Kokuritsu Photo Book Crosstalk - 2008, ARASHI AROUND ASIA (3/3)

[barbosa2007.livejournal.com]

I actually got to the last part of the crosstalk for the 2008 Arashi Around Asia concert! [checks concert no. 1 off the list]

9 pages down, 42 more to go...



Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

MC: That year, it rained on the 2nd day, didn’t it?

J: Yeah, during the final part of the performance. During Pikanchi Double, I guess? Or was it Wish? It was raining so heavily as we were singing. [T/N: It began raining after Kotoba Yori Taisetsu na Mono, but the song where you could really feel the rain was Wish.] In the final song “Gori Muchuu”, it was pouring… Then all the members were sliding while the band was playing in the background. (laughs)

MC: Ohno-san looked like he was having so much fun while sliding…

J: Spinning around on his knees and all. (laughs)

N: He looked like he was having a blast during times like these.

O: It was fun. But I was cautioned by the staff after the concert. “What if there had been nails protruding from the floor? Be careful!”

S: Aaah… That’s true.

A: It’s a possibility.

O: We never noticed that till now. They’re right.

N: Yeah.

MC: Eeeh… were you guys sliding without thinking much about it!?

O: Ufufu, [T/N: That’s the Japanese onomatopoeia for a chuckle] hahaha!

J: The weather came about by accident. We didn’t plan on holding a concert in the rain too.

N: Um hmm, that’s right.

J: We pretty much sing the line, “Honjitsu wa seiten nari // Today’s a clear day” in the rain. (laughs) When the crowd was dispersing, and when we were packing up, the rain continued pouring.

A: That’s right… It was raining a lot for that period.

J: True.

O: At the end of August…

J: Or the start of September. After the concert where it rained heavily, I heard this story… Although we could use the microphones during the concert, they ended up becoming completely useless afterwards, so the staff had to buy completely new ones.

S: The staff members did say that.

MC: Ninomiya-san didn’t do any sliding then, right?

N: I don’t do sliding. What would we do if all our microphones had been damaged? So I thought it would be better if we had kept one microphone safe.

T/N: At least Nino is consistent. He said the same thing on Shabekuri.

J: We do end up remembering quite a bit.

N: Yeah I do.

J: In last year’s Arafes [T/N: Jun is referring to Arafes 2013], we parodied our first Kokuritsu concerts a little… Or rather, we rehashed some older performances.

MC: In your first Kokuritsu concert, you swept all the way from outside of the stadium to the platform bearing the Olympic flame.

J: That’s right. Ogura-san was speaking, right? [T/N: During the segment, there was a footage of Ogura-san giving a lecture on the Kokuritsu National Stadium.] As he explained, “What sort of place is Kokuritsu?” We were being raised on a machine that’s like an aerial work platform.

N: That machine was seriously scary.

MC: Everyone was talking about how scary it was.

A: Of course it’s scary!

J: I mean… how big was it? It was a small box that is 4 meters by 2 meters.

N: Yeah, it was a small space.

J: That small box would raise us to a height of 25 meters. It initially lies in a horizontal position before raising us up. At its highest point, the structure would be entirely vertical. We would then move onto a separate stage, which didn’t have any fencing around it. So the transfer and standing on that stage was the really scary part.

S: As for me, I was so scared that my memories were wiped out. I forgot the part about the aerial work platform turning vertical.

Everyone: [bursts out laughing]

J: When the structure turned vertical, everyone would get into a line and hop onto the stage.

S: Geez… it was impossible.

J: And there was a gap between the stage and the aerial work platform.

N: They couldn’t place the two platforms so that they were touching each other.

J: And when we appeared on stage and the Olympic flame was lit, it was freaking hot!

Everyone: [bursts out laughing]

S: Yeah! That was insane.

N: Um hmm, it was.

O: That was pretty hot.

A: It depends on the wind direction, right?

MC: What was the view like from the platform bearing the Olympic torch?

S: If you’re talking about the time we did a preliminary inspection of Kokuritsu, the view from the Olympic torch was breathtaking.

J: That’s right.

