V6_Big_Junction

V6 BIG JUNCTION
Which events they have encountered are the turning points of the lives?

Sakamoto Masayuki
[My Life Experience]
To me, the greatest thing that has ever happened in my life should be my birth to this world and the enriching life that follows...it has got to be this. As my parents ran a vegetable shop when I was young, they were very busy and as a result, I never really had snacks, so I always enjoyed getting my hands on our shop's specially-made cucumber pickles. We never celebrated birthdays or Christmas but that was normal to me. Even during my spare time then, I would be helping out at the shop.

Though my father may look stern and scary with his curly hair, riding on a jeep and working very hard, he never seemed to lose his temper nor scolded me. At home, the task of lecturing the children belonged to my mother. My parents are the kind of people with lots of hobbies and they even built a pond in our yard! Well, although it was really small for a pond! (laughs). Just recently, they were working on building a well! Impressive yeah? They said that someday, they hope to build a house that is as regal as a castle. They are very "Japanese" too. Anyway, the greatest news of all is that these parents of mine gave birth to me and raised me.

[Baseball]
Influenced by my older brother, I started playing baseball when I was in fourth grade. I continued until my first year in junior high but I had to quit then. Well, I just happened to get into my school's volleyball team and was subsequently chosen as a regular team player. As matches were often scheduled on Sundays which clashed with my baseball practices, I started playing baseball less often. Furthermore, I was really tied up with both sports and had to ask for a break from my baseball coach because I was exhausted. Though I would love to continue with my baseball, I had to give it up due to my commitment towards the volleyball team. I had always wanted to become a baseball player when I was young and also after graduation, I wanted to form a team with my friends and the locals to play baseball forever...up till now, baseball still remains as my favorite sport.

[Seniors Whom I Met At Work]
When I was working part-time during high school at a travel agency, I got to know a bunch of seniors whom I still keep in touch with. In my memory, I had many good times together with this one senior particularly! On payday, he would invite like 20 of us from work to go eat yakiniku, and he was so cool when he would call out, "Eat up to your heart's consent!" Whenever I talked about my future after high school graduation to him, he never tried to stop me from taking the path I wanted to and he never stopped me when I decided to quit my job, he would just say "Anything will be alright unless you do it half-heartedly." Meeting him and the others from my part-time job really impacted my life. I still get e-mail from him saying, "Let's do something today," and whenever we meet, I end up seeking advice from him and we have a lot of fun. I really want to cherish my friendship with all of them!

Nagano Hiroshi
[Joining The Agency]
My sister secretly sent my resume to the agency when I was in my second year in junior high. But I was not keen on the entertainment business till I joined the agency and started going for many lessons. Then I started getting interested in the work and found myself working hard at it. I was in my school's soccer team which often held matches on Sundays, but I wanted very much to go to dance practice so I started disappearing from the middle of matches, using "I'm busy," as an excuse to my teammates. Of course, I still loved soccer and wanted to join in their activities but the thought of "Since I managed to get into the agency, I had better try my best to learn all the things!" was so strong. Oh yes, also during those times, there was this rumor going around saying, "If you can't do a back flip, you can't make it in the Johnnys Agency." (laughs) It seems that my sister even asked the agency beforehand, "Can my brother get in even if he can't do a back flip?" before she sent out my application. Come to think of it now, it's quite a funny story. (laughs)

[My First Meeting With My Best Friends]
Isn't it true that you don't really have a lot of really close and real friends? I got along very well with one of my classmates during my first year of high school and we still keep in touch to this day. I believe our friendship will stay strong even in the future, and we'll remain friends for the rest of our lives! Actually, I became closer to some of these friends only after joining the agency. How should I put it?...Somehow I feel more comfortable with friends that I have already known. Because they've known me for so long, we would still behave the same way as how we used to, hence it is more natural and comfortable. I will definitely be treasuring this friendship all my life.

[Car Lover]
I always believe a person is influenced by the environment that he grew up in. Since I was young, my family had always been selling motorbikes in our bicycle shop also, and I grew up under such an environment. Whenever my father made a delivery in his small truck, I would always sit beside him in the passenger seat, watching him shift the gears. As I grew up surrounded by motorbikes, naturally I started to love motorbikes and cars.

As there was a garage at my house, I would always borrow the family car to drive around after obtaining my driving license. I still love driving till now. I feel that it is more thrilling and enjoyable driving the car myself than to sit in the passenger seat. Although sometimes my body would be aching on my way home after skiing and I would have a tough time (laughs). I still love driving, and to me, I never feel like I am just simply moving the vehicle, it's something more fun! Each time you obtain a license, you feel that you can now travel to even more places. From bicycles, motorbikes to cars...the different ways of traveling will bring you to different places?.it is really interesting. Judging criteria for good driving? To me, I do not think you should assess it on the driving speed. Apart from having good judgment, driving skill is still the most important (laughs). I have been surrounded by automobiles all this time, I reckon we are inseparable for the rest of my life!

