戸塚祥太 の ジョーダンバットが鳴っている No. 7 [ダ・ヴィンチ 2014.05]

A note from me: There is a section later where Tottsu is talking about being a Jr. and having to greet his sempai when he would arrive on set at a music show or something similar. There is no real equivalent in English but in Japan at a work site you are expected to greet your co-workers with おはようございます (Ohayougozaimasu). It tends to be taught as, “Good morning” but in this case I thought just a simple “Hello” would be more appropriate. The seniors then return a おはよう which is a less formal greeting so I used “Hey” for that. And the bonus Inohara-kun throws in is よろしくね.

I should also note that all the quotes from the linked book are taken from the original book rather than having me translate a translation, I did my best to reverse engineer it.

Lastly, as always, I’m neither a professional nor fluent. This is meant for personal use only. Please do not copy or re-post. I claim no ownership over the original material. (Originally posted December 2017)

JORDAN’S BAT IS RUMBLING

ジョーダンバットが鳴っている

by

Totsuka Shota

No. 7: On Inohara Yoshihiko (Part 1)

Very personal essays from the book-loving Totsuka Shota of Johnny’s acrobatic unit A.B.C-Z. While reflecting on events he searches for “links” in the books he’s read.

It’s already been half a year that I’ve been able to continue writing this series. Related to the fact that I’ve never before had the experience of “writing” for work, once again I was made aware of the importance of people that I’m connected to. While doing the work of looking inside myself, of happy times and sad times, no matter what the setting, I would arrive at thoughts of people other than myself.

I’m afraid of forgetting events that I threw my whole self into but my ties to other people will absolutely never vanish. In this space, I’ve taught been taught about them. I thought I’d face the task of writing about the various people who have supported me and last time I wrote about Isaka Kotaro-san, who I hold in great esteem. And now, this piece is about somebody that I’m friendly with in private and who is my “Show Business Big Brother,” my Johnny’s senior Inohara Yoshihiko-kun (*1).

During summer vacation in 1999, I appeared in a V6 concert as a Johnny’s Jr. [NOTE: Johnny's SUMMER CONCERT '99 「V6」tour ran from August 9-26, 1999] Although it hadn’t even been half a year since I joined, I’d been given two songs to appear in. When one of those, the ending song, was over, the V6 members introduced us to the audience saying, “Thank you, Johnny’s Jr.’s”, and the mass of Jr.’s left the stage all at once. There was one senior among them who recognized each Jr. one by one with a smile and a “thank you.” That was Inohara Yoshihiko-kun. The other song I appeared in was the opening song and I’d made a small mistake in the choreography. I felt crushed though it was truly only a small mistake. But I could keep going with Inohara-kun’s kind words of support, “You’ll get it next time.” This was my first encounter with Inohara-kun.

Even after that on music programs and so on I had many opportunities to back dance for V6. On the set, juniors nervously greet their seniors. The simple phrase “Hello” is not so easy to say. Seniors are busy with business meetings and at the critical moment of timing when I’d gather courage to say, “Hello” and the senior said, “Hey” in return, without thinking I’d smile and do a victory pose in my head. I was satisfied with just the “Hey” each of V6 would give me but Inohara-kun would make eye contact and add some bonus words, “Thanks for helping out.” I remember feeling pumped up after hearing those words and going out on stage with a spring in my step.

Drawing on this experience, when I meet the eyes of a junior walking in the hallways of a television station, etcetera, and that kid abruptly lowers his eyes and seems bashful, I will try to greet him with a “Hey.” (Please excuse my officiousness.)

Inohara-kun’s sincere interactions even to a back dancing Junior were something I was very appreciative of at the time and are something I’ll probably always carry with me. That is, because Inohara-kun himself also helped generate excitement as a back dancer for Shonentai and SMAP, helped them change costumes, participated in the talk portion of the concerts and had many sorts of experiences before he debuted, I think he understands the feelings and burdens of the Juniors.

It was when I became a regular on the late night program Hyaku Shiki Ou (*2) [Walking Encyclopedia] that I started to get to know Inohara-kun. On that program, we called Inohara-kun “Inocchi-sensei” and he was the teacher who would pull conversation out of us Junior pupils and also the host who would move everything along.

