“Our hearts/souls will be connected forever.” A message song from TOHOSHINKI for people who will be taking a new path in their lives.

1. To all our fans who listen to this song, this is the message we wish to convey to you the best..

Excite: About your new single “SAKURAMICHI” that you will be releasing on Feb 25th. How did the two of you feel when you first heard the song?

Yunho: I thought it was a heartwarming graduation song. It is the graduation season and after graduation, it will be a new semester and new job.. this song is perfect for such circumstances.
Changmin: The melody of this song is beautiful and the content of lyrics is heartwarming. I thought that it will be easier for me to put my emotions into singing.

Excite: Did you feel anything about its sound and melody line?

Yunho: The song begins with quite atmosphere and after one chorus, rhythms accompanies the song. I really wanted to sing a song in a refreshing/new style. TOHOSHINKI has released many flamboyant songs.. so I thought we have come to a good turning point.
Changmin: After the chorus, it was not included in the lyrics..we recorded “wow”, right? When I sang the part, I was imagining cherry blossoms has started to bloom.

Excite: When you sang the song, what kind of scenery did you imagine?

Changmin: I sang the song while thinking over the past time when I took a walk along the Meguro river and I wanted to drink beer (laugh).
Yunho: This song is very meaningful to myself too. About the part “wow’ Changmin just talked, my interpretation is a bit different. I have experienced many things and I sing this song to be healed from such experiences.

Excite: Do you have any obstacles in recording this song?

Yunho: The issue that I felt a little hard for me is, the key was not too easy for me to sing, but I needed to sing comfortably in order to follow the flow. The lyrics are great so that I need to sing to make sure that I can convey the meanings to listeners, but the rhythms get faster. I had to pay attention to those details.
Changmin: Can I say something to be honest to myself? Everything was very smooth for me (laugh). I did not have any problems, and I was able to put my emotions in and I was able to focus my vocal. The theme of the song, “Departure”, I understood it in my own way. Therefore, it was easier for me than other songs to put my souls into this song. Love songs are more difficult to set my emotions.

Excite: Was there any part of the song which made you feel emotional?

Yunho: “Our hearts/souls will be connected forever.” I think this part is the essence of the song and I love the phrase very much.
Changmin: “For sure, everything will be okay. Our hearts/souls will be connected forever.” This is only a part of the song but this is the message that we wish to convey to our fans who listen to this song.

Excite: The latter part of your vocals are very emotional and great.

Yunho: As far as my emotion goes, I was able to sing naturally. I already said this before but the key of this songs suited to Changmin’s and it was a bit too high note for me. Therefore it was a bit difficult for me to put all my souls or sing gently. But at last, I was able to improve these parts.. and now I am doing my best at our live (laugh).

Excite: Do you have a message to convey your fans through this song?

Changmin: When this song will be released, it will be spring. I already said this before but there will be a variety of partings and encounters. I anticipate many people feel insecure and worry about something. But it also means that you are standing at the new start line. TOHOSHINKI wishes to stay beside all of you forever but in reality sometimes we cannot do that. Therefore, we wish to convey our message to our fans. “Even we are apart, we are connected through this song and our hearts/souls are connected. So you should not worry about anything. Let’s keep walking together just like we have done.”
Yunho: I wish everyone including the two of us listen to this song while thinking over individual circumstances. Perhaps some people feel lonely when they listen to this song. But I wish to give hope to them too.

Excite: Yes

Yunho: (Out of the blue to Changmin), Do you have something that you wish to “graduate” from? In your life..Sorry I sound like a writer all of sudden (laugh)

Excite: Such a question is the most interesting (laugh)

Yunho: (Changmin made a gesture to let YH go first) Me? Well, I am finishing my 20s, I have a lot of mixed feelings… I wish to “graduate” from my current character. When I ask our staffs about it, they said, I am earnest and kind.. I seem to have many characteristics in me. I wish to go beyond them.. and become more honest to myself.
Changmin: If I pick one, then I wish to graduate from dish washing and cleaning house.

2. Everyone would feel touched after the concert and we also…

Excite: Was the cherry tree real?

Changmin: No it was not.
Yunho: I thought it was a real tree and I took pictures of the tree, I was so happy “Wow, it’s a real tree~” Oh.. they cheated on me (laugh). The tree stalk/branches are real but the flowers are fake. Well, the tree was a real one so they did not deceive me completely. That is good (laugh).

Excite: The train was antique where passengers sat face by face with each other. Have you taken a train like that before?

Yunho: I have. After we debuted, I looked for such a train when I was on a trip by myself. It was before we started to work on a new album. I guess it was two years ago? I took such a train.
Changmin: I loved the atmosphere (of the train). We will be celebrating our 10th anniversary this year but we wanted to indicate that we will be going on a new trip together.

Excite: At what moment do you feel spring?

