After the first day of the Nagoya Dome Concert, we interviewed WINNER. They just finished their show. Despite their powerful performance, what we saw were 5 very polite, innocent boys.
Q: Great opening act! First of all, what do you guys think about doing the opening act in Japan?
SeungHoon: I was so nervous at first but I started to enjoy the stages. When I practice in Korea, I always look forward to our show on the weekend. I think we are getting better and better.
SeungYoon: Audiences’ cheering voices are so loud. I’m moved emotionally every time. The more we get support from the audience, the more I want to get into this stage!
Minho: I was so nervous, too, but every time I finish the show, I get more relaxed and start to enjoy it. I love being on stages now.
Taehyun: We sing and speak in this tour so I want to communicate with Japanese fans.
Jinwoo: When we did the opening act in Seibu Dome, I was so nervous and was irritated about myself but we started to gain confidence and are enjoying this show. I want to say thank you to BIGBANG hyungs and our president for letting us attend this tour.
Q: Is there any trouble?
Taehyun: Our leader SeungYoon loses his accessories at each show (laughs)
SeungYoon: I lose them on stage. One ring and 2 earrings. They are expensive… really expensive…
Q: What do you think about standing on a big stage before debut?
Jinwoo: I’m so happy to stand on big stages like this before our official debut. I think this experience will be a precious memory in our lives and I’ m so thankful. This time we stand here as opening act. I’m going to work hard and someday I want to stand on this stage as WINNER.
Q: How is the audiences’ reaction?
Taehyun: K-Pop is most popular in Osaka, and today, Nagoya was so exciting!
Q: Did you guys eat anything delicious?
Minho: Koube beef
Taehyun: Takoyaki and hot pot
Minho: Tonkotsu ramen
Q: You are doing MC in Japanese. Is it difficult?
SeungYoon: Compared to Korean, it is not easy but we are studying hard.
Taehyun: All languages are difficult.
Minho: But very interesting, 「MinHo-❤MinHoo sa-n❤」(imitating Japanese fans with high pitch voice)
SeungHoon: Japanese and Korean grammar are the same. We have similar words, too. It’s interesting to find similarities.
Taehyun: I can only say words that I remember but people try to understand me. I feel like I’m back to being a child. (laughs)
Q: Korean artists always say a Japanese girl’s high-pitched voice is cute.
Minho: “Minho-!” cute (laughs)
Taehyun: “Taehoon-“ (laughs)
Q: Is that different from Korea?
Minho: Oppa! Oppa! Oppa! (calling excitedly). So different.
Q: How much do you guys study Japanese?
SeungHoon: 2 hours a day
Q: How do you guys study?
SeungYoon: Just talking freely with the teachers
SeungHoon: We study culture, too.
Q: Who speaks Japanese well?
SeungHoon: It’s the leader …
SeungYoon: I speak the most
Jinwoo: Everyone’s almost the same( laughs)
Q: What is your favorite Japanese word?
Minho: “Arigatougozaimasu” (thank you very much)
– Your pronunciation is very clear.
Minho: Arigatougozaimasu. (laughs)
SeungHoon: Very good
SeungYoon: I say, ‘Aisareru artiste ni naritai’ (I want to become a loved artist). I like the word ‘be loved’.
Taehyun: “Daisuke” [I love it] (laughs)
Jinwoo: “Kawaii” [cute] (laughs)
Q: What is your duty in the group?
SeungYoon: I’m in charge of sexiness and cuteness is Jinwoo
Jinwoo: (cute pose)
WINNER: (cheering brightly)
Taehyun: I am sexy, cool and cute. So I’m in charge of all (laughs)
Q: What Japanese word did you learn recently?
SeungHoon: “omotenashi” (entertaining). I change this word in Korean and make jokes.
Minho: “moriagattekudasai“ (get excited)
SeungYoon: “rashii”(like) be like WINNER.
Minho: “akemasite omedeto gozaimasu” (Happy New Year)
Taehyun: “wanpaku” (naughty)
Q: Do you really understand them? (laughs)
Taehyun: uhm….. (smiling and moving his hands and feet)
Jinwoo: “kyokan” (sympathy)
Q: I heard that lots of fans attended your first event in Osaka.
SeungYoon: Many fans came to our event, more than I expected! I never imagined that we are loved this much in Japan. I’m so grateful. I’ll never forget that feeling and work harder!
Taehyun: We have fans of different ages in Japan. That was interesting.
SeungHoon: I could only “Arigatogozaimasu” “Daisuki” and “Owari” at the time. I want to study Japanese more to communicate with fans.
