[JO1] AR 230310

JO1 meets…

Kawashiri Ren x YUTO

The way towards the dream

This time we made happen the passionate same generation talk between JO1‘s Kawashiri Ren and PENTAGON‘s YUTO! The two, who are active after setting their eyes on the world, talk from their passion towards their favorite things, their earnest hard work and their never ending evolution until their surprising common points. We will dig deeply into their roads!

YUTO -> REN
Ren-kun is someone familiar to me, but when I saw his performance as an artist for the first time, his power and delicacy overwhelmed me. I am motivated by their process that made talented people come together and let them pass a hard audition and their earnest hard working and their attitude. I became more certain that I have to work hard, too.

REN -> YUTO
By dancing for a long time I am aware where I shine, but YUTO-kun is cool just by standing there! He has an overwhelming presence. Also, he is a very kind gentleman, too. His behavior is also neat and from the inside a mature charm comes out… I ended up smiling him without noticing it during the shooting of the solo pictures today!

Comrades who are in a friendly rivalry despite being seperated!

Ren: YUTO-kun, it‘s been a while! I really looked forward to today. Please take care of me today.
YUTO: I could say the same. Thank you very much for inviting me. I got your contact information back when we had the collab stage in 2022, but today is the first time that we are talking like this.
Ren: Hence, I anxiously awaited today! We talked after the collab-stage, but I was really happy that you remembered me from the time when I danced as a backhanded for PENTAGON-san. I was also moved when you asked to exchange our contact information. Since we were both busy and unable to meet in private… To make up for this I want to talk a lot today ♪
YUTO: You impressed me from the start, Ren-kun. You had power, were cheerful and your dancing was amazing! You were trustworthy as you made your surroundings shine brightly!
Ren: Wow, I’m happy! (Embarrassed) When I first met you, I was surprised by your overwhelming presence, YUTO-kun. You are tall, have a deep voice and just by standing there you were cool! When you were dancing you were powerful in the right moment. I felt the thrill “That’s how a star looks like…”.
YUTO: You make me feel shy by saying this. I spent the year end in Japan last year and I saw JO1’s activities on TV. Ren-kun, can you take a break?
Ren: I can’t take long ones, but it’s perfect right now how busy I am. While I look at the packed schedule with the members, I feel “That’s a great schedule” and I enjoy this youth-like time of talking to them while fooling around.
YUTO: That you also see the business as something positive is one of your charms and strengths.
Ren: How do you overcome times when you are busy and it is getting hard?
YUTO: I often felt down when I just came to Korea and there were some many things I learnt that I had no time to worry. Also, I’m shy so rather than asking someone for advice I often coped with it and solved it myself. Back then I took a walk along the river shore as the first thing in the morning to relax.
Ren: But because of this time you shine more than ever now. By the way, rather than business I fear more the recklessness of variety shows.
YUTO: Japanese variety shows are funny because they incorporate surprises and a huge variety of gimmicks. When I return to Japan and watch those, I feel “That’s fully Japan”. (Laughs). I’m sure if you are there I would enjoy it! I’m looking forward to you being active in variety shows!

What motivates me is the feeling of “liking” it from all my heart

Ren: When you went to Korea at the age of 15 years, did you have some plan on how to promote yourself?
YUTO: I went there without thinking about the consequences, so I had no special strategy (Bitterly laughs). Now is the result of being honest to my heart and facing what I wanted to do directly. What I had was not the ability to promote myself but the power to take action.
Ren: It’s cool that you put it in action without being afraid of the different language and culture.
YUTO: I was in my teens and rather than advancing by planning I pushed on just by the feeling of simply liking it. When I saw my K-POP seniors on TV, my biggest motivation was the feeling in my heart that “I want to be like this”. How did you get into dancing?
Ren: I’m quite the nimble type and when I started dancing during my 5th year of elementary school, I was often praised from the others right afterwards. When I thought “I’m the very best”, I met someone who was so good that they made me think “They must be a genius…”. Much less than making me feel down, they ignited my fighting spirit.
YUTO: The competitive devil was ignited!
Ren: Right! I didn’t want to lose in dancing, too, but for some reason I thought of it as “Dancing + sprint” and since I’m faster I win! (Laughs). I started to think that by brushing up on various skills I will win in the overall points. And from then on I started to try everything that interested me. My sources of energy are “competitiveness” and “knowing I’m no prodigy”.
YUTO: I know what you mean. Because when I noticed back then there was no Japanese rappers in Korea, I wanted to challenge this.
Ren: Did you always have this handsome deep voice?
YUTO: I used to lower it. I’m still in the middle of making use of it. Since last year I've been intensifying my voice training and I’m diligently doing the training such as opening and closing my vocal cords. I want to become better at rapping and also at singing.
Ren: We feel the same! I’m also competitive when it comes to singing. The powerful singing of the main vocalists is cool too, but… I have a voice that catches someone's ears so I'm often singing when the melody changes or when some change is added. This is the flavor I have and I feel I can still improve, so I want to analyze and study more the songs I can sing and the way of singing I’m looking for.
YUTO: It is very important to improve yourself while looking at yourself from an outsider perspective because once you are satisfied with the now, you will stop there.

