news_jpop | NEWS news (week of Aug 20)

Sorashige Book (Aug 19)
- The first letter was from a listener who said that she watched Inochi no Uta. She said that she first heard of the program last year when Shige was the MC. She lives in the neighboring prefecture, Shimane, so for school trips they often went to Hiroshima and learned about war and peace, but this program made her think about them again for the first time in awhile. She felt like it was a good program for younger people who aren’t as familiar with the topics to learn about it. She said she was moved and thanked him for the wonderful program.
  Shige said that it was real honor to be allowed to be on the program two years in a row. He hasn’t watched the program on air yet, but he’s sure that it reached a lot of people. He thinks that he’ll get more letters about it in the next few weeks so he’ll talk more in depth then. He talked about how right after the filming, the area was hit by the devastating heavy rains, and there were staff who were stuck there. At the time they didn’t know this would happen, but how the show is about war and peace, but it’s also about life. He hopes the program can be a impetus for people to think about these topics, and can lend power even in a small way to the people in western Japan.
  He said that he can tell that Tegoshi has strong feelings regarding this, what with having done this program and because he has roots in the area. He thinks that being able to come to Hiroshima for this program had a big effect on him. Like he wrote in his essay, Shige himself also has family in Okayama, so he’s worried too. He said that he wants to keep supporting them going forward, and that he hopes that this program and his activities in NEWS can give people living there even a little bit of hope and support. He’ll keep doing his best.
  He talked a bit about ‘Ikiro’ and the Sp box before playing the song.
- ♪ ‘Ikiro’ ♪
- He read a message from a listener who ask if he had gotten Utada Hikaru’s new album ‘Hatsukoi’. They wrote about being her fan, and their impressions of the album.
  Shige said that he got it and listened to it right away and that every song was pretty. He talked about how he eventually decided to play ‘hatsukoi’ but really had a hard timing picking which song he wanted to play. He talked about she’s not simply singing about love (ai 愛), but about love (koi 恋) and how it has a painful part of it that she doesn’t ignore. He talked about how she’s able to convey a lot about a complex topic using simple words. He said it’s a great album that you can listen to many times without growing sick of it. He played the song ‘Hatsukoi’.
- Shige said that he’s been getting a lot of letters about the drama so he’d like to read some of those, and apologized that some time has past since they were written. The next letter was from a listener who said that they look forward to the drama every week. She said that she volunteers at a local elementary school, and during summer break they had an event so they were at school and during one of the breaks she saw some 5th grade boys playing a Zero make believe game. One boy would stand on the staircase, 3rd step from the bottom, with his school hat covering his face. Another boy was calling to him from the bottom of the stairs “Believe in me, this is the safe area!”, and another boy was yelling “Zero, don’t believe him!”. At first she was going to warn them that it was dangerous, but when she realized that they what they were doing it made her happy, and ended up watching. She said that she was looking forward to the rest of the drama and hoping that filming continued to go well.
  Shige thanked her and said that it was an interesting story, laughing at how they were recreating the Quarter Jump scene, and that there was a kid playing Massu’s role too. He said the kid playing Zero in the end must not have had much lines, he just had to act troubled. He said he was happy, and though it’s weird for him to say it makes him realize ‘ah it’s really being broadcast’ He commented on how it might be on a bit late for 5th graders. He also warned them to be careful.
- The next letter was also about the drama. The listener commented on how Shige met the author of the original work, Fukumoto Nobuyuki.
  Shige said that Fukumoto came to the set twice with his family. He said that you can see some of it on the official website, and that he came during the water tank episode so Shige ended up having to greet him while immersed in water so he wasn’t able to shake his hand or anything. He said that he was glad that he was visiting and took it kind of lightly, but how all the staff on set got nervous when he visited. He remembered how when he visited set of Pink and Grey he wasn’t treated that seriously, and it made him rethink and think that he wants to do a good job welcoming him on set. When he went to the Pink and Grey set, he was filming a cameo and had to wait for 5 hours, so he waiting at a nearby restaurant and had a meeting there with his editors but filming still wasn’t finished, so he sat and waited in the corner of a small dressing room.
