[MAGAZINE] Kawashima Noel (Travis Japan) - Myojo (August 2023) (Part 2)

[dreamweavernyx]

Part 2!

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The MatsuMatsu duo were our only ray of hope

After entering the agency, you were active in units such as S.A.D. and JR.A. In 2012, during “PLAYZONE”, the 9-man unit “Travis Japan” was formed, consisting of 5 juniors who had been taking lessons from the choreographer Travis Payne - including (Yoshizawa) Shizuya-kun, (Nakamura) Kaito-kun and Miyachika (Kaito)-kun - as well as the 4-member unit JR.A, which included Shimekake (Ryuya)-kun and yourself, Noel-kun.

Honestly, I really felt the difference in age and experience level between us, and the 5 who we referred to as the “younger brothers” of the group. I felt that I’d never be able to debut if I stayed in this group, and wanted to leave the group as soon as I could. At that time, I wasn’t able to step up like I’d have liked to, and so I was feeling pressed. Seeking a way to reset everything, I even went as far as to cut my hair really short. Totsuka (Shota)-kun had looked really cool when he cut his hair short for a role, so I brought a photo of Totsuka-kun (to the salon) to have my hair cut. I ended up just looking like a Monchicchi*, though (laughs).

[ T/N: Monchicchi is a Japanese line of stuffed toy monkeys. ]

After that, you proceeded to enter university. Did you do so with the intention of broadening your horizons in the event that you quit being a Junior?

That wasn’t the case. I was wondering about things I could only do at this point in time, since we only have one life. Johnny’s, being an idol, is one of those things. But at the time the number of jobs I had could be counted on both hands. Despite that, I was prepared to gamble everything I had on this. I aimed to get the necessary credits to graduate as quickly as I could, and decided to study with the aim of potentially absorbing something that could come in useful for work someday. In my third year of university, I resolved that Johnny’s would be the only occupation I would ever take on.

Despite that, the stage production “PLAYZONE” drew the curtain on a long, storied history when the Aoyama Theatre closed down.

At that time, (the group) was split into the older and younger halves, and receiving work differentially on that basis, and even among the older four we generally would end up working separately from each other. There was an underlying thought that if “PLAYZONE” was gone then Travis Japan would disband. At that time, the 9 of us had a conversation, and we decided to put our efforts towards getting work together, as the 9 of us. We got to appear in “Johnny’s Ginza” as well, and when we threw our all into our performances we received praise. So we ended up giving it our all together, the 9 of us.

However, following on from the departure of some members, the continued existence of the group was in danger.

After graduating from university, I was all pumped up and ready to go at full throttle, when we lost one member, two members, and by the end of summer, in September, there were only 5 of us left. Just as we’d begun to see the light at the end of the tunnel, we were plunged back into the darkness. Right when we were feeling the sense of despair from losing members, we received our first original song, “Yume no Hollywood”. I’m sure we were definitely the slowest group to receive an original song. Most groups would get one in their 2nd or 3rd year after their formation, but we finally received ours only 5 years after our formation. We were happy, but it felt kind of complicated to sing of a “shining future”* at a time when we couldn’t see the way forward for our group at all.

[ T/N: Lyrics from Yume no Hollywood. ]

And what brought hope to the group once again?

It was the addition of MatsuMatsu (Matsuda Genta, Matsukura Kaito). The two of them were our only ray of hope. The 5 of us had gone to discuss with the agency staff about what would become of Travis Japan. We got plenty of suggestions from them, like whether to add members or to continue being active as a 5-member group. What everyone agreed on was that the group known as Travis Japan should continue to exist. In the end, we thought that adding MatsuMatsu would be our best option.

Even though you used to think that you wanted to leave the group, you came to feel protective of the group instead - how did that change of heart come about?

As we continued to get work, I began to see the possibilities that lay within this group. At the same time, I thought that the moment Travis Japan came to an end, it’d all be over for me as an idol.

I see.

We sounded MatsuMatsu out on the possibility of joining, and they gave us their ready consent, saying, “please let us do it!”. For the two of them, joining a group was their dream, because they thought that without a group they wouldn’t be able to debut. But at that time, Travis Japan didn’t really have any good prospects. Despite that, they still made that decision (to join us), and for that, I’m filled with gratitude. The agency, however, was of the view that the fans also needed to be satisfied with the addition of new members, and so we had a live performance at the Fuji TV Wangan Studio where MatsuMatsu appeared as guests, sort of like a public audition. I felt really bad (that they had to do that) despite us being the ones to have asked them to join. It probably also made them wonder if the 5 of us really wanted them to join the group.

Noel-kun, before the live performance at Wangan Studio, you went to meet the two of them on your off-day from the stage production “ABC-Za”, as they were performing in Hakata for “Endless SHOCK”, didn’t you?

Yes. I jumped on the first bullet train of the day, and went to meet them. I wanted to directly express to them how much we wanted them to join the group. In the end, during the live performance at Wangan Studio, our leader, Miyachika, said (to the crowd): “We can add MatsuMatsu to Travis Japan, right! I won’t forgive anyone who has any complaints about that!” On 19 November, the two of them were officially added and we became a 7-member group, and the hands on Travis Japan’s clock, which had come to a stop, began to move again.

>> Part 3