Tegoshi Yuya, Urgent Press Conference on 23rd June 2020 手越祐也 緊急記者会見

On the 19th of June, one hour after the announcement of Tegoshi Yuya's resignation from Johnny & Associates (JA), he himself announced that he will open this press conference the following week via his newly created Twitter account. His account reached 1 million followers hours before the start of today's press conference. This press conference lasted from 8:02pm to 9:55pm JST (7:02pm to 8:55pm SGT).

In the press conference, he talked for almost 35 minutes on the whole matter from the beginning to the end, then invited his lawyer to sit with him for the Q&A session. He also answered some fans' questions and that lightened up the atmosphere significantly. He spoke very fast, as usual, and in this entry, I will try to translate everything he said, so that you can arrive at your own conclusion about this whole matter.

Thank you for coming despite your busy schedules. At home and in cars, I read all the newspapers and magazine reports and found that there are just too much information that were false so I wanted to quickly say something but there was hardly a chance for me to do so as I was still under JA. So, today, right here, I want to tell everyone directly myself, about the whole matter, my feelings, my gratitude, my future plans and so on. I did not expect so many of you to turn up and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Where should I start from..? Firstly, since 2002, I was accepted into JA and I've been on this ship called NEWS and a lot of things happened. Just before I quit, we were fighting through the days as a 4-man group, which was reduced by more than half from the original 9-man group. And as everyone knows, I'm the type of people who cannot tell lies and I can't say things I never think about and I can't deceive by pretty words. I like the things I like and I protect the things I want to protect. I want to convey from the bottom of my heart my gratitude towards NEWS, NEWS' fans, staff from itteQ and soccer TV programmes. I still really love JA, NEWS, NEWS' fans from the bottom of my heart.

As for troubles within NEWS members, there is absolutely none. There are also no big problems between JA and I. I really thank Johnny-san from the bottom of my heart for changing my life by accepting me into the agency, for me to realise my dreams of being popular, which I have said on TV before. For accepting me since 2002, putting me in NEWS, discussing my resignation, giving me the chance to be happy everyday, I really thank the agency and agency-related people from the bottom of my heart.

To put it simply, as a 32-year-old adult now, since 5 or 6 years ago, somewhere in my heart, rather than quitting the agency, I've started to want to challenge more as a man. However, I love, not only the agency, but also NEWS. Until now, I still love NEWS. I still wear NEWS concert T-shirts at home, that's how much I still love NEWS. Masuda Takahisa, Koyama Keiichiro, Kato Shigeaki are my best comrades, we had fought side-by-side through the days and I still love them very much till this day. Even though them and fans may be hurt by my resignation on the basis of realising my own dreams, I have deep feelings of gratitude and love for them all and also for all the staff and related people who have groomed me all these years.

As everyone knows, this year marks the year we complete the huge project that has 4 parts, NEVERLAND, EPCOTIA, WORLDISTA and STORY. The concert tour for STORY was supposed to start in March. Though we did the promotion for it, it could not start due to the pandemic. I heard about the cancellation of the tour yesterday and I was really sad and shocked. I had planned to resign from the agency once this huge project, that was carefully made by NEWS and the fans, was completed.

I saw many news reports that talks of my resignation could have started after I was being dished the suspension punishment from the agency for going out during the pandemic, but actually, talks of it started in March this year. I told my manager and the higher-ups of the agency. I told them how grateful I am towards the agency and conveyed my love, but as a 32-year-old man, I should not be relying on the agency and should step up to more difficult challenges. JA is an agency that treasure the fans, by setting up fanclubs and stuff but still not quite accessible via the online world, so, I will make a new media, and with the pandemic, the way this world works will change. I thought that the timing has come, that I must make a change.

However, I really love fans, members and the agency, and I honestly really wanted to stay on till I'm 35, 40, 45, 50 just like this. Therefore, initially, I talked to the members about my dreams as an adult, about wanting to leave a mark behind and then go solo, about wanting to use my experience accumulated through these years. In Shizuoka, for a live music TV programme where we sang "U R not alone", I talked to them about it after performing, only 4 of us in the backstage room. I told them that while I love NEWS and the fans very much, I plan to move on to a new path after completing STORY. They understood my dreams, but, passionately, they told me that they want to keep on working with me, I really have nothing but gratitude and love towards them.

But I personally have a lot of dreams and if I don't try to challenge myself now.. I know that after NEWS finishes STORY, there will be a new big project, I don't know yet, but there will be new challenges waiting for us, and I will be troubling them and all the staff by prolonging my stay till too long after STORY finishes. So I strongly felt that I want to quit after we finish STORY tour.

But due to the pandemic, we could not hold the concert tour. At that time, I did not know when we can start the concert tour, did not know when I can go overseas for itteQ shoots, etc, JA hadn't yet discussed with me when my resignation date will be. So at that time, if JA suddenly decided on my resignation date, then I'd suddenly be unemployed if I did not do any preparations and that will affect how I support my family because I still need to feed them.

After being in JA for 18 years since 2002, it is indeed a scary thing to leave JA even though I seem strong most of the time. I entered the agency at 15, entered NEWS at 16, so I really don't know any other jobs except for Johnny's and NEWS. So I have to prepare my mentality and do preparations since March, like meeting my future business partners, people who can help me to realise my dreams, and people who have put out their hands to me, and so on.

The ideal situation was to leave after STORY tour is completed, but under such unpredictable times of the pandemic, I would not know what will happen in this entertainment industry, to JA, to NEWS, to me, so to start from zero would be really tough so I have to make sure I have prepared something in advance, with people who support me.

At that time, Japan was calling for people to stay home, JA too, and I heard about it too, so I told our chief manager beforehand about all the details of my whereabouts like when I go for trainings, futsal, soccer, various lessons, going for meals and with who and so on. I've always been doing that so that my activities will not overlap with work. So in March, even when the tour kept being delayed, I told the chief manager what time to what time I'd be having meals/futsal/training with who and who.

