嵐色的天空

Masuda wasn't included in any group in Juniors time. That's why his feelings for the creation of NEWS are the strongest.
A little before NEWS' formation me and Tegoshi were called by Johnny-san and we had the chance to talk a lot with him. That time Johnny-san told us: "You should better be together". He told us we should sing together. It seemed that Johnny-san wanted to create a new group centered on the songs. That's why, before NEWS even existed, Tegoshi and I began to sing together.
When I was a Junior I saw the creation of many groups, made by senpai of course, but also by kouhai. KAT-TUN, Four Tops, K.K.Kitty, Ya-Ya-Yah, A.B.C....Everybody was in a group, everybody but me.
Even before entering the group I never had a guy who was always my shinme (a partner that dances in symmetry with you). That's why I was very happy when Johnny-san said that I could work with Tegoshi, it was my first time. Then we were joined by Yamashita-kun and Nishikido-kun and we understood that we could be a group. The first proper group I ever joined. I remember that as an extremely happy moment.

At the beginning it was a 9 members group. There were older and younger Johnny's, Masuda felt a weird distance between the members.
Back then entering a group of 6 members was my dream. There wasn't a real reason for it, but of course performances with 5~6 people can be impactful. Honestly when I heard we were 9 I thought "That's too much!" (laughs). We were, but I never thought things like "I must stand out" or "This guy will be my rival". Obviously it was difficult to decide the positions and to part the songs between all of us, it took a lot of time to get us all together sometimes. Back then I never thought about my position in the group though.
Moreover, in NEWS there were senpai and kouhai. We weren't a group of good friends since the beginning, nobody tried to get to know all the others. When we were together you could feel the separations, Yamashita-kun and Nishikido-kun, Koyama and Shige, me and Tegoshi. We were kind of formal when we talked to each other...This situation went on for a little while.
Shige and I were often treated coldly by Nishikido-kun (laughs). He was very Kansai-style, he could say things like "If it's not funny don't say it at all!". Shige and I sometimes were a little afraid to talk, during the meetings we often cried too (laughs).

NEWS also experienced a hiatus. These are the feelings towards the group of that time.
We went in hiatus, 3 members left and we had to start anew in 6...that time I cried a lot. We went to the agency's office, we were all there, and they told us our activities had been suspended indefinitely. I went back home with the train crying all the time. I thought it was all over. Worst, I thought that we'd been finished by the others. I wasn't angry, it was just sad. Thinking about that now, I think I was probably afraid. I don't know of what though.
During NEWS' hiatus luckily I got to work a lot individually. Back then I was filming the drama "Gachibaka!". If we didn't work somewhere else at that moment I think that maybe we would have gone bad. Thankfully it wasn't like that. Of course I had many thoughts, I was sad and frustrated, I was very worried. The things we encountered and experienced back then are very important.
That's why I still think that the biggest happiness I ever felt was when we did our comeback as a 6 members group. When Yamashita-kun was working on his solo career he once used a jacket with members' initials engraved on it. That was the first time we understood the meaning of being a group, the first time we realized our feelings for each other. I think that overcoming the hiatus helped us to be aware once again of the other members.

Which was the most impressive thing in these 10 years...at this question Masuda answered immediately. The happiness of that day hasn't faded out yet.
The release of "Weeeek" and the first performance at the Tokyo Dome. I can't forget how much I wanted to have a live there. I entered the agency on November 1998, the following December I participated to Kinki Kids' concert at the Tokyo Dome. I only danced in the back, moreover in a tiny corner of the audience seats. I still can't forget the scenery I saw back then. "Why so many people are in this stadium? How could all them set their schedules to be there at the same time?" ...I respected Kinki Kids so much and I was so shocked at the same time.
That's why when I stood on that stage for real I was overwhelmed by feelings. Before the opening I was waiting the beginning from an upper place where I couldn't see the audience, then we descended with a gondola. I couldn't see the fans but I could hear their yells, I was too happy. The feelings were so high, I started crying before even touching the stage. When I got off the gondola I was still crying a little, in that performance of "Weeeek" I didn't sing that well (laughs). It was my biggest joy of fulfillment ever.
The Tokyo Dome is the place where I wish to perform still now. Everytime I go there to watch other people's concerts I end up looking at the audience a lot. When I go to see concerts I always look closely at the face of the fans. I want to see with which expression fans look at the show, whether or not the performer turns into this direction, how he sings to convey the song to the audience. These are things that you can understand only taking the point of view of the audience.

