#think note

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2020 is a year where the world, not just Japan, has been brought to a standstill. Although it has been a lonely year, it is also a year where Hey!Say!JUMP has the opportunity to take on new challenges. Due to the effects of the novel coronavirus, a lot of people are turning to the internet; given the situation, there is no reason why we shouldn’t use [the internet to reach people]. With that in mind, the members and staff met many times to discuss the issue and we decided to upload music videos for our album “Fab! ~Music Speaks.~” on YouTube in advance of the release date. Even though we cannot meet our fans in person, they can still see JUMP this way, and in the end, a lot of non-JUMP fans also watched them and we were able to get [pretty good] view numbers, so I think it was a successful [experiment].

For Yamada Ryosuke personally, 2020 was a year where I worked a lot (laughs). Although I felt “This year was the busiest year yet” at the end of every year, in the end, I noticed that the record kept getting renewed. Although part of me thought it will be great to continue this trend in 2021, honestly, I also thought “what am I going to do if it’s more busy than this [year]?”, so I’m a bit conflicted (laughs). I wanted to reward myself for the hard work… by the way, recently, I told Chinen (Yuri), “you know those clutch that’s shaped like a suitcase, they look really useful”, so with that thought, we went to the shopping site and each bought a different coloured [clutch]. A few hours later, while I was doing my makeup on the set of “Best Artist 2020”, I started thinking “isn’t the price of the bag quite impressive”, but that is the reward I gave myself for 2020! Fans, I’ll reveal [the bag] in my personal clothes corner on “DUET” some day!

Looking back at this year, the #1 news is that I got to game with my favourite former pro-gamer, StylishNoob-san! My buddy already knows StylishNoob-san through work, then StylishNoob-san himself also said on his livestream that it’d be nice to collab with me. When I saw that, I thought it’s probably not rude, so I asked my buddy to introduce us. He was someone I admired so very much, so I was so nervous. However, just like you see in his videos, he chatted the whole time during the play and seemed like a lot of fun, he was also very considerate of me even though my level is nowhere close to being in the same league as him, once again, I affirmed that he is a very charismatic person. After that, we frequently exchanged mail with each other although they were mostly just about games. Like “What’s your rank now?”, or “This weapon or this character is quite powerful now, right?”, and sometimes, I used this invaluable opportunity to ask questions like “In this situation, what is the best thing to do?” Although I think people who are playing the same game might feel “That’s unfair, Yamada!”, I’m really sorry about that…

My regret in 2020 is that I could not meet our fans. We won’t know what 2021 will shape up to be. However, even if we cannot meet, JUMP and the agency are thinking of ways to fill up this time and release contents that will bring joy to you all. Don’t lose to coronavirus, let’s wish for the day we can meet in good health. Look forward to meeting you in 2021!

“I sincerely wish that everyone can spend 2021 with smiles..." - Yamada Ryosuke

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In the mornings of my workdays, even if it’s an early start, I will set my phone alarm on to 1.5 hours before departure and I will get up without snoozing. When I get out of bed, I immediately go to the kitchen. The reason is that I have to make my breakfast, lunch, and dinner as part of my body training. By cooking, I mean I’m just breaking 10 eggs to make scrambled eggs and then put 400g of chicken breast in the low temperature cooker (sous vide) for 1 hour. I take a shower in between and then I finish by putting the scrambled eggs and diced chicken breast in 3 containers. I take them with me to eat, but at night, I will also have some high protein, low calorie things from [catering] at work. Since I take in almost no sugar or salt, my tastebuds seemed to have sharpened, so today when I ate saikyo yaki* sablefish, the deliciousness permeated my body (laughs). The [things I mentioned] above are my recent morning routines. I used to not understand why people around me say things like “You’re so strict!”, but this is the first time I also felt that “I am pretty strict with myself.”

* Saikyo Yaki (西京焼き) is a dish of grilled fish or meat marinated in sweetened miso.

After work, I will visit the gym to work out before going home, so I usually get home around midnight. Although I usually have work starting really early on the next day, I make sure I play at least one round of games. There are times when my condition caused me to lose in 2 minutes, so obviously I will play another round in those cases (laughs). After that, I will take a bath and then go to bed. Until a little while ago, I will play with my phone while it is charging by my bedside, however, I can’t sleep because of that, so now I charge it at the foot of my bed. This way, when my alarm goes off [in the morning], I will have to get up to shut it off and this stops me from falling asleep again. By the way, the mattress I bought during “Sakurai, Ariyoshi The Yakai” arrived, and the way it gets rid of my tiredness when I wake up is totally different! I have noticed the importance of getting a good night’s sleep, so it was a great purchase. Although it was expensive (laughs).

Since I am living so strictly everyday, I will announce my ideal day … I’ll wake up at 10am, get omurice on delivery; when my stomach is full, I’ll take an afternoon nap; when I get up, I’ll roll around in bed and play with my phone, then from around 3pm to midnight, I will [sequester] in my house and play games! Right now, I’m wondering if I need to treat myself and spend a day inside my apartment. Although there are people who upload lots of videos of their trendy morning routines and night routines, I will never show anyone my “degenerate” day (laughs).