  He also talked about Tegoshi’s role and how he was wondering how they’d do that role including the outward appearance. And of course they didn’t do it exactly as it was in the manga, though he thinks overall the drama is being pretty faithful to it. He hopes that Fukumoto can enjoy the drama too. He said that he really is honored.
- The next letter was from a listener who talked about how zero has only has one outfit throughout the drama and same as in ‘Kasa wo Motanai aritachi wa’, whereas his character in ‘Toki wo kakeru shojo’ he had a bunch of different patterned clothes. They said that they’re sure costume is important to a role and wanted to know which way makes it easier to get into a role.
  Shige said that have just one of the costume is easy, because you put it on and it’s easy to understand that you’re that character. He said that in KasaAri, there’s also a meaning behind it in that he wasn’t really a ‘living’ character. For Zero, it’s because really only a few days have passed in the timeline of the drama. He was just brought there, he can’t change clothes. He also talked about how Koike Eiko always has really fashionable outfits in the drama. He talked about how Tegoshi’s character also wears really dressy clothes, and so when they three of them together and they took a photo for use of promoting Tegoshi’s appearance, the other two were really flashy and fashionable looking but he was just in drab looking clothes. He felt like, ‘I’m the lead, right??’ though it looked like he was just some kid who came to watch. It can’t be helped because that’s the kind of role it is, but he is a bit jealous.
- ♪ Wake Up ♪

Kchan NEWS (Aug 21)
- The show opened with Koyama explaining that though he said last week during his solo radio that this week’s guest would be Tegoshi, there was a lineup change. Since the scheduling worked out really well, this time all of NEWS was there. After he announced that there was silence and no one introduced themselves, and Shige explained that they didn’t know who would go first and as they were talking Tegoshi started yelling and Shige joked that even though Tegoshi’s switch turned ‘on’ suddenly, his shirt says ‘off’. Koyama said that so far he Tegoshi, and Shige have all spoken but there are actually 4 of them there…. it’s fine if he just clicks his tongue but he wants something, so Massu smacked his lips. Koyama thanked them all for coming and Tegoshi started clapping until he got a reaction out of Koyama. Koyama mentioned how it’s been 2 and a half years since the last time they were all on the radio together. He also said that they’ve been working since early this morning doing shoots and interviews for magazines.
  He said that 5 days have passed since the anniversary concert so they’d like to read some messages about that.
- The first letter was from a listener whose pen name is banana, and they got caught up in joking about the pen name for a bit before Koyama tried to go on and read the message.
  K: Personally-
  T: Personally
  S: Personally
  M: That was sudden
  K: No, it was the listener-
  S: The banana’s!
  They kept joking around about banana for a bit, and Koyama complained that they’d run out of time too soon. He tried to read the letter again from the beginning.
  K: From the pen name, banana-san-
  S&T&M: Banana!!
  M: How many bananas?
  T: Ahhhhhh
  K: They didn’t say.
  The listener said that personally, they were thinking that they wanted to hear ‘Beach Angel’ while seeing the sun set, so they were glad that the weather was good for the concert. Their seat was fairly high up, so for songs like ‘NEWS Nippon’ and ‘Kibou yell’ they could see the entire audience moving in sync and it was moving. They asked the members which part they found particularly moving.
  S: Every part!!
  K: Yeah, every part. I mean it was amazing!
  Koyama mentioned ‘U R not alone’ and Koyama said number one would be the fans singing ‘Ikiro’ at the end, and Shige brought up how it made Koyama cry. Koyama said that it hasn’t even gone on sale yet. Shige said that they hadn’t made that part for everyone to sing along to, so the lyrics disappeared part way through. They were really surprised, and so for the next show they redid it so the lyrics were there.
