Congratulations! On your debut JO1’s Kawashiri Ren’s triumphal return to his hometown Fukuoka! Welcome back!
The from South Korea coming survival audition program “Produce 101 Japan” which aired last year created a hype. The 101 trainees which were chosen from about 6000 people moved a lot of people by demonstrating singing and dancing and their growth. 11 people who were announced in the live broadcasted last episode will make their major debut as JO1! This time, together with the Fukuoka born Kawashiri Ren, we go out for a walk in the Ohori park and get answers about what’s on his mind about this and that.
Profile
Kawashiri Ren. Born ‘97. From Fukuoka. Since his teens he was active as a back dancer for several artists & choreographer and in ‘19 he participated in the originally South Korean program “Produce 101 Japan”. His final ranking was the 2nd rank thought the votes of the National Producers (as the viewers were called). Because of his standing out dancing skills he carries the role of the dance leader of the group.
Welcome back to Fukuoka. This time we are talking a walk in the Ohori park.
Ren: I lived in Fukuoka until I was 19 years old, but (afterwards) I used to come for the fireworks to the Ohori park. But right now, you don’t do that anymore, right? That’s sad. *1
How does it feel to return to your hometown as a JO1 member?
Ren: I’m a little proud and it also feels nostalgic, but it looks different than before. It feels like a new me has returned.
Is there a place in Fukuoka which feels memorable to you?
Ren: Because my former part-time job at a karaoke place was in Tenjin *2, I used to go to Tenjin 2-3 times a week, but back then I used to meet my friends in front of the big screen of Solaria Stage*3. Because studying wasn’t my strength, I did nothing but having fun with my friends (laughs). My friend from high school also worked at the same karaoke place. Because staff members got a discount, we used to sing karaoke there on our free days. Also, what we often did was the game “Who can eat the most?”. With about 4 good friends, I competed who can eat the most conveyor belt sushi or ramen. Besides being someone who is rather skinny, I’m someone who can eat a lot. During my high school years, once I ate 34 plates of sushi and desserts together. Still, that was hard (laughs).
“During my teen years in Fukuoka besides dancing I did nothing but having fun, once I’ve ate 34 plates of conveyor belt sushi with my friends.”
Was there anything else besides dancing that fascinated you?
Ren: For me it was really just dancing. I started to learn dancing professionally during the 5th year of elementary school and I had the feeling that I want the dance to become my job since I was a middle school student, thus I practiced relatively hard.
You talked about the big screen of Solaria Stage, but during the broadcast of “Produce 101 Japan” there were supporting adds from your fans at the quite close Shintencho*4 and other places.
Ren: Yes, I know. There were a lot of adds for me in Tokyo, but that my pictures were shown on really huge city screens and there were also people who supported me in Fukuoka. I am still happy that in my hometown there could be support like that. That my family supported me like that was reassuring.
Now please tell us something about “Produce 101 Japan”. In the first episode of the program you talked about “having an expiry date as an artist” and “no intention of ending up as a back dancer”. Can you look back to your feelings at that time?
Ren: Because I wanted to become a dancer, I moved to Tokyo and thankfully I was working as a back dancer and dance instructor. However, when I was dancing behind artists as a back dancer, I thought “it’s settled” and it made me sad, that even when I saw the audience, I felt like the audience didn’t see me. Because dancing is my self-expression, the feeling of wanting to be seen too grew over the time, so I wanted to stand in the front. I thought that I should aim to become professional artist and even though I was dancing for 10 years already, I felt that I was lacking and realised that “I also want to be a good singer”, so I started to do voice training regularly. I practised it a lot just like dancing, but because I was too old even if I found an audition because of the age restrictions it was hopeless, and even if I was able to take part, there was no success. But my parents never said “get a job”, they supported me (by saying) “It is your life, so do the things you want to do.” and my friends around me also supported me (by saying) “If it’s you, you can do it.”, thus I came across “Produce 101 Japan” at a time when I thought I wanted to show my success (in mastering singing) and that I want to make my dream come true. Wasn’t it a very severe program when you (can) drop out in the middle and with a voting system? I remember preparing myself “If I’m omitted, it might be impossible (to fulfill my dream)".
I expected there was insecurity and impatience, but you were able to overcome that with your strength, right?
Ren: Yes, but there also times when I felt pressured and I thought that if I show this during a performance, it would be the end for me. My primary concern was to show that I was enjoying the stage when I stood on it, so I performed like that also during the audition.
Because there were also participants in the program who had no experience in dancing, you were someone the other trainees knew of, right? How did that affect you personally?
Ren: If we speak of dancing, it’s something of which I have a lot of experience, so I was happy when they relied on me. The original “Produce 101” series was a South Korean program and the program featured nothing but talented kids who even as participating trainees were signed to an agency and had piled up some years of training time. However, when the show was done in Japan and there were just people participating who weren’t signed to any agency, I’ve heard people saying things like "In the Japanese version there won’t be good performance probably”. This was really painful for me. My goal was to pass the audition (and debut), but first I wanted to surprise the people who didn’t expect a good performance. That was something I wasn’t able to do alone no matter how hard I’ve worked, so I started to teach the guys who were weak in dancing. I wanted to raise the level and thought it’s good also for the group that when I debut people will say “Those guys are awesome”. Because I wanted to do everything I could do, I didn’t feel pressured to be known by everyone around me and I was happily doing it.
