Asia (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} zerosexappeal) wrote in ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} dbsg,@ 2006-03-13 11:35:00 |
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Interview about 1st Japanese album
You guys have to read this! The boys' answers are too funny ^^
__________________________
06.03.12 Continuing on from their New Single, DBSK will also release their First Japanese Album on March 23rd !
Expecting to make their big break with the new single “Ashi ta-wa Kuru-kara”, TVfXQ will not stop there, but also ride the course with the release of their highly anticipated first album. The album has a gorgeous line-up including their previously released Japanese singles, new songs, and cover versions of their hit Korean songs.
With this album too, they will release two versions, one with just the CD, and another which also includes a DVD. With their CD-only version, they have also recorded 4 bonus tracks which mix new songs with their true colors as an acapella group. With the DVD-included version there are video clips that were recorded in both Korean and Japanese.
With both their slow and steady approach to entering the Japanese market, and their true strengths set to be shown, TVfXQ are sure to float across Japan at the same pace as the cherry blossoms bloom this spring. Hitting Japan this spring like a snowstorm of cherry blossoms, TVfXQ are one group that you should be sure to keep your eyes on.
・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・
☆ DongBang ShinKi（Touhou Shinki – in Japanese）☆
Meaning “Gods rising from the East”, the group given the name to show that they will spread from Asia to the world. In Korea they are currently one of the top groups. They arrivedin Japan on November 25th, 2004. On March 8th they released their 4th single “Ashi ta-wa Kuru-kara” which ties in with the mega-popular Fuji TV animation series “One Piece”. They’re also set to release their first album on March 23rd, hoping to break into the Japanese market in a big way with both these March releases. There doesn’t seem to be any other teenage acapella, chorus and dance group standing in their way from achieving this goal.
・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・
Your new song “Ashi ta-wa Kuru-kara” is to be the ending theme of the popular Fuji TV animation series “ONEPIECE”. “ONEPIECE” means “one treasure”, so we’d like to hear what each of your treasures are!
JJ – For me, it is the other members. [Starting off with such a heartfelt comment…surely this will make it hard for the other members to say anything..!]
JS – Not the other members, it’s got to be an object, a thing~~!!
JJ – OK then, my mobile phone.
JS – He’s got a really fun game on his mobile phone!
YH – And he plays it every day!
JJ – My phone is important to me because it has lots of phone numbers, important photos, and memos and stuff in it.
C – For me it’s my i-Pod!
[We were interested to find out what kind of music he listens to..]
C – Lately I’ve been listening to Carlos Jobin and stuff.. [Antonio Carlos Jobim who is a dead Brazilian guy who specialized in Bossa Nova music]
Wow~ that’s a pretty cool type of music for a 17 year old to listen to….
YC – Shibuya? [He mis-heard/misunderstood what the reporter had said. The Japanese word for “cool” is “shibui”, but YC thought they said “Shibuya” which is the name of a trendy part of Tokyo]
Jibu – Kind of similar in the fact that they are both trendy, but also a bit different! [Here he teaches the meaning of “shibui” in Japanese to the boys. Then it is back to talking about Carlos…]
JJ – Oh! Me too! Everyone knows, that soccer player Carlos!
[What can we say here… I guess it was just another display of JaeJoong’s innocence. And of course he made everyone laugh! Now, let’s get back to the talk of the boy’s treasured possessions.]
YH – I’m the same as the others. But I guess for me it is my wallet. It’s got photos of the other members in it. And it also has some dated from around the time that we first debuted. I once lost my wallet, but then I got it back again later. [Wow!!!!]
[And then… I guess it was Junsu thought to show off his treasure or something, but for some reason he pulled out his mobile phone and Junsu, Jaejoong and Changmin started getting excited happily playing with it]
JJ & C – Look, our mobile phones are the same too! Look! Look!
YC – Oh, so’s mine!
JJ – The 3 of us have the same!
Junsu kept trying to speak, but the other members kept trying to shut him up..
JS – I wanna talk! I wanna talk!