So, the things about breaking stay home rules that Bunshun Online wrote, I already told the chief manager way beforehand. It's true I didn't tell my chief manager about inviting girls and drinking some alcohol but I told the chief manager that it's a meeting for my future plans.

The meeting was with a medical personnel and was about how to volunteer and help more people in the future. So it wasn't a "Tegoshi Cabaret" or anything like that. At first, I thought I'd let it go after reading their reports. However, JA said that I am not suitable to take part in their charity project and I replied that I understand. I did do the recording for the song, but it was not being used anymore, so that made me even more sure that if I didn't do anything to prepare for my future, I'd be in big trouble. As a result, a few days later, I went out again, to meet with some gamers for a meal, as you know I love gaming, but I can't shoot my mouth off as to who they are. We discussed various things like whether I can use game graphics in the future and so on.

Of course, under such pandemic and despite all the stay home calls, I still went out to prepare for my future, I truly did self-reflect on my actions. And I am sorry to all the fans, NEWS and staff, for inviting misunderstandings and worries due to the lack of the chance to explain myself for all my actions of going out of my house.

When I always call the fans "Koneko-chan (Little kittens)" and say "Aishiteru (I love you)", I really love them wholeheartedly, that's why I call them so from the bottom of my heart, and I have nothing but gratitude towards them who have always been supporting such a Tegoshi Yuya who is always doing brand new things. And made me think that I definitely want to make them happy. But I have unfortunately made them sad and may even have made them feel ashamed of being my fan and I am really sorry to them and to the agency.

Then a couple of days after that, I was being told that I would be suspended. When I was thinking about how I can tell the members about my resignation and things like that, JA called to tell me to hire a lawyer. I have no such experience of hiring a lawyer but I urgently hired one. I definitely do not want to have conflicts with JA and NEWS-related staff, so I also thought that it'd be better to have lawyers representing each of us and let them discuss things pertaining to the future. But as a result, telling a 3rd-party anything regarding the discussion contents became prohibited, so I was unable to contact any JA staff and NEWS members.

After much discussion and deciding on a lot of things with the lawyers, it was decided that on 19th of June, my contract with JA will be up and it will end on an amicable note. This is the whole truth until now.

A lot of reports saying that I will quit in January, and etc, are all wrong, so I thought I better clear things up by myself as soon as possible. Therefore I urgently called for this press conference and I am sorry for making all of you suddenly so busy by inviting you here, please forgive me.

As for my future plans, it is not set in stone, I have not fully prepared all the things yet and I haven't decided concretely on doing this or that, so there is a limit to what I can reveal.

Firstly, for all the fans who have been supporting me, I called for this urgent press conference to clear things up and tell the truth personally.

When Johnny-san selected me to join NEWS, telling me that my singing is great and that it's up to me to change people's stereotype of the low quality of Johnny's idols' singing, so for me, I think of myself as one of Johnny's children, and I understand his passion for entertainment, his rejection of compromising on quality, his ambition of making JA number 1 in Japan and spreading it to the world, so I will continue to sing in the future.

I do have plans on what kind of songs I want to sing but if I announce it here now, it will cause panic to rise in the social media. Therefore, I will only announce my new project when I have set everything up properly.

As for itteQ and my soccer TV programmes and other TV programmes, as long as within reasonable forgivable range, they offer to have me on them, I will definitely say yes and do my best. As a talento, or idol, but I'm no longer with JA, can I still call myself as an idol? I don't know. But as a performer, as always, I will give my fans the best performances, performances that save lives and encourage them, satisfy them, this is what I've been doing all along since my Johnny's days and I have no plans to change that.

Among all the labels that the media calls me, I still really love singing and dancing on stage, and I cannot forget all the fans' cheers we received as NEWS in huge spaces like Tokyo Dome, rugby stadiums, Ajinomoto Stadium, etc. Last couple of nights, I was honestly watching NEWS' DVDs. This situation became something like a betrayal, or it has become a betrayal, and during the period where we went from 6- to 4-man, I honestly thought that we would not reduce any further and I am really sorry to the 3 members. After making everyone sad, I know I have to give satisfying performances and show results to everyone such that they will not regret following me after so many things. I know I can do it. I will continue on with confidence and professionalism, so I hope to get your support.

As for my social media, I did watch the morning news programmes, my Twitter account @YuyaTegoshi1054 has garnered about 1 million followers before this press conference today, I think. That is me. I opened it after the announcement from JA was released as I want to set up a place as soon as possible so that I can show fans where I am and show them my feelings. I wasn't prepared at all, even installing the Twitter app in my phone was a first for me, the people who are supporting me taught me how to use it and I tweeted.

A lot of my friends always asked me if so-and-so account in Instagram/TikTok/FB is me, but I have not opened them yet. I have only opened this Twitter account and a YouTube account. I don't really know what FB is. I think Instagram is quite famous nowadays, and I have plans to open an account there. As we have been prohibited to use social media in JA, I have not really used any of them, but I will use these social media to connect with fans. I'm also setting up my fanclub now but the website is still not done yet. When it is done, I will announce it via my Twitter account and my future Instagram account. So, please wait for it.

As for being a YouTuber in one of my visions for the future, it will become one of the places where I can express myself. I love variety shows like itteQ and live streaming, like what I am doing now. So I will show my real self and will be doing challenges on this channel and I have to plan for them.

If I can make people who support Tegoshi Yuya, those who think that I'm so serious about doing these stupid things like on itteQ, laugh, that'd be good. I'm also really grateful to itteQ for male viewers, little children, mums and dads supporters and I want to repay itteQ for all these valuable experiences. Therefore, I want to make contents for such viewers no matter if they are females, males, little children, parents.

As for being a businessman, rather than that, by using my own network and my limited network in the entertainment industry, connecting and exchanging ideas with business people who are leading Japan, listening to their visions for the future, I really think they are wonderful for thinking up such ideas to lead Japan and fight in this world. Though I have been to about 50 countries thankz to itteQ and the soccer programmes, I am made in Japan, so I wholeheartedly love Japanese culture and I want to bring it to the world, and that will be one of the biggest pillars for the contents among my plans in this second life of mine. Like the culture, the food, I wish to spread them worldwide and nationally too.

