news_fans | NEWS news (week of 11 June)

Continuation to the previous updates for this week.

Radio - Sorashige Book (11 June)
- In this episode Shige recommended the album ‘Drunk’ by Thundercat, and played a song from the album, ‘Show You The Way (feat. Michael McDonald & Kenny Loggins)’.
- Shige mentioned that he really likes the music genre AOR.
- After playing the song he recommended, Shige got Tegoshi’s message that was mentioned in a previous MC and on Tegomass no Radio, asking him which end of the taiyaki he ate from. Shige wondered what it was about, and if Tegoshi was messing with him. He said that he doesn’t really like red bean paste so he doesn’t eat them before returning back to reading listener mail.
- Shige read messages from two listeners to answer together. The first was from someone asking what Shige had done during the weekend between the Nagoya and Wakayama shows when there was no concert scheduled. The second was from a listener who wrote about how after hearing that Shige did a fast on Kchan NEWS, they decided they wanted to give it a try too but it was really difficult to cut down on how much they ate and wanted to hear his advice in addition to what they read online.
  
  Shige said that he had time between work related activities such as SCP and the radio, and some had to be adjusted after he lost his voice in Nagoya. He had initially planned to fast for a second time around that time as well, but had to take medicine so it didn’t end up being a proper fast. For the most part he stayed home writing and fasting. He fasted for 5 days and then spent 4 days after breaking his fast readjusting. He cautioned that it could be dangerous if you do it on your own without the advice of a specialist or doctor before giving some advice and urging them to be careful and not mimic him. He said he fasted for 4 days the first time and for 5 days the second time.
- At the end of the show Tegoshi replied to Shige’s message ‘If you had to pick!’ and Shige said he’d eat it from the head.

Radio - Kchan NEWS (13 June)
- Tegoshi was the guest again this week.
- Koyama encouraged Tegoshi to get his own Jweb, but Tegoshi said that he couldn’t keep up with a set schedule. Koyama said that he could do one that’s updated irregularly, and that he should do one where he gives advice in response to people’s problems because they get a lot of mail to Kchan NEWS asking for his advice.
- Koyama talked about how he recently got a message from Tegoshi late at night asking Koyama to come meet him right away. He went to meet him at a yakiniku restaurant within 20 minutes, and Tegoshi was waiting for him sitting in the corner looking small and sad. [Koyama and Tegoshi were laughing and joking as they told this story]
  
  Koyama asked Tegoshi if it was alright to share the rest before adding that Tegoshi was wearing a cap pulled down low to hide his eyes and started crying. Koyama gave him a hug and asked him what was wrong, gave him advice, and told him it would be ok. He and Tegoshi’s friend that was also there joked about how it was rare to see Tegoshi down like this, and Koyama commented on how seeing Tegoshi like that made him seem very human-like, and that it was cute. (T: Am I not human-like usually? Do I seem like a terminator?) He added that they’ve been messaging a lot since then.
  
  K: When something happens, let’s support each other! T: Yeah, that’s what it means to be members after all. K: We’re each other’s biggest allies.
- Next they received a message from a listener saying that whatever she’s thinking tends to show very clearly on her face. She asked their advice since they must have to smile on TV even when they don’t feel like it.
  
  Koyama said that Tegoshi is good at keeping his feelings from showing on his face. There are times in the dressing room when Tegoshi appears to be thinking about various things, but as soon as he is in front of an audience he can tell when Tegoshi flips the switch to become ‘Tegoshi Yuya’.
  
  Tegoshi said that entertainers are human too, but that since fans come to concerts because they want to enjoy themselves, he doesn’t think that he should bring things that happen in his private life on stage. Even when things are difficult, like when his father passed away 3 years ago, it’s not relevant to the fans.
  
  Koyama added that they were filming for a music program right after that happened, but Tegoshi didn’t mention what had happened so he had wondered why Tegoshi had brought a suit with him to the recording, and realized later that it was to go to the funeral. K: Maybe with the way our relationship is now, you’d tell me. T: Yeah maybe.
- K: That must have been difficult, losing your father. My parents are divorced, but of course your father is your father.
  
  Tegoshi said that he felt like his father wouldn’t have wanted him to be sad because of him. Adding that he didn’t think fans wanted that either, that the fans like the bright and cheerful Tegoshi who says things like ‘yay~!’ and ‘okay~!’ rather than a depressed Tegoshi.
- They also talked about how Sakura Girl is a special song for Tegoshi because it was his father’s favorite NEWS song. Since his father loved NEWS songs and because Tegoshi felt that a bright funeral would be better than a sad one with everyone crying, he had a NEWS medley made that they played throughout the funeral.

