[JO1] Cinejun Next 220307

Shiroiwa Ruki looks back
JO1’s 2 year path of hanging on

JO1 The Movie “Mikansei” - Go To The TOP-

The widely popular audition program PRODUCE 101 JAPAN was held in 2019.
The global boys group JO1 was born from it after 11 members were chosen by the voting of the nation.
Originally a spectacular debut and activities abroad were planned but right after their debut the Corona pandemic started and all of their activities were limited.
That they directly saw the fans was only at the predebut fan meetings.
Afterwards they were unable to have lives for 2 years
and there were a lot of worries “Do the fans actually exist?”
Finally a documentary movie that covers these two years is going to be released!

Shiroiwa Ruki
Born 1997 and from the prefecture Tokyo. He is one of the 11 members chosen from 6000 applicants of the Japanese version of the popular Korean audition program PRODUCE 101. They made their debut with the single PROTOSTAR in March 2020 and in December of the same year they received the Best New Asian Artist Award at the Mnet Asian Music Awards 2020. The sub vocalist Shiroiwa is also “in charge of beauty” in the group. In addition to the movie, all members will play the main character in the romantic youth drama “Short Program” based on Adachi Mitsuru’s manga of the same name, streamed via Amazon Prime Video.

The anxiety and fear of showing the other side

For the fans it is surely something great to be able to see JO1’s natural faces from the debut until now. However, Shiroiwa Ruki who represents the group in this interview speaks of his complicated mental state regarding showing their other side.
When I first heard that a documentary movie would be made I was thankful that they were just following us closely and I felt honoured. But I equally felt anxiety and fear regarding showing the other side. After all, our work is to show dreams, so I was somewhat reluctant to publish our efforts to achieve this. But as I felt more of the enthusiasm from the staff who made the movie I realised that I couldn’t go on like this. I felt that because we often mention “challenging” we have to steadily challenge things we are not good with, too, and this thought changed me.

The movie “JO1 The Movie “Mikansei” - Go To The TOP-“ which was completed after two years of constant filming, of course shows JO1 but also the staff members supporting them and the fans.
Some days ago we could watch the completed movie, but I was more moved than I expected by the things we normally can’t see, such as the face of Choi CEO watching the stage, the feelings of JAM came to our first lives with an audience, OPEN THE DOOR, or that it was also shown the actual voices of the fans about how they supported us in the times when we couldn’t meet. I strongly felt that “I want to work even harder” as I understood once more that the people who support us truly exist thanks to those lives which are of course featured in the movie. In addition, it also shows us running into walls and not doing well, or us feeling down, something we have been initially worried about, but exactly because of this it also portrays that we are not special people. I hope that when you see this movie, which depicts how 11 ordinary people come together to give dreams to others, you realise that “We are all the same” or “Everyone has the right to chase their dreams” and that it becomes a chance for you to face your dreams, studies and human relationships again.

You may have noticed that the letters “Mikansei” (unfinished) on the promotion poster are faint. Actually, these letters are actually scratches on the floor of the practice room they have used for a long time. The floor which used to be brand new, has many scratches now - in proportion to their enormous amount of practice.
We didn’t have a trainee period and there were members who used to be inexperienced in singing and dancing, so we needed far more practice than any other group. Hence, each time we had some free time, we stayed in the practice room and danced while dripping in sweat… Thus, I have faith that we practised more than anyone else out there. We were very happy when we got our practice room in the middle of it all. There is some sadness that this brand new floor is full of scratches, but without a doubt these scratches are the fruits of our labour. I’m very happy about having them remain in the design of the title of the movie.

Getting along with them on the spot was difficult.

Although Shiroiwa being happy and enjoying the time with his members is impressive, he says that when the group was first formed he was shy and hence kept his distance from all members.
Speaking honestly, at the debut, my feelings were honestly unsettled and the team itself wasn’t united yet. In addition, my actual personality tends to asses distance between me and others and builds walls, so I was perplexed when we were told “You are a family from today on” at the formation on December 11. To say it more clearly, I thought “That might be impossible”. I also mentioned this in the movie, but I believed “JO1 won’t last long”. But from then on our relationship kept on changing, as we lived together, experienced various things together and tasted both sweetness and bitterness. We also fought a lot and things didn’t go well, but this also made us who we are now. Right now, without a doubt they are important existences and I can say without hesitation that they are “family”.