There is no right answer on the road of music! Advancing on the best you believe in

Ren: I also like the uplighting feeling of concerts, but I really like it to be on the same wave as the cameraman during the filming of a MV. When I’m convinced that it was a good shot I’m itching to see the video while dancing (laughs). You are rapping, dancing and have a hand in songwriting, YUTO-kun, but what is the most fun moment in your music activities?
YUTO: The most fun times are when during the production of the album I come across some exciting lyrics or an interesting beat and the switch is turned to “Let’s go!”, and of course the song writing itself.
Ren: Is it hard to write lyrics in Korean?
YUTO: I pretty much got used to it, but there are also some trivial Korean words that are difficult for me. Writing lyrics is a craft that takes time, but I’m happy when music I had a hand in composing is released and makes the fans delighted and I float in a sense of liberation (laughs).
Ren: Even though I started to learn composing, too, my skills are not enough yet and there is also the frustration that I can’t shape the music I want to create yet.
YUTO: The path of music and arts has no right answer, so it’s difficult, isn’t it? Hence, I value confronting it until I am satisfied with it. Until there… it’s the path of anxiety, right? (Laughs)
Ren: I will do my best! (Motivated) Is there something you do for composing?
YUTO: 2 years ago I started to learn how to play the piano and guitar. Being able to play instruments became a huge plus. I came to understand “Here, a guitar is used” as well as the structure and music theory.
Ren: I also play the piano, so I guess I should practice more. Do you play every day?
YUTO: I try to play for 1 hour each day. Thankfully my agency provides a room for composing, so I lock myself in there and compose.
Ren: Time alone is essential for creating things, isn’t it!

YUTO
I want to become someone who gets close to the fans and gives them power. I’m sometimes called by my last name “Adachi”, but it makes me feel happy as it makes me feel close as if we were classmates. Fans are the ones who raised me, so I want them to feel of me as someone close without any distance. Outside of performances, I’m happy when I make them smile through my events or team announcements through SNS or live streams.
REN
We debuted through an audition, so that we can do these activities because of the fans. If it wasn’t for them, my current me wouldn’t exist. But I just don’t want them to know more about me, I also want to know more about them! At the online talk sessions I linger there until the very last second (laughs). I want to talk more ♥️

With daily care exhausting won’t last
Ren: I’m really sensitive to dryness, so I use the triple of air purifier, a humidifier and an air purifier with a humidity function at home, to care for my throat (laughs). Is there something you are careful of, YUTO-kun?
YUTO: I think I’m not doing anything regarding my throat. I have to do my raps powerfully, so I guess it’s different from what we are careful of.
Ren: Makes sense. I think I’m so careful of my throat that ones I feel the slightest unease, I directly use a throat spray (sweating). Also, in order not to carry the exhaustion to the next day, I stretch before going to sleep and when the exhausting builds up I go for acupuncture… And with this and that I care for myself.
YUTO: I take a hip bath at home. I like to sweat for 30 minutes and adjust myself. Recently I also go to the sauna.
Ren: I also like saunas. Do you also go to saunas in Korea?
YUTO: I often go with my friend NCT 127’s YUTA. Saunas are really popular in Korea, too.
Ren: I want to go with you when I’m in Korea!
YUTO: Sure ♪ Let’s adjust ourselves together.