All – Ok~ OK~. Go ahead..
JS -- For me it is my Arsenal [English soccer team] uniform. I like the player Thierry Henry~! I have both the home and away uniforms. I even have a ball and a jacket too!
JJ – I like the player Carlos! [He’d already told us how much he liked Carlos earlier, but..?!!?!]
[From here the 5 boys all happily talk about soccer a bit more]
YH – We have a soccer team. We’ve only had one game so far {laughs} and we don’t practice at all..!
JS – [For some reason in a very bright, happy voice] We’re very low class players~!
Finally we get to Yuchon’s treasured possession.
YC – I have two. One are my CDs. The other one is my musical instrument. My piano and my program and stuff. [Program is a type of sound system used for composing songs.]
YH – [Showing us a photo from his mobile phone] This, this is mine. Each of us have our own programs.
JS – They’re in each of our rooms.
JJ – We all bought them ourselves.
With such a good attitude towards music we feel it won’t be long before the boys start making their own good music.
Touhou Shinki (TVfXQ) 1st Japanese album
On sale from March 23, 2006
Title:“Heart, Mind and soul”
* Version 1: CD only - 3,060 yen
Features bonus tracks of acapella mixes of the new songs.
* Version 2: DVD included – 3,990 yen
Features 12 songs, plus a DVD with clips of 6~8 songs and video clips in Korean & Japanese.
* DVD “TVfXQ HISTORY of JAPAN vol.1” – 4,500 yen
On sale from March 23, 2006.
From here is content that is only available online, not in the print version of the e-para magazine.
It has been two years since you debuted onto the music scene, and one year since debuting in Japan. The 5 members are always working together (and even live together). Despite that, have you made any new discoveries about the other members, or seen an unexpected side of them?
YC – I haven’t made any special discoveries about Junsu. {Laughs}
JS – Ahhhhh~~!!! {Yells in a loud voice}
YC – I was just joking! You’re even kinder than I first thought.
YH – He really is very kind.
YC – And he has excellent self-control too.
JS – Yunho is a very charismatic person, but at first he seemed very scary. But really he is kind and generous and great at looking after others. Well of course he really is our leader!
YC – [Taps him on the shoulder] I love you!
YH – Changmin is the youngest, but he is really reliable, considerate and cool. He is a man among men!
C – Jaejoong already knows that, right? [Laughs] He is different from the cool type that he looks like, and is actually really warm-hearted. He is so tender and compassionate. [Everyone nods]. And he is funny too.
JS – He is a bit like a mother. And he’s good at cooking too.
JJ – Yuchon has an image of always being a happy, smiley person I think, but usually he has a very lonely and naïve side to him, and most often has a really serious expression.
YH – The first time I met Yuchon I wondered if he would really be the entertainment genius that I had been told he was, but he is even more talented at music than I had expected! And the truth is that he is the best amongst all of us.
JJ – Really he is a VERY hard-worker!
All – Yeah! A hard-worker!! [Great praise & admiration]
YH – [Turning to face Yuchon as he speaks] The number 1 hard-worker, [to Junsu] the number 2 hard-worker, [to Changmin]....
JJ – [Looking at Changmin] What’s wrong with us, huh???!@!
YH – ....Third hardest worker, [looking at Jaejoong] 4th hardest worker, [pointing to himself] and the 5th hardest worker. That was TVfXQ~!!!
As we would expect! It was Yunho who decided who summed everything up.
* Random Interview Topics *
Number 1
* Jaejoong’s Korean Language Class & a Friendly Korean Group *
Reporter – I don’t remember, do they use Chinese characters in writing in Korea too?
All – Yes! We do!
Reporter – Don’t you think that Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji look alike? [They are the 3 alphabets used in Japan.]
All -- .......??????
Reporter – I guess they don’t look alike then! [Looks dejected]
All – They don’t look at all alike!!!
Reporter – Yeah, I guess they don’t look alike, huh? Hmmm
All – [Crack up laughing]
All – When you talk, the grammar of Japanese and Korean is the same.