  Koyama cut in and said how there was one person (Massu) who hasn’t been talking at all, and Shige joked that he needs to ‘Ikiro’.
- ♪ ‘Ikiro’ ♪
- Coming back from the song, Koyama asked everyone to switch on, and Shige assured him that he was on. Massu said that since this is airing at night it’s fine, it’s better to be a bit toned down. He asked Tego to recreate what he’s like on Kchan NEWS usually.
  K: Today’s guest is Tegonyan!!
  T: Hello, Tegonayn da!!! I went with ‘da’ not ‘desu’! [‘da’ is the more casual version of desu]
  Massu said that he didn’t know how many people wanted to hear Tegoshi and Koyama that excited on the radio, he’s been wondering that for 15 years now. Tegoshi protested that it’s well received. Koyama said that Tegoshi probably had no idea, and had them all recreate how they do the opening greeting so that you can hear the difference.
  K: It’s Kato Shigeaki.
  S: Hello.
  K: It’s Masuda Takahisa-san.
  M: Hello.
  T: No way!
  K: It’s Tegonyan!
  T: HELLO!! Tegonyan da...yon!!
  The others laughed at him for hesitating in the middle. They did it one more time, with Koyama introducing everyone with Tegoshi last.
  T: HELLO!! Tegonyan da..pe!!
  They all laughed over it again, and Tegoshi said that he breaks a sweat while doing Kchan NEWS and Massu commented on how it’s the same for their radio program. Shige commented on how Tegoshi has a loud voice, and Koyama said he’d be fine even without a mic so they sent him to go stand in the corner of the room, and they commented on how you could still hear him through the mics from there. They continued with Tegoshi talking from there, and Koyama said that they received a lot of messages saying they liked the live band at the concert. Koyama interjected then to tell Massu that he couldn’t unplug Tegoshi’s mic, and Massu told Tegoshi to come back, but his mic was unplugged and they told him it was fine because his volume was better this way and Tegoshi complained a lot.
  Tegoshi said that even when he’s practicing their new song they won’t give him a mic. They plugged his mic back in and tried to move on, and Koyama commented on how this radio broadcast has no content. Tegoshi commented on how it’s been a while since they had a radio with no contents, and tied it in to ‘Naiyou no nai Tegami’.
  They got back on track about how they got comments on the live band and how a lot of people liked ‘Yoruyo Odore’ and Tegoshi said that people they invited to come watch the show also commented on that part a lot.
  Massu said that that part was fun, and how they had people whom they’ve worked with before, like Marty, come to play. Shige talked about how it made Black Fire really different sounding and gorgeous. They talked about ‘Yoruyo Odore’ has been pretty popular with fans, but that they really like it to and decided they wanted to perform it live early on, before it was even finished.
  Tegoshi agreed and added that he liked this part and then mimicked Shige’ spoken line ‘Kimi no, kimi no bibou ga boku wo kuruwaseta.’ in a funny voice and they all protested that that’s not how the line was like. Koyama asked Massu how it went, and then Massu mimicked the line using his Shige impression voice, not even getting through the whole line before they all burst out laughing. Tegoshi said that it really sounded like Shige, which Shige protested. They then encouraged Koyama to try, and the first word came out high pitched, and they all agreed that that wasn’t right and Shige laughed that his impression fell flat. They then tried to make Shige do it.
  M: Let’s do it on 3, ok. On 3.
  M: Here we go.
  M: Ready and go-
  S: (burst out laughing) Don’t pretend to mess up there!!
  Shige said that they should just play the song, and Massu said that they would, but they’d cut it off before that part. They kept joking around before going to the song.
- ♪ Yoruyo Odore ♪
- They played the song, cutting off right after Shige’s line. Koyama commented on how they were able to hear the correct version.
