Masahiro Nakai Opens Up, Confessions of Past Anger Revealed in Exclusive Interview – Renowned for Sharp Wit, Reflects on Personal Growth
“Wow, so many people here, huh? Read the room, will ya? Come on, man.”
Despite sounding quite irritated, Nakai was still attentive to his surroundings. Moreover, by using dialect, he managed to ease the tension somewhat. When asked if his girlfriend was also on this trip, he responded sharply,
“I don’t know! Who’s asking that anyway?”
and then walked away. Interestingly, I actually approached Nakai for an interview two years prior. In 2003, when we reported on his cohabitation with the aforementioned girlfriend, Nakai spotted me first while I was conducting interviews from a car. He approached and said, “Who are you? From Friday, right?”
“Ah, come on, don’t play dumb. You’re good, but it’s already obvious. Besides, your reaction just now (referring to the journalist’s bewildered reaction) was so boring. Geez, what’s up with that? I thought I could still keep it under wraps after moving, but it’s already out there… And you’re hiding the camera behind, huh? Show me the back. Can’t show it, huh? (while pulling the knob of the rear seat) I’ll just open it.”
His excitement escalated, saying,
“I feel lonely, you know. I’m just having a man-to-man chat with you. I just want to know when and where the article will come out. I’m not trying to invalidate your job. I get where you’re coming from. But come on, let’s have a man-to-man chat without all this fuss.
It’s not clearing things up in my mind this way, you know. It’s unsettling for you too, right? Alright, I won’t report this to the agency either. You’re from Friday, right? Seriously, stop sneaking around. Alright, be careful on your way back. That’s it.”
He turned on his heel and headed back home after speaking rapidly.
Nakai left Johnny’s office in February 2020, and during his press conference, he warmly welcomed the media, even hyping them up before the conference began. He seems to have softened considerably recently. Still, one can’t help but hope to see more of his witty “Kiregei” (sharp retorts) in the future.