Reporter – Actually, I can read the Korean Hangul alphabet. And I can speak a little too~!
JJ – For real??!
YH - Everyone, watch out~! [Everyone around cracks up]
Reporter – So I can understand what you’re saying. I can speak a bit of Korean, and I can understand it too!!
Yunho and Junsu begin speaking in Korean! And then….
JJ – [In Korean] Dangshin-un jongmal Arumdapda.
Reporter – “You are really beautiful!”
All – Wow~~! She does understand! Watch out!!
JJ -- Ah, watch out! Take care everyone!!!
Reporter – Well, if I have to learn words like “beautiful” and other compliments, don’t I? [Laughs]
Then once more…
JJ – [Seeing a chance opening up here] Dangshin-un jongmal arumdapda. Hal su itgo. Anal su itgo. Kurosumnida.
Without any worries, Junsu and all the other members crack up laughing loudly.
JS – That is even difficult for me to understand!! [Laughs madly]
Reporter – Huh? [She can’t grasp the meaning of Jaejoong’s severe Korean lesson. She throws her hands up in surrender.]
[Note from Wendy: It is hard to understand translating from Japanese to Korean to English, but I think what JJ said in Korean meant “You are really beautiful. You can speak. And you can understand. Thank you for all the hard work you put into learning that”]
Reporter -- That’s right! I met a Korean group called Epik High!
YH – Epik High? Huh? You know them?
JS – They are our older brothers that we really like.
YC – We’re close to them.
Reporter – Oh my! Really?
JJ – Tabulo is 27 years old!
YC – He was born in 1980.
JS – 27 years old?
YH – Yeah.
JS – I didn’t know that. He looks to only be about 23 years old. He looks so young!
Listening to the members chat amongst themselves in Japanese....it seems weird, but it is also left a deep impression on me…. You boys are great! Wow~!
Number 2
* Promise made between the members & the reporter *
Reporter – What is the music video for the song “Ashi ta-wa Kuru-kara” like?
C – It is a very warm music video.
But really – It was a very “cold” video!
YH – We shot the video on top of a building (on a helicopter landing pad). The wind was so strong. Oh, and Yuchon was playing the piano and there were scenes with each of us singing too. You should take a look at it.
YC – It has a really family-like, warming feel to it. It is a great image to watch.
Reporter – Come to think of it, do you guys know the animation “ONEPIECE”?
All – Yes! Of course! It is really popular in Korea too. The manga comic books and the TV show too.
JJ – We are all addicted to them!
Editor – Oh, of course..! So, what is the album that you’ll be releasing on March 23 like?
YH – It has the Japanese language version of “HUG”.
Reporter – Won’t that make it the 4th language that you’ve sung “HUG” in then? (Korean, Japanese, Chinese, English)
JS – The lyrics are all mixed-up..??!!?!!
Wow~ Junsu is amazing! He even knew the word “kongara garu” to explain things being mixed-up. His Japanese is perfect!
Reporter – What kind of songs are there?
YH – There are all sorts of genres, so it should be great to listen to!
JS – There’s dance, pop-ballads, R&B, break-beats..
YC – There’s even enka.. [“Enka” is a type of really old-fashioned Japanese music, similar to Korean “trot music”, or somewhere along the lines of really un-cool country&western or opera “old people’s music” in the west]
Staff – There’s no enka. There’s no enka!
Reporter – Don’t be silly, there isn’t any enka!
YC – Oh, there isn’t any enka… :-( [Seems disappointed. Another show of Yuchon’s great humor.]
JS – And of course there are some acapella songs.
YH – So please go out and buy a copy!
Reporter – Well of course we all will~! Let’s all buy 10 copies!
YC – Wow, 10 copies?? [Seems as if he can’t believe that he heard it correctly..]
JS – [Putting out his little finger in the way that Asian people do when they make promises] OK then, promise!!