Radio - Tegomass no Radio (14 June)
- At the opening, they mentioned that the recording was done before the Tokyo Dome concerts, so they can’t comment very much on it yet, and will probably do so next week
- The first request was for “Ai Ai Gasa”, by a listener who says she doesn’t like rainy days because her hair gets ruined and bag drenched, but always manages to like rainy days a little better after listening to “Ai Ai Gasa”. Tegoshi says he hates rainy days, but that he went to Disneyland on a day when it was raining heavily. He didn’t have to queue at all for the “Splash Mountain” attraction and could ride at the same time with the 2 other male friends he went with. They didn’t wear raincoats for the ride as it didn’t make a difference anyway. But he still hates the rain as events like sports’ day get delayed and it feels like all things fun get taken away.
- They talked about the taiyaki again from the previous week, Tegoshi saying that he asked Shige and Shige chose the head, as expected. Sakura said even though she’s an only child too she starts eating from the tail. T: Girls like to say “Kawaii” all the time, don’t they. So it might be because you want to leave the cute side to the last. Like, aww poor thing!
- The next listener wrote in about how she always ends up sleepy after having late dinners. Even though she knows it’s better to just go to bathe first and sleep on the bed, she often ends up dozing off on the sofa. She asked if they have similar experiences, and for advice. Tegomass both said they’re the same type, and Massu said it’s fine to just sleep on the sofa too. Tegoshi said he’s fallen asleep while playing games on his mobile phone and when he woke up the battery was flat. At this point, Shige sent another reply to say that he’ll probably leave the tail uneaten and they all laughed. Sakura: Kato-san, please eat the entire thing! Returning to the topic, Tegoshi said it’s okay to just sleep on the sofa and bathe the next morning. Massu agreed, as she’s worked hard the entire day and it’s okay to first rest then bathe the next day.
- The following mail asks whether they have any restaurants, where they’ve been to so often that they can just go, “Give me the usual”. Tegoshi has, and he usually just leaves it up to the people from the shop to decide because it’s too troublesome. M: Wait, wait, leaving it up to the shop is one thing. She’s asking if there’s anything Tegoshi always orders. T: Well, I always say, “Please decide for me” M: No, no... (Sakura laughs) So it means you don’t have anything like this? T: But there’s no way you’ll always want to eat the same thing! For example, having different side dishes and stuff? It’s the same. M: I don’t think he understands the question… T: For yakiniku I always leave it up to them, because the best meat each day is different, isn’t it. M, S: Yeah we know, but that’s not what the question is about. T: Okay, so I’m the type who leaves it up to the shop. There are places where I can just say to leave it to them, and also those I can go, “The usual please” M: There are? T: Yes yes. Well, I have never tried saying that, but- M: So you don’t? S: No, he doesn’t. M: Which is it?? Massu & Sakura then starts grumbling how Tegoshi wasted so much time talking about what he wants to… T: Well, do you have any place like that then? M: I do! A soba shop. T: But a soba shop has only soba. M: I always order cold soba noodles, upsized, and mixed tempura separately. With an additional prawn tempura. And they remember. T: Exactly that each time? M: If I go to that place. T: Ah, just a single pattern huh. Sakura: (to Massu) I think you have the right to punch him for that. Totally. (Tegoshi laughing in the background) Massu says he has quite a few of such places, for example at certain Italian restaurants he’d order pizzas, but at others he won’t. T: That’s so troublesome! M: Like for the soba place, it’s usually “Is the usual okay?” “Yes, please” kind of flow. T: That’s exactly the same for me. It’s just that I’ve never opened up the Pandora’s Box for “The Usual”. M: Yeah okay. What about you, Sakura? S: I don’t like having people remember what I always order. TM: Such a troublesome person… S: I prefer hiding in a corner. T: That’s super troublesome. Just like Shige. You probably don’t order delivery too right? S: But it’s true I didn’t like opening the doors when the bell rang when I was still staying with my parents. M: So it’s really just me.