  Koyama said that they also got a lot of letters about Massu’s member color costumes over 4 concerts and singing ‘Share’ in that. Koyama said that one letter read that they thought maybe Massu was a genius.
  M: A genius?
  K: A genius.
  M: Everyone, what do you think? How did you think it was genius?
  K&S: (burst out laughing)
  S: If you had just waited, I’d have said it.
  K: It was amazing.
  S: Yeah, Tegoshi’s the one who probably thinks that the most. His partner.
  T: That’s right. Obviously. [...] I thought they were genius!!!!
  Shige asked what they should do next now that he did all four colors. Koyama agreed since they have the W and S tours next, Shige wondered if they should change the colors up.
  Massu said that he always starts with asking the others what kind of costumes they want, and said that Tegoshi and Koyama said that since they’re doing an outdoors concert they wanted to start out with light costumes. He said it was a new kind of challenge, and they commented on how the costumes were simple, tshirt, or the happu for the festival kind of feeling. The white long sleeved jackets. costumes came from Shige proposing that Massu make what their NEWS Nippon costumes would have looked like if Massu designed them now.
  They also talked about the tshirt that will come in the Ikiro SP box that they wore at the end of the concert. How in concert they showed footage of them taking the picture which was Massu’s idea. Massu said that for the Neverland tour tshirt that had their faces on it, Massu regretted not doing it for that one, which led to this.
- At the end they talked about the drama. Massu asked Tegoshi if he was currently filming and he said that he was and then he jokingly asked Shige if he had finished filming. They joked some more, and then they tried to finish up. They said that they had fun and signed off.

Tegomass no Radio (Aug 22)
- At the opening, they talked about how it’s the second half of August and summer holidays would be over soon. They also shared how they’re both the types to leave the holiday homework till the end and do a mad rush through them.
- The request this week was for “Ikiro”. The listener has been staying on their own in a different prefecture for three years for their studies. Each time they feel down, it was NEWS’ songs that gave them strength. The listener was studying to take the national exam to become an acupuncturist, Tegoshi asked them to do it for him since he goes to one pretty often - when he’s got muscle aches etc. Massu said he’s glad their songs give people strength and they went on to play the song.
- ♪ Ikiro ♪
- The second mail was from someone who fell in love with Emma’s cuteness when they saw Emma on TV. They’d like to know if Emma gets along with the members and who Tegoshi feels she likes best. Tegoshi starts baby talking once he finished reading the mail and said Emma’s now with his mum because he can’t be home often and it’d be too sad on Emma to have to be at work with him for such long hours. He said he last saw her about 4-5 days ago, when his mum came over with Emma with stay over. He didn’t manage to spend much time with her though.
  M: She doesn’t seem that close to you anyway.
  T: SHE IS! Very much!
  Tegoshi said how Emma would whimper when she sees Tegoshi on TV, even if his mum was carrying her. His mum would send videos of Emma and Skull to Tegoshi everyday. He then said she probably likes Massu best.
  M: She’d come over, smell my feet, lick my ankles and try to climb up my knees.
  T: Hahahha! Yeah yeah.
  M: I’d think, ah, she’s licking me. When she realises she can’t climb up my knees, she’d go back to Tegoshi.
  T: Yeah yeah yeah.
  Sakura: Why don’t you let her climb up?
  M: I’d go “Hey, hey!” but it’s not as if she really wants to climb up-
  Sakura: Ah! She wants to play!
  M: Yeah, “I’m here now! I’m here!” kind.
  T: She go greet every single staff.
  Sakura: She’s like your manager.
  M: So when the door opens and everyone comes back, she’d dash straight at me first. She’d get it wrong and come to me first, then go over to Tegoshi.
  T: Yeah but when I come back from taking my solo shots, one of the members will definitely be carrying her, so I think she’s happy.
  They then tried to think of who she’s least close to. Since Shige owns a dog and Koyama a cat, Koyama might smell of a cat, so. Tegoshi imitated Koyama calling Emma a bit. Massu said he’s probably the least of an animal lover, and used to be bad with them, but still Emma goes to him. It’s weird.
