[MAGAZINE] Motodaka Katsuki (7 MEN Samurai) - Shukan Asahi (17 June 2022)

[dreamweavernyx]

Here's the last in the Johnnys Quiz Club cover feature series on Shukan Asahi - it's Katsuki's turn!!

I really enjoy it when Katsuki talks about the things he researches on, so I'm glad that he got to explain his research topics in both undergraduate and graduate school this time ^^ He's really such a hard worker, and my respect for him grew even more through translating this!

~

Cover person: Motodaka Katsuki

Put down roots, and let the leaves flourish: He polishes every aspect of himself, so that he can be satisfied with his performance as an idol, in his studies, in his music and at sports. This trunk that grows straight upwards towards the overarching sky, will never break.

[ T/N: The introduction uses a ‘tree’ theme as Katsuki has the character for ‘tree’ in his name. ]

~

Motodaka Katsuki (7 MEN Samurai) is the 2nd person in Johnnys’ & Associates to have chosen the path of postgraduate studies. He entered the agency in his first year of middle school, and took a half-year hiatus from his activities in his 3rd year in order to sit for entrance exams. After he won a place at Waseda University Senior High School, he went on to Waseda University’s School of Creative Science and Engineering, and then further on to a postgraduate course. He is continuing to lead both these lives (as a student and as an idol) in order to instill a sense of discipline in himself for the entertainment industry.

Were your middle school days filled with studying?

I had cram school pretty much every day, and studied until pretty late each night, I think. Work was busy, but everyone else was busy with club activities anyway, so I didn’t really think it was that much of a big deal. And in addition, my ability to concentrate is pretty good, and I’m generally fine even if I don’t take breaks. In piano lessons, too, I’d often lose track of the time, and my teacher would have to tell me to take a break.

My 3rd year of middle school was certainly was the most I’ve ever studied in my life. The training camp in the summer went on for like, 17 hours a day, something like that. And if you got some of the problems wrong, then the work you’d have to do the next day would increase by a proportionate amount... It was seriously intense (laughs).

What was your motivation?

There was a really smart person at (my) cram school, and I was so frustrated (by that) that I studied more. That person competed in national tournaments for track-and-field so they couldn’t go to cram school as often as I did, but they had lived abroad so they could speak English, and somehow they were good at Japanese too. They were a genius. Rather than seeing them as a rival, I ended up thinking “woah, they’re insane” (laughs).

What subjects were you good or bad at?

Mathematics was the one thing I thought I could match up to others in, and I studied quite a lot for it; and in the mock examinations in 3rd year I ranked first in the country.

But I’m bad at Japanese. I don’t have the sense for it, to the point where even I’m surprised at how bad I am (laughs). Even after I hear the explanation, there’s times when I’m still like “?”, and I was an absolute disaster when it came to the Classics. It ended up being like, “as long as it doesn’t pull down my other subjects, it’s fine”.

I hated social studies, I think. I really hate memorising things. That’s why, in order to improve my efficiency in studying, I would write down new knowledge, or things that were difficult to remember, in my notes.

What I kept in mind in my study methods was to leave behind a trail. I’d mark an “X” on questions I couldn’t do in the textbook or vocabulary book, and if I couldn’t do it again the second time I’d mark another... That’s how I came to grasp the stuff I was bad at.

Have you ever taught your comrades at Johnnys’?

I’ve taught one of my members, (Sugeta) Rinne. And I helped others with their homework. Bi Shounen’s Iwasaki (Taishou) asked me for help quite a lot, and there were times when HiHi Jets’ Igari (Souya) and (another member of his, Sasaki) Taikou would ask me, too. I had so little time, that there were times when my little brother helped me out too (laughs).

Why did you choose the School of Creative Science and Engineering in university?

I wanted to learn about management system engineering. My research theme was the “optimization problem”. It is used to find the best possible solution (to a problem) under various circumstances. For example, to know what number of cash registers in a store would be the most efficient, you’d take into account the manpower costs and the turnover rate when thinking about it.

My undergrad thesis’ topic was on stage layouts. I assigned a value to the energy of the crowd, and solved a problem to find out how to make that the highest possible, or how to make sure it dipped the least. The result was that I should divide up the stage and distribute the things on stage evenly, but I haven’t yet stood on a large enough stage to put my research to use, so I’ll do so from now on.