The leader of the group, Yonashiro Sho, has been the mediator of this relationship.
During the audition Sho-kun was the only one with whom I was in the same team several times. Hence, Sho-kun was actually the only one with whom I communicated after the formation of the group. It’s not that it was hard to communicate with the other members, but my personality is just that it’s difficult for me to get along with people on the spot. Back then Sho-kun always stepped in the middle and connected me with everyone else. And instead of forcing me to get close to them he always waited a bit for me. If he had used a different approach back then, I doubt it would have become like this. Thinking of it now, he perfectly perceives someone’s personality as a leader. I also felt that he was looking after me, so I felt relieved, which made me able to lessen the distance to everyone without rushing. Currently the older members, Sho-kun and Ren-kun are leading the team, but I feel that I want to support these two. Originally I’m not good at taking the lead and directing people so I have come to want to be useful to the two who do so.

JO1 have left behind one brilliant achievement after another despite not being able to be active as planned. Most memorable among them is them winning Best New Asian Artist in 2020 and Best Asian Artist Japan in 2021 at the one of Asia largest music awards show MAMA.
Only a few Japanese artists can appear at MAMA, so receiving an award there gave us a lot of confidence. We want to live up to this award and become more well known, and the appearance has widened our horizon, making us want to become an even more amazing team. We keep on staying that we want to bring a new wind to Japan, so we actively challenge new things, such as being the first male ambassadors for YSL BEAUTY and daring to use songs as a title track that hasn’t been used before. However, taking the lead doesn’t mean everything is always fine, criticism will also come. Yet we knew that. We don’t have any intention to give in to the headwinds and I started to think that it would be good if our critiques will notice our charms eventually.

Even if we can’t meet

And, two years after their debut they had their first lives with an audience, OPEN THE DOOR". They struggled with anxiety right before the moment they had dreamed of.
In the past I have long been active as an idol, hence I believed that “not being able to meet = the love grows cold”. Hence it was really scary not to be able to have performances in front of people. Additionally, in these two years, lives that we had thought we were gonna do or that had been planned didn’t happen, which turned that we could really have one into something unbelievable. It felt like a wild tale. To sum it up we “endured”. That’s why I was so happy when the lives finally took place and it was the first time I felt so. For the past two years, we have persisted, been restricted in various kinds of things, held still and bowed, so for this, from 2022 on we want to fly as high as we can.

JAM’s existence was what supported them in this “enduring” period.
In these two years we really have been saved by JAM. Each single support, such as making comments full of love, giving us feedback, making us trend on Twitter, supported us in these awful two years and became the driving force for us to work hard. I felt from my heart that even if we can’t meet, we are connected to the point that it was “JO1&ME”.

Furthermore, at the same time as the movie, as their new challenge, they are tackling the work of actors. The drama “Short Program” in which each member takes up the main actor role will also be streamed. Shiroiwa plays a young man who had given up his dream as a dancer, but decides to pursue it once more. This overlaps precisely with a point in his life.
His reason to pursue his dream once more is different from mine, but I feel that his hidden feelings and him chasing his dreams without giving up is indeed similar to myself. But acting has been more difficult than I thought and it has been so hard! I thought I could do better before I acted. Yet I couldn’t do well and I felt annoyed at myself... But when the filming was over, I realised this could be so interesting. I also felt that if I was better at acting, I could enjoy it more. I want to continue to learn more about acting, because it’s a long awaited chance I have received which should not be wasted. I hope that one day I hope to act in a drama if I get the chance. Additionally, since I started acting the way I look at my favourite movies has changed. I started to feel the amazingness of the actors once more.

“Titanic” is the movie that gives him courage when something new begins or when he feels anxious.
No matter how unconfident or unwell I am, when I watch this movie, everything seems small. Hence, I watched it many times both during the training in Korea and during the quarantine period. It always makes me positive. After declaring I like this movie, JAM set up a huge support ad on my birthday at Leicester Square in London where the UK premiere of Titanic had taken place. It made me so excited and I grew to love the movie even more.

JO1 are taking a further step forward after their first lives with an audience ended. The existence of the juniors INI who were born last year, seem to have also become a huge motivation for them.
First of all, after INI was formed, the agency became very lively (laughs). We got really excited when we had the collaboration at CDTV last year and gaining comrades with whom we can do new things together it’s a really good influence for us. I thought again that I want to join forces and make a revolution with them. I hope we become great comrades who can spur and pursue each other to reach an even higher quality. Because of the current Corona pandemic we can’t go out together but once this has passed I would like to get closer to them.