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mottoyomitaiSukai was a really precious fanboy here, and it was fun to see them talk about the similarities between martial arts and dance! They're both people who approach what's ahead of them with all they have, and who really openly treasure their fans, so they're really similar in that respect.
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JO1 Meets…: Takeru x Kinjo Sukai
Talk Theme: The Source of Strength
The strength to keep working hard towards your goal, the strength to trust in yourself, the strength of your feelings that treasure your fans and comrades; these two possess many different types of “strength”. We asked them a lot about the thoughts and catalysts that form the source of that power!
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Message: Sukai to Takeru
When I was a child, I learned karate, and Takeru-san is someone I really admire. When I watch your matches or YouTube videos, I’m moved by and gain courage from, of course, the overwhelming strength you display, but also the thoughts you have towards the challenge and how you earnestly work so hard. That’s why, I truly couldn’t believe that I would get to talk to you like this today, and I’ve really been looking forward to this day! I’m so nervous that I can’t even look you in the face though you’re right in front of me, and when I looked at you out of the corner of my eye I caught a glance of your gold piercings… and I thought to myself, there’s nobody else who suits the lustre of gold this well. You’re so cool, and also humble and kind; you’re a perfect human! Please, let me learn a lot from you today!
Message: Takeru to Sukai
Taking the opportunity granted by this cross-talk, I watched JO1-san’s performances on YouTube, and they’re really grand and cool, aren’t they. I think that both artists and martial arts practitioners, they’re people who give power to the world when they stand in front of others. As a fellow member of the entertainment industry, let’s energise everybody! That being said… our occupations may be entirely different, but I found that we have many things in common, like karate and our fetish for fragrances, and the fact that we love curry. This was a really fun cross-talk. Also, you said that you were so nervous that you couldn’t look directly at me, but I do think that Kinjo-san’s leg muscles are really amazing. I was looking at them the whole time (laughs).
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Cross-talk
The thing we have in common is karate! The starting point for the training of our bodies and hearts
Kinjo (K): Please treat me kindly today. To think that my passionate love call reached you… (tears up, moved). I’m really happy that you came. I mean, your general vibe is one that a man would admire unconditionally, and your aura is way too amazing!
Takeru (T): Thank you (laughs). I don’t have many chances to talk to people outside my line of work, so I’m happy, too.
K: I learned karate in my 3rd to 6th year of elementary school and hold a black belt, so I think (due to that) I’m able to sense Takeru-san’s overwhelming strength even more. It really makes me think that you must have certainly put in an unimaginable amount of practice and hard work, and I really respect you.
T: I also started learning karate in my 2nd year of elementary school. Which style of karate did you learn?
K: I learned the seido-kaikan* style.
[ T/N: A style of full-contact karate, established in Osaka in the 1980s. ]
T: Ohh, that’s the same as me!! They’ll have 10 people spar at once during the skill level assessment, won’t they. I also received a black belt, but when I think back on it now those days were really filled with strict training, huh. But because I was able to overcome that time, I learned the importance of seeing something through to the end, and also gained some confidence in myself.
K: Did you start to consciously pay attention to building up your body back then?
T: I didn’t consciously pay attention to it then, but I did practice and train on a regular basis.
K: As expected! Right now, in order to keep my body in a shape optimal for dance, I’ve been focusing on core training and stretches.
T: I also do core training, you know. Apart from that, there’s also all sorts of physical training, like to improve cardiovascular ability, and to improve your sense of balance. If I list them item by item, there’s really many different kinds…
K: I watched your videos about physical training methods on your YouTube… You were really disciplined! In dance, I tend to make it a point to focus on small details such as “Oh, I want to move this (my fingertip) here”, but to realise that you also did the same kind of training for martial arts was a surprise. Is there a routine you do every day for training?
T: It changes depending on the day. On the standard (training) menu will be martial arts training, such as punching the mitts or actual sparring. When it’s close to a match, I’ll increase the number of rounds or enrich the content (of the training), something like that. Then I’ll add on other essential types of training, on top of that.