I hadn’t been with the program from the beginning but joined later, about two years after it began. The shape of the program was already established and at first I struggled because I wasn’t able to grasp what was being asked of me. But because Inohara-kun had noticed and spoke to me, I gradually was able to pick up the timing of the conversation style on the show. He also took us out to eat numerous times after filming. Every time, during the meal, Inohara-kun would ask us, “How did the shoot go today?” Even though we juniors didn’t know much about television, he listened to our opinions. Because Inohara-kun would gather our opinions and communicate them well to the staff-san, the set became a very pleasant place to work.

Inohara-kun was also the first person to really take a professional interest in me. One day after filming, Inohara-kun gave me some advice on my free flowing hairstyle. And then he introduced me to a first rate stylist who worked with numerous celebrities. I was so moved that I immediately contacted the stylist and got a haircut. I sent him a text with a picture of my new hairstyle attached saying “Thank you so much. Look how it turned out.”

But when I saw Inohara-kun for filming on the set of Hyaku Shiki Ou two weeks later, I was bald!

When Inohara-kun said to me, “What happened to you? You just had that great haircut!” I dodged the question, replying, “I trimmed it a little.” Neither the staff nor the other Juniors knew the circumstances that had caused this reaction. And without saying anything about it we started the filming but the first thing out of Inohara-kun’s mouth was a teasing, “Hey, baldie!” I started to smile as I replied, “I’m not bald, it’s just shaved.” And the filming was able to continue peacefully.

But I think Inohara-kun had seen through me. The filming was over and I had just reached home when I received a phone call. “Hello, Totsuka? Is everything okay?”

“Actually, I’d been thinking of quitting Johnny’s and shaved my head. I’m sorry about the haircut. You took all that trouble to introduce me to the stylist and everything. But I pulled myself together and I’m okay now. I’m not going to quit. They’re going to let me stay on.”

“That’s good. Don’t worry about me. Are you really okay? I was really worried when I saw you’d shaved your head. You know, if you need to talk I’m here. Just give me a call, okay?”

“Okay! Thank you.”

When I’d heard from Inohara-kun, I think I was the picture of a senior’s kindness wasted by his exceedingly unfortunate junior. But he’d understood my feelings, that I’d had to do what I did, in an instant and with a single, “Hey, Baldie!”, he made me comfortable in the fragile mood of the studio.

Inohara-kun, thank you so much for the lovingly concerned phone call back then.

I wanted to live up to those feelings so in 2012 when A.B.C-Z went on Music Station for the first time I returned to the stylist that Inohara-kun had introduced me do to have another hair cut. Because I’d contacted him beforehand, I received an encouraging text before the show began. It read, “Tell all everybody to break a leg.” When I shared Inohara-kun’s message, everybody got even more amped up and the live broadcast performance was a huge success. When we returned to the green room, there was another text from Inohara-kun, “That was awesome! I like the use of the continuous shot. It feels like you’re finally getting your due. I’m so happy for you. Everything starts from here.” I was feeling so full of happiness that my feet weren’t touching the floor but, at the same time, I also felt tense.

I’d also sent my thoughts to Inohara-kun before with a text, “I watched you on the music show!” After that, the next time we’d met, he’d given me a CD as present. Was it because of the head shaving incident? At any rate various things weighed on my mind.

Maybe this is a flattering explanation but Inohara-kun and I have a miraculous bond. Even the other day we met by chance. That day I had eaten at a cafe and had gone home and gotten my computer and went to write at a different cafe. I was warmly watching over my hot coffee, with thoughts of Inohara-kun drifting through my mind, when at that moment I received a text. It was from Inohara-kun. When I opened the text, the timing of which had surprised me so much, a picture of Mousoristo cast member Sanada Yuuma was attached, and it said “We’re at ‘A’.” I replied, “At ‘A’? I’m at ‘B’ cafe right now but do you want to meet up?” And then, I got a call from Inohara-kun. “A” was the cafe I had just eaten lunch at.

“Really?! What a coincidence. Okay, we’ll be waiting for you.”

