendliness” and “intellect”, you know. Of course, I’d like to use that to supplement the things that my fans expect of me, so I don’t want to just be the interesting character that I am now, but I also want to add some degree of intellect.
As Bi Shounen, more than anything else, I want to prioritise getting to be known by all sorts of people. It would be nice if all 6 of us could appear on a variety show together. I think that we’d convey each of our characters, and how interesting we are.
Lastly, please give an encouraging message to students preparing for the entrance exams.
I think that the entrance exams, which are a really serious competition between humans (laughs), will definitely be a positive experience. Even if you don’t end up with a good result, all that knowledge that you worked hard to internalise will definitely be put to use in your life in some way. For me, I’m recalling all the things I learned in middle school when I appear on quiz shows, you know. Everyone who appears (on the quiz shows), they all say things like that (laughs).
