[MAGAZINE] Abe Ryohei (Snow Man) - Hanako (March 2022)

[dreamweavernyx]

I was really thrilled to hear the news of Abe-chan's cover feature for Hanako magazine; they always do really nice shoots for him, and this time was no exception! The photos were really adorable and the interview was great, so I had to translate it ^^ Since it's their special issue on "learning", as expected, they talk to Abe-chan about what he's been learning recently; there's also a bit about the Osomatsu-san movie!

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Abe Ryohei: A man who learns.

Abe Ryohei-san, who graces the cover of our special issue on “learning” for the third time. Following on from his first appearance as a scientific man in a white coat, and his second appearance as a home tutor, the theme this time round is “The XXX of the Reiwa Era”. The hint (to this theme) lies in the regular, daily life of Abe-san, who has never stopped the process of learning.

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I’ve admired outer space since I was a child. You can really feel the romance of it!

This is Abe Ryohei-san, for whom this is the first solo magazine cover in around 10 months. In that span of time, he’s managed to further advance his studies, and it seems that most recently he tried for the “Astronomy Certification” qualification.

“I started studying for it during the Nagoya shows for Takizawa Kabuki ZERO 2021. I studied for around a month, and then when we came back to Tokyo I sat for the exam. I successfully passed the 3rd level of the exam.* When I was a child, I really felt the romance of outer space; I’ve loved looking at illustrated guides about outer space since quite a long time ago, and got interested in the stars, thinking things like “oh wow, this is bigger than the Sun!” “oh, but it looks so small (from Earth)”. I came to know about the Astronomy Certification long after I’d received my weather forecaster’s qualification, but weather forecasting concerns the sky, and it seemed only natural for me to study about outer space, which lies even further beyond the sky. It’s not that this becomes particularly relevant in my line of work, but the first thing I did was memorise how to say the twelve star-signs in order (laughs). If I heard someone’s birthday, I would be able to tell what their horoscope would be, and if it was a simple constellation I’d be able to identify it when I looked up into the sky… Ah, perhaps I was able to do that since a long time ago. But, even though it’s not relevant to anything (about my job), it’s still fun. In winter, the air becomes clear, and it’s easier to spot the constellations, isn't it. During the filming of our movie “Osomatsu-san”, I saw the Orion constellation, too.”

[*T/N: In Japan, the lower the number of the qualification level, the more advanced it is.]

A sudden romantic statement!? Just as we thought that, Abe-san warned us with a smile, “Ah, it’s not that I was looking at it all the time,” and continued on.

“The Astronomy Certification goes all the way up to the 1st level, but right around the 2nd level the difficulty level really goes up, you know. I have the reference book for the 2nd level, but it covers stuff like the types of black holes, and so it’s really difficult. If I were to try for the next level, I think it’ll be a little while longer before I do so.”

What always feels fresh about Abe-san, and what always makes us feel touched, is the way he is not even a little bit haughty about these amazing achievements, and is very gentlemanly about them.

And then, even now he’s continuing to study.

“Things like studying and my scholarly ability, I never really thought they’d be directly related to my work in the first place. But when I started trying to appear on quiz shows, I realised that there’s a connection between you getting the answer right and how much screentime you get. I realised that one’s studies can really formally become a special skill, and that made me really happy. Also, my knowledge is something that’s unique to me, so I don’t think it’s something that should be compared with others. Recently, when I’m able to make use of the knowledge I’ve gained through studying for quizzes when I’m talking to other people from different fields, I’m thrilled when I’m able to get through to them, even if it’s only a little bit. The other day, I had the chance to speak with someone who did tea ceremonies, and because I knew that there are mainly three different schools of tea ceremony, I was able to keep a conversation going by asking “which school do you hail from?”. I was able to have conversations with people who come from fields that I’ve never even crossed paths with before, and from that I became able to further deepen my own knowledge.”

During the photoshoot for this interview, in between his change of clothes, Abe-san stood in front of the cameras with a slightly lost expression.

“I don’t really get this many outfit changes for a magazine shoot often, so I wonder what the situation (for these outfits) is, and get a little restless thinking about that (laughs).”

Things like reviewing vocabulary lists while waiting for the bus, reading in his pajamas, etc… When we told him of the theme for the interview this time, he laughed and went “Oh~~! I see!” with a smile. On rainy or windy days, and even as an idol… Abe-san, who diligently studies and shares his knowledge, is truly “The Ninomiya Kinjiro* of the Reiwa Era”.

[*T/N: Ninomiya Kinjiro is a famous Japanese philosopher. He was known to have self-studied at every opportunity he had, and is often depicted in schools, etc. as a young boy reading a book while walking and carrying firewood on his back.]

In the movie “Osomatsu-san”, the regular ‘me’.... does not appear (laughs).

The movie “Osomatsu-san”, which all members of Snow Man will be starring in, opens in cinemas on 25 March. Abe-san plays an original character for the movie, named Close.

“He’s known as ‘a specialist in bringing stories to an end’... Even as I’m saying that, it’s like, ‘what even is that?’, they really had me play an incredibly shady character (laughs). Watanabe Shota and Miyadate Ryota are also playing ‘specialists in bringing stories to an end’, like me, but during filming we rarely had scenes together. Or rather, because it’s a story where the shenanigans of the 6 children of the Matsuno household were so intense, the 3 of us had to be split up to stop them. Close’s initial personality is really calm and mysterious. However, he’s someone with a dual nature, and when a switch is flipped, he undergoes a complete change and starts speaking in a faked Kansai dialect. At the start, it wasn’t supposed to be fake, but he was supposed to speak in a Kansai dialect normally. I asked Mukai Koji, who is the only one among the members who was born in Kansai, ‘Could you read this line for me?’, and he would send me voice messages on LINE, and I practiced over and over while listening to those. During the table read for the script, the director told me, ‘Actually, isn’t it more interesting this way?’, and so the faked Kansai dialect got chosen instead. On the other hand, Mukai who normally speaks in a Kansai dialect uses very clear standard Japanese in the movie (laughs). I understood the story from the script, but I can’t predict how it’ll develop out of the members’ acting. I want to watch the completed product on the cinema screen soon. By the way, the regular ‘me’ is nowhere to be seen in this movie! It’s a movie that’s rather far removed from ‘learning’, so please empty your mind, and come in laughing to watch the movie.”