As for volunteering, being in a huge agency, I hardly got the chance to volunteer wherever I wanted to. 2021 will mark the 10th year after the great Touhoku earthquake and tsunami in 2011 however, it is difficult to spread awareness of it and its current situation without being there personally to report. However, I'm not denying the power of TV and internet, there are still a lot of less fortunate people who need help and there is a need to make people aware of this instead of using the power of TV and internet to report on celebrity scandals and etc.

During my suspension, I approached many volunteer organisations and the fact is, today, 1 out of 5 or 6 children in Japan does not have enough to eat to satisfy their hunger. The restaurant in the volunteer project is also suffering from the loss of sales due to the pandemic but they decided to provide free bento for the less fortunate children and when I saw all these volunteer activities, I thought about how these should be what the media, celebrities like myself, influential people should talk more about. I joined the project with this passionate thought.

From here onwards, on my Twitter, Instagram and YouTube, all these personal media platforms, I'd like to make aware of the amount of people who need help and the help less fortunate people need. I'd like to lead and to get young people's power in helping people, for example, in farming, cleaning the streets, volunteering, etc because I think that the power of youths is amazing. No matter how old I get, how much of a challenge it is to carry on, what kind of challenge I can take on, I'd like to become my own media and spread awareness. This thought is strong in me after I joined the volunteer project during my suspension.

As for going worldwide, I've always wanted to do so since long ago. By using Twitter, Instagram, China's Weibo, I'd like to challenge myself by going towards China, America, etc. In these one or two months, I've been doing Zoom meetings with people in America, and also with people who are still in dire states in LA and New York, etc.

Of course, it is not going to be easy, but you only live once and you don't know when you'll die and so I'd like to live a life where I can die anytime with no regrets and with the knowledge that I've enjoyed my life and am satisfied, and that is my motto. So I want to do as many challenges as I can. Therefore, I'd like to borrow the power from the fans who are supporting me, the media here today, the viewers of this YouTube live and many other people. I will continue on this path to take on big challenges and fulfil my ambitions while borrowing your cheers and your power.

Q&A Session (Part 1) - Tegoshi Yuya & Mr. Takano Takashi

Q1: Why did you break the rules of the agency by going out to drink twice during the pandemic? - Male reporter from VS (?)

A1: Rather than it being a rule created by the agency, it’s more like the general call for stay home by the government which stated that everyone should not go out unless necessary. Just like what I said just now, it was unpredictable to know when I can resume work under such unstable times and unfortunately, I had already told the agency about my plans to quit back in March and there was neither a date confirmed for my resignation nor was it confirmed that we would wait out the valid period of my contract with them. That was why I thought that since I’ve already told them my plan to quit, they might tell me that my final day would be within the same month, or the following month. I was prepared mentally for that. However, if I stayed home as told and did not do anything to secure my future, then if I were to be suddenly told that my final day with them was the same month, my positivity would still not be able to power over my fear of the uncertainty of leaving a company I served since I was 15 years old. So, for the sake of my future, I had to quickly start communicating with people who would help me in the future and I went out of my house.

Couldn’t hear his second question.

Of course I know the agency rules, and I know all of them are doing the charity project, but for the sake of this second life of mine, it still isn’t an easy made-in-one-day decision to leave such a wonderful place which I relied on, therefore there is a need to thoroughly make preparations for my future so that I wouldn’t be seen as going downhill. So in order to achieve my future dreams, among the calls for staying at home, and I’m not blaming the agency in any way nor did they give me permission to go out, I thought that staying at home is not the way to go as I wanted to decide on many things as soon as possible. I must be honest to admit that I panicked.

Q2: Leaving NEWS members behind and making the fans sad due to your resignation, are there any regrets or things you felt you have left behind? - Male reporter, Kusanagi, from TV ASAHI

A2: There’s a lot, honestly. If I had resigned on the basis of hating the members and the company, I may have felt refreshed upon resignation. However, I still love the agency and NEWS, and I really think of the members as my family and comrades, and I DEFinitely wanted to finish STORY tour which we had prepared for until Spring, as I was groomed by the agency and members.

Some of the juniors contacted me via LINE a few days ago telling me that NEWS’ fans made a YouTube video in which fans from all over the world sang our much cherished song, “U R not alone”. To be honest, I cried.

At that time, even though my departure was decided, the fans didn’t know that and they made this video for us. I thought about how much effort they must have put in to make this video in the hopes of seeing us come back as 4 and then how the resignation announcement hit only a few days after that and how that would be a betrayer of their hope, I really felt very sorry.

And forgive me for saying this again and again, I really love the agency, NEWS, members and NEWS’ fans, so it’s regretful, or should I say, frustrating to not be able to finish STORY tour. However, for me personally, there were a lot of psychological conflicts when I decided to walk on this new path in March and after I was mentally prepared for it, I talked to the members about my decision to resign. Therefore, if I were to tell them that I wanted to return or sorry, it’s so scary, then it will be very rude to the members and agency who I talked to frankly about resigning. So if I kept on relying on them, kept having regrets about leaving, then that’s rude to the members, agency and fans. I’d like to not regret anything and move on on this new path. However, I will take on my next challenges while carrying gratitude towards the members and fans in the most precious place of my heart.

Couldn’t hear his second question.

About Johnny-san? Johnny-san, as you all know, is a person who says things like, “YOU, go do it.” So if I were to tell him some frivolous dreams, I think he’d definitely say, “YOU yabai yo (You’re terrible, or something like that).” I have a clear vision for my future, plus the respect I have for the agency and the fact that I can’t lie, and so I’d have told him my dreams properly and asked for his view, and I really don’t know this, but I think he’d say, “YOU, go, go and work hard on your dreams”. Or that’s what I wanted him to say, if he was still alive.

