This GRAPH feature ran in the mid-2000s. Takarasiennes would be given categories to pick their ‘Top 3′ for. Aran’s ran in the September issue.
An outtake from the back of the magazine is included.
Honest Choice! (In 2006 too!) – Pick your Best 3: Aran Kei
Choice! – What do you usually drink during a show?
#1: Water
I feel like drinking water is purifying to the body, so during a performance I’ll drink water rather than sports drinks or other things. I like soft water better than hard water, so I’ll always order mineral water from the Zaiho onsen in Kagoshima and drink that.
#2: Luo Han Guo1/Hawthorn broth
Yabuki Shou told me that this was good for the throat: you dissolve blocks of concentrate made from Luo Han Guo fruit and Hawthorn in hot water. It’s a little bit sweet and really soothing to the throat. Even during the summer I always use it in hot water. During a performance I’ll put the Luo Han Guo/Hawthorn broth along with regular water in a container so that I can choose which one I want when I go into the wings.
#3: Grape Fanta
I like how it has just the right amount of sweetness, and the carbonation isn’t too intense, so I’ve been drinking it for ages. After a performance, the junior actresses will always leave a chilled can of it on my dressing room table for me (laughs). Honestly, I like this one the best, but I only drink one 160ml can of it a day, and only after a performance, so I’m putting it third.
Choice! – What are the most interesting books you’ve read?2
#1: Soukyuu no Subaru
This novel is set in China, at the end of the Qing Dynasty. I’m so into it (laughs). In the story, the boy who’s the main character believes what he’s been told by a fortuneteller and decides that he should make it reality, so he sets out to open the way through his own strength. I can really sympathize with the main character’s lifestyle, and it also makes me think ‘it’s incredible that he can believe that’.
#2: Tokyo Tower – Mom and Me, and Sometimes Dad
This is an autobiographical novel from the life of the author, Lily Franky, and it mainly tells the story of Lily and his mother. It’s written in plain language, so Lily’s love for his mother resonates directly with my heart…it’s really moving.
#3: Half a Confession
This is a story about a man who killed his sick wife. The reason why he committed the murder, and what he did afterwards, come to light through the point of view of everyone investigating the case. When the whole situation became clear, I cried so much that I couldn’t keep reading. I read this kind of really emotional novel a lot, but since I’ll cry at the drop of a hat (laughs) I can’t really read them in places where a lot of other people are around.
Choice! – What countries do you most want to go to?
#1: Egypt
I want to see the Pyramids and the Sphinx and everything in real life with my own eyes and experience how big they really are. I’ve always been interested in Egypt, and once I had made plans to go, but just then it suddenly got a lot less safe, so I ended up not being able to do… I definitely want to go one day.
#2: The Maldives
This is the resort I most want to go to. When I first saw a photo of the cottages above the water, that beach in the Maldives was so beautiful that I can still picture it clearly. I really want to stay in one of those cottages over the water and read books and things and just relax.
#3: Monaco
It has that image of being “the country for celebrities”, so it’s a place I’m really longing to go to (laughs). And according to the song I was singing in the show I performed in about Monaco, Meet Again, it seems like it’s safe too (laughs). Although I’d actually like to live there… (laughs). Well, even if that’s never going to happen, I’d like to visit at least once.
Outtake:
Touko-san (Aran) says she can’t really read novels in places where there are other people around.
“If I was reading a novel by myself and then became so moved that I started to cry, that would look really weird, right? But, when I’m on a train or something, so I have some time, I’ll end up dying to read… And then, if I start reading, I’ll end up in tears… (laughs), so it just doesn’t work, you see (laughs).”
1 – A fruit that is used in Chinese traditional medicine.
2 – As far as I can tell, none of these books have English releases, but #2 and #3 have film releases that would be available with subtitles.