Reporter – [Hesitating a bit… but responding by putting out her little finger too]
YC – Ah! Your finger! It’s shaking~~!!! Ha ha ha [Laughs]
JJ – Hang on! Wait a second! [And of course he whips out his mobile phone to take a photo of Junsu & the reporter making the promise.]
Reporter – Huh? Evidence? You’re going to taking a photo??
JJ – OK, ready then… [snap] Yeah, I got a great shot! [Looking very satisfied]
JS – [Singing] 10 copies, 10 copies, 10 copies~~ [Smiling happily as he sings]
YC – And all of them have to be the DVD version!
Ha ha ha!!! [Everyone is cracking up]
JJ – Or instead of the DVD version you could just buy 20 of the CD version. Please buy them!
Reporter – [Looking like she is about to cry.. Then…] OK! I’ll buy them! After all, I promised you that I would.
JS – And I took a photo of the promise too..!
Reporter -- …yeah…!
* Final Words*
This interview took place at the end of January. Usually when they are interviewed by this magazine they don’t have a photo shoot so they turn up in old clothes and with no make-up on, but on this day they had just been filming in Harajuku (a trendy area of Tokyo) so they 5 boys were all in work mode.
Jaejoong arrived first at the door and walked in saying “It’s my birthday the day after tomorrow!”, to which the reporter replied “Yeah, I know that of course~”. The 5 members all had many things to celebrate one after the other (Junsu’s birthday, Changmin’s acceptance into university, Jaejoong & Yunho’s “Coming of Age Days” [A Japanese tradition where all people who will turn 20 that year get to celebrate as they are becoming adults] etc.). So the reporter had prepared a celebration for all these things. The boys gobbled down the food while asking “What’s this?”
As a reporter, I am always impressed by the different personalities of each of the 5 members whenever I meet them. Yuchon = Comedy genius
Junsu = Innocent
Changmin = Comes out with splendid outbursts amid his calmness
Yunho = Down-to-earth and considerate
Jaejoong = Humorous and natural
This time too, Junsu would think a while before answering questions, but would look straight in my eyes the whole time he was thinking of what to say. And whenever I looked around Changmin & Jaejoong would be staring at their mobile phones that they were gripping tightly in their hands. When they said “That is us~~!” Yuchon also chipped in saying “My phone is the same too!!”. And then they would end up randomly chatting about nothing in particular… And somehow, even though I was the reporter, the boys were great at making me lose control of the converstaion~. I just couldn’t keep up with what they were saying.
Seeing as there are 5 members, there are times when 1 member isn’t feeling well, but on this day they all seemed fit and healthy, making me feel relieved. Reporter “F” is also a Futtosaru owner. [Sorry, I don’t know the English word for this. It is like playing soccer indoors and is really popular in Japan these days.] So the members’ eyes all lit up when the talk turned to soccer. Junsu said “up, up, on the roof?” and who knows what he meant by that, but I guess he may have been saying that we should go up on the roof of the record company where they have a Futtosaru court. Yunho also seemed enthusiastic, saying “After this interview is over let’s have a game~!”.
OK then! This time reporter “F” gave the boys a present. It was none other than the recipe for Katsu-don [A Japanese food with a piece of crumbed beef sitting on top of a bowl of rice.] During the last interview Yuchon had mentioned he’d said on a show that he wanted to make Katsu-don for the other members to eat, so the reporter decided to find a recipe for it and give it to Yuchon.
“Wow~! There’s even a photo on it!” Yuchon seemed very excited by the gift?! Reporter F had tried the recipe at home and taken a photo of the finished result to show all his hardwork!
If you want the recipe, you can see it on the web. Hopefully Yuchon will have tried it out and all the members will have enjoyed eating it.
[Note from Wendy: I didn’t add the recipe, but if anyone wants it, then let me know and I’ll translate it and post it up sometime.]
**edit
And here's a link to the translated Katsu-don recipe.
Don-katsu recipe
It's got lots of pictures for each step, so I uploaded it to Rapidshare and it should come out as a Word document.
From http://e-para.co.jp/ Original article in Japanese. Translated by Wendy@solid07.net.
