[WEB ARTICLE] Kimata Syoya (JO1) - Elle Gourmet (6 February 2023) regular column (Part 3)

[dreamweavernyx]

And part 3, featuring a bonus interview where they talk about their goals for JO1's 4th year!

~

[Photo 24]

Sato: People often say that something melts in your mouth when they review food, don’t they. This feels like something else entirely.

Kimata: I tried getting a feel for the texture with my tongue. And it felt almost like cotton candy…

Sato: That’s right! This was amazing, it took me by surprise. I love tuna sushi the most out of all sushi toppings, but this is my first time eating tuna that tastes this good.

Chef: Here’s one more piece of tuna sushi.

Kimata: The way the fish is sliced is different from the usual, somehow! It’s, like, a rhombus shape, or like the shape of the hats they use for the Awa-Odori dance…

[ T/N: Awa-Odori is a traditional folk dance originating from Tokushima prefecture. Dancers wear a hat that looks like a circle folded in half. ]

[Photo 25]

Chef: This slice of meat is cut out from between the sinews of the meat, so that’s why it is in this shape.

Kimata: It’s a really pretty shape. It’s the golden ratio of sushi!! The Cleopatra of the sushi world!

[Photo 26]

Approaching the night’s climax with a lemongrass tea

Sato: The final drink has arrived! Oh, that means we’re approaching the finale of this meal. How sad.

Sommelier: This is a lemongrass herbal tea infused with ginger and Western pear.

Kimata: Woah~!

Sato: The aroma is amazing!

Kimata: You could totally chug this. But we’ve got to make sure we pair it with the sushi!

Chef: We will have two more nigiri sushi and one makizushi, and then the course will end.

[Photo 27]

Kimata: The time passed by in a flash. Recently, my palate’s gotten way more sophisticated because of all the good sushi I’ve gotten to eat thanks to this corner. Especially when it comes to tuna! But Keigo-kun, you seem like your tastes would have been refined from the start.

Sato: Hmmmm, well, more than anything else, it’s because my mom is an amazing cook, you know.

Kimata: Eh, (your refined palate) isn’t due to your parents bringing you to fancy restaurants? (laughs)

Sato: Not due to fine-dining restaurants, but just because the food I got at home was of top quality…

Kimata: What’s your favourite of your mom’s dishes?

Sato: Her stuffed green bell-peppers. They’re seasoned with soy sauce so they have a very Japanese flavour. They are legitimately very tasty.

[Photo 28]

Chef: This is the nodoguro (blackthroat sea perch).

Kimata: Ah, it’s Nodoguro-chan!

Chef: If possible, please eat this in a single mouthful.

Kimata: Eating things in one bite is my specialty. Ahhh, it’s warm!

Sato: So juicy, so yummy! The meat’s nice and flaky

Kimata: You’ve got to pair this one with the drink. The slight sear to it really stands out. The drink also tastes entirely different from if you drink it on its own. In order to tell that difference, I deliberately drank the drink on its own earlier, you know~ (smug)

[Photo 29]

Sato: For drinks in glasses that look like this, after you drink from them you tend to look as though you’re very knowledgeable (about drinks).

Kimata: Ah, like you’ll swish the glass a little, right?

Sommelier: For wine, you’d swirl the glass a little to let it breathe a little and let the aroma develop, but this drink is non-alcoholic. (laughs)

Sato: But I’ll do this anyway, so that I’ll look like I know what I’m doing, even if only superficially…

Kimata: You don’t know what you’re doing in the slightest! (laughs)

[Photo 30]

Realising that someone connected to the store has been a JAM since PDJ days?!

Chef: This is the last of the nigiri sushi, the sea urchin.

Kimata: Ah, it’s here!

Sato: Syoya, it’s one of your favourites, right?

Kimata: Truth be told, all (sushi) are my favourite.

[Photo 31]

Sato: Um… Mr Chef, do you know of JO1?

Chef: My wife had been watching (you guys) since the audition.

Sato: Amazing! For real?! That (fact) is the most wonderful thing we’ve had today. Thank you very much.

Kimata: Yeah! We’re happy when we hear that someone’s been following us since our audition days.

Sato: I’m happy! I’m so happy. It means she really knows us well.

[Photo 32]

Kimata: Keigo-kun, this sea urchin is really delicious~ The look of it is great, too; the curves of it are really clearly defined. A single piece of it is really big, and the texture is creamy.

Sato: Yum!!!

Chef: Today’s sea urchin comes from Santa Barbara in Seattle.

[Photo 33]

Finishing off with a fatty tuna sushi roll

Chef: Finally, let me pass you this sushi roll by hand.

Sato: Thank you!

Kimata: Hm? There’s an interesting subtle taste to it…

Chef: The roll is filled with naka-ochi tuna* and house-made stewed seaweed made with black seaweed from Miyagi prefecture.

[ T/N: Naka-ochi is the meat that sits closest to the rib-bones of the tuna. It has a rich flavour and is eaten by scraping the meat off the bones; it’s considered to be one of the choicest parts of a tuna. ]

Kimata: It seems like you’ve perfected the rolling technique so that the rice won’t fall apart~

Sato: Thank you for this opportunity to eat such amazing sushi! I was particularly moved when I had the tuna sushi. Next time I’d love to bring my mom here!

[Photo 34-38]

(Bonus) What are JO1’s goals for their 4th year?

Kimata: Our tour DVD is about to go on sale, so I’d like to look back on our tour though it happened a while ago… Keigo-kun, you were so cool!

Sato: Syoya, I thought you really shone too. Syoya, you really have a strong sense of what you want, like, you’re the type who’ll really want to do the things you feel like doing, aren’t you. Something like a concert, which gives a lot of freedom, really suits you.

Kimata: That’s true, it was really fun to think about what I wanted to do for each show.

[Photo 39]

Sato: I was so occupied with thinking about how to present myself on stage, and wasn’t able to watch the other members at all, but Syoya, you caught my eye.

Kimata: Thank you!

Sato: The other members all managed to make themselves a moment where they could shine, and they seemed really happy about that, so I felt happy too.

Kimata: What kind of concert would you want to do in the future?

[Photo 40]

Sato: I’d like us to have more songs that are suited for concerts. It doesn’t have to be the kind that makes people jump up and down, but something that can hype up the crowd (would be nice). Last year we finally got to do a lot of live shows, and I realised anew that I love performing, so I’d simply like to improve my live performance skills.

Kimata: Same for me!

[Photo 41]

Sato: Speaking of concerts, we got to attend Bruno Mars’ concert in Tokyo Dome last year, which was huge. It really spurred me on, and made me think that I’d like to have this many people watch us perform as JO1, and to put on performances that would move anyone.

Kimata: It felt like everyone, including the audience, was contributing to the same stage performance. That was nice. After the concert, I went home and played nothing but Bruno Mars songs on the guitar.

[Photo 42]

Sato: Right? All his songs are famous, and there isn’t a song of his that people don’t know, right? I really thought to myself that JO1’s got to hurry and put out a song that everyone would know and be able to hum along to. Like, where attending JO1’s concert would be a status symbol, or where blasting JO1’s songs at top volume in the car would raise the mood - I’d like for us to become artists who are cool like that, artists recognised on the international stage. That’s my goal for us for our 4th year, I think.