  M: Does she think I’m an animal.
  T: HAHAHAHHA, really?
  Sakura: Maybe she thinks you’re one of them.
  M: Like how dogs sniff each other’s behinds? Maybe she thought my ankles were my butt.
  T: Ah, like, “This is a huge dog. HUUUUGEEE….”
  M: “I can’t climb up at all.”
  Tegoshi said again Emma is blessed since she gets carried by so many people and everyone loves her.
- The third mail was from someone who wanted to know how frequently they replace their toothbrushes and how stiff they like their toothbrushes. Tegoshi said he uses an electric toothbrush at home, but the regular one at work. He started using one about 4-5 years ago because the dentists keep telling him to use one. He said the tip of the toothbrush can be changed, and while it’s mostly white, there are coloured parts. So when the coloured parts are faded, it means it’s time to replace it. He probably replaces it once every two months. Massu uses the usual toothbrush and replaces it when the bristles start fraying. Because it looks uncool once the bristles fray. (Sakura: That’s the same for everyone, nothing to do with whether it’s stylish or not.) He probably replaces his every month. Tegoshi shared he likes flossing and Sakura likes flossing too.
  They then started discussing their procedure for toothbrushing. Massu asked how everyone does it, if they first rinse their mouth before brushing, and if they wet their toothbrushes before squeezing the toothpaste on. He said Tegoshi is different as Tegoshi would just suddenly start brushing his teeth. (Sakura: Eh? Eh? Eh?) Like, take the toothbrush out from his bag, squeeze toothpaste one and suddenly start brushing his teeth. Then go to the sink only when he’s done. The other two wondered why he doesn’t rinse his mouth first.
  M: You can start brushing now even if we asked you to, right?
  T: Yeah.
  Sakura: HEH? Here??
  T: Yeah totally.
  M: Do it. Fufufufu.
  T: No…
  Sakura: But they’d be fun.
  T: How am I going to gargle!
  Sakura: You ate just now didn’t you. You ate gyoza.
  M: The listeners want to know too.
  Tegoshi really brought his toothbrush out, and started brushing his teeth on radio. With an unwet toothbrush and just a bit of toothpaste. Sakura said it’s nice to have the sound of Tegoshi brushing his teeth on-air as it’s kind of fetish-like. (T: Are there people with a fetish for the sound of brushing teeth?) They then asked him to be quiet and brush nearer to the mic. And they all burst out laughing. Tegoshi said he’d brush properly once he get started, and explained he doesn’t need to be at the sink since he didn’t wet the toothbrush and there isn’t that much liquid. Massu wondered why Tegoshi doesn’t gag, and Tegoshi said Massu is the one who goes “URGH” in the holding room.
  Sakura: I really like that story. Masuda-san, would you start brushing your teeth now too?
  M: I don’t have my toothbrush with me now. I left it in the holding room.
  Sakura asked him to bring it next time but he said he’d need to stand at the sink.
  T: WHAT DO I DO NOW. I’m done brushing! (grumbles) This is troublesome…
  They asked him to go rinse his mouth and he went, grumbling.
  M: So from this point, it’d be different from usual and be quieter.
  Sakura: Yeah. Fits the timing of this programme perfectly too.
  M: We actually wanted to do it this way.
  They then talked about what Sakura does during her days off (gaming) before reading another mail.
- The fourth mail was from someone who is really slow at remembering dance moves (Tegoshi returns when Sakura was halfway through the mail) and when they told him they’re midway he apologised and asked them to continue, he’ll try to follow somehow.
  Sakura: ...and I feel like giving up.
  (studio bursts out laughing)
  T: What’s this.
  M: This is perfect! Too perfect!
  T: Why. Why give up. I’m the one about to give up.