Q: What is your first impression of the Japanese fans?
Jinwoo: active
Taehyun: have good manners
SeungYoon: polite and very kind.
SeungHoon: cute voice
Q: Is there any advice from BIGBANG?
SeungYoon: Seungri hyung said, “This concert starts with WINNER so make it interesting and make fans excited.”
Q: How about your mentor TAEYANG?
SeungHoon: “Enjoy the stage”. When I watch his stage I can understand that but it is really difficult.
Q: What is WINNER’s strength?
SeungYoon: Each one of us has different colors and talents. So when we are together, we have a synergy and charm that we want to show to people.
SeungHoon: We have different voices so we can try various types of music. We haven’t debuted yet so we have lots of possibilities.
Minho: We are earnest when we are performing, opposite from our playful and cheerful selves off-stage.
Taehyun: Our group is tall. (laughs)
Q: Who is the tallest?
SeungHoon: Me. I am 182cm tall.
Taehyun: Everyone is tall so we can use the stage effectively and it makes our performances look better.
Jinwoo: I am the oldest and Taehyun is the youngest but we get along together despite our ages. I think, that is our charm, too.
SeungHoon: Jinwoo hyung is the oldest but he is cute. Taehyun is the youngest but he’s trustworthy. Minho is in charge of rap but he has a cute side. Our age gaps make it fun for us.
Q: Do you have anything you want to do in Japan?
SeungHoon: I want to do a stage show as WINNER. Start from small stages and someday I want to have a dome tour.
SeungYoon: I want to be on variety programs and talk shows.
Q: Something like?
Jinwoo: SMAP×SMAP (Japanese tv program)
Taehyun: I like Japanese dramas and movies so I want to try acting!
Jinwoo: I want to meet Takuya Kimura (‘maybe… must be’ line.)
SeungHoon: I want to appear in dramas like Seungri hyung
Q: How about in private?
Minho: Fuji Q High Land!
SeungYoon: I want to get on a scary ride! And a haunted house!
Taehyun: I want to try Takabisha (Fuji Q High Land)
SeungHoon: I want to go to Nagasaki. I’m interested in cultural stuff so I want to go to a store that opens only in the morning and closes when they sell everything for that day. I really love food.
SeungYoon: I want to visit the places that I saw on Japanese TV dramas
Taehyun: There is an animation (‘5 centimeters per second’). In that animation, a boy gets on a train to see a girl. I want to go to that station (Noguchi Station).
Jinwoo: I want to see the fireworks.
Q: Do you know any Japanese artists?
Taehyun: I like X Japan
SeungHoon: My older sister loves J-pop so I listen SMAP and Arashi
Minho: I love hip hop so I listen to Teriyaki Boyz
Taehyun: Mika Nakashima
Q: What kind of songs you guys want to make?
SeungHoon: I think we have to be different from BIGBANG hyungs but YG music is that style. So I want to match our production thought and our music
SeungYoon: When people listen to our music, I want to make them WINNERs.
Minho: I have similar opinions as Seungyoon but since we are still rookies, we still don’t have a particular color. Therefore I want to make various genres of music and see listeners’ reactions. We can make our own color from that. Please look forward to it!
Taehyun: I want everyone to love our music, songs that will be loved by everyone. We are going to work harder for debut.
Q: So what do you want do next?
SeungHoon: Debut!!!!
SeungYoon: I want to be a world class artist with WINNER. My goal is to be an artist who has a synergy effect.
Minho: This time we only do the opening act but I want to be able to finish this kind of show with only us.
Taehyun: I want to be a group who enjoys music and even when we separate I want people to remember WINNER.
Jinwoo: Our group name is WINNER so I want that name to be memorable.
Q: Message to Japanese fans?
SeungHoon: Like BIGBANG hyungs, we are going to study Japanese more and want to make original songs in Japanese. We are going to try lots of things so please support us.
SeungYoon: I want to debut with good music and do many performances in Japan. I want to be able to speak Japanese that I would be mistaken as a Japanese artist so please watch me.
Minho: Every time I visit Japan, a lot of people expect and love us more than we thought. After we debut, I want to repay them and make them happy with our music and stages. Thank you for being patient with me.
Taehyun: Not only with songs and performances, we want to show our charms too! Please look forward to it.
Jinwoo: We want to release a lot of albums and show you our improvement. Please be with us!
Scans by: AeuyTLiN
Translations by Juju @WINNER_UAN
WLSY 