Note: This is not my translation ^^; See above link for translator.
You guys have to read this! The boys' answers are too funny ^^
__________________________
06.03.12 Continuing on from their New Single, DBSK will also release their First Japanese Album on March 23rd !
Expecting to make their big break with the new single “Ashi ta-wa Kuru-kara”, TVfXQ will not stop there, but also ride the course with the release of their highly anticipated first album. The album has a gorgeous line-up including their previously released Japanese singles, new songs, and cover versions of their hit Korean songs.
With this album too, they will release two versions, one with just the CD, and another which also includes a DVD. With their CD-only version, they have also recorded 4 bonus tracks which mix new songs with their true colors as an acapella group. With the DVD-included version there are video clips that were recorded in both Korean and Japanese.
With both their slow and steady approach to entering the Japanese market, and their true strengths set to be shown, TVfXQ are sure to float across Japan at the same pace as the cherry blossoms bloom this spring. Hitting Japan this spring like a snowstorm of cherry blossoms, TVfXQ are one group that you should be sure to keep your eyes on.
・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・
☆ DongBang ShinKi（Touhou Shinki – in Japanese）☆
Meaning “Gods rising from the East”, the group given the name to show that they will spread from Asia to the world. In Korea they are currently one of the top groups. They arrivedin Japan on November 25th, 2004. On March 8th they released their 4th single “Ashi ta-wa Kuru-kara” which ties in with the mega-popular Fuji TV animation series “One Piece”. They’re also set to release their first album on March 23rd, hoping to break into the Japanese market in a big way with both these March releases. There doesn’t seem to be any other teenage acapella, chorus and dance group standing in their way from achieving this goal.
・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・
Your new song “Ashi ta-wa Kuru-kara” is to be the ending theme of the popular Fuji TV animation series “ONEPIECE”. “ONEPIECE” means “one treasure”, so we’d like to hear what each of your treasures are!
JJ – For me, it is the other members. [Starting off with such a heartfelt comment…surely this will make it hard for the other members to say anything..!]
JS – Not the other members, it’s got to be an object, a thing~~!!
JJ – OK then, my mobile phone.
JS – He’s got a really fun game on his mobile phone!
YH – And he plays it every day!
JJ – My phone is important to me because it has lots of phone numbers, important photos, and memos and stuff in it.
C – For me it’s my i-Pod!
[We were interested to find out what kind of music he listens to..]
C – Lately I’ve been listening to Carlos Jobin and stuff.. [Antonio Carlos Jobim who is a dead Brazilian guy who specialized in Bossa Nova music]
Wow~ that’s a pretty cool type of music for a 17 year old to listen to….
YC – Shibuya? [He mis-heard/misunderstood what the reporter had said. The Japanese word for “cool” is “shibui”, but YC thought they said “Shibuya” which is the name of a trendy part of Tokyo]
Jibu – Kind of similar in the fact that they are both trendy, but also a bit different! [Here he teaches the meaning of “shibui” in Japanese to the boys. Then it is back to talking about Carlos…]
JJ – Oh! Me too! Everyone knows, that soccer player Carlos!
[What can we say here… I guess it was just another display of JaeJoong’s innocence. And of course he made everyone laugh! Now, let’s get back to the talk of the boy’s treasured possessions.]
YH – I’m the same as the others. But I guess for me it is my wallet. It’s got photos of the other members in it. And it also has some dated from around the time that we first debuted. I once lost my wallet, but then I got it back again later. [Wow!!!!]
[And then… I guess it was Junsu thought to show off his treasure or something, but for some reason he pulled out his mobile phone and Junsu, Jaejoong and Changmin started getting excited happily playing with it]
JJ & C – Look, our mobile phones are the same too! Look! Look!
YC – Oh, so’s mine!
JJ – The 3 of us have the same!
Junsu kept trying to speak, but the other members kept trying to shut him up..
JS – I wanna talk! I wanna talk!
All – Ok~ OK~. Go ahead..