I quickly went to meet them. Sanada had previously asked Inohara-kun to take him out to lunch and after they’d eaten they had been chatting when my name had come up and Inohara-kun had texted me. We’d been having an idle conversation full of Johnny’s guy talk when the topic of Sanada’s career came up. He’d had various thoughts on the subject and I guess he had consulted Inohara-kun.

“You’re only 21? I think you’re doing pretty good being a regular on TV and having some dramas under your belt. Look at it this way, there are lots of guys your age who want to have that work and aren’t able to do it. You’re really blessed. More than that there are two people who brought you into this world and raised you for 21 years. Your mother and father would be satisfied as long as you’re alive, you know.”

When he heard that Sanada bowed his head and his posture deflated. When I was 21 years old I’d also been in a hurry and I’d reacted to those words in my own way.

Inohara-kun is truly a wonderfully tolerant person. He takes in all our thoughts and without repudiating us is able to give us helpful advice. Why is he so open-minded and kind?

While holding that question in mind I began to see Inohara-kun in a character in the novel I was reading. Alice Kinnian from Flowers for Algernon. When I read that book before I knew it I saw myself in Charlie. This man with mental retardation has brain surgery and gradually begins to get smarter. Until then things he hadn’t been able to see before he can now see bright and clear. Many things he begins to understand but at the same time he runs into a lot of walls and at those times his teacher Alice takes Charlie’s point of view into consideration and without laughing or going over his head they work out his problems together. Flowers for Algernon was given to me by an acquaintance and I read it at the end of last year. There were a lot of parts I sympathize with and it’s a book I can return to again and again.

With Inohara-kun’s essay collectionThe Idol’s Pilgrimage [Idol Mushashugyou] he was also my senior on the point of “writing.” Reading his essays, I understand a lot more about Inohara-kun from his experiences and feelings about his work and so on but many more questions also arose. I asked Inohara-kun about it and received an okay, so please wait for the next part to read about it!
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These notes were included in the original text.

(*1) In Johnny’s & Associates there is a tradition of using the “kun” ending with sempai.

(*2) An intellectual, informative variety show that was broadcast on Fuji Television from October 17, 2006 to September 17, 2013. Now the format has changed and it’s called Mousoristo and people perform various outre challenges on it. (Wednesdays, 1:10 a.m. ~ 1:40 a.m.)

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This month’s linked book:

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keys

(translated by Obi Fusa)
32 year old Charlie Gordon is mentally challenged with the intelligence of a small child and works as a handyman at a bakery. He’s always wanted to become smarter and received brain surgery to give him the mental capability. After the surgery, his intelligence level rises to the point where he can be called a genius. However, with his extraordinary intelligence, he suffers hardships and loneliness. What is it that people need, is the question asked by this global bestseller.

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“Charlie, calm down." People were turning to stare. She slipped her arm through mine and pulled me close to restrain me. “Be patient. Don't forget you're accomplishing in weeks what takes others a lifetime. You're a giant sponge soaking in knowledge. Soon you'll begin to connect things up, and you'll see how all the different worlds of learning are related. All the levels, Charlie, like steps on a giant ladder. And you'll climb higher and higher to see more and more of the world around you.”

As we entered the cafeteria on Forty-fifth Street and picked up our trays, she spoke animatedly. “Ordinary people," she said, "can see only a little bit. They can't change much or go any higher than they are, but you're a genius. You'll keep going up and up, and see more and more. And each step will reveal worlds you never even knew existed.” People on the line who heard her turned to stare at me, and only when I nudged her to stop did she lower her voice. "I just hope to God," she whispered, "that you don't get hurt."

[Note: This is taken from the original text. I did my best to match the translation to it.]
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Totsuka says: As Charlie’s brain is beginning to wake up, he and Miss Kinnian go to the movies and Charlie becomes angry at the rather tacky self-serving story. “Even in the world of make-believe there have to be rules. The parts have to be consistent and belong together. This kind of picture is a lie,” he says. I’d also thought this was dead on and it felt like he’d seen directly into my heart. The words in the quotation were spoken to Miss Kinnian by Charlie. With his long-hoped for transformation in progress, he starts to see the sadness of reality. I think it’s a passage overflowing with the kindness of the woman who came to be close to the human-sized Charlie.