K: It truly feels like the (experience with the) 10-man spars would be put to good use here, wouldn’t they!
I’m still in the process of growth. I’m constantly polishing and improving myself
K: Takeru-san, is there anything you place importance on when you’re training up your juniors?
T: I do give them advice on their technique and on their mental state, but I’m also not perfect, so I don’t think I can really say that I’m training anyone up. I think maybe part of that is also that I don’t want to take on the position of a mentor when I’m still active as a competitor.
K: I’ve learned something new today! For us, we’re still only in our 3rd year, so we’re nowhere near completion either; I’d like to keep ambitiously learning more from now on, in order for us to grow even more from here on out.
T: Those feelings are really important.
K: Takeru-san, you’re someone who’s a leading figure in the martial arts world, but even then you always carry yourself humbly, and listening to you speak just now, my respect for you is growing by leaps and bounds. Is there even anything that you’re bad at?
T: There is, you know! I’m incredibly bad at dance. I can generally do most sports, but dance alone, somehow… As opposed to martial arts, where you put in a lot of strength, dance requires you to hold back, so to speak, or to do soft movements, and those are tough! I really think people who can dance are amazing.
K: I don’t think there’s anyone (on Earth) whose athletic ability is as outstanding as you, Takeru-san, so I’m sure that if you practiced you’d definitely become able to do it! But to know that even Takeru-san has something he’s not good at, made me feel closer to you (laughs).
T: When I was in elementary school, I did lose out a lot, too. In karate and in getting girls, I do have many memories of not being able to win, and feeling frustrated because of that. But I didn’t want to make excuses such as “Oh, my body’s small, so that’s why I lost”. I could instead turn that into my power, or rather, if I practiced more I’d become stronger, so I continued to practice while thinking to myself, “I can win!”.
K: That’s really cool of you!
T: Also, my mom was someone who would put in a lot of effort into something, so when I started saying that I wanted to do this and that, it wasn’t easy for me to lightly say, after, that I wanted to quit. Even when my body was saying “no more”, she’d pick me up by the scruff of my neck and toss me back in (laughs).
K: For me, I wanted to do soccer and baseball, but the only one I was allowed to do was karate. I talked about concrete goals like how I’d do my best until I got a black belt, so I’m really thankful to my mom for making me think about why I wanted to do it, and how I wanted to go about doing it.
“Music” helps put their feelings at ease
T: To me, music is a source of relaxation. I’m always on edge during training and in matches, so music helps me rest and relax those feelings a little. I was also in a band in middle and high school. Even now, I’ve got a piano, guitar, and drums in my house.
K: Eh! Do you also perform, yourself?
T: Yes, I can. Initially, I started doing it because I wanted to be popular (with the girls) though (laughs). Of course, listening to music is soothing, but playing instruments is, too, you know. When you get into the rhythm while singing or dancing, doesn’t it feel really good?
K: …Takeru-san, I bet you totally can dance, can’t you?
T: No, no! I do have a sense of rhythm, but I can’t get the right stiffness of the (dance) moves (laughs). That’s why I don’t dance, but rather I like playing instruments, and since I listen to many different genres of music, I love both rock songs and breakup songs. In particular, I listen to Utara Hikaru-san’s “First Love” a lot. It’s a really great song that can be shown off to the world, you know.
K: For me, I often listen to R&B! By the way, what (kind of music) do you listen to when you’re training?
T: In those times, it has to be really hard-hitting rock, you know. Particularly before a match, all my accessories will be gold and my number (in matches) is 1; I’ll tend to choose everything to tie in with the theme of victory, to the point where I’ll even think about it in my sleep. That’s why, even if it’s only for 30 minutes, I’ll make it a point to listen to music before I sleep.
What the two of them like
T: Right now, I’m in the process of weight reduction so I can’t really eat much of it, but I love curry rice! Well, as long as it’s curry I’ll love pretty much anything, but the No. 1 has got to be the home-style curry I make at home!