  The listener wanted to know what they do when they run into walls (M [at Tegoshi]: What?) Tegoshi tried to guess if the listener got depressed about something related to dance, if they got injured or lost a competition or something. They explained the situation to him and Sakura asked if the two of them could dance right from the start. Both of them had zero experience when they went for the auditions.
  Tegoshi said because he didn’t have backdancing experience as a Junior, the rest were clearly much better than him. All he could do was to practise many times more than the rest to try to catch up. They wondered how the school education system this now, as dance lessons were introduced recently as part of the curriculum, and if that’s compulsory nationwide. They said dance is a great exercise so everyone should do it. Massu said it depends on how much they like dancing, if they hated it and are forced to do it, they probably won’t do well. But if they’re just slow at memorising the choreography, they just have to try harder than the rest. Like how Massu is really slow himself. Tegoshi agreed Massu is really slow, but he remembers everything permanently once he does. (M: I’m like some useless hard disk.)
  They talked about how everyone is different, and fast doesn’t always mean good. So being slow doesn’t mean bad. Feeling discouraged means they really want to do it, so they just need to work harder. That they managed to find something they don’t want to run away from is great.
  M: Well, I’m glad they felt this way after looking at my dancing.
  T: It must be my presence that’s supporting them each day.
  Sakura: None of the above was written in the mail at all.
  M, T: EH?
  Sakura: Nothing…
  M: They started dancing because of Masuda-kun, didn’t they?
  T: And their reason for living is Tegoshi, isn’t it?
  Sakura: Nothing at all…
  M: So please listen to this song…...”Ikiro”.
  Sakura: Nononono…
  M: Hmm?
  T: This is the mail section right? I thought we were going to play “Ikiro” the second time.
  M: I thought you guys would stop me at “please listen to this song” but nobody did.
  The both of them got confused apparently. Massu asked if they wanted to redo just that part and Tegoshi said they didn’t need that.
- For “Tegomass no Battle” this week, they had to play delayed rock-scissors-paper, where they have to show their move only after hearing the designated results. Tegoshi said he’s really good at winning rock-scissors-paper as he’s mastered the art of showing his move just a bit slower than the opponents, without them realising. They tried once and they said Massu was too slow. They then managed to do it a few times well, and asked Sakura to join. Sakura played against Tegoshi and not only did she do it wrong, she didn’t say what move she played. The two of them obviously won’t let her go, and started saying how it’s radio and she’s the one who’s always saying to voice out or no one would know what’s happening. They said it’s fun and trains their brains. Sakura said it’s Tegoshi’s win and Massu tried to argue against it but failed.
- At the end, they promoted “Ikiro”. They talked a little again about Tegoshi brushing his teeth on radio, and he said he ran to the toilet and back. The other two commented him on his perfect timing back.

Masuda Takahisa no Master Hits (Aug 24)
- At the opening, he talked about the anniversary concerts. Since they were outdoor concerts, he said they were most worried about the weather, especially when they had the experience of having to stop a concert midway due to bad weather, for one of the Chichibunomiya shows in 2013. Although it did rain some during the rehearsals and before and after the “Strawberry” concerts, they managed to finish the concerts without issues so they were glad. Lots of people came, and he felt strongly once again how NEWS is a group celebrated and supported by many people. It’s been 15 years. They’ll continue to become a better group step by step, so please continue to support them.
- The first mail was from someone who wanted to know if he prefers steak or hamburger steak, and which he eats more often. He said it’s hamburger steak, without a doubt. Then corrected himself, and said “hamburger steak” in the style of the gag by Speed Wagon’s Itoda Jun.
- ♪ Ikiro ♪
- The second mail came from a listener who sent in her comments on “Only You”. She was so caught up in recalling how the play, the dances, the acting were so great that she kept getting onto the wrong trains and ended up missing her last train back. Her parents had to fetch her, and she realised how much influence Massu had over her. Massu first apologised for making her miss her last train but was glad that the messages they wanted to deliver through the performance got through. It’s also lucky her parents own a car, or it’d have been terrible if she had to walk home.