I almost have no routines when it comes to work. Let’s say before I join the filming of a drama or movie, the role I play determines whether any preparation is required, and if I do, the preparation is [going to be] different. As for things I do before [each] performance, I have to do my hair, makeup, and go to the toilet (laughs). Routine means doing the same things every time. Since I don’t have much patience, I think it will be boring to be bound by established routines at work. Although I understand the wish to always bring in a constant level of energy* to each job, I think it is unfit for my line of work to bring the same level of energy all the time. Rather, the attraction for this job is that there are different challenges and requirements everyday. If I’m caught up in routines, the worst case is that I cannot perform properly… that is something I do not want.

* He actually said “Tension”, which usually means excitement or high spirits but it doesn’t seem to fit here.

“I want different stimuli every day..." - Ryosuke

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I always want to show different sides of me. This is the one thing that is on my mind when I work. If I keep appearing the same way [and doing the same thing], people will surely get tired of it very quickly. Especially in today's world where new things pop up in front of our eyes every day. So for those of us [in the entertainment industry], it is our mission to figure out what we can do to avoid falling into that rut and how we want to appear to others. However, there must be some fans who think, “I don’t want to see him like that” when they see a different Yamada Ryosuke than they are familiar with. If I’m being honest, I am very sad to hear that type of dismissal [from fans]. I want to continue to show new sides of me because I want to make my fans happy. It is the loneliest thing for these positive attitudes to be received in a tragic manner, so if that’s what people are saying, then I won’t be able to take up [new] challenges. Of course, my supporters will have all sorts of thoughts, so that cannot be helped. I understand that it’s only possible for me to be me today because of my fans. [My fans] are important to me and I will not betray and make [you] sad when I approach my work, so it’ll be great if you continue to trust in and follow me.

When I started working as a Jr., my first priority was to be “a good boy to everyone”, so I was not quite able to be myself. However, that was not the real me, so I felt like I betrayed those who supported me back then. After that, I started to show my real self more on variety shows, and I began to hope for fans to accept me like that. The important thing is not to be “a good boy” but to express my opinion and to have the courage to say something is wrong when it is wrong. It may have been the moment when I decided this is the one job [for me].

If you ask me whether it’s easier, whether the situation is better by being myself, I really don’t know. Similarly, I don’t know how the fans who are reading this “Think Note” will think. However, there are people who support my work and those who travelled far to see our live performances, so I will do my utmost to cherish you. If a person can still like a guy [like me] who talks freely about anything without filter or holding back, I think that is true love.

Although it is an exaggeration to call this... “break out of my shell”, I would like to live stream my gameplay as a new area to challenge. If this comes to fruition, it will not just be my fans but people who like gaming who will watch the video; maybe some of them may even learn about Hey!Say!JUMP! Although I am not sure if I [am skilled enough] to satisfy those who like to game, I have confidence that I have that level of play. At least I will be at the same level as other entertainers who are just starting out, right (laughs)? By the way, I attempted this new event in a game last night. Although I had not done this in a while and I was using a new character, I was able to get an impressive record! On the second try, I even got 3000 hammers, well… that’s top class (laughs). Although most people won’t have any idea what I was talking about, since I am very proud of this record, I am going to leave this in “Think Note” (laughs).

“From now on, I’ll be my real self.♡" - Ryosuke

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Due to the long periods of rain, as you can imagine, there were [many starts and stops] in the location shoots for the drama, “Kiwadoi Futari - K2 - Ikebukuro Sho Keiji Ka Kanzaki · Kuroki”. The scenes that cannot be shot during the rain have been gradually pushed back, so in the end, the filming of the first episode took around a month. In addition, we need to take precautions against the novel coronavirus, so now, whether we are resting or rehearsing… basically any time other than the actual take, we are wearing face shields. Although us actors can take them off during the actual take, the staff cannot take them off at any time, so given how hot it will get, I am worried about their health.  Hopefully we can all work together and get through this.

The atmosphere on set is really good. Me and (Tanaka) Kei-chan are pretty busy right now, so when we meet on set, we’ll worry about each other’s health and encourage each other (laughs). Right, we have gone from calling each other “Tanaka-san” and “Yamada-san” to “Kei-chan” and “Ryo-chan”. When we were shooting the video for the YouTube channel, I suggested, “I want us to call each other “Kei-chan” and “Ryo-chan”!” Since then we have smoothly shortened our distance, but we can’t go for dinner like before. Earlier when the corona [infections] were subsiding, Kei-chan invited me to dinner around 3 times, but I had to do a number of music programs, so the timing didn’t work… After that, the situation [has gotten worse] so we can no longer go for dinner. If we can, I would like to go at least once while we are filming, but if it’s difficult to do so, I hope the entire cast can go for dinner even if we have already cranked-up.

