news_jpop | NEWS news (week of Jan 12)

Shige will be appearing on Jan 23rd’s episode of “Downtown DX”. (Source)

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KEIICHIRO (Jan 12)
- Koyama updated talking about snuggling with Milk. He tried to take a picture while burrowing his face in her fur. Since he couldn’t see what he was doing he didn’t know if it came out well or not, but he ended up getting a shot of her looking right in the camera which he included at the end of the post.
  He said that this is how they always sleep.

NEWSRING (Jan 15)
- It was Massu’s turn to update
- Massu said that today his makeup stylist told him that he’s having a good skin day. He’s working hard gearing up for STORY and for his drama. He picked “Yonda (I read it)” for shiritori, saying that he read the novel that his new drama is based on, the second book he’s ever read in his life, but he said that it was interesting. He asked everyone to watch the drama and said that he’d do hiis best for filming.

KEIICHIRO (Jan 17)
- Koyama updated to write about becoming a semi-regular on Taichi’s new show “Taichi-san”, saying that he was really happy to work with and learn from him. He said that when he was messaging with Taichi, he was riding the shinkansen from Nagoya for work, and by sheer coincidence Taiichi was on the same train. This year NEWS will also be playing Nagoya Dome for the first time.
  He asked everyone in the Tokai area to look forward to the show, and for everyone else he’d work hard to convey on the charm of Tokai. He said that loves reporting work and that he’d do his best.
  He posted a selfie saying that since his bangs have grown out, he’s going to head to the salon after the gym. At the end he also mentioned Massu’s new show.

KenTeaTime (Jan 17)
- Kento mentioned Massu briefly in his entry when he wrote to say he’ll write more about Gochi when he returns to Japan, that he was surprised and that he loves Massu (since he was in Hollywood for the Academy Awards)

KenTeaTime (Jan 20)
- Kento mentioned Massu again when he wrote a long entry about Massu and Gochi, first sharing the photo of him and Massu from when Massu guested in Gochi last year, then talking about how nice a sempai Massu is, like how Massu has a great character, and that he’s been talking about Massu in lots of places, including magazine Myojo. Massu was the first sempai who invited him to dinner, and that they’ve had lots of chances to go out for meals together since the past year, and the year before.
  He just feels at ease when he’s with Massu, and described Massu to be like a sofa - fluffy and soft (by how Massu listens to all he has to say and is extremely reliable). He said NEWS fans must be really envious and that Massu is a sempai he really likes. He also wrote about how he now knows Massu should be written in hiragana (TL note: Massu said this during the Jan 16th episode of Gochi, and Kento wrote “Massu” in katakana in his previous entry). He wrote a bit more about Gochi, and ended the entry by telling Massu and Honda Tsubasa (the other new member) to do their best.

Mod Note: As you’ve probably noticed, we’ve been behind by a few months for awhile now, so in an attempt to catch up and get back on schedule we’re skipping a few months of radio. Sorry!

Sorashige Book (Dec 29)
- Listener Letter - The listener wrote to say that they’re looking forward to the Encore DVD, and how in the special footage from Worldista, there was a calendar that showed the date January 22, Wed, and at the time fans speculated a lot about it. They asked if it was a coincidence that that’s the date that the Encore DVD is going on sale. Shige said that it was, and said it’s a good omen.
- Listener Letter - They said that they became a fan after being brought to the concert by a friend.
- Listener Letter - They talked about their experience of going to the concert and singing the melody that eventually became Love Story not knowing what it was.
- ♪ Sirius ♪
- ♪ Harry Styles - Watermelon Sugar ♪
- Listener Letter - Shige read a few in relation to fishing and talked a bit about noticing the fish when he was in Mie for News Na futari, and about how his goal this year is to catch a Tuna that is heavier than 32kg since he’s 32 years old now. Another goal of his is to run a half marathon.
- Listener Letter: Listener wanted advice because they’ve been feeling overwhelmed at work. Shige said that to be honest he’s also overwhelmed with work, and when that happens his attitude tends to get bad and lose ability to be sensitive to others’ needs. When that happens he does his best to not see other people, though you can’t keep that up forever. He said in the past he used to use the gym, or books, or movies to help with that. When it gets to that point he often loses sight of the fact that everyone has things they’re going through, which isn’t good. He wants to know the answer too. He said it’d be good to tell your friends that you’re overwhelmed if you have people you’re close with and can talk to. He doesn’t always realize when it’s happening.
  He said one goal he has for himself is to still treat others with kindness, while also not pushing himself too much. He talked about how when you reach your 30s, a lot of things change. He apologized for getting down when he’s supposed to be answering a letter.
  You have to just believe that there are fun things awaiting you, find joy in the small things.
- ♪ Touch ♪

