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“As my 10th year in Johnny’s, I want to convey my gratitude.”
On May 9th, Yamada had his 20th birthday. Embracing the joy
of becoming an adult, but realizing it also brings more responsibility. This
should be a special year. Yamada is strongly moved by the feelings of
gratitude.
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I was always really looking forward to become 20. When I was
a Jr, I said in an interview that: “When I’m 20 years old, I’ll be 180 cm tall
with an adult’s charm, and I’ll be really cool!” Well, I ended up becoming a
20-year-old quite different from my ideal, but now I’ve extended that to until
I’m 23 (laugh). Now that I’ve become a so-called adult, the possibilities at
work will get wider, and I can stay out late at night, I’m really glad about
it. As a teen, even though I attended to a drama’s closing party, I had to go
home straight after the party. Maybe they were just being polite, but the
co-stars and staff said: “Since you’re the lead, come to the after-party as
well”. So I felt really sorry that I had to go home. But from now on I don’t
have to worry about it, and I can stay out
talking with the co-workers of the same project until the end. What I’m
also looking forward to is going to dinner with senpais. During Johnny’s World,
I got a mail from (Domoto) Koichi-kun that said: “When you turn 20, let’s go to
dinner”. Since it would be a place to go with a fellow adult, there are things
we could talk about. There are a lot of things I want to ask him about his
thoughts on work-related things.
For me, a 20-year-old is a fine adult, who has to take responsibility for their words and actions. Honestly, because I’m an idol, there’s not just a little things you have to do, or shouldn’t say. I’m aware that I’m in a position where I might upset a lot of people just by a few words. Before, I made a careless comment that I like girls with short hair, and around three months later, I went on and said I like girls with long hair… I think I was just talking without thinking carefully, or was into the current trends. After that, I got a message for the Hey! Say! 7 radio show saying: “Since you said you like short hair, I cut mine”. It made me think that I should tell if my taste has changed, and I should think more before talking. Words can be a medicine to give people courage, or they can be a weapon to hurt them. That’s why I never want to hurt anyone with my words ever again. I want to become an adult, that takes responsibility for what he has said or done in the past.
It’s not just about taking responsibility for your actions, but it’s also important to cultivate your speech. Even though I’m already 20, I’m still not good at things like getting people excited during the concert MCs, or coming up with smart things to say at variety shows. I always thought that I can’t continue like this. This year in Johnny’s World, when I acted as an old man, I got to be in contact with the audience. It was really hard to ignore people if they said something to me, but I learned a lot doing an ad-lib talk at the audience alone for the 3 months. At New Year’s, I got to see Takizawa (Hideaki)-kun doing Johnny’s World, and (Nakayama) Yuma did my old man -role then. He was really good. Having a guy as skillful as him in the same group, NYC, feels very reassuring.
I was 11 years old when I joined the agency. This year isn’t only my 20th year as Yamada Ryosuke, but also, my 10th year as “Yamada Ryosuke of Johnny’s” is starting. I don’t know if I can realize them yet, so I can’t promise anything detailed, but I want to make this memorable year in a way that I can show my gratitude to the people who have supported me all along. This is the oath of the 20-year-old me.
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“Words can kill people, and words can give people life.
That’s why I want to become a person who can make people happy with words.
That’s my goal.” - Ryosuke
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