Nakajima Yuto x Yamada Ryosuke (More Magazine)
I’m paraphrasing a little here. Let me know if anything is really far off.
Scan source: https://twitter.com/sj322nu/status/1077886770585296899
“They once fought”, “they once hated each other”. But right now, “they understand each other the most”.
Nakajima: Right now, at the time of this interview, the drama “Suits” and the dome tour is happening at the same time. During this time, Yama emailed me saying “It’s OK, leave the live [tour] to me! Do your best!”. Well… I was so happy [to get that message].
Yamada: That’s because I also understand the pain of the challenges Yuto is facing right now.
— You are both actively working in the same field as idols and as actors. You two are able to appreciate and rely on each other now, but in reality, it took a long time for you to get to this point.
Yamada: There was a time when we fought recklessly, indeed, there was also a time when we didn’t talk to each other.
— When you were both Johnny’s Jr, “you rode the same train home from work”, and you had good relations with each other in public and in private. Your relationship changed when Nakajima-kun and Yamada-kun exchanged the “center” position.
Nakajima: That’s right. I was very shocked at that after all. Yama had gone through a time when he stood where the spotlight couldn’t reach and experienced the metaphorical “winter” period. From there, he worked ridiculously hard and used his skills to become the center, which I understand now. But the me back then was not able to accept that.
Yamada: We both had this “I don’t want to lose to him” attitude. We have a strong rivalry and we didn’t know “how to handle that guy”, so to speak…
Nakajima: But now, we think of that time as a precious experience. For us, it became a huge opportunity to face each other, and we were also able to grow from that. That’s why we are able to become aware of a lot of things.
— Your relationship has demonstrated that you see each other as “clearly formidable rivals, you use the other as a goal to strive for improvement, and you are able to do your best because the other person stimulates you”, as Yamada-kun said before.
Yamada: That’s right, if Yuto were not there, I would not be able to stand where I am now. For me, I still remember very clearly of the time when I first met Yuto. Yuto joined Johnny’s before me, and among the Jr, he was an extremely charismatic presence. I saw him dance on stage and thought it was “awesome!!” After that I felt that “I want to see the view from where Yuto stands”… That was the starting point in the journey to become everything I am now.
— Now you are friends as well as rivals. You’ve said “from now on, you two will be the stimulation for each other. For that reason, you may continue your personal growth.” Since you acknowledge each other, you can talk to each other now. There is a mountain worth of things you want to say to each other.
Nakajima: The other day, we said “by the way, the two of us had not gone drinking together.” We said we will go drinking together when I finish shooting the drama.
Yamada: Although I am happily looking forward to that now… why am I nervous (laughs)? You are curious as to what the two of us are going to talk about? Want us to tell you when we go? No way, I will definitely not tell you (laughs)*.
*But he did tell in his Jump Paper! They bumped into Chinen and posted a group selfie. 😅
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