Ah, A Rare Look into Arashi Life!?
The members of Arashi made their CD debut in November 1999,
but what was life like before their debut?
Enjoy this rare and treasured photo tour of Arashi’s life!!

AIBA MASAKI – A naturally athletic boy who works hard!!!

Even if you have a disadvantageous birthday, you’ll grow up healthily with double the love.

Christmas Eve, 17 years ago. On December 24th, 1982, the long-awaited first son was born into the Aiba family. Being born on xmas eve is so romantic ♡ I’m so envious!"Not at all! I mean, my birthday and Christmas are always the same, so I only get presents and cake one time. I'm always missing out." But maybe it’s a convenient birthday that everyone can remember right away!?

His parents were working and busy, so from a young age Aiba often spent time at his grandparents’ house, who lived nearby. Naturally, he was extremely close to his grandparents. "My favorite toys, including blocks and cars, were all at my grandma's house." With his trademark buzz cut and a Giant’s hat (although he wasn’t a Giant’s fan…), Aiba says his grandfather "Usually took me to high school baseball games and health spas." Is it because of his grandfather that Aiba loves baths!?

Aiba, who grew up close to his grandmother, had a funny incident when he was four years old. "When my little brother was born, I went to see him at the hospital. All the adults around me were saying, 'Wow! He's so cute,' so I got excited and looked into the crib too… But he wasn't cute at all! His face was all wrinkled." A few days later, he was shown a photo of himself as a baby and was shocked…"I was all wrinkled, like a monkey (laughs)." Aiba and his brother, who looks just like him, are still close and even now, "we play basketball together on our days off." ♪

From the age of five until he was in third grade, he went to swimming school. After that, he joined a local baseball team. During the summer holidays of his fifth and sixth years, he also participated in a three-night, four-day training camp. "We practiced from noon until the sun went down, but in the morning we swam in the nearby sea. We held sumo tournaments on the beach and it was super exciting. The coach would buy juice for the winners. It was so fun."

Apparently Aiba never got to taste the victory juice. “As for baseball, I actually won the regional tournament," In 5th and 6th grade, in parallel with baseball, he also joined the basketball team. He was a sports-loving boy with no interest in girls. When he wasn’t playing baseball or basketball, he was mainly into gachapon machines. "I was particularly into the Gundam series, and I spent almost all my pocket money on them. I was desperate to collect all the varieties while exchanging them with my friends." A young Aiba who couldn’t stop once he got into something. He also had large collections of games that came with sweets, like Menko and Beigoma (refined taste!). These have been carefully stored in cardboard boxes.

▲ At his grandparents’ house. "I'm only 2 years old, but I'm driving!"

▲ At Mother’s Farm. "I've loved cars ever since I was a kid. I want to get my license soon."

▲ Family picnic. "I haven't been on any family trips lately."

▲ Wearing a Hakama for Children’s Day. The peace sign is adorable ♪

▲ "Somehow, doesn't this face looks like Junior Gocho (Yuta)?" *Hehe*

▲ At the pool.　"When I was little, I loved being in the water and swam as hard as I could."

A boy with a strong inclination for sports who always worked on improving his body

After entering junior high, he thought long and hard about which club to join, and finally decided on the basketball club. The reason was, "I wanted to play ball games freely (!?). But the members of the baseball club and soccer club were too enthusiastic, so I was scared!?" But! "It turned out the basketball club was also extremely strict~ The teacher would often scold me for skipping practice. The punishment was to run 10 laps around the schoolyard. I was like, 'Seriously?' and ran every day. But somehow, it was still really fun."

"Middle school was really fun. During recess, we would eat lunch on the roof, play guitar in the music room, read manga in the library, and we had lots of places to hang out."

Then, in the summer of his second year of junior high, he joined Johnny’s because "I admired SMAP." He then immediately went to Hawaii to do a shoot for MYOJO. "I was surprised! It had only been about a month, and suddenly I was in Hawaii. Before I knew it, I was pumping my fist in front of the camera (laughs)." When he first joined the juniors, Aiba was often sickly and caught colds, but now he is healthy. "I've developed a sense of responsibility, and my physical condition has improved. Little by little I've become a strong man who doesn't get discouraged! Or so I thought…!?!?"

▲ His debut performance was “Stand by Me.” "My middle school teachers and friends came to see me."