Kchan NEWS (Dec 24)
- This episode all of NEWS were on.
- The talked about how Tegomass recorded their radio show that morning, then a magazine shoot before coming and recording for Kchan NEWS.
- Listener Letter: They wanted to hear about any memorable presents they received from Santa as kids, or would like to receive from Santa. Koyama said that first of all they had to confirm whether or not they had asked for gifts from Santa as a kid or not, and Tegoshi said that he did. Koyama said that he did, he’d put a letter to Santa in his stocking. Shige said that he did once, but he did on the 24th around 9pm, for a remote controlled car, but of course that late it was too late, but at that time he really believed in Santa. Massu said that he most remembered getting a track for his cars and a B’z album.
  Tegoshi said that for him, the most memorable gift was a compilation video of Ruy Ramos’ plays. Koyama said that for him, it was a mountain bike which amazed the others.
  If they were to ask for something from Santa, now what they would ask for?
  M: Wouldn’t it be wild if you had a letter from Santa that said to go to the house next door, and the name plate said, “Masuda”?
  T&K: What do you mean??
  S: Do you mean, if Santa were to gift you a house?
  M: Yeah
  K&T: Ohhhh!
  They agreed that that would be amazing. Tegoshi said that since he doesn’t really go shopping he would want Santa to come up with a full outfit for him. They joked that he’d end up with an outfit red from head to toe. Koyama brought up how originally Santa wasn’t necessarily pictured in red and white, it happened due to his depiction in soda commercials.
- ♪ Towairo no Koi ♪
- Listener Letter: Koyama read two letters about the list of top popular slang words amongst “gyaru” of the year. The first wanted NEWS to come up with their own ranking of top trending words. They mentioned the word “tapiru” as one of the words in the letter. The second letter was from a listener who asked them to try and guess the meanings.
  Tegoshi didn’t know what it meant and Koyama made him guess and he couldn’t, so Koyama gave him the hint that it has to do with a drink that’s popular nowadays that has round things in it and then Tegoshi correctly guessed that it means to have a Tapioca drink.
  The second one was “Pien” and they weren’t able to guess it. Koyama said that he thought they might get the one that ranked in at 4th place, “3150” which is a numerical representation of the word “Saiko” which means awesome or great. Tegoshi was able to guess number 6 “riako” right away which is a shortening of “real koi (real love)” when referring to loving an actor/idol/celebrity. Koyama asked Massu to guess “Kyoko” which is a shortening of “kyou no coord (today’s outfit)” but he wasn’t able to but Shige seemed to get it fairly quickly.
  Koyama then returned to the word that ranked at the top of the list, and Tegoshi guessed that the top word was “kusa” which means grass and is used to signify laughter because “www” which is short for the word to laugh “warai” looks like grass. They all teased him saying that that slang is so old. Tegoshi said that gamers use it a lot, and Shige explained the origins to Koyama who was surprised.
  The actual first place word was “KP” and Tegoshi was able to guess it after a lot of hints from Koyama. It stands for “kanpai” which means cheers.
- ♪ Love Story ♪
- At the end Koyama did PR for the Encore DVD. They talked about how they watched it to check the footage and Massu said he watches it like 10 times to make sure everything is ok.

Tegomass no Radio (Jan 1)
- At the opening, Tegoshi put on a weird voice and said lots of weird New Year-ish things until Massu had to cut in and introduce himself. Tegoshi also insisted that everyone must be listening from their family homes since it’s the New Year’s
- Request for the week: ♪ Sirius ♪
  Tegoshi also made a lot of slips while they were talking about the request and it got quite noisy
- Listener went for a solo trip overseas for the first time in their life recently. They said while Tegoshi is pretty much someone who enjoys challenges, is there anything Massu and Sakura would like to challenge themselves with this year? Massu started asking if Tegoshi really enjoys challenges since he only concentrates on what he likes, so is that right? Tegoshi was like why are you analysing me??? And Sakura said both of them are really loud that day.
  Back to challenges, Tegoshi said he really wants clothes. (M: NO. We can’t talk about clothes in this programme. T: Even me?) He said he wanted the other 3 NEWS members to get him full outfits so he won’t end up wearing mismatched stuff. And if he still looked bad then, then it means nothing looks good on him. The other two said he’s just making other people do all the work and spend all the money, and Tegoshi launched into how he’s the most junior in the group, even more junior than some from Kis-My-Ft2 and Hey! Say! JUMP so it’s perfectly fine they gift him something like that. Massu shared again of how the three of them buy gifts for Tegoshi a lot but he barely gifts them anything. They went through his belongings on the spot, and almost everything were things he received.
  T: That’s why Tegoshi is good!
  Sakura: “That’s why Tegoshi is good”? Huh??
  M: I hate him. It turns out I hate him afterall.
  Tegoshi started asking if they have anything they want to challenge then, and both of them sheepishly said no.
- They announced new segments they’d like to do for the year, and invited listeners to write in for them. They’d try everything out and leave just the popular ones
  - “Tegomass Suki Kirai” (Tegomass’ likes and dislikes)
    They tried one immediately - If they liked someone who fiddles with their phones when they’re out with them one-on-one. Tegoshi doesn’t like such people, unless they can multitask and still carry on with the conversation. Massu said there’s this Jr. who’d always be looking at his phone, though he didn’t name who. He said while he understands there’re some things you need to reply immediately (like for work) or some calls you have to take, but other than that you shouldn’t.
    Tegoshi agreed, and Massu said Tegoshi always leaves his phone on the table during meetings, and doesn’t pick up his calls even when his weird ringtone rings. Massu said it’s a bother and he should just exit the room and pick it up
  - “Tegomass, kore shitteru?” (Did you know this, Tegomass?)
    They wondered if the listeners would send in very basic things everyone should know to test Tegomass, or really very difficult things
  - “Tegomass no image” (The image of Tegomass)
    They’ll set a theme each time, and listeners have to send in their image of Tegomass on that. Like if the theme is travel, listeners can send in stuff of how Tegoshi might bring very few things along but unnecessary things etc. and Tegomass would then go through the perceived images and comment on them. Massu started saying it’s wrong, Tegoshi brings a lot of things along. (T: Why are you talking so much about me today!) The first theme is: “Meals”
- At the ending, Sakura promoted a drama she was appearing in “Sedai Wars”, and while Sakura was reading the address details, the two of them talked about what they wanted to do for the year and blamed Sakura for being so noisy the listeners can’t hear

