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Yamamoto Kouji’s “Let’s take a little break!”
45th guest:
TAKAHASHI AI
(Morning Musume)
Takahashi Ai-chan is the youngest guest of this corner so far. Host Yamamoto, confronted by Aichan’s breathtaking cuteness, completely turned into a grandfather figure sighing “How lovely she is~” during the interview. Ai-chan, who is usually busy with concerts and plays, was chosen to play the role of the heroine in the NHK drama8 “Q.E.D. Shoumei Shuuryou”! The drama is being filmed right now and will air in January, just like the special of the historic drama “Kagero no Tsuji ~ Inemuri Iwane Edo Soshi” with host Yamamoto in the leading role. This is the talk of these two lead actors of NHK dramas.
Yamamoto Kouji: Well, wow… *grin*
Takahashi Ai: Eh? (lol)
Yamamoto: You’re really cute… (lol)
Takahashi: No, no, not at all. (lol) Yamamoto-san, we were both guests in Gussan’s show once! (watch it on Youtube)
Yamamoto: Back then… I didn’t do anything, did I? (lol)
Takahashi: No. (lol)
Yamamoto: I was just sitting there drinking. I’m sorry. (lol) This is the first time we get to talk properly like this, I’ll be in your care today!
Takahashi: I’ll be in your care too!
Yamamoto: You’re going to play the leading role of the NHK drama “Q.E.D. Shoumei Shuuryou” in January. Has the filming already ended now?
Takahashi: No, not yet, today I came here straight from the film set!
Yamamoto: I see, thank you for coming here when you’re so busy! What kind of role is it? I heard it’s a mystery story.
Takahashi: Yes! It’s a live adaptation of a manga. I play the role of a girl who solves different cases together with the genius boy Touma-kun (Nakamura Aoi), who graduated from an American university at the age of 15. She’s basically hopping around him all the time.
Yamamoto: She hops around him? (lol)
Takahashi: Yes, she drags Touma-kun around a lot. (lol)
Yamamoto: Hoh… (lol) So she doesn’t say “I’ll solve this case on my own!”. Does she give him hints and stuff?
Takahashi: Ummm, she doesn’t. (lol)
Yamamoto: She doesn’t, I see. (lol)
Takahashi: But since Touma-kun is a very shy person, his classmates stay away from him and she thinks of ways to bring him together with them. That’s how meddlesome she is. She also often drags him along to a crime scene and tells him to solve the case.
Yamamoto: Heh, she’s very energetic. I see. (lol) How’s the atmosphere in the NHK recording studio?
Takahashi: It’s a lot of fun! When I think about how NHK broadcasts their program into the whole world, it’s amazing. (lol) But I’m not used to the set of a drama yet, so everything is new to me right now! I learn a lot of different things from the people around me!
Yamamoto: It’s nice to hear that! But you know, you’ve been doing your best in Morning Musume as a singer and as a result you’re well-known nationwide, even among small children, right? When I was on the set of “Shinsengumi!“, I thought to myself “Ahh, music artists are really amazing, no one could beat them.”. There was this little boy on the film set, I think he was about 2 years old. He said “Shingo!” when he saw Katori Shingo-kun! I thought being recognized by such small children must give you a different kind of energy. I think no matter how hard I try and keep acting, I’ll never get recognized by 1 or 2 year old children. (lol) But Aichan, you’re really… sparkling.
Takahashi: No, no. (lol)
Yamamoto: How old are you now?
Takahashi: I’m 22.
Yamamoto: I see, no, you’re really sparkling. Where are you from?
Takahashi: I’m from Fukui prefecture.
Yamamoto: Eh! From Fukui prefecture?! There aren’t many people from Fukui in show business.
Takahashi: There’s Itsuki Hiroshi-san!
Yamamoto: Ohh, I see. (lol) So this sparkle is from Fukui prefecture…
Takahashi: There was an audition and I joined Morning Musume at the age of 14.
Yamamoto: I remember that audition!
Takahashi: Thank you very much. (lol) But I had a lot of trouble because I couldn’t get used to standard Japanese. Even when I was with the Morning Musume members, my dialect would show and I used to get scolded for it a lot.
Yamamoto: For example?
Takahashi: “Haya, shinema!”
Yamamoto: …!?
Takahashi: When I said it, everyone reacted like “Eh?”! It means “Hurry up and do it”, but everyone thought “She just told me to hurry up and die…”.
Yamamoto: That’s what I thought too. (lol)
Takahashi: It doesn’t mean that. (lol) There’s also “chokin”. “Ochokin, shinema!”.
Yamamoto: “Save up money”?
Takahashi: It means “Sit correctly!”.
Yamamoto: Heh! That’s interesting. But now you speak standard Japanese perfectly, right? So you fixed it.
Takahashi: I used to take lessons from a teacher for standard Japanese. (lol)
Yamamoto: Teacher for standard Japanese?
Takahashi: There was an announcer in my agency and he taught me.
Yamamoto: Hoh! Then you got used to standard Japanese. (lol) And now you’re the heroine of an NHK drama! I see, since you joined Morning Musume at the age of 14, you’ve been a member for 8 years… You’re the leader now, right?
Takahashi: Yes! I’m the oldest member of Morning Musume.
Yamamoto: Ehhhhh, really?! That’s a bit of a shock. (lol) You play concerts and act in dramas. In plays too, right?
Takahashi: Yes. I’ve loved musicals so much that I wanted to join Takarazuka before joining Morning Musume. That’s why I like watching musicals on off days and it’s of course fun to take part in a musical myself too.