S: We could see the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in the distance… That wasn’t something that we had seen before. And during the concert too… we were too absorbed in the performance to notice how beautiful it was.

J: The view during the preliminary inspection was breathtaking, and indeed, that is my favorite vantage point in Kokuritsu.

O: I took photos from that spot during our rehearsals too. Wouldn’t we be looking at the main stage from the platform? Rather than looking in that direction, I was more interested in what was behind me.

J: Eh!? You mean the OTHER way?

Everyone: [bursts out laughing]

O: There’s NOTHING behind me.

N: Yeah, he did say that. He kept going, “I feel like this is consuming me.” He was the only person excited about it.

O: Yeah, I was really curious. (laughs) Seriously… there wasn’t even a railing or anything.

J: We did a good job in pulling it off!

N: It was seriously scary…

A: The people who couldn’t get into the stadium could see that spot from the ground. Wouldn’t the people watching from the ground be even more terrified? That’s how amazing and simple the aerial work platform was.

MC: An extremely simple structure.

A: That’s right! (laughs)

S: It gives me newfound respect for those people working in high places.

A: Like the people who clean our buildings and stuff…

N: Yeah. That’s true.

S: On the same day in 1964, the flags from various nations all over the world flew at Kokuritsu during the Tokyo Olympics. In 2008, Arashi flags were lined up in the same place. When I could see those flags from outside the stadium as I came in for the morning rehearsal. Somehow, that was so cool! It’s like (Kokuritsu) is Arashi’s fortress.

J: Um hmm. That’s why… in our 2nd year at Kokuritsu, we made the Arashi logo a little larger!

S: Hahaha! We were so happy. (laughs)

MC: That’s right. In the first year, the “A” mark was the main design.

J: In our first year, yes.

N: You mean to say that onlookers wouldn’t know what kind of mark it represented, right?

S: I was moved by that flag.

N: I watched the DVD just now. During the segment with the members’ comments, when we said, “We’re going for the Asia Tour*!” and the audience had a vibe which went, “Have a good trip!” It felt great. In our first Kokuritsu, we said, “We’ll set off from here, it begins here.” When we said, “We’ll be touring Asia,” the audience applauded, as if to say, “Have a safe trip!” It felt warm and kinda nice.

*T/N: The words Nino used here were, “Ittekimasu”, which is a greeting that is normally used when a family member announces that he’s leaving the house. A family member would then reply, “Itterasshai,”
which means, “Have a safe trip!” I think Nino meant to say that Japan will always be their home.

J: That’s right. And after that, I didn’t think we’d get the chance to do it for 6 consecutive years… Or even 2 consecutive years, for that matter. In any case, we just wanted to a current “Best of Arashi” set… Before we embarked on our 2nd Asia tour, we thought, “How would a ‘Best of Arashi’ set turn out?” That’s the idea behind this concert.

Credits: spazzcrack@LJ, Stormy Team, Lucky Subbin' for GIFs and screen shots. Leana9101 for getting me the amazing photo book.

Comments

[imconan.livejournal.com]

thanks a lot for this ^_^

the Arashi blast is coming~

[bibi-teko.livejournal.com]

Thank you for part 3!
And I can't stop looking at the Ohno sliding gif! <3

[simopimo.livejournal.com]

Thank you soo much for your work!

[chibi-yui15.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the translation
It was interesting to know that they still remember so much of their first concert in Kokuritsu

[nakahalu.livejournal.com]

Nice so like it!
Thanks for sharing!!
;-)
^_^

[j-sei.livejournal.com]

The talk is a lot of fun. How I hoped they gave us a CD with this talking inside xD
Nevertheless, thank you for the translation!
Can't wait for the next part ^^

[unicorn1607.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the translation! I really enjoy reading it. ^^

[deelovesryo.livejournal.com]

Thanks for sharing!

[cutselvage.livejournal.com]

this has been super enjoyable to read - thank you so, so much for translating and sharing this wonderful book! <3

[leiva21]

Thank you for the translation!