Changmin: When I suffer from pollen allergy. No doubt about it (laugh). I did not have the problem until i came to Japan. Every year my symptoms get worse. This year, spring has not come yet so I am okay so far.. but this is a hard season.
Yunho: For me, it is the new semester. After graduation, I have a new job, or enter a new school, I can feel spring has come. I feel that Let’s do my best with a brand new mind set.

Excite: You talked about this before, you sing SAKURAMICHI at your Five Dome Tour “TOHOSHINKI Live Tour 2015~WITH~” on schedule right now.

Yunho: At first, everyone was quiet so I thought “What should I do?” (laugh) I soon realized that it was our brand new song so people tried to listen to it carefully. I could also see people who are thinking over their own experiences while listening to the song.. Because of those, I was able to feel confident about this song, “This is a great song.”
Changmin: We are very happy to see people who are focused in listening to this song. Personally, I love the staging of this song. To be honest with you, I did not expect that we could express the image of this song to that extent on stage. So I am really grateful to Sam-san who directed the stage.

Excite: Since you started this tour, You have finished a number of concerts. How are you feeling right now?

Yunho: The set list of this tour is my very favorite among the set lists that we had so far. We have a new style of direction and It is a very long concert but the time passes with a blink of my eyes. Every time I was like, “Oh, is it already an ending?” I just think that this is crazy.
Changmin: Because it is a Dome tour, the venue is huge. Therefore when compared to Arena tour, our vocals may not reach to everyone or we are not able to convey everything to our audiences due to some environmental factor (not: I believe he meant as how the stage has been set). But Yunho just mentioned, I really love the set list for this tour. I understand that there is some technical issue that some fans may not be able to hear our vocals very well but we have been trying our best to pour our souls into our vocals and we wish to convey our feelings to the audiences. i want to do my best.

Excite: This is your second time Five Dome tour. Do you have something that you are particular about?

Yunho: TOHOSHINKI’s tour is something that everyone can enjoy each time. But this tour, we want to go far beyond that. We wish to touch everyone’s souls. So I am doing my best in my own fashion. When I sing the last song, I can see some fans are crying. When I see it, I get emotional too. I am a type of person who does not cry easily (laugh). Therefore, I wish this tour will become something that the audiences feel touched/moved/impressed after the concert, and they can keep on living their own lives.
Changmin: Every concert, Every time, I had hoped to do..and I hope even more strongly now.. I want myself to be part of this live.. in other words, I want to enjoy myself more. It does not mean that I raise my tension and just enjoy the concert.. but it is something like ..for example when I sing a ballad, I wish to convey every aspects, like the key, rhythms, one by one.. I do not take it easy about anything.. I want to pour all my soul into everything. With the mind set, I sing and dance. Some times I stressed about technical issues like sound effects and systems. But I am trying my best to enjoy under the circumstances. I always am alert about these things.

Excite: What is the most memorable episode in the concerts that you finished so far?

Yunho: This time, the first day of the tour was my birthday. And, I was really happy that all our fans and staffs celebrated my birthday on stage. That day until then, no one said “Happy Birthday!” to me, not to mention Changmin too. Usually, we say it as a surprise but actually, I knew it was coming during rehearsal. But this time, there was nothing. I thought that oh I do not have it this time and I was really disappointed. I was eating ramen noodles alone in my room at midnight on my birthday (laugh). But they gave me the surprise birthday celebration on stage and I was really happy. Changmin smeared the frosting of the cake on my face.
Changmin: I actually wanted to smear much more than that but he needed to sing the next song seriously, so I regret that I could not do it.

Excite: (laugh) Okay then, what is the most memorable thing for you, Changmin-san?

Changmin: Well, during the concerts that we did so far, it is Sapporo. It was snowing very heavily the day before the concert. I heard that there were many fans who could not come to see our live. Due to the flight situation, Sam-san was not able to arrive in time. The snow gave our fans and staffs a lot of trouble.. but for me it was really beautiful (laugh).
Yunho: What? Which it it? (troublesome or beautiful) (laugh)
Changmin: The snow was troublesome, but whenever I look at snow, it is beautiful (laugh).
Yunho: (laugh) But we were lucky under the circumstances. At the end, Sam-san was able to arrive just before our opening song. When we heard that because of snow, there was a possibility that some fans might not be able to come to our concert.. so I was worried that there were many empty seats.. but So many fans came to our concert much more than that I anticipated. That is why I think we were lucky.

3. Our fans cherish/care for this TOHOSHINKI together…

Excite: The final of this tour is at Tokyo Dome on April 2nd. What kind of live do you want to show people on that day?