Yashima (Norito) san, who plays Kanzaki’s boss, co-starred with me in the 2008 drama “Scrap Teacher ~ Kyōshi Saisei ~”. However, when I was around 19, I had dinner with him privately one time afterwards. One of Yashima-san’s drama co-stars at the time was talking about me, so they invited me along. So after that meeting, it has been around 8 years [since I’ve seen him]. That said, his appearance and personality have not changed at all and he is still the reliable senpai who can make things lively on set.

The toughest part about playing Kanzaki is the number of lines [I have to learn]. Although there are fewer lines compared to the “Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo” (The Casefiles of Young Kindaichi) series, I am no longer the same age as when I played (Kindaichi) Hajime-chan (laughs). Especially with the exposition in [the scenes] where I am questioning the suspect, there are so many similar lines that it was very difficult. “My past self would be able to memorize this volume of texts much quicker... I haven’t changed the way I get the lines in [my head]...”; I was shocked at the deterioration of my brain while desperately fighting* [against reality].

* I think there is a misprint in my magazine. The text said 悪銭苦闘 (akusen kutou), which is like struggling with dirty money. However, 悪戦苦闘 is also akusen kutou, which means struggling desperately. I did try googling to see if the first one is an idiom but got nothing, so I went with the second one since it fits the context.

Although I want to tell you lots and lots about my private life… but unfortunately, I got nothing during these times (laughs). If I have to say, I’m going to the gym. During filming, it’s considered early if we are done at around 9pm or 10pm, so in those days, I’ll go straight to the gym. Since I want to keep my current shape, I have to somehow inspire myself to keep training. After that, I will spend a little time skimming live stream gaming videos while thinking “I’m going to play this game later”; and I will look at Hawaii magazines and firmly decide that “I’m definitely going there when I can get time off!” I can’t wait for the time when I can tell you all sorts of stories from my private life.

“As I’m learning my lines, I truly feel old." - Ryo

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If you take what’s in my brain and put it in a pie chart, then 70% of it is filled with work. For the remaining 30%, a large part goes to the luxurious mattress I bought on the show “Sakuraii, Ariyoshi THE Yakai”. It will be delivered to my house soon, but it’s simply because I can’t wait. It was seriously comfortable to sleep in! Once I sleep on it, I wonder if I can get up from there (laughs). Next, I need to figure out where to put the mini table next to my bedside.

When I hear about the word “%”, my smartphone’s battery comes to mind. In my case, my phone’s battery mark is generally red, so it is naturally below 20%. When I am working, especially when I am on the film set, I don’t touch my phone. If my phone is at 30-40% before I go to bed, I won’t charge it and I’ll just go out with it the next day. If my phone’s battery dies on the way… I’ll borrow the mobile battery from the member or staff nearby. My smartphone, basically, has been relying on others to survive (laughs).

My body fat percentage is around 10 to 11% now. Although it was at single digit at one point, as I continued to workout, I could not fit into my suit from the drama “Kiwadoi Futari - K2 - Ikebukuro Sho Keiji Ka Kanzaki · Kuroki” (Dangerous Duo - K2 - Ikebukuro Station’s Criminal Investigation Unit’s Kanzaki & Kuroki). As a result, the staff told me to stop training and I paused from that point on (laughs). During 2010’s “SUMMARY”, I trimmed down to around 5%. Rather than saying I trimmed down [on purpose], since I was going from high school to work, did muscle training… as I continue that routine, I just naturally got into that shape. As I’m working towards my ideal goal of 7%, I hope to restart the training gradually.

I have checked the daily chance of precipitation relatively often. Especially since this drama mostly shoots outside, I’ll ask the staff “what is the chance of rain tomorrow?” If it’s 80% or so, the location shoot would be cancelled and we would switch to indoor shoots, so I would need to memorize those lines… I have to be flexible thanks to that. However, privately, I don’t care about the weather report. Although I will look when there’s a planned outdoor BBQ… or when I have to drive. I will not drive my own car when it’s a rainy day. Why, you ask? Cleaning my car is annoying (laughs).

There are 2 more months left in 2020. I completed 0% of the things I planned to do privately at the beginning of the year. Since I knew I’d be very busy with movie & drama filming from the start, I didn’t plan anything. However, when I can do it, I want to do a tour just to eat good food. Recently, I was talking with my friends about this famous sushi place in Fukuoka. Although it is a popular place where you need to make reservations around half a year in advance, my friends happened to have one. In the end, in the current situation… we had to tearfully give up on this, but as “revenge”, I’ll go to Fukuoka first. After that, we’ll go to Shimonoseki to eat fugu (blowfish) and then to Okinawa. After that, I’ll fly to Korea and finally to China! Last year, when I went to Hawaii, because there was a typhoon in Japan, we had to divert to Shanghai on our way home. At that time, in the airport in Shanghai, my friends and I said “Since we are in China anyway, we should go to a super fancy restaurant!” We ate the most tasty Chinese food. So ending [the tour] there will be the greatest gourmet tour ever! 

“I like* sushi." - Ryo-tan

*He used sukki instead of suki, but I think he was just trying to sound cute or something.