Interview in Sato Takeru Photo Book X (ten) 5.

 

-You’re smart by nature, I suppose.

Hmm, I don’t know. I’m not ultra-smart without doubt. I’ve met people that I couldn’t beat no matter how hard I tried and studied.

-But you passed quite a high-ranked high school, didn’t you?

Actually, I had a mental conflict about it, too. I really couldn’t choose a high school facing my future. When I was a third year student in junior high school, I was not sure what I want to do. I had some interest in acting … or show business, but I had no idea what to do with it. So I wondered what the point was in going on to a high-ranked high school after studying hard. Then seriously, I couldn’t make a choice between a high-ranked high school rather far away from my house and another one which was more than 10 points lower in deviation value. I told my parents sincerely, ‘I can’t decide. When I enter high school, I’ll never study and only dance, I think. If so, it would be better to go to high school close to my house and continue to dance if I think about my life as a whole.’ Then they said, ‘You may be right.’ But I went to the high ranked high school after all … I don’t know why. Probably it was because of expectation from my teachers in cram school. The teachers in cram school made efforts to send me to high-ranked high school. I couldn’t ruin their efforts.

-I think I got a glimpse of Takeru-kun’s personality.

Consequently, I didn’t study at all and did nothing but dance as I had expected. (lol) But I think it was good I entered the high school.

-A high school student, around seventeen years old, is most sensitive, right?

Well, in that sense, I was not aware of many things. How should I say, a late bloomer? (lol) I’ve never thought that teachers can make mistakes because they are also humans, or that adults are such and such. I was interested only in dancing. In school, I was in the habit of saying, ‘I’m bored’. Looking back, it was really a waste. There are too many blanks in my memory.

-And its rebound?

No rebound, I think. It is not rebound but what I felt when I entered this business was the joy that there were quite a few who talked the same language as me! Not so many, though. About three.

-Three. (lol)

There may be less than three. Rather few. (lol)

-They are absolutely invaluable, I guess. By the way, do you get lonely easily?

Just like other people. Sometimes I feel lonely, but sometimes I prefer to be alone. I’m not the kind of person who can’t tolerate being alone.

-When do you feel lonely?

When I open the door, coming home after my job. At that moment, I wish someone were there at times.

-Constantly?

At the current moment, I don’t have a packed work schedule, so I seldom think so. But when I’m busy with work, I want someone to be with me especially when I’m busy with work, I think. Since I started to work, I’ve never opened the door and found somebody there. I’ve never lived with anybody. So I’m seriously thinking of sharing rooms with my friend.

-For someone’s warmth?

Yup. In addition, it seems simply fun. I’ve never lived with anybody, so I’d like to try. With one of my friends, or if I had a loved one …

-Would you like to be spoiled by her? (lol)

Yup, I’d love to. (lol) I’m not a type of guy that pretends to be strong. Basically, I’m always my natural self and I think it important to let the stress out. So I sometimes depend on one who I can let my guard down to and find a way out of the stress by showing weakness in order to adjust myself properly. It is absolutely bad to tolerate anything and everything, right?

-Does it go with your aesthetic of a cool guy?

It may not to some extent, but it is definitely more important to restore a mental balance. If you get sick by pursuing your aesthetic, you’ll lose everything. It is uncool, I think.

-But you consider aesthetic of a cool guy all the same, right?

I’m always aware of it. And basically I don’t waver. Something is added to me, or I sometimes make progress or grow in some degree, but my standard … such as ‘Don’t complain’ and ‘My ideal is a man like Kenshin (in Rurouni Kenshin).

-Listening to you, I feel that you never change at the root.

Isn’t it a matter of whether you need to change or not? I’m not trying not to waver as a human but I’ve just believed what I have always had in mind. I don’t think I’m wrong, so I have no mind to change.