Sho Sakurai: 20 Years of Arashi Fostered by the Spirit of "Independence and Self-Respect"

Yes, it was tough. The other members of Arashi went to the venues in advance, but I would attend classes at the high school until the very end, then travel alone from Shin-Yokohama to Sendai, Osaka, or Nagoya to cheer at the volleyball matches in the evening. Then, if I could make it, I'd return late at night, or if not, the next morning, and head straight to school.

I think it was because of the school's understanding. When I started my entertainment activities in the second year of Keio Futsubu School, the school's stance was that it was a "family decision," so they were neither for nor against it. The high school had the same stance, but in the sense that they allowed me to be free, I understood it as them acknowledging my path.

I was grateful it was an all-boys school. There was no one screaming or making a scene (laughs). However, I must apologize that during those three years of high school, I often fell asleep during class (laughs).

I'm sorry, that was quite disrespectful of me.

The hardest times were my third year of high school and my second and third years of university. In high school, I had just debuted and didn't know the pace of the work. But as a student, I couldn't skip school, so it was difficult in the sense that it was my first time balancing the two.

In my third year of university, right during the second-semester exams, I was given my first lead role in a drama series. It completely overlapped with the exams, so it was incredibly tough. Because I had those experiences in high school and university, even if I'm somewhat busy now, I can think, "I got through that, so I can do this."

I'm happy to hear you say that, but well, it was partly out of stubbornness (laughs). I think there were naturally some teachers and parents who didn't look favorably upon me joining Johnny & Associates and doing entertainment activities. In that environment, I thought about how I could continue my activities. I decided it was by not neglecting my studies, which is the primary duty of a student.

That applied to my parents as well. When I entered university, my parents told me, "If you're going to continue with Arashi, you'll have to pay your own tuition if you repeat a year." I took that to mean that if I repeated a year, I wouldn't be allowed to continue my entertainment activities (laughs).

So, half of it was stubbornness. The other half was that I was truly blessed with friends. They lent me their notes and helped me in many ways; I was really lucky with the friends I had at Keio.

A friend's girlfriend was a cheerleader, so I went to cheer for her (laughs). It was fun. I think it's thanks to the fact that Keio University has looked after me for so long. For someone in my line of work, people tend to see you as a curiosity, so I think it would have been difficult if I had entered starting from university (laughs).

But fortunately, my old friends protected me at times. Above all, in my first year of university, I took classes from Monday to Saturday. For the first month after enrollment, girls would come to see me, saying things like "I heard Sakurai is here," but eventually they were like, "That guy is here every day," and it wasn't unusual anymore (laughs).

I also mentioned this at the press conference during graduation, but the people I respect are those in the Athletic Association. They practiced every day until right before their exams. I've been greatly influenced by that kind of hard work. I felt that I shouldn't be saying half-hearted things.

That's right. Although I only appear once a week, I've been there the longest, including the TV station staff. One of the triggers for becoming a news caster was the "9/11" attacks in 2001; I was curious about what on earth was happening in the world. I didn't understand why America would be attacked like that due to my lack of study, so I started researching it.

Another reason is that, thanks to my parents putting me in Keio University, I am in the entertainment world. I thought about whether there was something I could give back to my work from having graduated from Keio University, and I felt that if I could do work like being a caster, that would be it.

I was 24 at the time, but fortunately, I was offered such an opportunity.

No, I don't read many books. It's more like "learning on the job." I don't think I'm in a position to state my own ideologies or opinions like a so-called anchorman.

Shortly after I started working as a caster, announcer Akira Fukuzawa told me, "A caster is, as the name suggests, like the rotating casters on a chair; your role is to connect person to person, and from inside the TV to the viewers." Those words really resonated with me. I decided, "I will go to disaster-stricken areas and deliver the voices of the victims to many people." For example, regarding work-style reform, I don't have experience as a corporate employee so I don't understand it well, but that's exactly why I might be able to convey to viewers, "Oh, so that's how it is."

In that way, I see my role as "conveying and connecting" a single voice to as many people as possible.