JS -- For me it is my Arsenal [English soccer team] uniform. I like the player Thierry Henry~! I have both the home and away uniforms. I even have a ball and a jacket too!
JJ – I like the player Carlos! [He’d already told us how much he liked Carlos earlier, but..?!!?!]
[From here the 5 boys all happily talk about soccer a bit more]
YH – We have a soccer team. We’ve only had one game so far {laughs} and we don’t practice at all..!
JS – [For some reason in a very bright, happy voice] We’re very low class players~!
Finally we get to Yuchon’s treasured possession.
YC – I have two. One are my CDs. The other one is my musical instrument. My piano and my program and stuff. [Program is a type of sound system used for composing songs.]
YH – [Showing us a photo from his mobile phone] This, this is mine. Each of us have our own programs.
JS – They’re in each of our rooms.
JJ – We all bought them ourselves.
With such a good attitude towards music we feel it won’t be long before the boys start making their own good music.
Touhou Shinki (TVfXQ) 1st Japanese album
On sale from March 23, 2006
Title:“Heart, Mind and soul”
* Version 1: CD only - 3,060 yen
Features bonus tracks of acapella mixes of the new songs.
* Version 2: DVD included – 3,990 yen
Features 12 songs, plus a DVD with clips of 6~8 songs and video clips in Korean & Japanese.
* DVD “TVfXQ HISTORY of JAPAN vol.1” – 4,500 yen
On sale from March 23, 2006.
From here is content that is only available online, not in the print version of the e-para magazine.
It has been two years since you debuted onto the music scene, and one year since debuting in Japan. The 5 members are always working together (and even live together). Despite that, have you made any new discoveries about the other members, or seen an unexpected side of them?
YC – I haven’t made any special discoveries about Junsu. {Laughs}
JS – Ahhhhh~~!!! {Yells in a loud voice}
YC – I was just joking! You’re even kinder than I first thought.
YH – He really is very kind.
YC – And he has excellent self-control too.
JS – Yunho is a very charismatic person, but at first he seemed very scary. But really he is kind and generous and great at looking after others. Well of course he really is our leader!
YC – [Taps him on the shoulder] I love you!
YH – Changmin is the youngest, but he is really reliable, considerate and cool. He is a man among men!
C – Jaejoong already knows that, right? [Laughs] He is different from the cool type that he looks like, and is actually really warm-hearted. He is so tender and compassionate. [Everyone nods]. And he is funny too.
JS – He is a bit like a mother. And he’s good at cooking too.
JJ – Yuchon has an image of always being a happy, smiley person I think, but usually he has a very lonely and naïve side to him, and most often has a really serious expression.
YH – The first time I met Yuchon I wondered if he would really be the entertainment genius that I had been told he was, but he is even more talented at music than I had expected! And the truth is that he is the best amongst all of us.
JJ – Really he is a VERY hard-worker!
All – Yeah! A hard-worker!! [Great praise & admiration]
YH – [Turning to face Yuchon as he speaks] The number 1 hard-worker, [to Junsu] the number 2 hard-worker, [to Changmin]....
JJ – [Looking at Changmin] What’s wrong with us, huh???!@!
YH – ....Third hardest worker, [looking at Jaejoong] 4th hardest worker, [pointing to himself] and the 5th hardest worker. That was TVfXQ~!!!
As we would expect! It was Yunho who decided who summed everything up.
* Random Interview Topics *
Number 1
* Jaejoong’s Korean Language Class & a Friendly Korean Group *
Reporter – I don’t remember, do they use Chinese characters in writing in Korea too?
All – Yes! We do!
Reporter – Don’t you think that Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji look alike? [They are the 3 alphabets used in Japan.]
All -- .......??????
Reporter – I guess they don’t look alike then! [Looks dejected]
All – They don’t look at all alike!!!
Reporter – Yeah, I guess they don’t look alike, huh? Hmmm
All – [Crack up laughing]
All – When you talk, the grammar of Japanese and Korean is the same.