Q3: Just now, you talked about how you hadn’t been in contact with the members after lawyers were being engaged, did you contact them after your resignation was confirmed? - Female reporter, Komari (?) from (?)

A3: We do contact each other in private but it was within the period where I couldn’t reveal anything to a 3rd-party, so the members most probably do not know the details of the whole matter after the lawyers were engaged. I plan to contact and meet them after this press conference ends because for me, I believe in looking people in the eyes and properly convey important stuff like this.

Just like what I mentioned earlier about me going out of my house, important things should not and cannot be discussed over online meetings like using Zoom and should be discussed in person because things cannot be decided easily during online meetings. As such, important things like telling members the whole truth should not be done over LINE or the phone as I think that is rude. It should definitely be done face-to-face.

I planned to contact them after this press conference ends, however, about 2 or 3 days ago, one of the members, Koyama Keiichiro, sent me a long message in LINE. To say his passionate message simply, he thanked me for everything till now and that they will support me and my dreams and told me to continue to be a fan of NEWS’. His message really touched my heart. I still really love NEWS until now and even if I’m now apart from NEWS, I’m still NEWS’ number one fan and the one who knows NEWS’ history the best. If STORY hadn’t been cancelled, I would DEFinitely attend the concert as I want to be in the same atmosphere as everyone. I told him all these. I also told him that when things calmed down, I’d like to tell the other two members, Kato and Masuda, everything personally with my own words, be it over a meal with the 4 of us, or even in a conference room, or over a drink in such a long time or anything else, because it’s what I really want to do. So after this press conference, I’ll look for a suitable timing to contact the two of them.

Couldn’t quite hear her second question.

Of course I watched it. (T/N: I think this was referring to the JFC video.) Also, the live stream the other day, despite being a little embarrassed, I bought a ticket to watch it. I wanted to know what the members will sing for us and then they didn’t sing my part in “U R not alone”, and I looked at their facial expressions thinking about what they might be thinking about at that moment as I really love the members, on this ship called NEWS. I’m sure the agency did advise them during discussions to tell the fans directly. However, when I saw them apologising on my behalf, my heart really hurt. It really hurts to have them apologising without knowing the whole truth from me but only knowing about my dreams, and we didn’t even quarrel or anything, and I’m sure they’re also very frustrated. I feel sorry and grateful to the 3 of them, and also to all the fans who are supporting me, NEWS and the 3 of them, and I wanted to tell them the truth as soon as possible. I don’t know how to say this but the 3 of them are really warm people and, once again, I think that they are my biggest supporters, supporting such a me who is always doing brand new things, until now and into the future, I am grateful for them from the bottom of my heart and I think that if I don’t show any results after choosing this new path, in this second life of mine, then it is very rude to the 3 of them. I will find a suitable timing to meet up with the 3 of them to thank them and apologise to them.

Q4: What was Abe Akie-san’s meeting about? And what was supporting your family about? And how will your income change going forward? - Male reporter, Yamanaka, from Mainichi Housou

A4: Akie-san is someone I know in private. She is very interested in volunteering and activities like that, and she is a very cheerful person. Me being a very positive person as well, we exchanged ideas and opinions and talked about the situation of volunteering. I’ve joined volunteer activities before my suspension and we talked about how we want to do more volunteer work in the future. For that, we regularly meet with young corporations, people who want to spread Japanese culture, people who do charity and volunteer work. I don’t know how much about Akie-san I can talk about, but the reports said that it’s a Sakura-viewing party but it was actually at an Italian restaurant right when the sakura were fully blooming. So we thought, why not take a group picture after we exchanged our ideas on various topics, since the sakura are in full bloom and so pretty. It was a gathering to eat and talk about how after this pandemic, that affects the entire world, ends or when the situation has calmed down, we want to start to do more volunteer work in the future, how to cheer Japan up with different aspects, for example, cleaning and entertainment performances, and stuff like that. It somehow was being labelled as a Sakura-viewing party when we were really seriously talking about our vision for the future.

Then, about my family? Won’t I become unemployed if I were to be told to quit suddenly? As you know, I joined the project that supports single-mothers, and I was raised by my mother, and my father passed away a few years ago, and I was an only child. My salary goes to supporting my mother, my family, my dogs, the rent, living expenses, food expenses, so my activities in the entertainment industry feed my family. If I were to lose my job and become a NEET, not only me, but also my family will have nothing to eat. That is a definite no-no.

If I had not told the agency about my plans to quit in March, I’d have stayed home obediently during the stay home period, and waited until my contract is up. But I told the boss about my plans in March already and I didn’t know when they’d tell me to leave the agency, so I have to prepare for anything sudden like them telling me that it will end within the month and I will become jobless then (T/N: He ate screws here and laughed at his own cute mistake. 🤣). I have never even done part-time jobs before because I entered Johnny’s since I was 15 years old and it was all I knew, so I had to prepare properly to prevent situations like me being unable to provide for my family.

As for my salary, of course I have lost my salary from the agency, but I’ve been discussing various things with people within my network on what I can do and etc, but as the date of resignation came early, I had not finished preparing for everything yet but I have a clear view on what I want to do for my future vision, so I think to a certain extent, I’m going to be okay. As for what I’ll do in the future towards my dreams, nothing is set in stone yet so there is a limit to how much I can reveal but as long as I realise one dream after another, providing for my family will not be a problem.