In 2006 he also debuted with Tegoshi as Tegomass. A new challenge for them.
When we couldn't work as NEWS, Tegomass began their activities. Tegomass is an unit created by Johnny-san to make us sing together. The records society's staff were pretty excited. We had many people who worked besides us making us growing stronger, because they believed in us thinking we couldn't sing anything. Tegomass challenged a kind of music that nobody in JE challenged before, the passion around us was very tangible. When I heard about the creation of the unit we were really happy, little by little we started to feel a bigger sense of responsibility though. We had to think to what we could do, we also started to actively suggest things on our own.
Probably I thought to Tegomass more than to NEWS. In NEWS there are more members, there was no need for me to think to everything, because there were already the ideas of the others. Everybody suggested something, we put those ideas together, erasing the bad ones and adding better ones, and in the end we had a perfect work. But in Tegomass we had to think to everything by ourselves in 2. Our ideas were often opposite, but we mixed them well and there was no need to cancel the unnecessary parts too. It didn't matter if it wasn't perfect. I wanted to do everything, using all our ideas. I wanted to cherish everything.
When Tegomass had their first concert I told to Tegoshi: "If there are things I want to do at any cost I would like you to do them even if you don't want to, at the same way I will do my best to do all the things you want to do". Of course we wouldn't do impossible things. But we wanted to do everything we liked.
I think that our first concert was very good. Realizing this, when it was NEWS' turn I started to suggest my ideas and to be more aware of "what I want to do". Of course NEWS was my main activity. It was like Tegomass could work when there was a right chance. Now I don't think like this anymore. I think it's the same for Tegoshi, we don't see Tegomass as a little unit of the biggest group. It's a group of the same size of the other. Tegomass and NEWS are important at the same way. There's a "main activity" anymore, I want to work hard to bring out the best in both of the groups. Sometimes I think to new ideas for NEWS, other times I focus on Tegomass. I want to go on working in both groups so I need to think about them more.

When we asked to talk about the withdrawal of Yamashita and Nishikido Masuda kept silent nodding. Then he began talking calmly. Choosing words one by one with care.
Honestly, a little before their withdrawal I was feeling something like that in the air. It was a moment in which NEWS couldn't have activities, we always wanted to talk all together but we never did it for real. In reality the only time we met all together was when we were told about their decision. We wanted to discuss about that but we didn't do it, then time passed and in the end nobody stopped them two. We couldn't stop them. They had already decided so there was nothing we could do, we only said "Understood".
It was very frustrating, we were all so worried. But I think that probably we're all responsible for making them take that decision, after all it was absolutely wrong to force them to stay in the group. I couldn't help thinking to all the things we couldn't do. I always did my best but I kept thinking that maybe I could do more. I doubted their feelings since before the announcement so my heart was somehow ready for it, but in reality when it happened there was nothing I could do.
Back then Tegomass were having a tour, Tegoshi and I talked about singing live one song by NEWS. When we discussed about which one we both thought that "Sakura Girl" was a good choice. It says "I thought it could continue forever", I really felt that way. I'm pretty sure it was the same for Tegoshi. We didn't really choose "Sakura Girl", we naturally directed to it. It was the best one. We weren't really aware but its lyrics fitted perfectly that moment.
When we sang that line I mentioned before, I thought that maybe NEWS was lost forever. To me if NEWS weren't 6 anymore we couldn't go on. I loved NEWS as 6 members group, I was confident on what we created together. I thought we could still work and create something new, so at first I wasn't ready to start anew in 4.

Masuda really loves to sing. First of all, he worried about NEWS' songs.
When the two withdrew first of all I asked to the records society staff: "Please, let us go on singing the songs NEWS created until now". I love all our songs, I wanted to cherish them. First of all because there are many people who love listening to them, more people than I can think. Everybody have their favorite song, it was just too frustrating to think that maybe they wouldn't be able to listen to those songs anymore. "It's impossible, we have to protect them!"...it didn't matter what would happen to us, I only wanted to keep our songs.

After many difficulties the 4 members had their comeback. Everything was for the fans...
Singing the songs created for 6 members required to change the parts, we got biggest parts to sing. I said I wanted to protect our songs but when we started working on them I honestly thought that maybe it was impossible. That maybe singing those songs in 4 we would end up ruining them. I was really worried. I wanted to sing at best Yamashita-kun and Nishikido-kun's parts, I didn't want people to think that our quality decreased. I hate to lose, I felt a lot of pressure.
Before singing I had a lot of worries but when we sang the songs live I didn't think to anything. I sang with all my heart, I felt that fans were enjoying listening to us. In that moment I thought once again "I'm glad to be in NEWS". I felt relieved to sing again NEWS' songs.
Members and staff said that it was better to release something immediately for the comeback, that it was a waste to lose more time. But I said: "It doesn't matter how long it will take, I want to release something of which I'm completely satisfied". I wanted to satisfy myself, the members and the fans, I didn't want to give to the ones who waited for us so long something half-hearted. The first work of new NEWS had to be even better than our previous works, or it would have been all meaningless. Well, maybe not meaningless, but I didn't want to do something like that. I thought we couldn't afford to release something done in haste, I wanted to take the proper time for each song. In the end the single required long time, more than ever, but it was the very best we could do. To the point that I thought: "If it doesn't work with it, there's nothing more we can do".
The live at the Chichibunomiya stadium was really moving. But I think I was even more moved when I watched the DVD. Because I could see closely the crying faces of the fans who waited for us. It made me realize that we're here thanks to their love. Of course there was the possibility that nobody was waiting for us anymore. But somebody did wait. In the end, it was everything. I thought a lot and I was so worried, all of that was for the fans.
Right now we're more relaxed, maybe also the fans now see us in a more natural way. We think the same too. NEWS is a world of 4 letters, maybe we were fated to the number "4". Johnny-san gave us the name NEWS wishing for something, maybe now that we're 4 we will be able to make it come true.
NEWS means also "information/news", but until now we gave to the fans so many bad and troubling news. We want to deliver a lot of different things though, from now on we want to give only wonderful news. I want us to work in order to brighten the hearts of who listens to us. We will support the fans who supported NEWS in these 10 years, we want to be close to them.