K: I've also been hooked on eating Japanese-style curry lately. I love the kind of curry you get at soba stores, where the taste of the dashi stock really comes through!
T: That sounds delicious! Ah… somehow, I really want to eat curry now (cries).
K: Let’s change the topic! (Panic) I like gaming. I’ll battle with all the other members, you know. How about you, Takeru-san?
T: I play games, too. Mostly I play games so that I can escape from reality, for a while. Also, I’m into saunas! I got hooked on them only pretty recently, but they really let you zone out. I went yesterday, too.
K: I don’t really go to saunas, but they seem to be trendy right now, don’t they.
T: I initially didn’t like saunas, you know. I’d go to saunas to dehydrate, as the final stage of the weight loss process, but that was really tough… I only saw it as a scary place. But, one of my friends is Yanagita, (the lead vocalist of) the band “Kami wa Saikoro wo Furanai”, and he’s qualified as a health advisor for saunas and spas, so he taught me the proper way to enter a sauna. When I did, I was rejuvenated in an instant!
K: That must have been a moment of bliss. I think I’d like to try going to one, too! Once I get rejuvenated at a spa, I’d like to put on a fragrance that I like. I tend to be soothed by fragrances, so I’ll wear my favourite perfume before performances. I like (scents) that are a little sweet, and they really make you feel calm.
T: I’ve also got something of a fragrance fetish, and earlier during the photoshoot I smelled a really good smell coming from you, Kinjo-san.
K: Really?! That makes me really happy (shy).
Fans are a presence like light
K: What kind of presence are fans to you, Takeru-san?
T: I think that it’s precisely because there’s an audience that my fighting spirit can well up; I think this especially during matches. If it was a match without an audience, I don’t think I’d be able to get that worked up and have such an intense match. That’s how much I can feel the fervour of the audience on my skin; I really receive a lot of strength from them.
K: I thought you might worry about whether you could concentrate if they’re rooting for you during a match, but it seems like that isn’t the case.
T: When you know you’ve got support, then you’ll want to put on an even more aggressive performance, wouldn’t you. Of course, I’ll be focused during the match, but my field of vision is wide, you could say… I think such support is the origin of one’s fighting spirit.
K: I get that. For me, fans are a presence like light. A little while ago, I was on hiatus for a period, and while the members and staff really supported me too, I think the ones who really warmly, brightly lit up my path were the fans who supported me; that made me really happy, and I’d like to return these feelings of gratitude through our music, even more than we currently have. And, thank you very much for this precious conversation today! My feelings of admiration towards Takeru-san have gone up another level!!
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Individual talk: This is MY PRIDE
Kinjo Sukai
I’m really thankful to be polishing up my singing and dancing and to be part of a group that’s globally active, of course, and I think that the bonds we have with our fans are truly our strength. COVID-19 spread rampantly right after we debuted, and we weren’t able to have the chance to perform directly in front of fans, so I do think that for the online talk events and stuff, even if it’s for a short time, I’d like for them to enjoy it. But, it might be that I’m the one, conversely, who’s always receiving joy (from these events). It’s like, I don’t want to let this precious time we have to speak go to waste, and I also want to put out a cool performance even through the screen, and think of words specifically for that person; I’ll consciously think of things like that. I think it’d be good if I could express all of these things that have always been in my heart.
Takeru
I put my life on the line in matches, and I do think that a single loss carries the same meaning as death. My policy as a martial arts practitioner is to do everything like I’ve got my life on the line, be it the preparations up to the match, my additional training, or the match itself. I’ve got no room for lies. I think that is my strength, and I do think that that links to my being able to continue winning. Also, as a professional, since the audience paid money to come and watch, obviously I’d like for them to go home satisfied, so I won’t just think about victory and loss, but about “Winning + How much I can move and empower the audience when they leave here today”. That’s why, no matter how many times I down (the opponent) in the first half or how many points I’ve racked up, I’ll definitely go in with my full strength until the end; I want to be able to show a performance so powerful that it’ll be carved into their memory.