Making sure not to drown in a world of grandeur

What was the most enjoyable thing about university life?

When I was in 1st year, around 20-30 of us from my lab group went to a sporting leisure facility and played there all (night). Ma~n, that’s a good memory. It’s really the essence of being a student. But, we then realised that that facility wasn’t one that operated all night (laughs).

I think it was a really good balance for me, being in the two worlds of “university student” and “Johnnys”. I think that I was able to develop my own character with some flavour. I’ve always thought that it would be scary to let myself become too influenced by the entertainment world. Rather than saying that I’ve been really blessed by this world, it’s more like this is a job where I’ve been lifted up by the hands of many others. I tell myself that I need to be careful not to drown in there.

Why did you decide to go on to postgraduate school?

I think a big part of it came from speaking with Snow Man’s Abe (Ryohei)-kun (who did postgraduate studies at Sophia University). He told me something like, “You overcame undergraduate studies, so you should be able to do it!”. A graduate school with no prerequisite courses would make it easier to achieve a balance with work. In the end, I did think that I wanted to study more, and there was no reason why I couldn’t go.

At graduate school, I had my eye on a research topic about how to determine the amount of fish that can be caught by fishermen, but it naturally ended up being too difficult... Right now, I’m stuck. The possibility of getting my Master’s and then moving on to the Ph.D course hasn’t disappeared, but it does depend on the research topic. There’s also a part of me that wonders, “If I go all the way up to a Ph.D, what will I become?” (laughs).

Recently, you’ve been active on quiz shows with the other highly-educated members of Johnnys’, haven’t you.

It’s really a wonderful gathering (of people) (laughs). All of us are highly educated so we’re sort of in similar circumstances, so when we meet up it feels very at-home, almost like we’re back in school.

More than anything else, it’s reassuring to have seniors around. Recently it’s become more of a thing to capitalise on your high level of education (to differentiate yourself), but I really respect Abe-kun, who worked hard since before it became in vogue to do so. I really do feel that (he) does things “for the good of the group”. But Snow Man is really rapidly growing, and even then he (Abe-kun) has not changed in the slightest. There aren’t many people who are like that. He’s a person of character.

What kind of “you” are you aiming to become?

Within my group, I usually end up bringing everyone together, but when we start to walk down the wrong path I’d like to become able to fix our path back (to what it should be). What a “good direction” is will change as the times go by, so it’s not something that can be decided by me, but if we go in the “wrong” direction then we’d end up leaving our fans by the wayside, so I’d try not to go in that direction.

Also, after appearing as the lead in a stage production last year, I’ve started thinking more and more that I want to get involved in scriptwriting or producing, so I’d like to do work that’s more behind-the-scenes. In that case, even if I no longer have “graduate school” in my life, I’ll still be able to achieve some balance that way. No matter what age it becomes, I don’t want to exist just in the grandiose world of idols; I also want to exist in another world (alongside it).

Lastly, please give a message of encouragement to students taking the entrance exams.

I was truly pretty atrocious back then, but you do tend to think that if you fail, then everything’s over. But, after entering university, there’s a sense of security – even if you think “It was good that I worked hard back then”, you might also think, at the same time, that “Even if I hadn’t, I’d probably still have turned out okay”. There is value just in the pure fact that you’ve done your best and worked hard, and for mental care purposes it’s good to keep working hard while keeping your gaze focused on the future ahead of you. I think it would be good if there were no more people who get distressed because of the entrance exams.

Comments

[roo-kie.livejournal.com]

Man, Katsuki is really amazing!!!
"there was no reason why I couldn’t go"
I'm really glad JA give them the freedom to choosing their life and supporting them.
I hope He will appearing as a lead at stage again this year, His voice is really nice.
Well as a fan we can only hope they will appearing as much as possible.
I'm so happy he is so humble, I hope He will never change.
Thank you so much!!!!!

[dreamweavernyx]

Yeah, Katsuki is such a hard worker, and I'm so glad that he's being encouraged to pursue a path that he's comfortable with even if it's uncharted territory for an idol ^^ He's been in the lead for 2 of the Rock Reading stage shows this year so keeping my fingers crossed for a third this year too~

No worries! Glad you enjoyed reading this ^^