▲ The daily routine at the time was
going to the candy store with my grandma.

▲ His first appearance in MYOJO was in the December 1996 issue, in a memorable Hawaiian setting.

MATSUMOTO JUN – His tendency to get carried away easily is still alive and well in his work!

A wild child’s first love who left like a storm!?

August 30, 1983, weighing more than 3,000 grams, an extremely healthy baby is born to the Matsumoto family. "I was really fat when I was a kid. My face was really round." As a round child, he lived in a city surrounded by buildings, with no parks nearby, so he spent his days playing games at home. But when he started elementary school, he suddenly transformed into an outdoorsy person. "Yeah, I was really naughty. Every day, I played soccer, basketball, and dodgeball in the schoolyard. I don't remember ever feeling tired back then." Matsujun, who has discovered his love for the outdoors, wasn’t satisfied with just the schoolyard and would play in all sorts of places. "When we played tag or robbery, we would decide on a range in the city, like from XX Street to XX Street, and we would even sneak into people's apartments or buildings to play." Of course, he was constantly getting injured. "I never paid much attention to things like sprained fingers or scrapes, thinking 'it will heal if I leave it alone.'" A wild child of the city!?!

Even the mischievous Matsujun has fond memories of love. "Actually, when I was in the fifth grade, I confessed to a girl in the same class. When we were talking alone, the conversation turned to that kind of thing…" and somehow the atmosphere between them became good ♡ However, the end of that love came suddenly one day. "I saw her talking to another guy, so I got angry for no reason and we stopped talking to each other. Then things got awkward between us, and that was the end." It was about three days from the “confession” to the “end.” Those rosy days passing in an instant. Chan-chan ♪

▲ "Around that time, I was always arguing with my older sister." Now, she even gives him love advice.

▲ Trying on the apron he made in 6th grade. It turned out pretty good.

▲ Plump and plump, even with a double chin MatsuJun is cute ♡

▲ This is a rare photo of the prince posing perfectly on a white horse.

▲ Junior high school graduation ceremony. With close friends and teachers.

▲ From the January 1997 issue of MYOJO. "I remember this"

The desire to be trained is strong!!!

Matsujun’s destiny changed when he watched a TV program recommended by his older sister, who is two years older than him, saying, “That’s neat.” "I saw KinKi Kids and V6 dancing on 'Idol on Stage,' and I was so impressed, I thought, 'That's cool!' I recorded 'MADE IN JAPAN' on video and worked hard to memorize the choreography. Looking back, it was a really sloppy dance (laughs)."

In May, 1996, he passed the audition. He took his first dance lesson. "I danced desperately without understanding what was going on. When I was practicing a turn, the choreography teacher praised me, even though it was my first time. I was so happy that when I got home, I just kept practicing my turns." His first concert, his first appearance in MYOJO, his first experience in a drama. "After I joined the juniors, I had so much fun every day." Once again, his days were filled with roses.

"I was able to go on the final school trip, but I wasn't able to participate in many school events." However, even now that he’s super busy, he and his middle school friends still call each other to let each other know when something’s happening. "Even a few days after our debut, we were always talking nonsense, like, 'I bought the CD. I wonder if I should go to the Arashi big gathering too?' and 'You idiot! Tokyo's over. If you can, come to Osaka.' (laughs)

As he gained experience, the amount of learning he had increased dramatically, despite the fun. "I think I grew a lot by doing 'Stand by Me.' The director really pushed me. If I hadn't done stage work, I wouldn't have known how to act in 'Bokura no Yuuki.' I'm grateful to the director!" In “Bokura no Yuuki”, Matsujun said that although it wasn’t perfect, he was gradually able to perform acting that he was satisfied with. "The only thing I wasn't satisfied with was the cold. We were doing all the filming on location, and on top of that we used helicopters, so there were strong winds on set! I thought I would die from the cold."

He’s in Arashi, but to think that his weakness is the wind… boo-hoo.

▲ Age 3.

▲ 7 months old.

▲ Biting into a strawberry from his sister’s birthday cake. He still loves fruit.

NINOMIYA KAZUNARI – His encounter with acting gave him a positive outlook on life!!!

A cool kindergartner already a contrarian at age 2!