- The next listener married her husband about 1.5 years ago after dating for 5.5 years. Before they got married, the anniversary when they got together was very important, but after getting married, the husband says it’s enough to just celebrate their wedding anniversary, and the dating anniversary is irrelevant. So she wants to know if they are people who take these anniversaries seriously. And that she likes Tego, but she likes Massu a lot more. T: OEI! M: YAY! T: This is a terrible trend. What’s with the listeners recently! Too many of these! M: Thank you! ♡ T: Then there’ll be more people sending such mails because they find it funny how I get angry. Oei! M: Thank you ♡ Erika-chan (the listener) thank you. They then referred to Erika Sawajiri’s famous “Betsu-ni” (whatever) line from many years ago, and said the listener probably thought, “Tegoshi? Whatever.” Sakura: Why is it that you look kind of happy about being bullied? (Tegoshi laughs) This time, Massu and Sakura are the ones who got off topic, talking about how as long as she’s comfortable with how she celebrates the anniversary, it’s fine, and Tegoshi was like, wait, no. She’s asking if anniversaries are important to us, and not asking for advice! Tegoshi would be the same as her husband, saying because marriage is more important, it’ll be fine to just celebrate the wedding anniversary and not the day they started dating. Massu says it’s okay to have minor celebrations if the girl remembers, like buying flowers. Tegoshi says of course if his partner did something he would too, just that he wouldn’t initiate it. They asked Sakura which day she’d like to have celebrated most out of all the special days, and she said birthdays, for both herself and the partner. Tegoshi started saying how he’s happy just getting a kiss as a present, and was about to go into more details, but Massu cut him off, “Okay! Here’s the end of the request segment!” T: Wait, listen! M: Okay! T: Listen~ M: Okay!! (volume gets faded off)
- For the quiz segment, they were asked if they knew what the “pan” in “pancakes” stand for. Massu got this right. The next question was whether they knew what “Oshin monogatari” (The Tale of Oshin) referred to. This was apparently the first Japanese translation of a famous story from the West. With Oshin being a famous Japanese character, a young girl who went through many trials to finally succeed. After a lot of fooling around, Massu finally got it right - Cinderella. Tegoshi said because he’s never seen Cinderella he doesn’t know. He hasn’t seen Snow White either. M: The type who doesn’t know what he’s missing out in life. T: No way. But that’s why I don’t get super excited at Disney parades. M: Because you have no idea who those characters are. T: I don’t know, but they’re cute. I really don’t know anything. They then started throwing out more Disney titles, and Tegoshi has only watched The Lion King and Toy Story, and cried buckets during Toy Story. He hasn’t even watched Nemo. M: You haven’t!? Nemo was REALLY good. I’m sorry, but before your next trip to Disney, please watch all the DVDs… T: But I love Disney, the atmosphere’s great. M: But it’s different if you go after watching, like when you see Nemo, you’ll squeal “Ahhh Nemooo♡” T: I like Stitch, but I’ve never watched Lilo & Stitch. M: That’s like coming to NEWS’ concerts without having listened to a single song, and don’t know nuts about the members, but just decide to go because you’ve seen Tegoshi before. T: Well it’ll be more enjoyable if you’ve listened to our CDs. M: Yeah you can’t fully enjoy yourself. Sakura: Yes, that’s exactly the same. T: Oh, this is really easy to understand. M: It’s like, “I’ve never watched ItteQ! But I love Tegoshi!” T: Okay, I’m going to log in to “Tsutaya Online” immediately after getting home (*Tsutaya is a store with online CD/ DVD rentals).