Yamamoto: Have you watched any of my plays? I’m starring in a musical right now.
Takahashi: Ah, I’m sorry, I haven’t yet… (lol)
Yamamoto: It’s ok, it’s ok. (lol) Are there plays you’d like to star in, in the future?
Takahashi: For example, the play “Les Misérables” where you starred in or the play “Elizabeth” which is currently being performed! I went to NY with my mom when I was 19 and I watched “Producers”, “The Phantom of the Opera” and “Blue Man Group” there. While watching, I thought I’d love to be one of the actresses. I’ve had the opportunity to take part in quite a few plays so far and I’ve really come to think that a play is something that’s alive. Even if you perform the same play again and again, it feels different every time. Like when you’ve performed it in a certain way today, you decide to do it in a different way tomorrow, it all changes according to the way you feel. Thus the play is completely different on the first day and on the final day. It’s probably not supposed to be like that though…
Yamamoto: No, no, I think it’s a good thing! First of all, I think it’s true that the play is different every time. There are often people who don’t watch a play more than once because they think it’s a repetition of the same thing everyday, but it’s not the same. Today I’ll do it better than yesterday, tomorrow I’ll do it better than today etc. Humans tend to aim gradually higher… I also try to aim as high as possible on the first day of a play, but as soon as the curtains rise and you see the guests on the seats look at you, everything starts moving by itself. I’m sure there’s a lot you can learn from that. Definitely. Of course, there are times when you stumble and fall too. Are you the type to get depressed in times like that?
Takahashi: Shortly after joining Morning Musume, I got scolded because I couldn’t get things done correctly and I was so depressed that I looked down all the time.
Yamamoto: Hee… So you get scolded too, huh?
Takahashi: By my coaches for example.
Yamamoto: Not by your senpai? (lol)
Takahashi: I get advice from my senpai.
Yamamoto: Are they scary? (lol)
Takahashi: (lol) But they don’t scold me in a way that makes me resent them afterwards, so I’m rather thankful!
Yamamoto: And who scolds you in a way that makes you want to resent them?
Takahashi (lol) Since I’m the oldest members now, I’m in the position to scold the younger members. Now I can understand how my senpai must have felt back then and I know how difficult it must have been for them. I respect them for that!
Yamamoto: I see… Is there anything you’d scold me for right now?
Takahashi: No. (lol)
Yamamoto: Really? (lol) What do you do on off days?
Takahashi: I go shopping or go out like everyone else. I’m more the type to do something outside on off days!
Yamamoto: The type that thinks it’s a waste to stay at home all the time?
Takahashi: Yes! But even now, it sometimes happens that I get scouted when I’m walking around on my own outside. (lol)
Yamamoto: No way! Seriously? Some scout that was. (lol) Don’t you say anything then? Like “WHO do you think I am?”. (lol)
Takahashi: I don’t!! (lol)
Yamamoto: I bet I would have! (lol) What else do you do on off days?
Takahashi: I go watch musicals or go to dance lessons.
Yamamoto: Lessons on off days! That’s admirable! You must be very busy right now with the concerts and the filming of the drama.
Takahashi: But it’s a nice change of mood to go from one to the other. For example, playing a concert after filming is really fun. The cheers of the fans give me a lot of power too!
Yamamoto: I’ve never been to a Morning Musume concert… I never really had the opportunity to and don’t you think I’d totally stand out if I went to one? (lol)
Takahashi: No, it’ll be alright! Please come to our concerts, by all means. (lol)
Yamamoto: The cheers of the fans are all in sync too, right?
Takahashi: When it’s a member’s birthday, the fans all shout her name in sync during the encore!
Yamamoto: Ohh! That’s what I call love! But there are quite a lot of people who have never been to a Morning Musume concert, but are actually closet fans! For example in karaoke bars, everyone’s going off on Morning Musume songs. (lol)
Takahashi: Ehh, I’m happy to hear that. (lol)
Yamamoto: It’s really fun to sing Morning Musume songs with everyone. (lol) But when I’m talking to you like this, Ai-chan, I get the impression that you’re someone who never runs out of energy. There are people like that. I’ve always been doing this job, so I’ve become unable to tell off days apart from work days. That’s why I can be full of energy at work and in my free time, but when I’m tired from work, I’m tired on off days too. This might sound highbrow, but these two sides together make up what we call “life”. I think I have to draw the line somewhere. If you manage to open your heart, it’s possible to change anything into something fun, no matter how tough it is… When you think about it like this, you start-… I’m sorry for lecturing you like an old man. (lol)
Takahashi: It’s not like that at all. (lol)
Yamamoto: When you ever have some free time and don’t know how to spend it… and when I’m starring in a musical at that time… please come watch it… well, only if you feel like it. (lol)
Takahashi: I’d definitely like to go watch it! Honestly! (lol)
Yamamoto: I think I’ll watch your drama too. Thank you very much for today! I’ve been meaning to say this for a while now… you smell wonderful. (lol)
Takahashi: My make up artist put on body cream for me. (lol)
Today’s “After the little break…”
Yamamoto: I think I turned into an old man or should I say I was turned into an old man by today’s talk. (lol) As I expected, it was amazing because she was overflowing with energy! I could never match that sparkling energy of hers! That’s why today, after talking to someone who had that kind of energy, I think a little of that sparkle (lol) might have… somehow… rubbed off on me. (lol) But even though she’s that cute, I noticed how level-headed she is when I talked to her!! When I ever get the opportunity to attend one of her concerts, I’d definitely take it, even though I’d be very nervous in a sense. (lol)
