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Special Interview with Shiroiwa Ruki (JO1) “Confidence is something you always need to have”

Since the year started, JO1 have continuously made rapid progress starting with the streaming of their first drama “Short Program” in which all 11 members played the main characters, the nationwide release of the documentary movie “JO1 THE MOVIE ‘Mikansai’ -Go To The TOP”, which looks back on the two years since their debut, as well as them being the Wednesday personalities of “All Night Nippon X”. Here appears Shiroiwa Ruki from the global boy group who released their 2nd album “KIZUNA” on 25th May. He talked about the journey until the release of the album and his struggles before becoming a part of JO1.

A huge bond between JAM and JO1 was born

The catchphrase for the 2nd album “KIZUNA” is “Let’s enjoy our bond together”, but what kind of feelings does the title KIZUNA carry for you?
For the previous release, the 5th single “WANDERING” a member was missing due to his poor condition. In this situation we reached our second anniversary since our formation and had the opportunity to meet JAM directly, so of course also among the members we felt that a huge bond between JAM and JO1 was born. I think “KIZUNA” is an album that came to be with the feeling that we will advance forward together again. I believe that the chances to stand in front of everyone and to go to meet the fans will increase, so I want to deepen the bond further.

Did you feel the members' improvement, including your own one, during the recording?
We recorded until quite recently, but the number of songs including the 7 new ones is also a lot and we had to complete each one of them in a compact timeframe. I felt that everyone's absorbing abilities are getting better year by year as we did not not just memorize the songs, but we also had to learn the choreographies. We are getting better also in regard to performances even in this short time. Also at the MV filming I felt that each one of them knew how to show themselves.

The hurdles required by your surroundings also become higher, right?
As we keep on being active as JO1, we also have to improve, and because everyone has expectations we cannot betray those and I feel I want to surpass those expectations. Speaking of the featured tracks of the album, “Walk It Like I Talk It” or “Algorithm” are songs with a melody we have never challenged before. Since we felt that when we release our 2nd album we want to challenge ourselves and show a new side of ourselves, we discussed this with the staff and were given songs which we barely had so far.

There is a lively exchange of opinions among the members, right?
For me 2021 JO1 LIVE “OPEN THE DOOR” was huge (JO1’s first concerts with an audience taking place at Makuhari Messe on 3 days from 19th November 2021 to 21th November 2021. All together 45.000 people attended the 5 shows). We performed two shows in one day and we had to perform about 40 songs, so in this situation the exchange of opinions between the members had been lively. To be more concrete, these were live shows with a huge meaning as they significantly changed as we went from completing what was given to us to thinking overselves.

I want to make a year in which I can improve while enjoying it

What did you feel at the first shows with an audience, performing in front of a huge number of people?
Exactly because we like performing more than anything else, we felt once again that we have made it this far. No matter how much we practiced or how many songs we recorded, if our voices do not reach you live, we cannot feel everyone’s response. To be honest, there were times when I wondered why I was even doing this. I believe this was not just me, at some point pretty much all members were worried. I am generally a positive person, but before we did “OPEN THE DOOR”, I was often worried.

Why did you end up being negative back then?
I think in addition to being unable to perform in front of people the whole time, being the center of “WANDERING” felt heavy and I became anxious. But “OPEN THE DOOR” took place and I could see and experience with my own eyes that this many people support us and I felt greatly relieved. With everyone being there, I felt like I could clearly see the reason to stand firmly even if I felt down or stumbled. Exactly because there were hard times, I strongly felt that I am supported by everyone after all.

We heard that you have been building up muscles since “OPEN THE DOOR”?
So far I did not want to get bulky, so I did not do much muscle training. Everyone has their own preferences, so I believe there are also members who want to get bigger muscles, but I do not like that so I did not do it. However, in regards to dancing, training your trunk and inner muscles keeps your axis in place. Hence, I try to do planking at least every day no matter how exhausted I am and no matter how late I return home. But I barely talk about it because I am doing it in secret… (laughs) 1 minute is already gruesome when you do planks. But since I started this, my appearance has not changed much, yet my dancing has become more sharp and it became easier to be uniform with everyone. It will take some time until there is some visible result, but I am challenging myself how much I can change in the one year of 2022, including in regards to performing.

