[WEB ARTICLE] Kimata Syoya (JO1) - Elle Gourmet (6 March 2023) (Part 2)

[dreamweavernyx]

And here's part 2!

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[Photo 13]

What awakened their sensitivity to style…

Sato: Syoya, when did you awaken your sensitivity to style?

Kimata: Hm~, around when I entered high school, I think?

Sato: That’s pretty late!! (laughs)

Kimata: Eh, I mean, before then I was always playing soccer, so I honestly never thought about stuff like that. I was always wearing the jersey for the soccer club as my personal clothes. Our (school’s) soccer jersey was really cool-looking, you know.

Sato: For me, it was around the second year of middle school, I think. There’s school trips around that time, and I have memories of specifically going to choose clothes to wear on those trips…

Kimata: You did that with your friends?

Sato: No, with my mom! We went together, and then she’d tell me I could choose whatever I liked.

[Photo 14]

Kimata: But when you’re a middle schooler, you’d randomly run into your schoolmates at the malls in our hometown, wouldn’t you.

Sato: Ah, for us, you’d be referring to that mall, right? (laughs) But I never found it embarrassing, to be seen going shopping with my mom.

Kimata: It’s the same for me. I think I only started shopping on my own in high school, once I started working a part-time job and paying for my own clothes.

[Photo 15]

Sato: I mean, my mom has really great fashion sense. I’d pick out the items on my own, but she would give me solid advice on whether the items (I’d picked) suited me, and up till now it’s my mom who picks clothes for my dad, too.

Kimata: Eh~! I don’t think I received that many comments on my clothes in my household. (laughs)

Sato: Sometimes when I go back to my childhood home, if I wear something a little weird, my mom will give me all sorts of criticism on it. I still get that even now. (laughs) That came as a shock…

Kimata: (laughs) But in the end, it’s the best to pick things according to what you like for shopping and for fashion!

[Photo 16]

Right now, they’re investing the most in… fashion!

Kimata: For me, I really only started spending money on fashion when I became a high-schooler. I got myself a part-time job for that precise purpose. I worked super hard, and then took all of the money I earned and spent it on high-brand items.

Sato: I think I spend the most on fashion right now. Or rather, I don’t think I spend on anything but fashion. Conversely, is there anything else (worth spending money on)? (laughs)

Kimata: Keigo-kun, that’s because you’re JO1’s fashionista!

Sato: Recently, the other members have also started developing an interest in fashion, and the brands we like are pretty similar, so I make it a point to declare beforehand what I’m interested in so that we don’t end up buying the same thing! (laughs)

Kimata: To borrow a phrase from Ren-kun, if you covet something that’s expensive, then it’s better to buy it as quickly as you can. The reason for that, is that if you think of the purchase as a lifetime subscription service, then the monthly payment would become cheaper (the earlier you purchase the item).

Sato: How very like Ren-kun. (laughs) Apart from Syoya, I often talk about fashion with Sukai and Shosei, I think. We’ll show each other photos and ask, “doesn’t this look nice?” Sukai’s tastes are pretty similar to mine, after all.

Kimata: I also tend to ask Keigo-kun, “what do you think of this?”.

[Photo 17]

Sato: Between shoes and bags, which do you prefer?

Kimata: Woah~ I love both!

Sato: Me too, both have their own merits.

Kimata: I’ve never counted how many pairs of shoes I own, but there’s quite a few pairs I’ve had since my school days. There’s even some that I’ve never worn in front of the other members.

Sato: Is that so!

Kimata: During the audition, I didn’t really have money and so I sold a pair of sneakers I loved, and I regret that fact up till today. (sobs)

Sato: You’re talking about that brand, the one I own as well, right? For that brand, the first edition ones are pretty rare, I think. Speaking of shoes, recently damaged shoes are pretty trendy. They’re cute, aren’t they.

Kimata: Many brands are releasing that style of shoes, which is great!

Sato: Stuff like making safety pins into accessories, or making plastic bottles into shoes, I really love stuff like that.

Kimata: I’d love to wear a really unique costume in our MVs!

[Photo 18]

Kimata: I’ve recently been hooked on wearing weird hats.

Sato: Like balaclavas?

Kimata: I like any hat that has a sort of weird shape to it, including those. Hats, you just can’t get enough of them!

Sato: Syoya, you really love hats, don’t you. I’ve noticed this recently, but don’t you end up tending to buy hats of a similar car? I’m pretty bad at buying hats.

Kimata: I’ve bought the same hat in different colours before.

Sato: I tend to buy them in cool colours such as blue, light blue or purple. If you wear a light blue cap with a white T-shirt or something, it’ll look cute. Even if I try to step out of my comfort zone and break away from my usual by buying a yellow hat or something, it ends up not really matching the clothes I wear!

Kimata: If that’s the case, you should buy clothes to match the hat.

[Photo 19]

Who are they to each other?

Kimata: This time round, our heart-to-heart talk ended up revolving mostly around fashion. (laughs) Finally, let’s talk about each other!

Sato: I really like that, if you recommend something to Syoya, he’ll definitely get interested!

Kimata: That’s right, recently we did talk about muscle training, too.

Sato: Maybe it’s that he catches on quickly or something, I’m not sure, but when I taught him a little bit about muscle training he’d ask me more questions about it, like, “you do it like this, right?”, and that made me really happy so I taught him more and more about it. (laughs)

[Photo 20]

Kimata: I’m (receiving) the kindness of others, after all. For me, it’s like they’re sharing with me some knowledge that I didn’t know about before!

Sato: For me, I’d love to talk endlessly about the things I love, and I get really excited about it. Conversely, if it’s something I have no interest in, I won’t be able to listen to someone else talking about it properly. I’ve been told that boredom shows very easily on my face. (laughs) Man, I’m really impressed by Syoya’s sense of curiosity!

Kimata: I do think that, too. That I have (a sense of curiosity). For Keigo-kun… I think your brain works really quickly!

Sato: I can’t read kanji, but I’m pretty smart, you know. (laughs)

[Photo 21]

Kimata: You’re helping us out in so many ways, truly. Like when we’re speaking as a group, and stuff.

Sato: I’ve been told that the managers have high expectations of me during the live MC portions of our concerts, and I feel the pressure from that. (laughs)

Kimata: Also, you’re good at reading the auras of other people, Keigo-kun. Even if it’s someone you’re meeting for the first time, you seem to know (instinctively) when’s a good timing to strike up a conversation with them.

[Photo 22]

Sato: For me, Kimata’s the very bottom of JO1.

Kimata: Eh, the bottom?! The very bottom?!

Sato: Sorry, sorry. I meant, like, you feel like the youngest one!

Kimata: What’s with that. (laughs)

Sato: The youngest is the one that everyone looks out for, right? Sometimes, you’ll say something interesting that will break the ice, and that really makes you feel like you have youngest-kid energy, to me.

[Photo 23]

Kimata: For me, Keigo-kun feels like an older brother! He’s really reliable. I wonder why… I guess it’s because we come from the same hometown!

Sato: Our hometown, huh. (laughs)

Kimata: Our hometowns are the same, after all.

Sato: I’ll be in your care from now on!

[Photos]