"I don't remember it at all, but apparently I cried a lot." It can’t be helped if you don’t have memories of being a baby. No one remembers that sort of thing. Ninomiya, who was born on June 17th, 1983, has memories that start from nursery school. "I went to nursery school from the age of two, but I hated going to nursery school. I hated taking naps. When the teacher would tell me to go to bed early, I'd just feel like I didn't want to sleep. That personality hasn't changed to this day.” Along with being a contrarian he also got injured often. "When I was going to nursery school, I was helping my mother throw out the trash at home. I cut my knee on a piece of a beer bottle that had fallen. I still have the scar." After that he constantly sprained both his wrists, both his ankles and his neck, more than 10 times. "I also sprained my ankle recently at the Johnny's Baseball Tournament." What a shame….But his contrarian personality and repeated injuries helped him grow into a strong man!?

He hated introducing himself and standing out

When Ninomiya entered elementary school, he hated introducing himself."Everyone thought my name was 'Ninomiya Kazuya'." He got the nickname “Nino” from his surname. "That's right, around my first year of elementary school people suddenly started just calling me 'Nino'." During elementary school Nino tended to get bullied, getting poked with a broom during recess and being forced to be the class representative when no one else wanted to do it…He was chosen to be a relay runner for sports day, but ended up running with a faster runner. In little league baseball, which he started in the fourth grade, he remembers,"In my first game, I was playing center field and got hit by a ball my first time at bat. And then I got hit by a ball my second time at bat, too. I was like, what on earth?" With a series of bad luck (!?), he grew up as a boy who hated to stand out.

Ninomiya continued playing little league baseball and joined the baseball club in junior high. His favorite professional baseball player was Hara of the Giants, and he had vaguely thought it would be nice to become a professional baseball player. The reason Ninomiya joined Johnny’s as a junior was because his cousin applied. "It was right after I entered junior high school, and I didn't really want to go to the audition. But my parents said they would give me 5,000 yen if I auditioned," he said reluctantly (!?). He auditioned and passed with flying colors. "At that time, I was still more interested in baseball. But somehow I started taking lessons…" From then on, Ninomiya’s memories of junior high are mostly of Johnny’s. "I was happy when I learned how to do a backflip, but I wasn't particularly interested in the job," After taking lessons for about 2 years, he had a turning point. That was when he starred in the drama “Amagi goe“.

▲ Ninomiya is still 0 years old. “Probably 2nd from the right” Looking good…

▲ “My grandpa thought I was a girl” That seems right.

▲ Here’s the double peace sign~ You can clearly see the resemblance to his current self.

▲ His first appearance in MYOJO, with Aiba and Matsujun.

▲ Photos of Ninomiya making the peace sign keep appearing. Many other photos have also been spotted.

▲ Ninomiya has a happy smile in front of the cake. He doesn’t look like a crybaby at all.

Discovering acting boosted his motivation and spirits!!

"I don't really know, but I thought working on a drama would be interesting. When doing Junior variety stuff, I was always relying on people like Takizawa-kun. I thought, 'Well, it'll be fine even if I don't try hard,' and became dependent on them. But in a drama, I have to play my role all by myself. I have to give 100% of my own effort. When I thought about it like that, I stopped worrying about standing out. Encountering acting at age 16 turned out to be a major thing.'' And recently, if anything, he’s started to want to stand out. ``When I was in 'Akimahende!' it was even more fun. The filming studio was far from my house, which was difficult, but it made me passionate about myself.''

The boy who had always been a contrarian became more agreeable and began to exert an amazing power. Ninomiya, who had been rather lethargic, became interested in a variety of things. After entering high school he started playing guitar. "I'm self-taught, so I still have a long way to go." Furthermore, he hardly studied during junior high so now he wants to study harder. "I kind of want to study something useful. To start, I want to be able to speak English, so I can pass the English proficiency exam." Ninomiya is greedy right now. He may look cool, but he has a hot (passionate) heart.

▲ Easily just as cute as the girls. Were you feeling shy?

▲ The pose he showed off in the drama “Amagi Goe which changed his life. How nostalgic~

▲ An expression that you’ll never see again. Making an impact. (Translator Note: He still makes this face all the time)

OHNO SATOSHI – A careless boy bursts with a sense of responsibility in Kyoto!!!

What he remembers well is his first love and his older sister’s nosebleed!?