Is there anything you train other than planking?
I regularly go to a new vocal teacher. The teacher’s teaching style is thorough and each time I go I make various discoveries and I really enjoy the moments when I can feel that. I want to make it a year where I can improve while enjoying it.

The world is slowly returning to its normal operation and this could be another motivation to improve, right?
That’s right. It is one part of my motivation that slowly the opportunities to be able to meet everyone offline increase. I want to show everyone who came for us a cool side as much as possible and want them to happily return home.

“With Us” is a song that breaks a new ground for JO1

Out of the new songs featured on “KIZUNA” which one would you especially recommend?
The title track “With Us”. When I first listened to the demo I felt how different the atmosphere was compared to our usual songs. Personally, including the rhythm, it feels very much like a western pop song. I think it is easy to remember as it is very catchy and stays in your ears. Speaking of the performance, as the title “With Us” already suggests, it has a choreography which everyone can enjoy dancing together. Previous title tracks mostly had brazen intense choreographies, so also in this aspect it was a new, unseen challenge for JO1.

I also felt a new JO1 in the way you sang.
Another song in this regard is the earlier mentioned “Walk It Like I Talk It”. I personally think that this song will widely stand out on the album. It is an interesting song, the choreo is also fun and I simply think that when we perform it it will be cool. I think JAM will all like it as it is a song that has a JO1ness.

The album has 5 editions with 4 of them having a different track listing.
Our songs have various stories throughout the two years of our activities. Speaking of past songs, you can also enjoy substories like “ICARUS” being the answer song of “MONSTAR”. By changing the track list, the impression of the songs also changes. Exactly that’s why it had been hard to decide on the “OPEN THE DOOR” set list until the very end. I’m very grateful to be able to perform so many songs. There is emotional attachment to every single one of them and I hope you will enjoy various track lists.

Confidence is something you always need to have.

Next I would like to ask about your career. You started your artist activities early, but since when were you interested in the entertainment world?
To be honest, I was not very interested until I graduated from highschool. It might have been my puberty but I strongly felt I was made to do it.. I never send my resume on my own as people around me or my family did so. Hence, it might have been a little late that I thought to myself “I wanna do this seriously”.

Does that mean that even when you took lessons, you could not enjoy those?
There was a very strong sense of being obligated to do so. I think because I did not find a meaning in why I was doing this, I barely put energy into it. In elementary and middle school I played soccer and I rather wanted to go to soccer training and matches than to the entertainment lessons. In fact many times I prioritized soccer over this. I finally became serious about it when I thought about my career path choices at the time whether I would graduate from high school or not. However, back then I decided if my flower did not blossom before I became 20 years old, I would end this path.

When you were serious about it, you made the age of 20 an end point.
That’s right. I believed that when I do not make it come true by the age of 20, even when I seriously aim for my dream, I should quit because I might not be the one made for this. But in the end it was fruitless and I once gave up on my dream. But my parents applied me for the audition program “PRODUCE 101 JAPAN”, telling me “This is truly the very last time”. However, back then I already had put a closing mark on it and I barely had any enthusiasm. But after I was decided as one of the 101 participants, I felt it would be disrespectful if I did not work hard on it and as a result I decided that once more I would seriously work on my dream that I had not given up on. Now that I am active as JO1 like this makes me feel that everyone around me has changed my life.

You surely have built up a not so short career, but did you have confidence that you would win the audition?
I believe that confidence is something you always need to have. But overconfidence is a no-go. When I was active before that, too, I had a small number of fans. From their point of view my existence is a dream or hope. I think that if I was a fan, I would not like it if the person I was supporting had no confidence and I would want to support someone with confidence. So, when I step on stage I do so with full confidence and I have this confidence because I am the type of person who prepares and practises to be like this.

Lastly, please give a message to the readers who are in preparation to choose their career path!
I willfully decided the timing and that I wanted to stop at the age of 20. If the people around me had not applied me to “PRODUCE 101 JAPAN”, I think I would have given up on my dream just like this. Since I made this experience I can tell you that “There is no such a thing as being too late to chase your dream or not being made for it”. I think the time to work hard is when you realize your dream, so I really do not want you to give up on it and I want you to go after your dream to the point of burning out. We also want to increase our activities to become the goal or dreams and to be the support of these people, and we want to walk ahead of the people chasing their dreams. Let’s work hard together!