NEWS news (week of Feb 2)

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• Masuda Takahisa no Marumaru (Feb 5)

  
  

  • Masuda Takahisa no Ichimon Itto 3

  
  

  • Massu posted the third round of answers, including the following:
    Q: What do you want to do with NEWS in the future?
    A: Lots ☺️
    Aside from mountain climbing (lol)

  
  



• NEWSRING (Feb 5)

  
  

  • It was Shige’s turn to update

  
  

  • Shige wrote about the story announcement and how people have been waiting for it. He said that they finished recording and that the hardest part is always the solo. He said that it is very “Shige-like” as always. This time more so than ever. He said that he feels like it’s fate that he got to do this STORY album and tour eight years after becoming an author. He feels like he got to put the conflict and toughness into song form. It’s also at the same time as the release of his essay collection.
    He said that he tried to make a very raw song, and that he did the arrangement too this time.
    He asked everyone to look forward to it, and if we didn’t listen to it he would cry (using a cutesy lingo that topped the year’s list of gyaru slang which they discussed on the radio).

  
  



• Masuda Takahisa no Marumaru (Feb 7)

  
  
  
  
  

  • Masuda’s no Ichimon Itto 4

  
  

  • Some more responses from the 4th round

  
  

  • Q: What emoji do you like currently?
    A: ❤️

  
  

  • Q: How do you lift your spirits on a rainy day?
    A: I don’t get down on rainy days ^_^

  
  

  • Q: Are you the type to wear inside shoes?
    A: Nope! I have slippers, but I don’t always wear them, sometimes I just wear socks.

  
  

  • Q: Do you like kotatsu (heated tables)?
    A: Depends on the kind

  
  

  • Q: Represent yourself using one kanji!
    A: 貴 (the first kanji in his first name)

  
  

  • Q: Are you the type who doesn’t like to be alone?
    A:  If I were to pick yes or no then maybe yes

  
  

  • Q: What’s your selling point? (I think everything, but if you had to pick)
    A: Everything

  
  

  • Q: What stage effect do you like? (fire, water, lasers etc)
    A: The kind you’ve never seen before

  
  

  • Q: Are you the type to take your socks off at home?
    A: Ah, the same as before! I don’t like how your feet get sticky when you’re barefoot so I’m usually in socks! And in winter it’s cold so I wear them a lot too!

  
  

  • Q: Are you the type to wonder around while brushing your teeth?
    A: No! It’ll get everywhere! Lol I brush while looking at the mirror.

  
  

• An official twitter account for the “STORY” project has been set up, follow it here.




• The covers for “STORY” were also released on Feb 7, you can view them at JEHP here.




• Tegoshi had his first live stream as the official ambassador for OPENREC on Sunday Feb. 9th. The hashtag for it #てごプン reaching No. 1 in trending and received a lot of attention

  
  

  • Soraru, a singer and songwriter, tweeted saying that he watched it and praised Tegoshi saying that he’s good looking, a good speaker, and good at games- a super human. (Source)

  
  

  • A Youtuber who filmed with Tegoshi for an upcoming OPENREC.tv stream made a video talking about Tegoshi. He said that he usually tries not to direct his traffic away from Youtube, but this time he had to make an exception because he got the rare chance to get to work with Tegoshi. He talked about  how cheerful Tegoshi is, like the sun.
    He talked about how popular Tegomass was when he was in highschool and singing “Miso Soup” at karaoke and he would sing Tegoshi’s parts. He also talked about how nice and down to earth Tegoshi was and how he would talk with everyone and try to put them at ease. He also commented on how cool and good looking he is in real life.
    The event they’ll appear in together will go live on Feb 16th.
    (Source)

  
  



• To keep up to date on NEWS’ activities don’t forget to check out the NEWS Schedule at the top of the sidebar!