Okada Junichi
[My Mother's Teachings]
Since I was little, my mother always told me to become "an independent man". Because she was busy as a piano teacher, she never paid much attention to me, but she would always sternly instill in me "You have to continue piano until you graduate from elementary school." Her teaching method kinda resembled that of the woman in the movie "Music of My Heart" (laughs).

Piano was a done deal for me, my mom made me continue it without any discussion about it at all but she stopped forcing me to play after I entered junior high. When I told her, "I want to play rugby," she didn't object at all, and she looked at me as a individual man and she understood my feelings. I think that's why she let me, at age 14 go off to Tokyo all alone.

Just recently, my mom came to visit me in Tokyo and we had a little argument. She told me how she wanted to be a professional pianist when she was younger but gave up because she saw reality. Well, I shot back at her with, "Nothing's impossible! All you have to do is practice, that's all it takes!" and it turned into a fight. (laughs) But actually, I'm happy that we're able to have fights like this now. Because we live far apart I finally realized how my mom felt when she raised me. She taught me the importance of being an independent man and I'm still grateful to her for this.

[Meeting Helpful Yone-Sensei]
When I was in my school's rugby team during junior high school, I got to know Yone sensei who was the rugby team consultant and he was the very first man in my life that I ever looked up to. He would sacrifice his weekends and holidays to bring us to the stadium to play rugby, and sometime we even worried that we had taken up too much of his private time (laughs). On the days that were snowy, we built a huge igloo out of snow; he was very young at heart.

During marathon races, when we were walking slowly, dragging our feet, Yone-san would come up behind us, with a huge smile on his face and says stuff like, "You guys had better run faster if you wanna catch up with me!" His way of encouraging the students was indeed effective! He was the type that would stake his own self to make us want to work harder. From Yone sensei, I learned "If you make up your mind to do something, you have to do it. You will have to persevere and not give up half-way!"

[Joining The Agency]
Ever since I joined the entertainment business, I learned the importance of good manners and I learned how to present myself according to the occasion and atmosphere. When I first made my debut, Sakamoto-kun had told me "Good manners are the most important thing to have," but I only got to really learn about it only after joining the agency. Only then did I fully understand the importance of having good social graces.

Actually before joining the entertainment circle, I had wanted to become a school teacher and was also interested in psychology. But now with such a great job, my original thinking had completely changed. Working with many people not only has a great influence on me, but working with the different colleagues and watching the staff working at all kinds of things, has also taught me lots of things. I think it's a really good thing.

Miyake Ken
[Johnny-san]
To be where I am now, I think I should thank Kitagawa-san for grooming me. There was this incident that made me realize how friendly he really was. I had this small accident one day and he actually helped to apply medicine on me and everybody was totally shocked by his act! He said to me then, "Let me take a look at your wound." Then he started applying the medicated lotion on my wounded wrist. I was feeling so blissful deep inside.

When I first started performing at Smap concert, I did not even know how to dance. But he was not mad at me at all. I think he must have looked far beyond what I was capable of then. He once said, "Because it is V6, that is why each one of the 6 members are different, but I firmly believe you guys will have a bright future together. That's also the reason why all of you are chosen!" He is indeed an outstanding person. When thinking about how to get on with the concept and program of the concert, he would correct us only when it was called for like when he felt that our suggestions were not realistic or feasible, so that we would not go wrong. He would always placed himself in the shoes of a fan to set the direction, he must really be an old hand in this industry in order to do this.

[Blue & J]
Blue and J have already become part of my family. Sometimes when my mum called to say "Blue didn't seem to have much appetite today" and I would be very worried upon hearing this. I yearned to rush back home immediately to take a look at him but because I was in the midst of working, I felt really bad about not being able to do so...they are this important to me!

Blue is very different from J. Blue likes to get close to people very much, he will always run up to crowds whenever I take him out for walks. I sometimes hope Blue can be more composed (laughs). As for J, he is more pampered...he put himself first in everything. Normally, Blue will stay in the room closer to the gate whilst J will stay in the room further in the house. But there was once when I came back home and both of them ran to the gate to welcome me. I was wondering, how could this happened? J would never be able to open the door himself...or maybe Blue heard J's barking and opened the door for J! Maybe it is because Blue has always been feeding on rice balls and seaweed rolls from the convenience stores, that was why he could skillfully turned the door knob (laughs)! Every time before I reached home, they seemed to be able to sense my coming and would be frantically looking out for me at the gate, so my mother always tell me "Don't make any noise when you come back".

[Meeting With Fans]
I have always firmly believed that " There is no way to count on just one person's hard work!" Along the way, my fans have been with me till now. I have learned a lot from my fans and they have showered me with concern all the way....it was really great having them by my side.