Explosion of the same generation talk that took its time!
YUTO: Since we are from the same generation we should have lots of common points. Did you play card games as a child? I was into Duel Masters!
Ren: I played it, too, but I love Pokemon ♥️. Because I’m a Pokemon trainer (smug)!
YUTO: School time, so nostalgic. Back then I was good at sports and I didn’t like music. I think only recently I started listening to ballads.
Ren: I liked science classes. I was in the science department, so I experimented while wearing a white coat. I love experiments ♪
YUTO: You wore a white coat!? It would suit you.. By the way, what are go hobbies?
Ren: My hobbies are games, magic and…
YUTO: M-Magic!?
Ren: I’m not performing it anywhere, but I am increasing my stories for the future! How about you?
YUTO: Visiting secondhand clothes I guess. I often go to my favorite one in Korea. When I return to Japan, I will also check the ones in Shimokita.
Ren: I like these, too. I also remake secondhand clothes myself. When the difficulty level is high, I’m making it while being taught by the stylist.
YUTO: Amazing! I want to learn it from you. But first, let’s go to eat something together.
Ren: Sure! What do you like?
YUTO: Gyutan. And you?
Ren: Chocolate and fruits ♪
YUTO: Indeed, you are the sweets type! And for meals?
Ren: Minestrone. You can make it easily, so I often make it myself. Do you have something you dislike?
YUTO: Coriander. But I usually eat everything. I also dislike spicy food, but nowadays I think I can eat more spicy food than Koreans (laughs). Do you like Korean food?
Ren: My favorite is “Jinmichae”! It is a dish of dried and shredded squirts with a balance of sweet and saltiness, so it’s not a main dish but something that always sticks around, but it’s really delicious♥️
YUTO: Your favorite things are all kind of pinpointed like this (laughs). Also… What I noticed while we were talking, but we have a mole at the same spot. The mole over the eyebrow.
Ren: I have one! (Finds it after staring at YUTO) really, it’s the same spot! So cool!
YUTO: It’s rare for moles to be at the same spot, isn’t it? (Laughs) It must be fate, too.
Ren: It’s really fun to talk with you, YUTO-kun, as we are not running out of topics! I have a lot I respect about you and I was really happy to have this talk with you who is active worldwide in the same generation. Thank you very much for today.
YUTO: I have to thank you. Let’s meet again. I will let you know directly! I hope we can meet in Korea next time ♪

[JO1] Nippon Housou News Online 230304

https://news.1242.com/article/422076

JO1‘s Kawashiri Ren surprises the member with a place he spends a lot of time at “I fully enjoy the drink and ice cream bar and…”

On the night of the 1st March (Wednesday), the radio program ‘JO1 All Night Nippon X’ (every Wednesday from 24:00~24:58 on Nippon Housou) aired of which Shiroiwa Ruki from the 11 member global boy group, JO1, acts as the main personality. As the weekly changing personalities Kawashiri Ren and Tsurubo Shion appeared in this episode. Kawashiri, who is a huge manga fan confessed about an episode when he went to a manga cafe.

Ren: When I went to a manga cafe, I read it in one go. The manga “Attack on Titan”.

Ruki: When was it? Recently?

Ren: After I became a JO1 member.

Ruki: For real!? JO1’s Kawashiri Ren did that!?

Shion: That’s hilarious! (Laughs)

Ren: I like to read things in one go. If I’m having a day off, I will feel like “I wanna go!”. and I made full use of the drink and ice cream bar and read “Attack on Titan” in one go. It was really funny.

Ruki: It seems fun~ (laughs)

Shion: At a manga cafe, if you, for example, are interested in “Attack on Titan” and take all with you, others won’t be able to read it at all, right?

Ren: Right, this would be a nuisance. Hence I always take like 2 or 3 books. Plus, the ice cream keeps on melting, each time.

Shion: So nice~

Ren: Because there is also a 12 hour stay possible.

Ruki: Eh? Have you done that?

Ren: Yes.

Shion: Wow…

Ren: But I did so only 2 times since becoming a member of JO1.

Ruki: That’s a full day in total!

Shiroiwa and Tsurubo had been amazed by Kawashiri confessing he spent 12 hours in a manga cafe even after becoming a member of JO1.

Furthermore, Kawashiri introduced “Attack on Titan” as a recommendation and passionately stated about the foreshadowing in the manga: “the dots just don’t become lines, they become surfaces there!”. Both Shiroiwa and Tsurubo had read it halfway, so their interest in the rest of the story was sparked, saying “I haven’t checked it out in a while, so what you said made me curious”.