Nikkei ~ Mar., 2000

- Recently, the popularity of Johnny’s Jr has bee rising.        How are you guys doing with it?

Takki : Because we are all still learners before debuting, the members are frequently changing, but I think that the number of the people who quit is much lower than before.  The younger members are really hardworking. When I joined Jr(1995), there were lots of people who couldn’t catch up with the hard lessons.  During the lessons, it was quite natural that the chair was thrown away at us…. There were about 10 members who got in Jr at the same time as I did, but half of them quit less than 1 month after that, and now there are only three remained including myself.

- You are working alone outside Jr.  How did people around you react toward your Biggest drama, “Majo no Joken”?

Takki : My friends told me that they envied me for having such a chance to star in the drama.

- How about the shooting of that drama?

Takki : Since there were young staff there, it was so cheerful. I really get along well with the crew of Majo even still now. Although we are all busy and thus have few chance to get together, but it’s fun for me to have been able to get to know them through the drama.

- You also appeared on the traditional drama “Genroku Ryoran”.  Did you get anything good for acting?

Takki : It was just all I could do to catch up with everybody……(laugh)As for Genroku, age of the crew was much higher than that of Majo and also the shooting was carried on in a quiet atmosphere. I just stayed quite, too.

- Majo was, in a sense, a drama which let you find a new perspective, right?

Takki : Yes, Before working on Majo, I was often told to try well-modulated acting, and I believed that such acting style must be effective for watchers.  But I just came up with his idea of acting oppositely when I started working on Majo.

- You are a deep thinker…..

Takki : Yes, I am…..(laugh). When I read the script, I thought that the story fit in the current. Therefore, I thought that I should act in a natural way so that the watchers could get into the story smoothly. I’m always thinking like that Before shooting.

- When you worked on the play (“MASK” in 1998), what did you learn through it?

Takki : I learned how to create our own show by ourselves. That’s why I tried to study various stuff by watching video of the play in which I appeared.  I found that I shake my head when I speak our in a strong tense.

- I bet you would find some sort of funny parts of yourself  while checking your own videos.

Takki : Right, I also found that I’m blinking my eyes too much (laugh).

- When it comes to dramas, “Beautiful Life” starred by your senior, Kimura Takuya has been really popular right now. What do you think about Kimura Takuya?

Takki : I hope that I can act that naturally as he does. For me, SMAP itself is the object of envious…… The way they’re doing, including in their work, is just what I always envy.

- Then, you should feel something special about the fact that you are in the same agent as SMAP do.

Takki : Hmm…..you may feel think that the distance between SMAP and me is so close, but actually, I’ve seen them only once or twice a year….no., if anything, I’ve just “watched” them.  When I got to their concerts for my study, I visit their resting rooms to say hello.  After that, I’ll be just one of the audience in the same way as any other SMAP fan there.

- Do you think that it affects you to be surrounded by unique actors in dramas or movie?

Takki : Yes. There are many people who affect me even if I don’t co-star with them in dramas. For example, Tsuyoshi-kun(Kinki) has this natural posture all the time, which affects me a lot.

- Through your all works, do you think you can feel relaxed when you work on variety shows because there must be many people who are as old as you are?

Takki : No, it’s most difficult for me.  If you ask me, I feel more relaxed when working on dramas. When we have concrts, I take lessons of dance for the concerts even after I finished shooting of dramas. But I don’t have any strength left to do dance lessons after the shooting of variety show (laugh).  After the shooting of “Yattaru J”, I just go home and go to bed right away.  I sometimes go to sleep even without taking a bath because I’m too tired.  In those variety shows, I have to use my head all the time, whatever I do.  I have to talk a lot, too.

        - So, do you think that you need to learn more from variety show?

Takki : I think so, but as for acting and singing, too, there are lots of stuff that I need to lean more. I just began to feel they are fun.

        - Your new drama is waiting for you in April.....you must feel            more responsibility on yourself.

Takki : I used to hate even standing on the stage before…..(laugh) Although I hated being in public, I was able to put it behind me for some reason.  I just wanted what I could work on hard. It grew into a bit more serious matter than I expected…..that’s all, I guess.

(Q&A Fortune-telling of 2010)

1.     Yourself 10 years after

I’ll be 27 years old…can’t imagine. I can’t imagine even when I’ll be 20. I want to see my own kid rather than getting married.

2.     Japan 10 years after

I think flying cars may come out…..If not, then how about cars which can park in a parking lot automatically.

3.     Entertainment after 10 years

There may be more TV stations and more works? Anyway, I think the capacity of our works will widen more than today.