• Sorashige Book (Jan 12)

  
  

  • Listener Letter: Travis Japan’s Kawashima Noeru wrote about talking with Shige at FNS Kayosai in his blog and included a pic with Shige. He also said that Shige was the reason he decided to try and get licensed as a real estate agent. They asked if Shige also has a real estate license.
    Shige said that Noeru is also his kohai in the sense that he went to the same school, and talked about when he visited him in his dressing room. The last time they met was 2 years ago when they got a meal together. Noeru told him that it was thanks to him that he decided to get it, and Shige couldn’t remember what he had said to him. Apparently he had told him that it could bring opportunities in the future, and he said that he does agree with that. If you have one thing about you that’s different it’ll help you stand out amongst all the other jrs. Shige said that he doesn’t know that he specifically said real estate agent though.

  
  

  • ♪ SPIRIT ♪

  
  

  • ♪ Mustard - Ballin’ ft. Roddy Ricch ♪

  
  

  • Listener Letter: Shige read a few letters about Shige’s new serialization. They wanted to know how long it took and behind the scenes and just gave their thoughts.
    Shige said that he’s not too particular about picking character names, he doesn’t want really out there names, but he does want ones that will stand out a bit. He said he does like single kanji names. Shige said that he’s reading the Chinese novel, “The three body problem”.

  
  

  • Listener Letter: Shige read some letters about “Dekiru nara Steed de” and his new serialization.

  
  

  • Listener Letter: They wanted to know if he watched M1 and which comedian he liked. Shige said that it was interesting, and he was able to watch it in real time and talked about some of the comedians that appeared.

  
  

  • ♪ Snow Drop ♪

  
  



• Kchan NEWS (Jan 14)

  
  

  • The guest this week was Shige

  
  

  • ♪ Epcotia ♪

  
  

  • Listener Letter: They said it was their first Johnny’s Countdown, they shared their favorite parts and asked NEWS if they gave any kouhai otoshidama.
    Koyama talked about how Shige went to the dome earlier than the other members saying he was going to check out the jrs’ performances. Shige said that he went looking for toshikoshi soba (a meal typically eaten over New Years Eve) and couldn’t find it so he went to catering instead and as he was eating Nakajima Kento (Sexy Zone) can over and they started talking. They go to the same gym, so they talked about that and ended up talking through the time when the jrs were performing and he missed it. He mentioned how Kawashima Noeru (Travis Japan) came to talk to him and asked him to watch, but he got caught up in conversation.
    They talked about how it’s common for them to get to talk to people they usually don’t at catering, and Koyama mentioned how he recently was sitting near Kame and Yamapi and chatted with them. Koyama also talked about talking with Koshioka Yuki (4U) who is actually Koyama’s sempai and they’ve known each other since Koyama was a jr.
    They talked about how Kento is always really proactive with approaching Shige because before when they got a meal with Fuma and others, Kento said that at the gym Shige’s intimidating and Koyama told him that with Shige you have to be really forward and proactive, which is why he’s been proactively approaching Shige like at catering.
    Then, Shige ran into Kento at the gym again and he was totally different than before, calling out a greeting to him and massaging Shige’s shoulders. Koyama also talked about when they did hatsumode with all the Johnny’s Kento talked to him a lot. They always take a picture together, and Kento was asking Koyama how he can get the picture because he’s never gotten it before. Koyama said that his manager should be sending it to him, and Kento said that they don’t. Koyama commented on how Kento talks pretty loudly and closely.
    Shige said that he didn’t give any because there was no time and Koyama agreed saying that they have to head straight to TBS right after. Koyama said that he did give one to Hashimoto Ryosuke (ABC-Z) because he happened to be in the same place as him on New Year’s Day and he asked for one.
    Koyama received otoshidama from Kokubun Taichi (TOKIO). Shige said that he asked for one from Maruyama Ryuhei (Kanjani8) since he gives it out every year, but Maru said that there are too many jrs this year and he’s run out the ones he brought, but then right before the concert was about to start he gave Shige ¥2,000, like “this is all I have!” which Shige then gave in offering to the shrine when they did hatsumode. Shige said if he was asked for otoshidama he’d give it and Koyama encouraged whoever was listening to approach Shige more aggressively and Shige whined asking him to stop.
    They also talked about giving otoshidama to the jrs who backed for them in Osaka and how word spread until jrs they didn’t even know were approaching them for otoshidama.
    Koyama talked about how he gets pretty close with the jrs quickly and they can greet him easily where as they’re not as sure as to how to approach Shige and ask him how to get to know Shige, so he encourages them to approach him and Shige always looks so troubled.
    Shige also talked about how at Tokyo Dome, a jr ran up to Tegoshi to tell him that he looked up to him, Koyama and Shige were close by so Koyama jumped into the conversation asking the Jr what he liked about Tegoshi and encouraged him to talk to Tegoshi. Tegoshi was also acting a bit shy about it so Koyama was afraid the conversation would just end with Tegoshi being like “thanks” so he wanted to encourage it and made the jr repeat his name and made sure that Tegoshi memorized it. Koyama said that he really is very happy to hear about jrs who admire Tegoshi or Shige.
    They ended up calling out to Kento and Koyama used Kento’s catch phrase of pairing everything with “sexy”

