[JO1] QJ Web 220706

https://qjweb.jp/feature/73135/

Shiroiwa Ruki, Sato Keigo and Mamehara Issei talk about “JO1’s All Night Nippon X”. The idea of “the vibe of a night during a study trip”.

Since April 2022 “JO1’s All Night Nippon X” (later shortened to ANNX) has been airing. Shiroiwa Ruki, who serves as the main personality of it., welcomes two other JO1’s members as partners each week and the program features a free talk and various activities.

Each week the Twitter hashtag “#JO1ANNX” takes the first place of the Trend ranking (*excluding 22 June when “‘#HappyTakumiDay”, celebrating JO1’s Kawanishi Takumi’s birthday, took the first place) and unexpected chemistries, born from the units, are one of the charms of this program. QJWeb closely followed the 22 June broadcast in which Sato Keigo and Mamehara Issei appeared. Before the broadcast we held an interview with the three members.

The way they spend the day before the radio and the broadcast day

At the two partners, when did you get to know about your appearance?
Issei: It was quite early this time.
Keigo: Right. But it depends.

After your appearance is decided, does the way you spend the day before or the broadcast day change?
Keigo: I do not really prepare myself, but I try to get a good sleep, so that I will not come here being exhausted. Today, too, I slept well.
Issei: Because it is a program at a late hour, right. Normally at this time… I play games or sleep (laughs).

Shiroiwa-san, are you told about the appearing members at the same time as them?
Ruki: Yes, mostly at the same time.

What do you think about the two today?
Ruki: Yes… Right (laughs). Keigo has times when he is in a good form and times when he is in a bad form.
Keigo: Right.
Ruki: When we match, we really do.
Issei: (laughs)
Ruki: However, there are times when he gets out of control, so… each time I am doing it, wondering “How is his form today?”.
Issei: Like a director (laughs).
Keigo: Today I hope to match with Ruki-kun.
Ruki: Oh! I am really grateful.

Keeping in mind the whole group

You have this fixed schedule each week and I am sure that you must have a lot of things going around in your head during your broadcast, Shiroiwa-san. Is there anything that has changed in your daily life or have you started a routine since ANNX has started?
Ruki: That’s right… I have started to meditate. There is quite a lot of what I think about. Like the radio, but also other things like work. So, I close my eyes and meditate for 15 minutes during the day, while not thinking of anything and reset my mind once. I have started to do so every day.
Keigo: That’s amazing.
Ruki: I used to have the habit of overthinking before sleeping and I wanted to stop that. In order to lighten both my mind and heart, I made time to close my eyes and not to think of anything before I go to sleep. Since I started to do this, I became able to talk more relaxed.

Do you think “Ah, I could talk about this on the radio” when something funny or interesting happens in your life?
Ruki: I do. In addition, as the members change weekly, I try to keep in mind to remember something that is related to the whole group rather than an individual episode.

Do you feel like you are preparing yourself for the radio on a daily basis?
Ruki: Yes. I even take memos in order not to forget things. For example, today, I made sure to remember what Keigo and Mame talked about when they last came here. Because I hope to create a flow that connects to these previous broadcasts.

When your appearance is decided, do you think about your stories for free talk in advance, Sato-san and Mamehara-san?
Keigo: No, not really.
Issei: Right. I feel the same.
Keigo: Because I feel it is better to talk following the flow naturally than to prepare for it.

His future task as the main personality

However, isn’t a live broadcast scary?
Keigo: I think it could be easier to have our usual casual conversations like this.
Ruki: This is my ideal, too. I hope we can bring a carefree and relaxed atmosphere as if we were in the dressing room to the fans and listeners. Because we like the vibe of the nights of a study trip (laughs), we have the hope that people hear and know us in a casual state and not in our usual work mood. But, once it starts, sure enough, everyone will watch us and there are also reactions and we cannot help but get tense.
Keigo: I tend to get into it. After all, it is a live broadcast.
Ruki: Right. But, I have the ideal that I would like to do it in a just casual manner.

Sato-san you expressed that “you get into it”, but you do not get nervous?
Ruki: In the beginning he was? Like before it started?
Keigo: I do. Because it is a live broadcast and it is a place to do it properly. So… it is hard for me to… get into the right form. For today, I hope to do it calmly.

How do you differentiate it from your fan club web radio “Jamming with JO1”?
Issei: This is because well… it is our close circle (laughs).
Keigo: Right, we can do inside jokes.
Ruki: It is our “home” where only people listen who know us well and like us, so every single teasing changes it. I was told that by Keigo, but during ANNX my teasing towards him becomes nicer (laughs). Sure enough, during ANNX I have to pay attention to the way people see me. I have to be considerate to various things because there are listeners who do not know about JO1. We can take a step away from this in “Jamming”.
But I hope ANNX will become like this. I hope that we can gradually make it our home. I want to make the radio more JO1-like. It is still kinda difficult… So this is my future task.

The chemistries with the weekly changing members

Did you ever have some typical live broadcast accidents that made you say “back then, I was actually really panicking”?
Ruki: There was one.. During the one for which Sukai and Shion joined. It was a prerecorded broadcast, however. Out of nowhere, a staff member explained that we have to cut one song. We could not play 3 songs, but only two. This is not something rare, but back then the arrangement between the staff member (who sat next to me in the booth) and me did not go well and they told me “After you said the announcement, the jingle comes”, but there was no “announcement” in the script. I did not understand what I was supposed to say and I stayed silent for about two minutes during the conversation. I was panicking at that moment. But Sukai and Shion kept on talking for me the whole time.

Kinjo-san and Tsurubo-san understood the situation and followed it, right?
Ruki: I was communicating with a staff member right in front of them, so I think they made the connection for me. Actually I should have been the one to lead, but I feel bad for making the two younger members take care of it for me. Yes, there was such an episode.

Lastly, please tell us once more what you recommend about “JO1’s ALL NIGHT NIPPON X”.
Ruki: Each week, two different members appear, but I think one of the points that make the show enjoyable is the chemistry that is created by these units.It is interesting to see the differences in who comes together and the ones in age. I also do my best to make it work each time and I hope you will enjoy the various chemical reactions.

By the way, do some members volunteer, saying “I want to appear”? For example, in the broadcast you mentioned that Kono Junki-san is a “semi-regular” for it.
Issei: Recently, he has not come, right?
Ruki: Indeed (laughs). I want him to appear and I want more and more members to come, but hardly everyone… It is, in fact, a live broadcast and there are some who are still nervous, so they say “It is something I am not used to” (laughs).
Issei: (laughs)
Ruki: But after it ended we went home together, saying “It was so much”. I hope they will grow accustomed to it slowly and keep on coming.
TN: The next week (29 June) however, Junki did appear again.