Q5: You kept talking about resigning and you said that you have talked to the members in March, but did they accept it? Koyama said that he’s sorry couldn’t protect the shape of NEWS, so I am wondering if, within the members, they have understood and accepted your resignation. - Female reporter, Yamazaki, from TV ASAHI

A5: To say it a bit more deeply, I talked to them in March and before that, I told the chief manager, the higher-ups and TV-related staff. Then the current boss, Julie-san, told me to go talk to her. I thought that I could see her reactions and I think she also has a lot of her own thinking, and we could talk, to a certain extent, about what will happen to NEWS from here onwards and what the resignation date will be, etc, then after that, I thought that I could tell the members when we do recording or in a meeting room in the company. However, the agency was in a mess from the pandemic and the talk with the boss could not happen. And then with the non-occurence of the talk and within the period of everybody calling for stay home, my going out were being reported as “Tegoshi broke the rules by going out”, “Tegoshi’s Cabaret”, etc, and directly after these reports, the agency called to tell me to hire a lawyer. Therefore, I became unable to contact the members because of the prohibition of talking to 3rd-parties. If everything was smooth and the talk happened, I would be able to get some feedback from the boss, then I would be able to talk to the members about that more in more depth by the end of March or beginning of April. However, like I said earlier, the talk did not happen, the reports happened, the lawyers were engaged, I couldn’t talk to the members and then suddenly shortly after, the resignation date was decided. The members are definitely, and this is what I’m guessing, only in the know of my resignation date a few days beforehand. Therefore, in this kind of situation, I feel that the members must have thought of my resignation as a sudden thing, that I’m suddenly gone.

So you must have wanted to talk a bit more with the members, right? What is NEWS to you?

Yes. NEWS is a place I go back to, like I said in magazine interviews. I was able to do many other things, like itteQ, soccer programmes, etc, but in the end, these solo activities are done by myself and I wanted to bring all that experience back to NEWS, a place I return to, like a person’s birth house. I had wanted to talk a bit more with the members but the boss wanted to talk to me first, and the members must have thought that it’d be better for me to talk to the boss first, just like what the chief manager and the higher-ups wanted. However, the talk did not happen and as a result, things got dragged on and on, and eventually became the situation that it is right now.

Q6: Due to your resignation, NTV has stated that you will not be appearing in itteQ and Soccer Earth as a regular presenter anymore, how do you feel? - Male reporter, Oono, from Asahi Shinbun

A6: Well, ideally, it’s great if I could remain in Johnny’s, be a regular presenter on shows, while doing international activities. However, I’ve already decided to resign and have a clear view of my future in March and I knew then that I have to be mentally prepared to lose my jobs on itteQ and soccer programmes. itteQ is really a show that changed my life and I told Uchimura-san and Miyagawa Daisuke-san, people who I have always relied on, about my resolve in March during itteQ recordings. As for the soccer programmes, every time we went on location shoots, since long ago, we always talked about what we want to do in the future and our dreams, how we can realise our dreams, what we can do, etc. After the announcement of my resignation was announced, I did talk to the producer of the soccer programmes and he said that I’ve always been talking about my dreams and that he knew that such a day would come and that he would support my dreams in any way he can and that if he and I could work harder, we might be able to work together again someday and told me to work hard. He said such warm words to encourage me.

Interrupting the emcee.. Erm, sorry, but I thought that since you’ve already been on the shows for so many years, many people must have thought that you’d be able to continue appearing on them as usual, however, the situation is that you won’t be able to do so anymore, what do you think about that?

Well, of course, after becoming independent, if I could be offered to appear on them, I’d gladly say yes. Even without any payment, I’d still be glad to appear on them. That’s how much they mean to me, and of course as with NEWS, I don’t do activities for only the sake of money. So of course, since it’s such a fun programme to be on, I’d still want to continue my stint on it. However, NTV and JA has a deeper relationship than NTV and I, and so I have no choice but to follow their directions removing me from the programmes due to my resignation from JA. But I have mentally prepared for this in March when I decided that I would become independent. Of course I am frustrated and sad, because I have been going on overseas shoots with itteQ and being the host for Club World Cup related programmes all this time. However, I will be making my own media and I have the confidence to show things from new angles and perspectives. So I’d like to return my gratitude to the staff of these programmes for all the special and numerous experiences they gave me and I’d like to work hard in such a way that they’d know that I am trying my best.

Q7: You talked about how you will not betray fans in Bunshun Online’s article, what do you mean? And also, do you think that fans will be able to understand and accept this situation after viewing this press conference? - Female reporter, Makoto, from (?)

A7: I see. That’s a difficult one. Never betraying fans.. Well, I’ve always been protected by Koyama, Masuda, Kato, the agency and I’ve always done what I wanted to do and I have caused fans to worry, but when I was in the agency, there were, instead, a lot more things I wanted to do but couldn’t do. For example, in the agency, I’ve always suggested these but they didn’t come true, like, as entertainers, we’ve always wanted to make fans and viewers, people, who are supporting us, happy, so, like, I wanted to have a Halloween party with them, or have a fanmeeting by the beach in the summer, or a grown-up dinner show with them discussing life’s problems, having wine and dine, etc. Going worldwide, too, all these are what I’ve always wanted to do. I have a lot of things, in different genres, I want to do for my future, and if I can realise them one by one, for people who are supporting me, I’d like to them to think that I indeed am someone who does different things and does things differently from other people, someone who can stir up a revolution, someone who is interesting. I have confidence to make them think like that. If I didn’t have such confidence, I wouldn’t be thinking of becoming solo. NEWS is indeed something big and worth fighting for. (T/N: I think.. I couldn’t catch what he said..😭) NEWS’ fans overcame so many things through the years with us and they are really warm and strong. In various interviews, I’ve said before, I’m proud of NEWS’ fans and they will never lose. A lot of the writers for our live concerts and interviews praised NEWS’ fans for being so wonderful, singing and cheering together. I’m really proud of them and I think that our fans are wonderful, even until now. Due to itteQ, not only fans, many families are supporting me too, but most importantly, for my fans who wholeheartedly supports me and lives on for me (T/N: I truly am living on for him.), I want to make them happy and so I’ve been doing preparations and will announce them in the future bit by bit and I’d like to for them to wait a bit more. Of course, I’m preparing to open the fanclub and I have confidence and will show the fans who follow me a new vision, a new world so that they will not regret following me. I wish for them to see the results, though right now, it’s just words, but I will definitely show results so I wish for them to believe in me and follow me. As for fans who like “The Tegoshi in NEWS”, I’d like to say sorry to them for choosing this path.