  
  

  • ♪ Silent Love ♪

  
  

  • Listener Letter: What did they do over new years? They reminisced over when Koyama and Shige went to Hawaii together over new years.
    Shige said that he did see his family but he also had a deadline so he was writing, and also participated in mochi making with someone from the Kinidaichi drama. He also ran into Koike Eiko there who he hadn’t seen since Zero.
    Koyama went abroad somewhere south.

  
  



• Tegomass no Radio (Jan 15)

  
  

  • At the opening, they said this was the first time they were recording Tegomass no Radio for the year, and talked about the “STORY” tour. They also discussed how to read “2020”, if it should be “two zero two zero”, “two thousand twenty” etc. After introducing the tour, they tested Sakura to see if she remembered all of “N”, “E” and “W”, starting from “N”, but she couldn’t, so they said she can’t say a single word till she recalled. They allowed her to read the request though

  
  

  • Request this week: ♪ Lala Sakura ♪
    But while reading the request, Sakura messed up “Tegomass” and they were like, “HEY is this your attitude for the year???” The listener who wrote in the request was also a graduating undergrad who got an offer for the one and only company they interviewed for, and they talked about how amazing that was

  
  

  • The next listener went for the “Johnny’s Countdown Concert” and was seated towards the back of the arena. They noticed Tegomass talking to V6’s Okada and wanted to hear behind-the-scenes stories from JCD. Tegoshi said Okada was looking at Tegoshi the entire time V6 was supposed to talk about the plans for the year, so Tegoshi was like, “Hey you should look in front,” But Okada went, “Nope,  I’m looking at you.” Tegoshi said he respects Okada and will always remember how Okada told him once at some music special to do his best (since they share similar experiences of getting to debut soon after they joined Johnny’s). Tegoshi also shares how Okada always makes Tegoshi do the “Tei!” he does in “ItteQ” to him at all his might.
    Tegoshi asked Massu if he had any stories to share and Massu first started acting dumb, saying, “Nope, no behind-the-scenes stories because I show the fans everything.” Before sharing this was probably the first JCD they had good rehearsals for. They sang KAT-TUN’s “Keep The Face”, and were told there was choreography to learn. KAT-TUN doesn’t do choreography for this song so NEWS wondered what it was, before finding out it was just some switches in positions and they nailed it in 30mins.
    Tegoshi added that all groups usually don’t have time for proper rehearsals for JCD due to time constraints, but NEWS stayed and requested to run through their songs after the run through for the entire programme was over so as to have the audio adjusted properly.
    Massu finally threw in a behind-the-scenes story saying Taichi (TOKIO) gave them otoshidama, but gave them to their manager instead of giving it to them directly. They wanted to say thank you in person, but it seems Taichi wanted it this way so they didn’t have to feel bad. Massu asked if Tegoshi gave any Jrs otoshidama and Tegoshi was like, I would if I met them in person, but I didn’t! Massu said but they were all around! Tegoshi started explaining the layout of the dressing rooms and how it was impossible, Massu joked they should make a special pocket for Tegoshi next time so he can carry otoshidama around.
    They shared again the story of how NEWS gave otoshidama to all the Jrs last year at Kyocera Dome.