Ohno Satoshi was born on November 26th, 1980 in a city on the outskirts of Tokyo. He says he "moved a few times within the neighborhood," but never changed schools. He still lives in the same place. Ohno digs up his memories and talks about his childhood. Let’s start with his kindergarten days! "Hmm… I don't remember…" he says, gulping. "But I always fought with my older sister. Once I was fighting over a toy and I kicked her in the face, she got a nosebleed." It seems he was a mischievous child, far more so than you would imagine from the gentle Ohno of today.

When he entered elementary school, he made a friend immediately during the entrance ceremony. "There was a kid standing in front of me who suddenly turned around and said 'You're Ohno-kun, right? Starting today we're friends,' I happily responded 'Yep!!'. We're still friends to this day." He started his school life with full sails. "I really hated studying. Art class and lunch break were the only fun times at school." His philosophy in life was to take it easy so even when he got recommended to take the annoying role of class representative he would say "Absolutely not." By the way, regarding Ohno’s first love… "A cute girl with big eyes was in the same class as me in the fifth grade." It was only when they were in the same class that he noticed her and it was love at first sight."We were pretty close. I used to joke around giving her piggy back rides and that's a really happy memory for me. But in the 3rd term of 5th grade she changed schools. It was rough~" This innocent fairytale-like love story ended in just one year. What a shame~!

▲ No memory at all. "Oh no, I really can't remember anything.” Probably at home.

▲ "I am probably imitating 'Dynaman" The skirt is his older sister’s.

▲ "I didn't want to be unable to swim," and so in 5th grade, Ohno took up swimming lessons of his own accord.

▲ No memory of this either. "I don't think I was doing Karaoke at this age…" Ohno is on the left.

▲ With his friend Satoru at his elementary school graduation ceremony. "Everyone else was wearing plain suits, but we were the only ones wearing bright colors."

▲ "My sister is on the far left and I'm third from the left," With the neighborhood kids.

What was the biggest turning point in your life while living in Kyoto?

After entering junior high school, Ohno worked hard in the badminton club. However, his life motto was “to take it easy.” "I participated in practice on days when I could hit the shuttlecock inside the gym, but on days when we had to work on our physical strength outside, I always skipped.” Because of this, he was forced to quit the club twice, but he also won the local tournament. "Even though I played so halfheartedly, I won often." Even he himself was surprised considering how much he hated practicing.

However, after graduating from junior high school, Ohno began to feel a strong sense of responsibility. His mother applied for him in his second year of junior high and he began his Johnny’s Junior activities."My mom used to watch Michael Jackson videos, so I would imitate the moonwalk, but I wasn't that interested," he recalls. However, after appearing in “KYO TO KYO,” he says everything about him changed: his singing, dancing, and personality."We had five performances a day, and I danced like crazy every time. I checked my performance on video each time and corrected any mistakes, and my singing and dancing improved rapidly." Furthermore, when junior Hara-kun wasn’t present, he was tasked with leading the group, coordinating the entire performance."When I was first told I was going to be the group leader, I honestly didn't want to, and the pressure was immense. But I just kept thinking, 'I have to do it,'" A sense of responsibility gradually grew, and while before Hara-kun had woken me up every morning, now I could get up on my own. In the end, I wasn't late even once. I 've been taking it easy and doing things casually up until now, but I realized that I can do it if I put in the effort."

Recently, Ohno has become friends with the kids in his neighborhood."When I came back from Kyoto, some kids from the neighborhood came to visit. At first they weren't very fond of me, but then they started calling me 'big brother' and now I go over to visit them myself. I'm starting to think that I'd like to have kids." It may be a little premature to say this, but Ohno is rapidly growing into a reliable man.

▲ First appearing in MYOJO in the May 1995 issue. At that time his special skill was sleeping. His current skill is….also sleeping!!

▲ "I did everything I could at the time," Satisfied with the Kyoto performance.

▲ "Apparently I was a restless kid." The shape of his eyebrows has not changed to this day.

SAKURAI SHO – Went with the flow and overcame his naughty era

His dream is to become a TV hero! Heading straight for the mischievous path

On January 25th, 1982, the Sakurai family’s eldest son was born. His mother, who liked the name of the writer Shibata Sho, actively encouraged him to be named “Sho.” "It sounds good, and it means 'flying in the sky,' so I like it too. I'm a little proud that it was designated as a legal kanji that can be used in names the year I was born (laughs)." Since his elementary school days up until now his friends call him by the nickname “Sakusho”. Apparently "it originated before" SMAP's Kimura's "Kimutaku", isn’t that amazing!?