Radio - MASTER HITS (16 June)
- He played only his solo songs today, “LIS’N”, “Remedy” and “Skye Beautiful”.
- He first made a simple comment on NEVERLAND tour, how it’s ended and thanked everyone. He then shared a recent episode of something he did after the tour, where he gathered with 3 other friends at one of their homes to have meal. One of the friends had just moved recently and his home happened to be within walking distance, so they asked to go after that. The friend said he’d cooked lamb recently and the smell might still be lingering, though he has aired his house quite a bit. They were saying they’re sure it’s fine, but on the first step into just the entrance, they were like, “This stinks!” And because his friend was living alone, it was the typical bachelor’s pad, which isn’t all that tidy. Though his friend said he’s been keeping his house clean, Massu said it wasn’t clean at all. His friend said it’s at least cleaner than the previous friend’s house, and Massu started on a mother-in-law mode, like how the table’s dusty and all. He had his “Dust Police” switch on, and started cleaning the house with one of those flooring wipers. (M: Well, we were all pretty drunk) His friends were surprised by all good he was with the wiper and the other friend who had been silent all the while said he was turned off by how much a neat freak Massu was. So Massu cleaned up the house (M: The wiper was all black) and left. M: What on earth did I go to his house for?
- The first message asked if Massu like gyozas with thin skins or thick skins. He replied that he prefers gyozas with thin skins, but not too thin.
- The second message said Massu is famous for liking gyozas, and asked what other Chinese dishes he likes. He started asking if gyoza can be considered a Chinese dish to begin with, as the ones in Japan have already been adapted to Japanese taste. Like how ramen was originally from China, but is ramen considered Chinese? Or whether you’ll call what the curry Japanese eat at home Indian cuisine. But putting that aside, he started thinking of what Chinese dishes he liked. And rattled off a list of Chinese dishes. “Gravy over rice, mapo tofu, pitan, chili prawns, shark’s fin soup, egg soup, gyoza (sheepish laugh)” He says he likes Chinese style bento and fried eggplants with meat. And concluded that the Chinese dish he likes is ramen (laugh). Though he had questioned whether ramen is Chinese or not just a while ago.
- The next message asked Massu how he would prioritize lines that overlapped when singing at the karaoke. For example, NEWS’ “Une Deux Trois”, at the part that goes “Une Duex Trois na love...Subete nugisatte odorou…”. She says she’ll prioritize Massu’s part. Massu said for NEWS’ songs, there are times when the parts overlap and you don’t have time to catch your breathe, so for such instances...you need another person. He mentioned he had to sing “Koi wo Shiranai Kimi E” by himself at Johnny’s World, and that this song wasn’t written to be sung by one person. But he managed to show how he had mastered the technique of singing well without taking too many breathes. Turning serious again, he said he’ll probably prioritize the previous line if he had to sing alone at the karaoke. But he agreed that a lot of NEWS’ songs can’t be sung alone.
- Another listener said she likes uniforms and maid costumes. And asked if Massu liked maid costumes with mini dresses or long dresses. He said he might like those classic, Victorian-like dresses, something like a maid working in one of those European castles would wear.
- Continuing on the same trend of asking about clothes, a listener asked if Massu likes girls who wear off-shoulder clothes. He said not very (laugh). He doesn’t particularly like them, and that they’re just another way of wearing your clothes, like how it’s the trend for men to tuck in their tshirts now and show off their belts. He said there are those bath towels that go up to your shoulders which he and the other children used to use for changing, during their swimming classes. So that impression might have stayed, and off-shoulder clothes look like towels to him. He finished off saying he doesn’t quite find them to be cute yet, though he might in the future. For now, he prefers clothes “on-shoulder”. He mentioned that they are now in the trend, though he doesn’t see girls wearing these around much. “Where do they usually appear...on their off days maybe?”
- The next message asked what Massu would bring if he could take an additional item along when he goes out, assuming he already has his valuables. He says he’ll definitely have his wallet, phone, keys and watch. So if he had to bring one more item along, it’d either be lip cream or sunglasses. He says he doesn’t really bring many things out in private. Like if he went on a solo trip, he might just go without anything other than maybe underwear, as he’d think the hotel would have everything.
- For “Brain Master” this week, the question was what the family name for the main character in “Sanshiro”, written by Natsume Soseki was based on. Massu got it on first try (“Komiya”) and he was surprised. M: Is that why the comedian, Komiya’s group is called Sanshiro?
- At the end of the show, he shared a story of how he wanted to find out how to get to the nearest station recently. A while back, he was doing the same thing and tried asking a lady, saying “Excuse me” but the lady just replied, “It’s okay” and left. He figured that the lady must have thought he was hitting on her or trying to push sales, and he was shocked, as he had imagined the usual flow to have been “Excuse me” “Yes” “I’m trying to get to xxx” “Ah, it’s over there...”. As he has had that traumatizing experience, he has learnt better. So he figured that it’ll work better to just quickly say what he wanted in one breathe, and not go “Excuse me” and wait, but rather, just “ExcusemeImtryingtofindouthowtogettothestationdoyouknowtheway” and wait obediently, a safe distance aside while that person digested what he had just said. So he tried that out on a lady and it worked. Just so happened that the lady was going the same direction for a while, and when he happened to turn back, she kindly told him it’s still a distance away. She stopped at a bus stop soon, and he managed to find his way to the station with no issues. He suggested for listeners to try out this method out when they need help, as people tend to put their guard on once somebody goes “Excu-”.