- The third mail was from someone who went for the second concert at Ajinomoto Stadium. They had lots of fun singing and dancing along, but were disappointed that the concert merchandise they wanted got sold out. However, their mother told them that they were lucky enough to be able to attend the concert, so they should enjoy it as much as possible and keep these memories, rather than try to go after a keepsake in material form. They also contributed part of the money they set aside for the merchandise to the donation box (for the Smile Up Project) they saw at the concert venue. They congratulated NEWS on their 15th anniversary and said they’ll continue supporting them. Massu said he’s happy, and said they heard about how the merchandise got sold out despite people queuing long hours for it. While it may not have usually been possible, this concert is for the 15th anniversary which means the merchandise would have special significance, so they’re trying to find a way to get the merchandise to the fans. He hopes everyone managed to enjoy themselves at the concert, as this listener seemed to have.
- The fourth mail was from someone who went for the first day of the concerts. They were initially worried about getting dehydrated, so they did their best to take lots of liquids and sucked on salt candies the entire time. They were touched by how the members got were dancing and singing the entire time, and asked if there’s anything they did to stay in good condition. Massu said they would have felt bad if the audience fell sick from the concert, so they tried to get the audience to drink up as much as they could. As for the members, they did stuff like drink sports drinks, ate properly, took the necessary supplements… their hair and make up artiste commented that Massu perspired the least out of all 4 of them, and neither his make up nor hair got ruined. While he did perspire of course, he seems to have perspired less than the usual concerts. He agreed, and while he was outdoors for 3 days straight (including the rehearsals), it wasn’t hot at all. (M: Well of course I was perspiring, but I wasn’t like, “Ah it’s hot, it’s hot”) It must have been because of how he’s been doing the play for the past month, and THAT was extremely hot. He never knew he could perspire so much. His body probably got trained to be resistant to hotter temperatures. It might have even felt less warm than the usual indoor concerts.
- The fifth listener wanted to confirm if the Tshirts for the Ajinomoto concerts were designed after the NEWS Nippon costumes. But it made them recall the orange overalls NEWS wore at Shounen Club during the performance with “Shock Me” too, and they went back in time a little. Massu said the Tshirts were designed after the NEWS Nippon costumes. For the back of the Tshirt, he also decided on the positions, the text etc. and showed it to the members. While this might be something they could have done any other time, he thought it was a good chance to look back. The set of white costumes they wore while singing “Full Swing”, “U R not alone” etc. were also inspired by their debut costumes. Based on the theme of “what Massu would design them if he were asked to design the NEWS Nippon costumes now”. He was glad the listener got reminded of the past, and he’d be happy if everyone could notice the parts that are different from then too.
- The sixth message was from someone who stays in an old house, and have no air conditioner due to the grandfather’s ideals. They finally managed to have one installed this year, and they’d like Massu to name their first ever air conditioner.
  M: Heh! You never had one? You need to be careful...not to get dehydrate...yo. Well I guess the aircon is already here.
  He first tried to go with something like saying “first aircon” in Japanese quickly, but finally decided on “Yatsugatake” (referring to the mountains in Nagano/ Yamanashi and cooler than most areas in summer). And spoofed the CM jingle for the Mitsubishi aircon series, Kirigamine, named after another mountain in Nagano.
- ♪ BLUE ♪
- For Brain Master this week, the question was, which breed of dog was the term “hot dog” derived from? He got a lot of wrong guesses (“a dog that’s hot!”), before finally getting it right - dachshund. (please refer to the Dorgan story here for the explanation given by the listener)
- ♪ 36℃ ♪
- At the ending, he promoted “Ikiro”, the Tshirt coming along with the special anniversary box, and “Strawberry”. He shared he wrote his lyrics during the play and it’s going to be a great song.