Of course, every fan will have lots of different emotions, there are fans who say they will follow Tegoshi Yuya even before this press conference started, there are definitely also fans who think that I have betrayed their trust and lots of other emotions and I cannot simply say I understand every single one of them. I thought of saying my feelings from then till now in this press conference and I know that if they haven’t watched how I perform in the future they couldn’t judge for themselves. I’d like for them to believe in me and my passion and that I did not quit the agency in a rash decision.

Q8: Sorry but this is important, did you hire a lawyer or did the agency tell you to hire a lawyer? The lawyers discussed and the date of 19th June produced at the end, was it from you who wants to quit earlier, or was it the agency who wants you to quit earlier? - Male reporter, Yanagi (?), from Kodansha Friday Digital

A8: Yes, the agency told me to engage one. As for the next question, there are certain things I can say and certain things I’m restricted from saying, so it is better to let Mr. Takano reply to this.

Okay, I will explain from here. During the discussion, both sides viewed things differently, and there wasn’t a conclusion for when and how the resignation will be. We talked about how different the views were until both parties could accept the views and end on a good note agreeably. Tegoshi-san talked to the agency himself about resigning in March, however, that was when the pandemic was starting and then many publications invited many misunderstandings and then the agency issued the press release first, one-sidedly, to suspend his activities (T/N: I think this is referring to the 26th May one). Directly after that, they told him to engage a lawyer and discuss. That was when the discussions started. That was the flow of events and it was inconclusive as to when and how the resignation will be. In a rapid way, we cleared up the misunderstandings, got each side to understand each other, discussed the conditions and the discussion was done peacefully. Both sides decided on the date 19th June.

So was it Tegoshi-san who wants to quit earlier? Or did he want to stay till the end of the year or until the completion of the 4-year project?

This pandemic is never-before-seen for us so no one in Japan, or the world, knows when it will end and when the concert tour can start. So by the end of March, my contract would have ended, but it was extended to end by the end of next March. According to the discussions, it started from the agency, I wanted to end our working relationship amicably without being rude. At the beginning of June, the agency said that the date will be at the end of June, and I said, “I understand”. And then a few days before the 19th, the lawyer representing the agency told my lawyer, Mr. Takano, “It’s also okay to set the date as this Friday, 19th June.” As per the discussion, if we had waited till the end of June, there might be a possibility of leakage of information, a lot of misunderstandings would come up, and become published and that would be bad for the agency as well. Therefore, we both agreed on the date of 19th June.

So in the end, did the vice-president, Takizawa-san, talk to you?

I wasn’t able to get the chance to talk to him, or him to me, and I still think of it as a shock. I wished for him to meet me. All those publications that say Takizawa-kun and I are on opposite sides are not true at all. Takizawa-kun was an idol too, when he was in Tackey & Tsubasa, so I think he can understand the talento. From our mutual friends, I got to know that he was worried about me. Even though both sides discussed through our lawyers, Takizawa-kun was worried for me and I have nothing but gratitude towards him. It might not be good for the agency for us to meet in private. So, opposite to what’s being published, I’m really grateful towards Takizawa-kun. To me, he is a cool senpai, and someone who will carry the agency forward. Even though I’m no longer a Johnny’s, if we do have the chance to meet in the future and if I can be of any help to him, I’d like to do it. As for the boss, Julie-san, I was sad and shocked at not being able to meet with her, but she protected me all along, gave me the chance to be in itteQ, Johnny-san and Julie-san made NEWS more visible during music programmes and if I have the chance to, I’d like to properly thank her for grooming me, showing me so many things in the world and let me have so many wonderful experiences, and apologise for giving her troubles.

Q9: According to Bunshun, “Tegoshi Girls” were gathered and it became “Tegoshi Cabaret”. Who exactly were these girls? What exactly was the meeting about if it’s not only a drinking party? - Female reporter, Jouji, from TBS’ Good Luck

A9: These two labels are from Bunshun so I don’t identify with them. Therefore I don’t really know what kind of girls are in “Tegoshi Girls”. People who have seen reports about me throughout the years would have known that I have precious male friends, and I also have precious female friends. I do go out with my male friends, I also go out with my female friends. That’s just my style. I don’t know about “Tegoshi Girls” but during that meeting, the one being labelled as “Tegoshi Cabaret”, the medical personnel, the doctor, suggested that we meet at a large private room in a restaurant to exchange ideas so that we can discuss while maintaining social distance in the four corners of the room due to the pandemic. The doctor said that he will bring a female friend with him. I mean, a guys-only meeting is totally possible too, but it’s Ginza. He asked that since he’s bringing a female friend, will I bring female friends too? I said I understand. So I made sure to invite my female friends who were properly staying at home, asking them if it’s okay to come have a meal with us plus listen to, perhaps, boring meeting contents, because it’d become troublesome if I were to be infected with the virus. I did tell the agency about this meeting and the presence of our female friends. …(T/N: I don’t know what a “sousaku” restaurant is.. was that even what he said? I’m sorry for having bad ears.)… We finished our meeting and dispersed from there. So I read about this being written as “Tegoshi Cabaret” thinking that it was an interesting label.

I know you have explained the flow from March till now and how you really love the agency, NEWS and NEWS’ fans and how you would continue to sing and dance on stage. So why must you quit the agency and NEWS in order to do these? It makes one wonder if the suspension was the reason. Why, for the sake of your dreams, must you quit the agency?