“I don’t want to show an appearance of someone losing his focus. Always and everywhere I want people to think “Kawashiri Ren is someone who has always a straight back.”
By participating in PRODUCE 101 Japan, do you feel like you have grown or changed?
Ren: I used to be someone who couldn’t express his feelings well, but during my participating in PRODUCE 101 JAPAN, I started to laugh a lot and cry easily. Also, I’ve noticed that I’m always seen. I have the conscious that even when I’m walking through the city, someone could see me, so I walk with my spine being straightened a little. The program was the first time that a lot of people got to know me, so I want the people who started to like me to see me with a good image. Because of this, I don’t want to show laziness or that I’m losing focus... It has become long, is that alright? (laughs) Another trainee of PRODUCE 101 JAPAN asked me “What do you think is an idol?” and back then I could only answer naively. This guy told me “An idol is an image of admiration.” I thought “surely, that’s it.” To be admired I want to show of course my cool side and being human. Thus, in order to be known by as much people as possible, the awareness that no matter when and where people see me I'm seen in the way of “Kawashiri Ren is someone who has always a straight back” has become a lot stronger until now.
Your professional consciousness is very high.
Ren: From what I’ve heard, people tend to resemble people they like. That’s why, if I’m nice to people, shouldn’t the fans who like me, become nice to people, too? (laughs) It would be good if everyone can become happy.
Your peaceful way of thinking is fantastic. From your perspective, which member changed the most since the beginning?
Ren: There are two members, Mame and Sukai. Sukai’s dance was very... cute. You could feel he was a beginner. But he is very serious and practised a lot. From the beginning I had the feeling that he understands very fast and also during the program I thought “Sukai, you have something~”. He is a guy who when I taught him something, he could do it on the spot and if something was on his mind, he directly asked me. His dance skills have improved a lot, and I think that his voice is cool and his already talented singing is more refined and has grown. Also, I think Mame has become an adult (laughs), At first, my image of him was “cute”, but recently “cool” has won and besides him being the youngest I often think “Mame is cool”.
I was surprised how different his expressions where in the MV compared to the program.
Ren: Normally, he is “Mame-chan”, but occasionally “Issei” comes out. (laughs)
Since the forming of JO1, everyone’s relationship surely changed, but which member’s gap or talent did you discover?
Ren: Again, there are two members, Ruki and Syoya. Ruki has the kind of looks of a cool prince, but he really loves comedy. I was able to discover that for example his talkativeness isn’t very princelike and he is an especially funny person. And about Syoya, during the program he was the type who didn’t bring out himself because of his shyness, but since the activities as JO1 had started, he isn’t shy at all and became a huge jester. One day, he suddenly said “I want to go to the pool” and for some reason he also had googles with him. So, during the practise in the studio he danced while wearing those googles and made movements as if he was swimming on the floor (laughs).
You must be disillusioned. Well, as for your debut single, in “Mugendai” the beauty of the formation when you stand like a disordered thread impressed me. What is your special point of that song?
Ren: As the lyrics and title suggest, it’s a song filled with the meaning of “our possibilities and power are infinite”, so (I hope people) pay attention to the strong choreography and dance break. There are surely people who think that our 11 members are a lot, but the choreographer incorporated a presentation and formation that makes the best off that number of people, so while the place changes are difficult, I will be happy, if you notice that.
And the other two songs, “La pa pa pam” which characteristic is the dance pose of blowing the trumpet and the sweet ballad “Running”, make the colour of your songs change completely.
Ren: La pa pa pam is a song which has unlike Mugendai strongness and manliness and because it’s passionate song, I also change my face expression when I hear its sound to get into it. Because the movement of blowing a trumpet is super easy, I will be happy if you imitate it. Running is, to be honest, a song that is a thank you to all fans. We sing that “you” which you can find in the lyrics with the feeling of a letter to each fan. At first, I thought it was a love song, but when I talked with the members about meaning of the lyrics, (the moment of) “ah that’s it” (came). If you perform while thinking about that meaning, I think it will reach everyone. The fans can also look forward to the performance while reading the lyrics.
During the recording a lot of people became sick...
Ren: Including me, a few members got fever. Because of the schedule we had to record on that day, so we got an IV and fever medicine and while the trainer gave us a lot of advices like “If it’s difficult to talk, try to vocalise it like that”, we could give the best we could during the recording. That I got fever during (the recording of) the debut single, is properly something I’ll never forget in my life (laughs).
Lastly, your activities will start from now on, but what kind of group do you want to become?
Ren: The reason behind JO1’s group name includes the meaning that “11 people became one and have the goal of reaching the top of the world.”, but that’s just our biggest goal. To reach that, you have to take steps in my opinion. Speaking of talented Japanese idol groups, I want JO1’s name to appear, doing lives at different places all over Japan, and because we make music that mixes the best Japan and Korea, it would be good if we can create a new genre that makes people say “That’s typical JO1, right?”.
I’m hoping for a live in Fukuoka, too.
Ren: Yes, we give our best, so please look forward to it.
TN:
*1 *Due safety reasons a lot of summer fireworks were cancelled last year including that one.
*2 Tenjin is a popular amusement and shopping district in Fukuoka, comparable with Shinjuku or Shibuya in Tokyo
*3 Huge department store in Tenjin/Fukuoka and the video screen in front of the store is popular meeting point for young people
*4 Shintencho is part of Tenjin and contains a lot of smaller shops.
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