[indigo-lover.livejournal.com]

thanks for the translation!! and for the extras tid-bits =D

[nurcahya.livejournal.com]

thank you

[ariange]

I really like how you add all the images etc. to better illustrate the translation, it's pretty neat!

I remember watching the documentary and the concert and thinking I'd be freaked out standing on that high and tiny platform/stage that didn't have any railings behind.

Thank you!

[koe-wo-kikasete.livejournal.com]

thank you for embarking on translating this massive cross talk! it's so much fun to read and it's so lovely to hear about their feelings as they reminisce on how far they've come! i'm so proud of them. :') can't wait for the next part! :)

[seriousheadache.livejournal.com]

Thank you for your hardwork, ganbatte! :D
And that epic moment jun mentioned when they sung gorimuchu, excatly what I thought when I see it xD

[orsa2012.livejournal.com]

O: It was fun. But I was cautioned by the staff after the concert. “What if there had been nails protruding from the floor? Be careful!”

You know.. i was wondering about that all the time they were sliding!! Won't they get hurt!? Get scratched!! Especially Rida since he's legs are bare!! Hmm.. maybe their stages were made for this kind of thing!! Maybe it's well made!! I guess they are safe if they are doing it..

OO; They were not!!?

lol.. but i like their boyish playful careless side..

Thanks for translating and sharing this fun cross talk!!

[breeze88.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for subbing this. I feel really happy when reading this cause I will never ever have chance to have that photo book :(( *cry in corner*

[sesquerdo.livejournal.com]

Thanks for translating and sharing! Kokuritsu will always be Arashi’s fortress!

[ikaarashi.livejournal.com]

thank you for the translation.. :)

[celboncel.livejournal.com]

thank you so so much for your effort in translating the crosstalk!! we really appreciate it! ;D

[qonyta.livejournal.com]

thank you for sharing :D
oh yes they, except riida i think, were freaking out about how scary the stage near the olympic torch

[coco-san.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for translating the book. :)

[dingdong2988.livejournal.com]

Thanks again!

LOL of them being scolded by staff after the sliding. There were having too much fun. But that's very true, what if they got hurt?! Luckily they didn't XD

[chuline.livejournal.com]

Thanks a lot for this! I remember the girls watching outside the Kokuritsu when they were lifted in the video, that was scary. And also the rain, how awesome was the last part just because of Arashi and the rain. It looks like they were having so much fun. Arigatou for this. Can't wait to read something else about the other concerts.(*^∇')

[kanu-x.livejournal.com]

I'm really glad you provided the gifs and screenshots too.

9 pages down, 42 more to go... Thanks so much for your hard work!

[niji-11.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! Such an interesting read!

[edneichon.livejournal.com]

Thanks for sharing <3

[hanacaraka.livejournal.com]

thanks for this :D
what a precious shoots and interviews :D

[inachan89.livejournal.com]

I remember they were totally scared by that platform,even Jun admitted it lol in the documentary video they talked about how easy it would have been for one of them to kill one of the other members up there XDD

Thanks for sharing,this is probably my favourite Arashi concert!

[clara-maria.livejournal.com]

ahhh ♥ all the warmth & love from this talk

Thank you! it's great to read this!!

[perkyandproud.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for translating this!! :)

[animecook.livejournal.com]

thank you for sharing!!

[trulysyeze.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much ^_^

[memole18.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much

[crazytammu.livejournal.com]

Thanks for sharing the translation! I just ran across this journal and I love the translation of old articles! I just finished going through the Ohno tag and I'm going through the other tags right now. Thanks for leaving this open and not limited to the community! I know membership is closed right now so I really appreciate reading what's available! Reading the old articles makes me appreciate them even more and realize that even with all the years that have passed, they still remain sincere and the same! I love that! !

[missd3stiny.livejournal.com]

thank you so much <3 :D

[bemyluckystar.livejournal.com]

Hii!!! Thanks for translating this!! Just wondering do you plan on doing the rest of the concert crosstalks in the photobook?? I'd really really love to read what they said about the other concerts as well! =D

[primraesoo.livejournal.com]

Thank you for translating and sharing!! :D
<3 <3