Like I said about my dreams just now, one of it is to have my own media. When I became solo, one of my goals is to use the power of my influence to the widest of its reach. Nowadays, social media is an unavoidable thing to use for spreading information and influences. The agency has its own way of doing things, but in order to reach out wider, I need to go solo, challenge myself and carve my name everywhere. And for example, various musicians, I cannot name them, from a long time ago, have been leading and pulling the Japanese music market forward and they have been inviting us to appear in their fests or live concerts as Tegoshi Yuya, or Tegomass. NEWS is our home base, so these fests and live concerts would be considered “away” performances. To be seen performing at these places would bring it back to NEWS, and I thought how great it’d be to perform a lot of these sessions outside so that I could bring the experiences back to NEWS, however, when I told my then-manager in the agency about all these offers, they were all rejected. Even though the offers were from super famous musicians. It’s because the agency treasures its own fans, own JFC members, so we hardly get to collaborate with others, except for the radio collaboration with ToshI from X JAPAN, and also what I said just now, the fan dinner shows or fanmeetings I had in mind, were all rejected. In the recent 4 to 5 years, a lot of my solo work came from my private connections with people I’m friendly with and then I connected them with my manager and told them I would like to do this job as NEWS’ Tegoshi Yuya. As JA is the number 1 agency in Japan, they might have thought about all the details and pros and cons of doing certain things, however, I place emphasis on the speed of work, like if I want to do it, I’ll do it. So for a project to come to fruition and be shown to the fans, it usually takes a long time, like 10 months to a year. For JA and TV stations, maybe a year is a year, however, for an idol who is already in his thirties, a year is really precious, I want to treasure every minute every second. So one of the biggest reasons is that I’ve come to realise my ideal speed of doing things. Also, going worldwide and have a wider freedom in the kind of music I want to produce. Like, for example, I want to make an album full of my own compositions and lyrics, JA will hardly give the go ahead and even if they say it’s okay, it’d take a long time to make. So I have a lot of ideas, I want to do this, I want to do that, but if I’m in JA, things will be slow, or ideas will hardly be approved. Even if I was satisfied and continued on in this situation for another 5 or 10 years, I’d still be happy but we, as human beings, will die one day, I want to die with no regrets regarding my dreams and not be thinking about all the “How great would it be if I did that that time”, etc. I live every day thinking that I can die today or tomorrow with no regrets. I want to put into action what I think about. So to continue what I said just now, if I could realise my dreams while being in NEWS, I would definitely not quit NEWS nor the agency. So this is one of the biggest reasons that made me make up my mind. (T/N: Honestly not sure about this sentence even after listening to it for over ten times.)

Q10: Right now, there are over a million viewers watching this press conference on YouTube live, but there are unavoidably some fans being negative about this, so what kind of words will you use to make them become “super positive”? - Female reporter, Miyachi, from TBS’ Sunday Japon

A10: I’ve been in your care, thank you very much. … HONTOSSUKA?! *Looks at the Surface* EH?! If I were a fan of a band or idol unit for about 15 or 20 years, then one of them left or they disbanded, I’d not be able to easily accept the reality, I’d be really shocked, like, “Huh?!” So I can’t frivolously say things like, “It’d be fine! Just follow me!” Like I said just now, NEWS’ fans are all super and they wholeheartedly wish for NEWS’ success and support NEWS and I know that from the bottom of my heart too because I’ve been in NEWS for 16, 17 years. I painfully understand how unacceptable it is for them that I have resigned at this timing from the agency. To fans of the 3 members who apologised officially on my behalf, I can’t easily tell them that it’s going to be okay and follow my activities, but I told the members and the agency about my dreams seriously, so going forward, I’d like to become closer to the fans, it’s bad to use “closer” in this pandemic, isn’t it, shorten our distance, perform and be active. In order to not betray the expectation of fans, those who have been supporting NEWS and Teogshi Yuya, and for them to think that following Tegoshi Yuya was really a good thing despite the many things that happened, I’ve been doing preparations for my activities on the stake of my second life. Though the preparation period was short, many of it are completed on a certain level, and though it’s easy to just say these words and I can only say these words for now, I’d like fans to believe in me and follow me because I have confidence I can show everyone a wonderful scenery. And I know, I can’t say things frivolously, but my heart has not been apart from NEWS, like I told Koyama-san, I still love NEWS until now, and even though I’ve decided in March that I want to resign, going through the discussions via lawyers, reaching a resignation date, in the end, I was still watching NEWS’ DVDs, singing the songs in the bathroom thinking about how great they are, about how I want to do the STORY live concert, even until now, I think that way from the bottom of my heart. I can say nothing else besides the strong desire for my fans to follow me. For me, I hope that someday in some place, together with NEWS again, the 4 of us, in some kind of way, no matter what way, we can show STORY to everyone, and I know this is my selfish wish and imagination and it’s crazy, but how great would that be if it were to come true.

Fans Q&A Session

Talking to himself: Where are the questions? Is it this? Eh~? Can I just choose the first one?

F01: Are you still wearing the underwear that Koyama bought for you?

A-F01: Yes, I’m wearing it and also, I was wearing it last night, and today’s T-shirt before I left house was NEWS’ NEVERLAND tour T-shirt. Is it okay if I continue to answer like this?

Talking to himself: Hmmmm.. A lot of what I said was written here.. How do I do this.. Yes.. The comments in YouTube are too fast, I can’t see them. Ehhhh, which should I choose..

F02: What should I do to join the Tegoshi Girls?

A-F02: LOL, waitaminute, I don’t think of my female friends as “Tegoshi Girls” so I don’t know, but if we have some affinity somewhere, then yoroshiku onegaishimasu. Sorry, all the reporters, to make you all accompany me to do this.

F03: Will you be doing solo live concerts?

A-F03: Yes, I have plans to do solo live concerts. I think that I should and have to continue to sing especially since I was selected by Johnny-san to join NEWS to sing. I already have an idea of what kind of music I want to make, I will announce them in my Instagram, Twitter and fanclub in the near future. Once I can record them and put them on iTunes, etc, I will open my solo concerts. So I will continue to stand on the stage to sing and perform in front of fans.

F04: (T/N: What’s the first question?) I wish for you to make songs for your juniors who look up to you and love your songs.

