“I just love <people>. My decision to write a book stemmed from my curiosity of wanting to learn about people, and learn more about myself through people. I am extremely happy that my work has taken shape in this way. Another thing, as the newborn NEWS, we will have a new beginning. Changing my name was my way of starting fresh again, and at the same time I hope it’ll be a plus for NEWS. I have confronted this project with everything I have and I hope that as many people as possible will read this book.” (translation)
I’m slow again, but it wasn’t until this morning that I noticed that Shige had changed the Japanese spelling of his name. His name ‘Shigeaki’ has been changed from the kanji ‘成亮’ to the katakana ‘シゲアキ’.
Shige’s message to fans, dated January 20, is as below:
「本を書いたことで、作家でなくては出られないような取材を受ける機会が度々ありまし
文芸誌の取材では、目次に載っている連載陣の方々のお名前を眺めているだけで、緊張す
パッと出たひと言から思わぬ話に繋がっていったり、他の作家さんの話が聞けたりして、非
あと、写真を撮るときに「笑って」ってあんまり言われないんですよね。ナチュラルな自
小説も別物です。僕の中のアイドル的な部分を排除して書いているつもりなので、作品内
“Having written a book, it has given me the chance to go to interviews that only a writer would experience.
“I get nervous during interviews, like a jolt of electricity runs down my back, just by reading the names of all the writers in the contents of literature magazines. I’ve enjoyed it a lot, like when one word that pops out of my mouth leads to a surprising story, and I’ve been able to hear stories about other writers. My brain’s been working as hard as it can, and it’s required a lot of concentration so I make sure I get a good sleep to charge up my batteries when I get home. But each and every interview is really fun.
“Another thing is that when I get my photo taken, the cameraman doesn’t ask me to smile. It’s like they want to capture my natural self, it’s a new experience. I think it’ll show people a side of me that isn’t so ‘boys band Shigeaki Kato’.
“The novel is something different too. I wrote it with the intention of excluding things inside me that shout ‘boy band’, so I think the book shows a different side of me people usually don’t see.” (translation)
Source: momoedgewood