  
  

  • The next listener painted their nails gold in an attempt to bring up their money luck and wanted to know if the three of them do anything to better their fortunes. Tegoshi said he went for hatsumode with his mum and dogs. They talked about how they arrange their money bills, and Tegoshi said his mum cares about such things and will change the positions of the beds to face the “better” direction.
    Sakura said she’s close to Dr. Copa (a fortune teller) and he’d text her things to do for better luck and sometimes she’d do as he recommends.
    T: Anything?
    M: … nope.
    T: You have nothing today, do you!!! Squeeze all you have!
    Massu said he tries to take good care of his wallet and use the dollar bills in bad conditions first

  
  

  • The final letter was from a listener who said they saw from TV that the children these days don’t know a lot of New Year’s traditions and did some self reflection of how they haven’t been teaching their children either, and wanted to know if they had anything they do each year for New Year’s. Massu said their family did kite flying. Tegoshi hasn’t heard of “fukuwarai” either.
    M: I used to do mountain biking and rollerblading.
    Sakura: Such stylish stuff!
    M: I mean, my family is basically stylish.
    They tried to recall what they did for New Year’s and said it’s mostly spent at home, watching Hakone Ekiden, high school soccer etc.
    They continued to talk a bit more about games, and it was revealed that Massu doesn’t know many poker card games, and he doesn’t know “Sevens”, nor “Speed”.

  
  

  • While Sakura was reading the address details, Massu had to say five things that commonly happen when eating gyozas. Massu had problems thinking of five and Sakura purposely read the address slower so as to match his speed. It was also only at the very last second that Tegoshi remembered Sakura hasn’t said what “N” was.

  
  



• Master Hits (Jan 17)

  
  

  • At the opening, he talked about how “EPCOTIA ENCORE” DVD/Bluray was getting released real soon and it’s probably the best DVD/Bluray so far. He recommended  “Zutto Issho sa”. He also talked about “STORY”, saying it’s probably NEWS’ largest tour in history, with 27 shows at 10 venues and they’ll be going to Nagoya Dome for the first time.

  
  

  • If Massu preferred salt & seaweed flavoured chips or consomme flavoured chips. He prefers consomme.

  
  

  • ♪ EPCOTIA ♪

  
  

  • If Massu did anything New Year’s-like, and if he gave the Jrs otoshidama. He didn’t do anything New Year’s-like, except for welcoming the New Year with the rest of Johnny’s and going for hatsumode with everyone after that. He shared how he saw Snow Man backstage just before JCD started and congratulated them on their debut. One of them, probably Fukazawa, asked for otoshitama, and he pretended to say okay and dipped his hand into his pocket, “Ah! Sorry I don’t have them with me now.” And said he did this same routine with quite a few Jrs. He said he gave all the Jrs following them on the ENCORE tour last year though. He hasn’t met the Jrs very much this year so he didn’t give anyone otoshidama.

  
  

  • How Massu likes his mochi - he doesn’t like mochi to be floating on soup (like in oshiruko) so he pretty much only eats mochi grilled, like isobeyaki mochi. If dango counts as mochi, he likes dango too. He went on to say again of how he likes tofu on its own and doesn’t understand why people put their tofu into hot pots.

  
  

  • If Massu starts drinking sessions with beer (TL note: many Japanese will order beer as their first beverage at drinking/dinner sessions) - he does, though he doesn’t say the standard phrase of “Well, just beer to start” (toriaezu biru de) as he feels that’s being rude to beer.

  
  

  • ♪ Ikiro ♪

  
  

  • For “Brain Master” this week, the question was, “What’s the ring around Saturn made of?” He commented that the timing of this question was perfect as “EPCOTIA ENCORE” was about to be released. He made quite a few wrong questions before receiving a hint - a common item on Earth and usually in the drink Massu drinks a lot. He got it with the hint, ice. But was really shocked and repeated a few times, “EH it’s made of ice??”

  
  

  • ♪ Koisuru Wakusei ♪

  
  

  • At the ending, he promoted “EPCOTIA ENCORE” and “STORY”. The Master Hit pens will also run out by the end of January, they had 200 pens made and it lasted for about 4 years.

  
  

Comments

[tere-itzelitha.livejournal.com]

Thanks for sharing <3

[aures.livejournal.com]

thank you so much for your amazing work <3

[mou-kai.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! <33

[achikr-rackih32.livejournal.com]

Thank you for keeping us updated!