[WEB ARTICLE] Kimata Syoya (JO1) - Elle Gourmet (6 December 2022) regular column (Part 3)

[dreamweavernyx]

And here's the last part! ^^

~

[Photo 24]

Kimata: Next up, we’ll have these three in a row! Skewered inari-zushi, Nishiki sushi, and grilled mackerel sushi!

Kawanishi: I love inari-zushi*, and I love ohba (perilla leaf) as well, so I really really love these skewered inari-zushi from “Hitosaki”.

[ T/N: Inari-zushi is a style of sushi where the sushi rice is wrapped in a beancurd skin pocket that is marinated in sweet soy sauce. ]

Kimata: Takumi-kun, you like sweet things, don’t you. I like salty things! I really like the seasoning they’ve added to this inari-zushi. Apparently it’s a pepper paste called yama-uni, which consists of a mixture of yuzu, bird’s eye chilli, red Manganji peppers** and salt.

[ T/N: Yama-uni literally means “sea urchin of the mountains”. The paste is called this because when all the ingredients are mixed together the paste takes on an orangeish-yellow hue like actual sea urchin, but all the ingredients come from the land (i.e. from the mountains). It’s a traditional pepper paste that’s said to come from Kawawada village in Ibaraki prefecture. ]

[ T/N 2: Manganji peppers are a type of chilli pepper largely found in Japan. They are more sweet than they are spicy. ]

[Photo 25]

Kawanishi: I’m going to dig into this Nishiki sushi* from “Sasaichi”; the square shape is cute. It lets you cut it evenly into 4 portions.

[ T/N: This is not the name of a particular style of sushi, but appears to be just the name given to this sushi by this particular shop. “Nishiki” refers to fine clothing, and is probably a reference to how beautifully decorated these sushi are. ]

Kimata: It resembles the persimmon leaf-wrapped sushi (kakinoha-zushi) that I sometimes eat in the car when we’re moving from location to location.

[Photo 26]

Kimata: Finally we have the grilled mackerel, which I love. This is the torched kinka-saba (mackerel)* sushi from “Hanazushi”. I love fish that’s been torched, you know~ This one slice is a really generous portion. It’s really fatty, and tastes so gooooood~ But man, it’s really amazing that all of these sushi can get delivered to you frozen, huh. We defrosted them in the microwave and ate them, but all of them were so delicious you wouldn’t have known that they came frozen.

[ T/N: Kinka-saba, or literally Kinka mackerel, is a high-quality variety of mackerel caught around Kinkasan Island. It is prized for its higher fat content and richer taste. ]

Kawanishi: The sushi in this order-in category all come with the rice tightly packed, so you can get pretty full eating them. I mean, we’re basically just eating rice, mostly.

Kimata: Nah, I could still eat a little more, probably.

Kawanishi: Man, I’m envious that you can eat so much.

[Photo 27]

Kawanishi: Did you eat sushi while we were in South Korea? (*Note from the magazine: They were in South Korea for a long period over the summer in order to produce their music and prepare for their tour.)

Kimata: I only got to eat (sushi) 4 or 5 times while we were in South Korea, you know~ In South Korea, the standard ingredients you’d find on your sushi are salmon and flounder, which is a little different from Japan, but it was delicious! I found sushi restaurants that paid homage to Japan in their cooking, and I ate at those places too.

Kawanishi: I mean, if you ate sushi 4 times that means you ate it quite a lot while you were there, though (laughs).

Kimata: If I get so busy that I can’t eat sushi 5 times a week then that’s a tragedy!

Kawanishi: That’s already more than enough! (laughs)

[Photo 28]

They’re full, so they’ll take a little break

Kimata: I’m getting sleepy, somehow. I think the venue today is too relaxing… Normally we’d be at the restaurant, but this time round there’s a bed just over there, you now. My tummy is full, and I’m happy.

Kawanishi: There’s still the desserts section to go after this, apparently. Let’s take a quick break.

[Photo 29]

Since we’re at a hotel… They’ll talk about interior furnishings

Kawanishi: Just now, ELLE-san asked me about my favourite interior furnishings, but rather than furniture, I’ve recently been more into electronic equipment.

Kimata: Same! If you ask me what I’d like to have at home, I’d want a speaker or something along those lines.

Kawanishi: I’d like to get items that would help me create a space at home where I can self-practice freely. Like soundproofing I could stick on the wall, stuff like that… But if you buy a few sheets of those it gets expensive, you know. It’s not something you can buy if you don’t work up the courage to commit to it. (laughs)

Kimata: When I’m in my room I’m generally just in front of my PC. How about you, Takumi-kun?