In his childhood, he was a naughty boy. "On rainy days the garden at my kindergarten would become super muddy. I remember furiously playing in it as if I was about to drown in a swamp." He was also fascinated by TV superheroes. When he saw “Changeman,” he decided that he wanted to become Changeman’s Pegasus in the future. "Before that, I was also drawn to Space Sheriff Shaider. There's still a tape recording of me from when I was little begging my dad to play the Space Sheriff Shaider song on the piano. He couldn't play it (laughs). But it was heartwarming."

His first love was Ran-chan, who attended the same kindergarten. He even fell in love with his teachers. A little bit too passionate? "No, it wasn't true love, I just thought they were cute ♡" He also confesses that he got a nosebleed seeing Suzuki-sensei’s panties when she was taking a book off the shelf."I was just a kid, after all. I couldn't even understand the difficult parts in "Elmer and the Dragon" they read to us before afternoon nap time."Despite being the intellectual idol we know now, he was mischievous at the time. He didn’t know anything about “factorization” or “Building a Better Shogunate” (isn’t that obvious?)

For all 6 years of elementary school he had the same class and homeroom teacher. "We had been doing silly things together, laughing together, and watching each other for so long, so our bond is still incredibly strong. It's fine to change classes and expand your circle of friends, but I'm glad I got to be with the same people." Starting in fifth grade, he joined the rugby club. He also devoted himself to extracurricular activities that enriched his emotional side, such as the electric organ (later piano), calligraphy, and painting. His treasured possession was a piece of rock of unknown name that he won in a class rock-paper-scissors tournament during science class and was given to him by his teacher. "I put it away in a desk drawer for a while, but now it might be sleeping in the dream island (garbage mountain) !?!?!" When he was in the fifth grade, his class decided to put on a play, and "I don't know what I got into, but I made my acting debut as Dandelion, wearing a bright yellow costume and singing the Dandelion song with all my heart. How embarrassing!" No matter the topic, a clear picture of the bright young Sakurai comes to mind. "You know, I was a pretty mean guy."Huh!!

▲ Around 1 year old. "The time when I was letting out my frustrations by crying loudly!?"

▲ Happy at Disneyland. He still loves Donald Duck.

▲ At the age of 8, he went on a family trip to Mie Prefecture during Golden Week. He was excited about his hunter training (!?) and go-karting.

▲ "Well, it's a shot of me in bed (laughs)" His innocence is dizzying~

▲ First year of junior high. "I felt like Kimura-kun from the JRA commercial," At Hagatake, where he went with his family.

▲ Celebrating his 7th birthday at home. "My face is starting to look like mine now." Yes, there’s that smart-looking face~.

He planned to move to Hungary but sadly had to give up!?

"The truth is, I have a long history of being a mean guy. I was small, so I didn't like being called a 'short guy' or anything like that, so I would act all cocky and nasty."He also had a big fight with a friend over throwing a crayon at the locker "But like a pebble that flows from upstream to downstream in a river, through various experiences I gradually became a well-rounded person. Starting work after joining Johnny's Juniors l was a particularly big turning point." He was passionate about the soccer club from his first to second year of junior high school. In his second year of junior high school, he fell in love with a girl that sang in a Hungarian choir. "I was a light stalker (laughs) and thought about living in Hungary in the future♡" However, it was Johnny’s that decided Sakurai’s future. "When I was in elementary school, I thought Hikaru Genji were cool, so I did rollerblading… but honestly, I never had any desire to make my debut. During my 2nd year of junior high, I sent my resume to the agency with a really casual attitude. Up until recently I've been approaching it like a fun club activity." Everything changed with Arashi’s debut. "My work hours and genres expanded all at once, and I was confused and depressed every day. I have to talk, act, do my studies...Afterall, in terms of doing it, I'm definitely not going to give up." Oh~!!

▲"Potatoes were my emotional support" A cute 2 year old.

▲ At Kurobe Dam in the autumn when he was six years old. This family trip was memorable because it was his first time on an airplane and it was extremely cold.

▲ First appearing in the Jun 1996 issue of MYOJO saying "I want to be active in dramas in the future"