A-F04: Yes, this was before I resigned, I had talked with Takizawa-kun before, about producing the juniors and guiding them in singing. He said that since I want to do it, he would like me to do it. I am guiding a few of them in singing. Of course, if JA gives the order for me to stop that, I’ll have to stop, but if they don’t say anything, then for the juniors who are doing vocal training under me, I’d like to continue sharing my experience and stuff about singing with them hoping that they will be of help to them, and if they want me to write songs for them, I’d like to help them and give back to the agency, just like before my resignation, and this thinking will not change even after resigning.

F05: Is Emma doing fine?

A-F05: Emma is watching this right now too, I think. Emma is my pet dog.

Talking to himself: The comments are flowing so fast.. Please wait for a bit.. Ah the speed.. What’s there.. I’ll totally answer critical criticisms too.. I’m at Twitter now but thankz to everyone who are tweeting, the screen is showing me the spinning thing. Yeah, I’m really grateful.

F06: What’s the kind of relationship you have with Hikaru-san? (T/N: Hikaru is a YouTuber.)

A-F06: Oh, the YouTuber, Hikaru-kun.. We met around 2 or 3 times, I think. We did not talk about YouTube at all. He’s also the kind of person to have a clear vision for his future, though he is younger than me. We didn’t talk about collaborating for YouTube, and there are reports saying that I’ve been to his shooting location for 2 or 3 times, but that’s also not true, I don’t know anything about his shooting location. So yeah, we only had meals for 2 or 3 times.

What time is this place available until? Is everyone okay? If the reporters have to be on their way, please feel free to do so.

Q&A Session (Part 2) - Tegoshi Yuya & Mr. Takano Takashi

Q11: There have been a lot of talents resigning from JA recently, like Nishikido-san and Akanishi-san, Shibutani-san and Nakai-san, did you get influenced by them? And also, Nishikido-san and Akanishi-san are collaborating right now, will you have any plans to join them? - Female reporter from (?)

A11: Waaa, not any at this moment. I do what I want to do and I already decided that in March, and since about 4 to 5 years ago, I started thinking whether it’s okay to continue on like this, and things like I want to to this, I want to do that. Of course, I respect the activities of my seniors who have resigned, like those of Akanishi-kun, Nishikido Ryo-kun, and Nakai-san, I’m sure they probably have their own dreams that’s why they resigned. There will be no end if I started talking about everything that I want to do, but I’m alone and mainly, doing live concerts for the fans who are supporting me, spreading awareness of volunteering on my social media because I feel that not many people know about that and I think it’s my job to heighten the awareness, and things like going worldwide, expressing myself on YouTube, etc. So I wasn’t influenced at all by those who have quit the agency. It’s totally based on what I want.

Was there any meaning behind the decision to hold the press conference here at this venue? As this venue is a bit out of the ordinary, so I was wondering if you have been here with NEWS before, like, as a shooting location, or something?

Hmm?! Due to the sudden resignation and wanting to hold this press conference urgently, among all our panic states, we searched and decided to use this place for its suitability to convey my message to everyone. I didn’t hear anything about a hidden message or meaning. Sorry.

Q12: (T/N: A guy shouted a question, interrupting the emcee) - Male reporter from (?)

A12: Like what Teogshi-san said in details just now, the things that happened in April and May, are meetings that Tegoshi-san started doing in March for the sake of his future work, business and activities in the entertainment industry. Regarding that, in the press release by JA, they did say that there’s a part that was reported wrongly in the magazines, but they didn’t specify what areas were wrongly reported, so the press release made it sound like the rest are correctly reported. I thought, “Wait a minute, it’s wrong to do that, isn’t it?” So that was how this mess started.

Once again, I’d like to thank everyone for making it here today despite your busy schedules, thank you. In such a short time, I’m sure there are still many questions that the reporters and the viewers of this YouTube live want to ask. Like I said earlier, there will be more chances to communicate via Twitter and Instagram, be closer to the fans and discuss life problems, etc, and of course I wish for everyone to watch my performances, but also, I’d like to become a closer presence for my fans to stay by their side.

And for the media people, like all of you here, though I’m no longer with JA, I will work hard to create performances that will excite everyone and I look forward to have the chance of working with all of you as an individual, Tegoshi Yuya, in the future.

Though I’m standing at a different place from JA and NEWS members from now on, I still love the agency and its staff, the TV programmes’ staff and even more, NEWS members and NEWS’ fans, who are like my heart’s treasures that’s flowing inside my bloodstream, so I will accept the harsh criticisms about my betrayal from them and make the best use of all the things I’ve seen so far and my experiences gained since December 2002, in singing skills and many other things. I’ll make full use of all that and hold gratitude in my heart while challenging new things in my new life, after a life of knowing only about the agency and nothing else, until my soul is used up. In the future, I will announce the various things I want to do, so from here onwards, or should I say, for a long time from now till forever, I’d love to have your support.

As for my contact details, I will set everything up and properly announce them within this month via my Twitter and Instagram as things are still in preparation due to the suddenness, so please wait for a while more. My Twitter, Instagram and YouTube accounts will become great support for my activities from here onwards, and using these words for the first time, please subscribe to my channel. 😄

Once again, really, thank you, everyone, for making it here today despite your busy schedules, and thank you for asking these harsh questions, because I was able to answer them honestly. From here onwards too, as a person who cannot lie, I will answer everyone’s question honestly on Twitter. From now on too, please take care of Teogshi Yuya. Thank you everyone for today!

Tei ikimasuka? Majissuka? I’m going to do “Tei”? Seriously? Where should I do it to? To that camera? It’s been a while, I’ll do it with all my might, okay?

Ikima—su, TEI!

Thank you! I look forward to your support! Thank you! I’ll be going! Thank you!

Haru's Notes: Finally, I want to say that by setting the press conference time as 8pm JST, a timing which everyone has knocked off, shows that his main intention is to tell the truth to us fans and not set the press conference timing to suit the reporters. It is to make it convenient for us fans, not them. This shows that fans are the most important people to him and that he treasures and cherishes us a lot.