Masuda Takahisa no Master Hits (Jan 3)
- At the opening, he promoted the WOWOW drama that he’ll be appearing in.
- If he prefers sweet or savoury crepes - he prefers sweet crepes (M: I probably only eat chocolate banana crepes)
- ♪ TEPPEN ♪
- What Massu will be taking note of/will like to try challenging in 2020 - there isn’t anything in particular, but he’d be taking note of sports since it’s the Olympics, like athletics and swimming. He hopes NEWS will be able to help hype the Olympics up in someway too
- The listener caught the flu for the first time in 10 years and while Massu is always healthy, they wanted to know what Massu would do if he had that 5 days free (to rest at home for the flu). He said it’d be better to rest, and maybe watch TV, clean the house… maybe shred the documents that’ve accumulated over time?
- Listener asked Massu to share his thoughts about the Arashi exhibition. He talked about the collaboration goods Arashi made with Disney, and said they were so cute he bought all five of them. He went to the Arashi concert a few days later, and decided to wear them there. But if he wore just Sho’s there, Matsujun might ask, what about the rest of them? So he wore Matsujun’s under Sho’s. And he explained how the tshirts weren’t that big to begin with, so they ended up really tight on him. Every staff he met asked if he put on weight, he said he didn’t. In the end, he didn’t get to meet Arashi at all and went home quietly. He didn’t talk very much about the exhibition since some people might not have been yet and he didn’t want to spoil it, but he said he learnt a lot and thought about how the fans must be really happy to see it
- Is there something Massu can eat for a week straight? The listener can eat curry for a week. He agreed he might be able to eat curry for 3 consecutive meals, but maybe not for 21 meals (3 x 7 days). He said maybe noodles? Like ramen, ramen, pasta. But he decided on curry in the end
- A listener who works in the service industry used to teach their juniors the way their seniors taught them, but started being told things like, “You shouldn’t just teach people what you were taught/learnt on your own!” They wondered how Massu felt about this since he’s got so many juniors. He wondered how things are for them… while there’re things they tweak/change on their own, the foundation is what their seniors have taught them, and used sushi chefs and stylists as examples. He said it’s really hard to answer this question, and said it’d be nice if he could be a senior who could answer the questions his juniors might have. He said it’s best if the listener could work in a way they best enjoy their work
- What does Massu always have in his bag? He only carries a bag when he needs to go to work, and just stuffs his wallet, keys and phone in his pockets otherwise. Since he only carries a bag for work, they contain what he needs for work, like scripts. And maybe lip balm? And went back to saying he doesn’t carry bags a lot. He shared again the story of how the members got put off by how he’s got lint rollers in his bag for the tours when he’s kept the rest of his belongings to the minimum
- ♪ Kibou ~Yell~ ♪
- For Brain Master this week, the question was, “What’s the purpose of the kombu that lines yudofu (warm tofu) other than for the dashi?” He made a few wrong guesses before giving up. The right answer is to prevent the tofu from being overcooked and falling apart
- ♪ Wonderland ♪
- At the ending, he promoted the “EPCOTIA ENCORE” DVD/Bluray and “Songs of Tokyo” airing in Japan the following day. He also revealed the theme of that day’s song selection to be “mezase”, where “mezase” appears in the lyrics of all of the three songs