Reporter – Actually, I can read the Korean Hangul alphabet. And I can speak a little too~!
JJ – For real??!
YH - Everyone, watch out~! [Everyone around cracks up]
Reporter – So I can understand what you’re saying. I can speak a bit of Korean, and I can understand it too!!
Yunho and Junsu begin speaking in Korean! And then….
JJ – [In Korean] Dangshin-un jongmal Arumdapda.
Reporter – “You are really beautiful!”
All – Wow~~! She does understand! Watch out!!
JJ -- Ah, watch out! Take care everyone!!!
Reporter – Well, if I have to learn words like “beautiful” and other compliments, don’t I? [Laughs]
Then once more…
JJ – [Seeing a chance opening up here] Dangshin-un jongmal arumdapda. Hal su itgo. Anal su itgo. Kurosumnida.
Without any worries, Junsu and all the other members crack up laughing loudly.
JS – That is even difficult for me to understand!! [Laughs madly]
Reporter – Huh? [She can’t grasp the meaning of Jaejoong’s severe Korean lesson. She throws her hands up in surrender.]
[Note from Wendy: It is hard to understand translating from Japanese to Korean to English, but I think what JJ said in Korean meant “You are really beautiful. You can speak. And you can understand. Thank you for all the hard work you put into learning that”]
Reporter -- That’s right! I met a Korean group called Epik High!
YH – Epik High? Huh? You know them?
JS – They are our older brothers that we really like.
YC – We’re close to them.
Reporter – Oh my! Really?
JJ – Tabulo is 27 years old!
YC – He was born in 1980.
JS – 27 years old?
YH – Yeah.
JS – I didn’t know that. He looks to only be about 23 years old. He looks so young!
Listening to the members chat amongst themselves in Japanese....it seems weird, but it is also left a deep impression on me…. You boys are great! Wow~!
Number 2
* Promise made between the members & the reporter *
Reporter – What is the music video for the song “Ashi ta-wa Kuru-kara” like?
C – It is a very warm music video.
But really – It was a very “cold” video!
YH – We shot the video on top of a building (on a helicopter landing pad). The wind was so strong. Oh, and Yuchon was playing the piano and there were scenes with each of us singing too. You should take a look at it.
YC – It has a really family-like, warming feel to it. It is a great image to watch.
Reporter – Come to think of it, do you guys know the animation “ONEPIECE”?
All – Yes! Of course! It is really popular in Korea too. The manga comic books and the TV show too.
JJ – We are all addicted to them!
Editor – Oh, of course..! So, what is the album that you’ll be releasing on March 23 like?
YH – It has the Japanese language version of “HUG”.
Reporter – Won’t that make it the 4th language that you’ve sung “HUG” in then? (Korean, Japanese, Chinese, English)
JS – The lyrics are all mixed-up..??!!?!!
Wow~ Junsu is amazing! He even knew the word “kongara garu” to explain things being mixed-up. His Japanese is perfect!
Reporter – What kind of songs are there?
YH – There are all sorts of genres, so it should be great to listen to!
JS – There’s dance, pop-ballads, R&B, break-beats..
YC – There’s even enka.. [“Enka” is a type of really old-fashioned Japanese music, similar to Korean “trot music”, or somewhere along the lines of really un-cool country&western or opera “old people’s music” in the west]
Staff – There’s no enka. There’s no enka!
Reporter – Don’t be silly, there isn’t any enka!
YC – Oh, there isn’t any enka… :-( [Seems disappointed. Another show of Yuchon’s great humor.]
JS – And of course there are some acapella songs.
YH – So please go out and buy a copy!
Reporter – Well of course we all will~! Let’s all buy 10 copies!
YC – Wow, 10 copies?? [Seems as if he can’t believe that he heard it correctly..]
JS – [Putting out his little finger in the way that Asian people do when they make promises] OK then, promise!!
Reporter – [Hesitating a bit… but responding by putting out her little finger too]
YC – Ah! Your finger! It’s shaking~~!!! Ha ha ha [Laughs]
JJ – Hang on! Wait a second! [And of course he whips out his mobile phone to take a photo of Junsu & the reporter making the promise.]