I have always wanted to say "Thank You" to all my fans but am too shy to do it, I'm still like this now (laughs). So at places other than concerts, I'll always act distant whenever I meet any fan. Actually I wished to say "Goodbye" to them but no matter how much I wanted to, I would be too shy to do it (laughs). Besides this, some ardent fans will always write to me to encourage me. Though I always wanted to reply their letters, I just couldn't find the time. But they are very understanding towards this and I'm really very happy and grateful!

Inohara Yoshihiko
[Joining the Agency]
Before joining Johnny's, I was no different from any other kids except that my classmates called me "The Class Clown". So I would always try my best to do tricks and stuff to make them laugh (laughs). Actually, I was never really an interesting person, no matter from which angle you look at me, I was more like a half-baked, plain son who would take over the family business! And look at me now?here in the world of show business! Isn't that something?! It's true that I have always loved singing since young, in particular I loved singing songs by Matchi (a.k.a. Kondou Masahiko) in front of everyone. Even if I forgot the lyrics in the middle of the song, I would pretend as if nothing had happened and asked, "So what's the next song?" (laughs). I would never feel embarrassed about such things and would never feel uneasy performing before a group of people; I don't mind being the center of attention. Well, after I entered the agency, that is when I really experienced the real world! I didn't even know how to greet people properly at that time! All thanks to the seniors who taught me the necessary manners and some knowledge about the ways of the working world. I would like to say "Thank You" to all of them here! So from now on, I shall do the same and impart what I have learned to the juniors.

[When I Hurt My Neck]
The most unforgettable big event that has ever happened in my life would be the time when I was hospitalized for a week after hurting my neck. I actually thought of a lot of things about life during that period. It just dawned upon me that human beings are so vulnerable, you can die and leave this world that easily. That was when I realized the importance of having good health. As I had to watch my health closely after that, I fully understood the true meaning behind this. I had nothing to do during that period when I was resting at the hospital, so I watched a lot of movies, I think about 32 films altogether! Just the whole 3-part saga of the movie "Godfather" alone, I watched it twice! (laughs) I guess from now on, I cannot be too complacent about my physical health!

[Learning The Guitar]
While acting in the drama "Ari Yo Saraba", there was this cast member, Ono Takashi-kun whom I learned a lot and received many valuable knowledge on music-related matters. He plays the guitar very well and he has many musical instruments at home...I was really impressed. He was the one who inspired me to learn to play the guitar. Though I started learning guitar at the age of 15 under the pretext of wanting to compose songs, I still cannot play it well even now (laughs). But there are always nice melodies floating in my mind! I like to compose songs since young...since as young as I was a fifth grader, I wrote a song titled "Horafuki Weekday" ("Weekday Bluff")! (Innochi starts singing it as if he just wrote it yesterday) I copied the lyrics into this notebook that I got when I watched the movie "Robocop". Oh yes! I had actually wanted to buy a harmonica to aid in making music but got blues harp instead by mistake. I was often troubled with stuff like this. (laughs) Whatever it is, my learning the guitar has indeed helped me improve in my song-making!

Morita Go
[Practicing Soccer]
When I first came into contact with soccer, I felt as if it taught me many things that they didn't even teach me in elementary school. In a lifetime, you cannot get by without knowing the importance of team work and team spirit.

Taking the example of soccer, if you want to win the match, there is no way that you can do it based on your efforts alone. It has to be passed from one player to the other and then passed it on to someone else to aim for the goal in order to score. Such coordination is not possible with just one person. Let's look at this from another perspective, aren't our lives similar to this? In your walk through life, you will find it similar to the way soccer is played, you will always get to meet different types of people at different stage of your life and you can get your desired results at times. Whenever I am playing in a match, I consider not only the opponent's skills but I will tell myself this as well "As long as you put your mind into getting the ball back, you will be able to succeed!" and this became my motto at that instant (laughs). Though it's very common to think of wanting to get back the ball during matches, you will not have time to think of "who should be the one doing it?". During the match, all you can think of is to summon all your courage to get back the ball and it is something that you have to do it. From all these, we can tell soccer is something pretty profound!

[Joining The Agency]
Up to now, I have never considered myself a celebrity. Though action speaks louder then words, we still need to put into words and deliver it accordingly in order to express how we feel deep inside in this present world of ours. How we interact with people often changes according to the nature of work but I will remind myself to do my very best in all aspects of my work. When I am performing, I feel happy naturally? Well, you are right to say that! Though it's work as well, you should let your mood be relaxed and happy. It's because of such attitude that I managed to learn a lot of things after joining the agency!

[Meeting With Fans]
Before the debut of V6, I had always thought that cheering from fans or letters from fans were something really shameful. In the past, I would even feel uneasy saying "thank you". Always thought that gratitude can just be kept within oneself and need not be expressed. Ever since V6 was formed, I have learned to say "Thank you". Due to all the encouragement and support from the fans, we began working very hard. These are what that spurs me on. I will always bear those words of encouragement in my mind and work hard. Of course, there are still many areas for improvement. But I not just wanna thank my fans but I will like you all to know that I'll never forget you.