That's a difficult one (laughs). However, rather than imitating something else, I want to value being myself—which might be exactly what independence and self-respect is. On the other hand, I think it's fine to be influenced by many things, but it's important to be original rather than an imitation, and I want to cherish that.

You really know everything, Professor (laughs). I learned the Electone from about age 3 to 3rd grade, and the piano from 4th grade to 7th grade. When I turned 30, I decided to start learning again since I had done it as a child.

The main purpose was to make the fans happy and have them sing along, but there was also a small feeling of a parting gift to my parents. By showing my parents, who let me take piano lessons as a child, the sight of me playing the piano at Tokyo Dome 30 years later, it felt like I could find some closure within myself.

It might be a big part of it that I've come this far while being helped by the people around me.

No, I don't feel any pressure at all. Basically, I just feel it's an honor and the greatest possible glory. When I was offered the job for the Olympics held in my own country, or when I first heard about the ceremony for His Majesty, it was almost unbelievable—the scale was so large that it didn't feel real. It's a future I never imagined when I was a third-year high school student.

I do the regular TV programs in parallel. In the entertainment world, we are in a sense unique; we basically always have regular TV shows and we also do a tour every year. The foundation is always the group activities, and it's because of that foundation that I can also do things like movies.

Not many, but I do (laughs). Especially now with work-style reform (laughs). Age is also a factor, but unlike when I was young, I get days off at a steady pace. So I think I'm working in a really good way.

To be honest, I haven't been able to think about it yet (laughs). I feel that in 2020, I have to pursue the things that only Arashi can do. There are many things I want to do as Arashi by December 31st, but I can't think specifically about next year and beyond yet. On the other hand, I'm turning 39, and looking at my classmates, some are changing jobs, so I do feel it's the timing to move to the next stage.

It was interesting when I went drinking with my classmates from my first year of university a while ago. With friends I see frequently, we don't talk about deep things, but with guys I was meeting for the first time since graduation, I could see 15 years' worth of their lives—what kind of work they did, how they changed jobs, and what they're doing now. It was stimulating to see that "Oh, there are these ways of living too."

I don't think I can be much of a creator, but I might write something. I've liked writing since Yochisha, as I enjoyed writing essays.

That's a question like a celebrity reporter (laughs). We're thinking about it right now, but it's undecided. How to spend the time until 23:59:59 on New Year's Eve. My first priority is what we can do for the Arashi fans who support us. We have many ideas, but we haven't decided how to land them yet.

True. I think I'll be like Joe Yabuki from "Ashita no Joe" though. Completely burned out (laughs).

For our generation, the J-League started when we were in 5th grade, and everything was all about soccer. But Yochisha didn't have a soccer club, so everyone went to the rugby club.

In the end, though, it was better than only choosing things I liked. I was able to experience learning unique to rugby, and I'm truly glad I could be exposed to it, even if only for two years.

I was happy. It's presumptuous since I only did it at Yochisha, but somewhere in my heart, I had the feeling that I had dabbled in rugby for two years wearing the tiger jersey at Keio University, which is known as the root school of rugby. So it was a joy to be involved in the Rugby World Cup held in my own country 30 years later.

Shortly after our debut, I received a letter from a young female fan in Kyushu who was hospitalized. She was seriously ill, but she had put up posters of us—back when we weren't famous yet—on her ceiling, and she said her electrocardiogram would react when Arashi's songs were played.

She eventually passed away, but that became my initial motivation for doing this job. It was the first event that made me realize our songs and music could give people strength. That is a powerful formative experience for me.

In the last five years or so, that awareness has finally emerged. It's a bit different from "nurturing," but if my experience can be of any reference, I want to pass it on. Instead of saying "do this," if I explain that "in a case like this, my case was Pattern A," they might think, "Then maybe I'll go with Pattern B."

In particular, Yuto Nasu (1st year at Keio University, member of Johnny's Jr. group "Bishonen") is currently trying to balance his studies and entertainment activities. But he's very smart, so I talk to him while thinking my experience might not be much of a reference (laughs).

I'm about 80% happy, but I also feel a tiny bit of guilt. Because I created such a model case. But it serves as encouragement to make sure I don't shame those feelings.