Reporter – Huh? Evidence? You’re going to taking a photo??
JJ – OK, ready then… [snap] Yeah, I got a great shot! [Looking very satisfied]
JS – [Singing] 10 copies, 10 copies, 10 copies~~ [Smiling happily as he sings]
YC – And all of them have to be the DVD version!
Ha ha ha!!! [Everyone is cracking up]
JJ – Or instead of the DVD version you could just buy 20 of the CD version. Please buy them!
Reporter – [Looking like she is about to cry.. Then…] OK! I’ll buy them! After all, I promised you that I would.
JS – And I took a photo of the promise too..!
Reporter -- …yeah…!
* Final Words*
This interview took place at the end of January. Usually when they are interviewed by this magazine they don’t have a photo shoot so they turn up in old clothes and with no make-up on, but on this day they had just been filming in Harajuku (a trendy area of Tokyo) so they 5 boys were all in work mode.
Jaejoong arrived first at the door and walked in saying “It’s my birthday the day after tomorrow!”, to which the reporter replied “Yeah, I know that of course~”. The 5 members all had many things to celebrate one after the other (Junsu’s birthday, Changmin’s acceptance into university, Jaejoong & Yunho’s “Coming of Age Days” [A Japanese tradition where all people who will turn 20 that year get to celebrate as they are becoming adults] etc.). So the reporter had prepared a celebration for all these things. The boys gobbled down the food while asking “What’s this?”
As a reporter, I am always impressed by the different personalities of each of the 5 members whenever I meet them. Yuchon = Comedy genius
Junsu = Innocent
Changmin = Comes out with splendid outbursts amid his calmness
Yunho = Down-to-earth and considerate
Jaejoong = Humorous and natural
This time too, Junsu would think a while before answering questions, but would look straight in my eyes the whole time he was thinking of what to say. And whenever I looked around Changmin & Jaejoong would be staring at their mobile phones that they were gripping tightly in their hands. When they said “That is us~~!” Yuchon also chipped in saying “My phone is the same too!!”. And then they would end up randomly chatting about nothing in particular… And somehow, even though I was the reporter, the boys were great at making me lose control of the converstaion~. I just couldn’t keep up with what they were saying.
Seeing as there are 5 members, there are times when 1 member isn’t feeling well, but on this day they all seemed fit and healthy, making me feel relieved. Reporter “F” is also a Futtosaru owner. [Sorry, I don’t know the English word for this. It is like playing soccer indoors and is really popular in Japan these days.] So the members’ eyes all lit up when the talk turned to soccer. Junsu said “up, up, on the roof?” and who knows what he meant by that, but I guess he may have been saying that we should go up on the roof of the record company where they have a Futtosaru court. Yunho also seemed enthusiastic, saying “After this interview is over let’s have a game~!”.
OK then! This time reporter “F” gave the boys a present. It was none other than the recipe for Katsu-don [A Japanese food with a piece of crumbed beef sitting on top of a bowl of rice.] During the last interview Yuchon had mentioned he’d said on a show that he wanted to make Katsu-don for the other members to eat, so the reporter decided to find a recipe for it and give it to Yuchon.
“Wow~! There’s even a photo on it!” Yuchon seemed very excited by the gift?! Reporter F had tried the recipe at home and taken a photo of the finished result to show all his hardwork!
If you want the recipe, you can see it on the web. Hopefully Yuchon will have tried it out and all the members will have enjoyed eating it.
[Note from Wendy: I didn’t add the recipe, but if anyone wants it, then let me know and I’ll translate it and post it up sometime.]
**edit
And here's a link to the translated Katsu-don recipe.
Don-katsu recipe
It's got lots of pictures for each step, so I uploaded it to Rapidshare and it should come out as a Word document.
From http://e-para.co.jp/ Original article in Japanese. Translated by Wendy@solid07.net.
Note: This is not my translation ^^; See above link for translator.
