[JO1] Oricon 230125

https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2265348/full/

[ANN 55th Anniversary series Vol.9] JO1’s Shiroiwa Ruki’s “love for the members’ - His experience as personality “broadens my scope”

1 AM on the night of the 2nd October 1967. “When you dance and I sing, a new era of the night is born. Music replaces the sun, dreams replace the blue sky. All Night Nippon, leading you to a fresh night!” - Those first words by Itoi Gorou opened “All Night Nippon” (ANN), Nippon Broadcasting System’s “synonym for a late night radio show”. Until the present day, “ANN” has discovered a number of talented personalities, stayed close to its listeners, always looked out for the latest trends, and presented popular topics and culture, and now it celebrates its 55th anniversary starting April this year.

ORICON NEWS has started a series to introduce the current “ANN” programs by focusing on one personality every month. The second and third installment of the 9th part of the series will feature an interview with Shiroiwa Ruki, who is the main personality of “JO1’s All Night Nippon X” (every Wednesday at 0:00), which started in April this year.

TN: Since both articles feature an interview with Ruki and were released on the same day, I decided to upload them together.

In the 9 months since the start the radio became “a part of his life” - His ideal style is “if we can do it casually, it’s the best”

9 months have passed since the start and it seems that for Shiroiwa the radio became a full part of his life.
“In the beginning there was so much adrenaline in me and even after reaching the bed I was unable to sleep until 5 or 6 am, but in the middle of it I pretty much got used to it and after taking a bath and other things I became able to sleep afterwards. I’ve established a weekly routine by now, so even when it’s pre-recorded and not a live broadcast, I sometimes end up staying awake despite being able to sleep (laughs). I get nervous thinking ‘Ah, damn, the broadcast!’. At such times I watch ‘smash.’ (a vertical video app), but honestly it’s so embarrassing. I still feel that my voice sounds strange while talking and during the recording I don’t notice this, but especially when watching the aftertalk I sometimes realize that ‘I was hyper I talked that much’. I usually watch it thinking ‘What did I tell them?’, so I probably enjoy it as much as their fans. It’s even funny when I watch it myself (laughs).”

Especially because he was entrusted with such a long running program as “ANN”, and also because he has the role as the main personality, it seems that although he is talking to the members he knows well, there is a part of him that unconsciously switches between the program and daily life.
He says “I only realized this recently, but while I usually don’t use honorifics, in the program I use those with the younger members too. The usual is fine when it is directed to JAM, or rather there are a lot of contents for them, but ANNX can be opened and watched by everyone, right? And since me and JAM know the characters of each member and understand ‘It’s funny when he teases there’, but if I keep in mind to ‘Make also first time listeners understand it’, ‘don’t let it become too much of an insider talk’, I ended up using the honorifics.”

The talk went on about what he considers to be the “ideal form” of the program.

“Actually, I want to do it like ‘And next is this!’ or ‘Yeah, here we go again!’ (Laughs), but I tend to be stiff in making progress or correcting the course. That is the right way to do it, but I wish to be more playful (laughs), and I think it would be best to do it casually, as if we were just sitting on a chair and starting to talk. However, we made our debut only 3 years ago and we are still inexperienced, so it’s hard to do it in that way, or rather I think a lot about it such as there might be parts that are better to be protected. Yet I want to try to engage into little battles with the listeners, or be a calm adult and say ‘Well, here we go again today’ (in a nice, low-tone voice) (laughs).

Not failing to collect stories - High hopes for connections that transcends the program

Of course, he also makes sure to be considerate to the members and the fans. “I appear on the show every week, but the other members appear randomly and less often, so I want them to talk a lot, and I want to have a talk that makes JAM happy. Well, I have no idea whether we manage to do so (laughs). Thus, I often try to remember what the members have said to me during schedules or practice throughout the week, and I listen to what they say to have stories to talk about on the radio. I have always been the type of person who objectively takes a step back, but I guess this has become more often since the radio started.”

Shiroiwa, who never had the habit of listening to the radio, has made a change in terms of how he sees radio and how he values it by being entrusted with this show.
“When we were approached for the program, I felt that our role as personalities would be to reintroduce the younger generation to radio and make them listen to it. When I actually tried it out, it was really fun and a staff member who likes radio taught me (various things about it) and I started listening to the radio programs of comedians such as Kirin’s Kawashima (Akita)-san’s ‘Kawashima no negoto’. I always liked listening to the stories and talks of comedians, so now I listen to them as a textbook and role model, too, and I also realized the virtues of the radio. I feel that starting this program has broadened my horizon, so I think it is something really great.”

One of the charms of ANN are the connections and interactions that transcend the boundaries of the program. He told us about the personalities he would like to collaborate with in the future.
“When I meet EXIT-san, Ryokuoushoku Shakai-san or Creepy Nuts-san at music shows, they talk about the radio and thanks to this show the scope of my interactions has expanded. I even heard that EXIT-san has let some members visit their homes and they had fun playing games together, so I think I could hear from them about a side of the members that I don’t know. I would also simply like to talk with OWV, who auditioned together with us. They are hilarious. If we appear together, JAM often say ‘OWV’s talks are so funny’, which makes me jealous. However, no matter who will come, I believe I can surely learn from them and everyone will enjoy it!”

https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2265354/full/

Experiencing the real thrill of being able to talk on a “live broadcast” - “I’m really glad about it”

“I wish the members had a sense of crisis (laughs)” - A talk full of love for the staff

