Message in a bottle (For Taro Yoshikawa's 23rd Birthday)

Taro Yoshikawa, happy 23rd birthday.

At 22, you shone brighter than ever before, and even for me, who hasn't seen even half of your idol life, you made me feel many times that we had come such a long way, and that you had brought me so far.

When I heard you say, 'Thank you for bringing me to Tokyo,' at Summer Station, it reminded me of when you said at the Rainy Season concert, 'I want you to come see all of our future performances.'
I am truly a lucky person to have been able to watch your journey so far—not from right beside you, but from afar—on the same timeline and at the same speed.

Thinking back to your greeting at that same Rainy Season concert, where you spoke with a sense of relief about your debut performance as AmBitious at 8BEAT—saying, 'I wondered if we would be okay, so I practiced as hard as I could,' but then realizing, 'The audience is so kind'—it feels strange to think that you are now standing confidently on a stage in Tokyo for your own solo concert. It feels like it has been both a long and a short time, and I am surprised by the distance you have traveled.

Of course, you were very cool back then too, but having gained so much experience, your dance, your singing voice, and your entire performance have leveled up. You shine even brighter now, and you are just so cool that it's hard for me to keep up with my own feelings while watching you.

In particular, during the OdoroK! DANCE TOUR, you showed me so many expressions I hadn't seen before, and my heart was racing the entire time.
Not only your expressions while dancing, but the nuances of your singing voice were completely different depending on the song, and I was surprised at how you learned to use your voice in such varied ways. The sad, soft voice in 'Meiwakiyaku,' the raspy, masculine voice in 'Cry out,' and the voice that pierced the heavens in the opening ad-lib of 'Mixed Juice'—they were all truly wonderful.
In an interview after the concert, I learned that you had been practicing the windmill desperately, and that you couldn't perform it because it was hard to see from a standing position. I felt a little sad, or perhaps frustrated on your behalf, but it made me realize once again that what I love about you is your ability to work hard for hours and hours without telling anyone, and your ability to bring things to completion by the first day of the concert.
When I think that the singing voice and performance I saw were all the fruits of your hard work, the sheer scale of that effort is overwhelming just to imagine.
Summer Station felt like you were further polishing the weapons you forged during OdoroK!, and you shone even brighter. Your gaze, looking straight ahead, was so powerful that I can no longer even remember the Taro I first saw, who used to let his eyes wander with a bit of uncertainty.
Your solo part in 'Koko ni'—'It doesn't just start, I'm the one who starts it'—was so powerful, and your voice, with every note clearly articulated, reached my ears directly and gave me so much energy. I loved your expression at that moment, too. I will never forget it.

And your coolness isn't limited to concerts.
During the spring Shochiku-za performance, you were in a position that was almost like a lead role, making so many people laugh every single day for a month, and you were truly, truly cool and dazzling.
I went to see it several times, and it was so funny every time. Seeing you pull off a gag that perfectly tied up the foreshadowing in the one-liner relay made me realize once again how truly smart you are.
Your quick judgment when Kado-kun missed a line was also brilliant (even if you might have been worried inside), and the way you used your quick wit and experience to handle the situation made my feelings for you grow even stronger.
When I think of you in the Minami-Shoten-gai, your future dream written on your official Junior profile—'to make everyone in the world smile'—doesn't feel like such an impossible or unreasonable dream after all.
Because I am sure you will continue to be someone who can make more and more people smile.

Speaking of Minami-Shoten-gai, your words at the surprise graduation ceremony, 'The reason I was able to balance work and university like this is thanks to all the fans who were my emotional support,' are also a precious, precious treasure.
About three years ago, when I learned about the formation of AmBitious as a surprise, I read your words, 'I can finally give the fans a Christmas present,' and I remembered deciding that I would support you with all my heart.
While many people in their early 20s are often self-centered, you always put others—your fans—before yourself.
I realized once again that this is the kind of person you are, and this is why I love you.

To be honest, for a while after I first saw you, I was always afraid that you might disappear one day. I didn't have the confidence to keep liking you while carrying that fear, which was two sides of the same coin as my love, and I couldn't bear to watch you while always thinking it might be the last time. So, I had decided that I would finish supporting you once you graduated from university.
But before I knew it, my love for you had overtaken my fear, and I found myself wanting to keep watching you.
Hearing you say at the surprise graduation ceremony that it was 'thanks to the fans who were my emotional support,' I felt like I had returned to my starting point, and I made up my mind to keep watching you properly as you continue to stand on stage, even after the major turning point of graduating from university.

Of course, you are human, Taro, so things might change, and I really don't know what the future holds. But as long as you choose to stand on stage, as long as you remain on that stage, I want to keep watching you for as long as I possibly can.

Taro Yoshikawa, once again, happy 23rd birthday.
Thank you for always giving me so much happiness. Thank you for the energy and the smiles. Thank you for bringing me this far.

I know there is no such thing as a life with only good things, but still, I will always, always, always pray that as many good things as possible happen in your life, and that you will always be happy.

With lots of love, gratitude, and prayers.

2024.10.9 Konotta

P.S.
Has this message, cast into the sea of the internet, reached you? I'm sorry for writing such a long letter.
I often feel down thinking that I only ever receive happiness, energy, and smiles from you, and that I haven't been able to give anything back. But if my feelings of gratitude can be conveyed even a little through the letters I send or the things I write in places like this, there would be nothing that makes me happier.
Oh, but please go easy on the ego-searching.
I pray from the bottom of my heart for your happiness and health. I love you.