Kawanishi: I have a working area / study as well, but I’m generally on my sofa, I think…

Kimata: If you sit on your sofa, won’t you just end up falling asleep?

Kawanishi: Ah, I never do. I can’t fall asleep if I don’t brush my teeth immediately before going to sleep. I’ve never fallen asleep on the sofa. I’ll always make sure to sleep properly on my bed.

[Photo 30]

Kimata: How disciplined of you! Man, my room is just littered all over with electronic equipment~ Recently, I discovered a cassette player from the 60s and an old speaker from the 80s or 90s online, and I bought them. They’re not in the best condition, but I think that’s also part of the charm. Ah, and then I got told “Hey, you’re Imaichi*!”, by the other members.

[ T/N: Imaichi is the name of Takumi’s character in the drama Short Program. Takumi played a high school student who helps his father’s business by repairing old electronics, such as speakers and record players. ]

Kawanishi: Ahh, the role I played in our drama (“Short Program”, on Prime Video), huh. That’s true.

Kimata: For me, rather than relaxing at home, I’d rather be doing something. I think I feel calmer when I’m able to spend my time meaningfully. To give a recent example, two days ago I used the Watch Party function to watch the anime “Code Geass” with a friend from my hometown. It was my third time watching it, but I was so moved I cried.

Kawanishi: I love just not doing anything and spacing out. Once I decide that I’m going to start spacing out, I don’t even pick up my phone.

Kimata: Woah, amazing. No wonder there are times when we can’t really get hold of you. (laughs) I’ll tend to use my phone even when I’m just lazing about.

[Photo 31]

Kimata: Ah, there was something else I wanted besides electronic equipment! There’s this thing called a ball chair, which is like a round sofa made for a single person; I sat in one once, and it really blocks out surrounding sound, and I thought that if I sat in a chair like that I’d really be able to space out.

Kawanishi: I know I bought something for my house recently and I was thinking really hard trying to recall what it was… I bought a lamp. I haven’t installed it yet, though (laughs). It’s a ceiling lamp, and the lampshade is made from wood. I guess that’s about it. Man, I really talked about my house quite a bit today. That’s quite rare for me.

Kimata: You’re a man of many secrets. (laughs)

Kawanishi: It’s a special privilege just for today. Since I got to eat delicious food. (laughs).

[Photo 32]

Part 2 will be the desserts, and their heart-to-heart talk

In the next issue, we’ll bring you dessert time with a collection of the trendy desserts of 2022. The strawberry dessert Takumi-kun loves will make an appearance, and the two of them who are already full will reach the next level~

The next issue which also includes their satisfying heart-to-heart talk will be out in the 6 January 2023 issue, so look forward to it!

[Photos 33-37]

(Bonus) How do they feel after having finished their arena tour?

Kimata: Since we’ve finished our tour smoothly, good job on the hard work!

Kawanishi: Man, it’s over.

Kimata: I feel accomplished, but the sense of emptiness / loneliness wins out. I ended up thinking that I wish it could have gone on for longer.

[Photo 39]

Kawanishi: It was super fun. We got to perform a single song many times over for many different audiences, not just on tour but also at events and on TV shows, and I end up thinking that I don’t want to show the exact same performance twice. I make it a point to give a slightly different performance each time, within limits. Ah, talking about this stuff makes me feel shy (laughs).

Kimata: This year a lot of people listened to “SuperCali”, which made me really happy.

[Photo 40]

Kawanishi: If you ask me which part of the performance-planning process I like, I’d say I have the most fun when thinking about how to sing certain parts of our songs, or how to present certain parts of the performance. I’ll think about them, and when it works out it’s like, “Ah, of course”, and even when it doesn’t work out I learn from that experience, so it’s fun to go through those thinking exercises. Ah, talking about this also makes me feel really shy, to the point where I don’t really want to talk about it (laughs).

Kimata: I’m similar to Takumi-kun. My favourite part is when we first get the demo of the song and practice that. I get pretty excited when we’re getting the song down. I’ll think like, “Won’t JAMs like this kind of song too?”

[Photo 41]

Kawanishi: Yeah, I get that.

Kimata: I want to prepare more and do another tour real soon. I’m always hungry for the chance to meet our fans, and even more so now that I’ve gotten the taste of what it feels like. There’s a lot of live-audience events and music shows over the year end, so I’m also looking forward to those!

[Photo 42-44]