There is something that Shiroiwa, who is the main personality, feels after some talks with the members.
“I was suddenly told that I would be the main personality of this show, but I was really surprised about it since I didn’t believe I was good at talking or that I had any talking skills. Hence, I want everyone to have the sense of crisis that they could (suddenly) become the main personality (laughs). I don’t know how long I will be doing it and there is the possibility that another member might take over (eventually). I often have this talk with Keigo before the show, like ‘It might be you doing it.’ ‘No way it would be me.’, so he would be completely caught off guard (laughs). I also enjoy each episode and think of it as something to learn from, but I want the others to think of their appearance as a practice and bring their own stories and think about how they would handle it (laughs).
*For the broadcast of “JO1’s All Night Nippon X” on 18th January, Sato Keigo took over the role of the main personality as Shiroiwa Ruki paused due to poor health.

During the press conference for the appointment of the personalities, Shiroiwa said “We are a group with a surprising amount of blunders”. He told us with a sly smile that something like that has not happened so far.
“Miraculously, nothing happened on live broadcast and everything went well, but surprisingly there are some things that are cut from the pre-recordings. Maybe because those are pre-recorded I tend to be looser than usual, but this is dangerous, isn’t it? (Laughs). A little information is that they are actually cutting it well (laughs).”

We asked him about a memorable episode from all those unique talks as each time there is a different unit joining.
“It was a recording in South Korea, the one where Keigo and Junki came. In Korea we basically recorded two episodes in one go, and sometimes I couldn’t think straight and the members helped me then, but since it was these two who showed up, I honestly thought ‘Oh damn’ in the beginning and I was scared. But then Keigo talked about a quote from a manga he liked and Junki also talked about a memorable quote he had recently heard, so the content was surprisingly fine (laughs) and it was over in no time and I enjoyed it.”

There are of course the members who work hard with him and the fans who send emails, and for Shiroiwa there is also reassuring support in the presence of the staff such as the director, Kaneko Tsukasa, and the broadcast writer, Nishikido Hideo.
“Kaneko-san is really funny. People say that I often choose old songs, or songs from previous generations, but Kaneko-san and I have the same taste in music, so we talk about it a lot. He likes to talk a lot and he looks especially happy when talking to me (laughs). Since I was a child, I wanted to make people happy and make them laugh, and I remember how happy I was when someone laughed at something I did, so when I see Kaneko-san looking happy, I think ‘I’m feeling truly alive now’ (laughs).”

He further shared his feelings.

“We end up talking until just right before the broadcast, so I would like to go out and eat something together and talk more. In comparison, Nishikido-san doesn’t talk to me at all! He only talks when we take the pictures for SNS. But I know he smiles widely when he listens to me and Kaneko-san talking, so I hope to open up Nishikido-san next (laughs). I think it is really thanks to everyone who supports us in the back that we created an environment in which it is easy for us to do this.”

The joy of being able to communicate in real time - caring for the health of the fans

JO1 have created places to interact with their fans in various ways, such as their live shows or online talks. Among these however, the significance of this programme, where they can talk about what they feel live on air, is huge for both them and the fans.
“The press conference for our first Kouhaku appearance, the FNS music festival and also the arena tour were like this, but what really makes me glad is that we were able to communicate with everyone supporting us in a real time manner. I think FNS is basically broadcasted and then ends, but I feel there are some interesting things for the fans such as behind the scenes stories, so it is also a good place for JO1 to get the opportunity to talk about such things and I believe it must be something that makes JAM happy, too. Also regarding the tour, we talked in various interviews about what we ate at this place, but we don’t talk about the production or the set up of the show unless we are asked, But we are also excited and talk about various things we thought of, so I think there are quite something you can’t hear elsewhere or just on that day.”

While he feels a strong connection to the fans, there seems to be also something that worries Shiroiwa. “Each time, about 40 minutes into the broadcast, I think ‘They have school or work the next day’ or ‘I wonder if some fell asleep’. If you listen to it every week, you have to stay up late, so I’m worrying about everyone’s health. Some of them force themselves to listen, but I want them to warm themselves up as it has gotten colder and go to bed early, and it is fine to fall asleep while watching it. I want everyone to watch it live, but you can also enjoy it later on ‘smash.’ or ‘radiko’, so please think of your health as your priority (laughs).”

From the start of the program, Shiroiwa had the wish “to be able to give something back to the group by getting people to know about JO1”. In fact, there are people who have become JAM because of the radio. Having shown various sides (of the group) that have won the hearts of the fans, from lifelike talks as if they were school club mates to behind the scenes talks of their songs and live shows, we asked him what he would like to do in the show in the future.
“For example, for the 40th broadcast, I think it would be refreshing if me and everyone else looked back on the past episodes together. I said that the episode with Keigo and Junki was memorable, but I would like to know about episodes and scenes that were memorable to the others. We talk about ‘I want to do such an episode’ or ‘It would be interesting if guests came and talked’, but Kaneko-san forgets about it right after the broadcast ends. But he listens to it with a nice face (laughs). But including this, I rarely mention it because it is cute, but one day I want to do this (laughs). Also, I get the attendance award for appearing in every episode, but there is no one who has listened to every episode? Or is there? Can I work hard for this person? (Laughs). If this person is there, I want them to send a message saying ‘I am (always) listening.’ Also, because I can’t tell it myself, I want them to tell me how my talking has changed.”