Yunho: How the live will turn out to be? is something that I would think about it just before going up to the stage. So I do not think about that until then. However, through our tour, we will get used to how we are directed.. something along the line, therefore I anticipate that we can perform with full confidence. I think we will explode everything. Whereever we go, we will do all our best to near death on our final day. We have concerts at Tokyo Dome in February and April, so I think we will evolve in between the period. I wish people who came to our February concerts will come to the April concerts. I wish to show our best to all.
Changmin: We have performed live or had events at Dome for a few times, but I was not able to watch our audiences and enjoy our live during the live. However, somehow, out of the blue, I was able to see our audiences very clearly. I saw a few 10,000 people cheering at us.. and I could see their penlights.. this was my very first experience. I can’t say that I was not relaxed to the extent in our previous concerts, but I saw it clearly and felt “Wow, it is so beautiful”.. I could finally do that this year. I want to enjoy the power, love and cheers from our audiences and will do my best while having the mindset that some day I will be able to repay their love.

Excite: This year, the two of you are celebrating your 10th year anniversary since you debuted in Japan. Can you tell us your honest thoughts about it?

Changmin: To tell the truth, looking back the past 10 years, I do think that many years have passed.. but I do not feel it too special. Until now, I cherished my time year by year and this is one of many years.. However, the number. “10” in two digits is something new. Japan is a second home to the two of us, but it is a foreign country. The number symbolizes that we have been loved a lot just like now in abroad.. and I am really grateful to that.
Yunho: It really is incredible. I was not even an adult 10 years ago. 10 years anniversary means that I have been able to keep this job since I became an adult. Also it is not very common that so many people give us love this much, is it? But this is not because only TOHOSHINKI did their best.. but everyone spent time together with us.. therefore we were able to do it. Our fans have cherished this TOHOSHINKI and have been doing their best, that is why we were able to come this far.

Excite: What is the most memorable thing in this 10 years?

Changmin: The live at Nissan Stadium. That many.. over 70,000 people came to our concert.. I was really suprsied about myself..”Who am I? Was I someone like that?” “This many people came to our concert.. and Have I become someone who can influence people this much? Who am I now?” I would never forget that.

Excite: Do you have some moment at Nissan Stadium that you remembered clearly?

Changmin: When we were performing a song that is exciting and rhythmical, we all were waving our hands and were jumping. If I get 10 people together in one place.. and even those 10 are my friends, it is difficult to make us one with something. Do not you think so too? However, over 70,000 people .. of course those are someone who support us.. but every we do not have direct relationships, through our songs, we are connected and create one scenery is, I believe, truly amazing.

Excite: What about you Yunho-san?

Yunho: Of course, the Nissan Stadium live was incredible, but I think, right now, now we are celebrating our 10th year anniversary will be the most memorable thing for me. We started our career at a small venue and all the way up to Nissan Stadium.. everything is very important for me and because of everything we are able to celebrate our 10th year anniversary. I have not changed much since I came to Japan till now. But starting at the small venue and now.. there are people who love TOHOSHINKI this much and people who are interested in us. Every little thing in the past is all good to me. And altogether, we are able to celebrate our 10th year anniversary so I think this, right now will become the most memorable moment.

Excite: Well then, can you tell us about which part your partner has advanced in the last 10 years with regard to vocal and dance?

Yunho: Changmin has evolved a lot. About his vocal, I think he is more true to his heart compared to in old days. In old days, he focused too much to sing well.. and I sometimes felt that he was not able to put his soul into the song. But now, he has advanced remarkably. He really amazes me by that. and Now he can sing so well that he can dance well to. He dances so very well now. I think he can do his own style of vocal and dance reflecting who Changmin really is.
Changmin: From the beginning till now and from now on.. I cannot make any comment on Yunho’s dance (laugh). He was so good from the beginning. I do not have a mouth to give critiques on Yunho’s dance.

Excite: (laugh) Okay then, How about his (YH’s) vocal?

Changmin: I cannot say anything about his vocal either (laugh). But for sure, Yunho has evolved in expressing delicate details. In old days, just like his character, his vocal is rather manly.. he tend to express in straightforward fashion. But these days, YH is so very good at expressing delicate details. I can feel that.

Excite: When do you feel on stage or at your live that you can make a use of your past 10 years experience?

Changmin: I am not in shock when my voice cracks.
Yunho: That is right! My voice cracked on the very first day of our tour, a bit. “Ah~” (laugh) Well I still regret about it now, but when I was a new in this business, if something like this happens, my tension kept declining from the moment and the live ends before my mood improved. These days,”it is one of the attractive point of live, is not it?” I can make it up with the next song. I’ve started to be able to have a space in my heart/relax a little.
Changmin: When I make such mistake..in old days.. I was too upset and was not able to keep focused and I would show how I was feeling on my face. I was like that.. but now because I have been doing this for 10 years.. even I make mistakes.. this is not my first time. things happen.. I could let it go.

Excite: Okay, What is your dream and goal?

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Credits:

excite MUSIC,
Translated by @beriko0214: 1, 2, 3 & 4
Shared by TVXQ! Express