Yasuo Matsumoto/Joe Lauer "Relationships" Interview

Q.1 I'm talking to Yasuo Matsumoto, and today we're going to talk about "love and dating." Yasuo, could you tell me where you're from?
A. Uh…Hiroshima, Japan.
Q.2 What's your major?
A. Uh…linguistics.
Q.3 And what year are you?
A. Uh…second year, sophomore.
Q.4 Do you have a lot of friends at Hiroshima University?
A. Uh…I guess, I have enough.
Q.5 Do you have any girlfriends?
A. Right now, no. No.
Q.6 Mostly male friends?
A. Ah…well, let's see. Half… half. (Hmm, really?)
Q.7 Do you want to have a girlfriend?(laughs)
A. I guess, but it's hard. (laughs) Yeah.
Q.8 Are you usually outgoing, or are you usually shy?
A. I guess I'm outgoing. Yeah.
Q.9 When do you think you'll get married?
A. I don't know. Uh…at least, after I graduate, high, college. But not, I'm not sure. About six years, maybe ten years. Who knows?
Q.10 What famous TV or movie star would you like to marry?
A. Uh…I don't know too many movie stars. Uh…let's see…Meg Ryan.
Q.11 Why?
A. Well she's cute. She's good looking (laughing).
Q.12 Would you marry someone who is ten years older than you?
A. Yeah, if she's, like, you know, great. Yeah, and like, you know, we have a fun time together, then yeah. No problem.
Q.13 Would you marry someone that your mother did not like?
A. Yeah. I mean, if I like her then, yeah.
Q.14 Each day, how much time do you spend thinking about the opposite sex?
A. Hmm. How much time?
Q.15 For example, five minutes, one hour, ten hours?
A. Let's see. Uh…right now I don't, you know, have like, anyone who I like, so I don't really think about girls or anything. But uh…when I, you know, like, want to go out with someone, then I'd be thinking of her a lot, I guess. But, like, you know, I don't know, maybe two hours, three hours in total. (OK Good)
Q.16 Please tell me about someone whom you loved or love now. What was her first name?
A. Uh…Kie.
Q.17 Why did you like her?
A. Well, she was, uh…she was kind, and she was also good looking, too. And we had, you know, like, a fun time together.
Q.18 Did you go on dates with her?
A. Yeah.
Q19 Where did you go, for example?
A. Uh…let's see. We went to Tokyo together. And, where else? We went fly-fishing together. We went out in downtown Hiroshima together a lot. Yeah.
Q.20 …And can you tell me about your love history on dealing with women.
A. When was my first girlfriend? Uh…let's see. This girl, like, liked me a lot. She, well, we were friends when, like, since we were, like, four years old. And she, like, always liked me. And, that's probably my first love. And, uh…how many girlfriends did I have? I don't remember.
Q.21 What happened to her? Your first love.
A. I moved. So, like, I still talk to her, but I don't really get to see her that much. Yeah.
Q.22 And then after that?
A. After that?
Q.23 Junior high school, senior high school?
A. Yeah. High school was fun. I went to, uh…homecoming dance, and, you know, Prom and all that kind of stuff with my girlfriend. Yeah.
Q.24 What is "Prom"?
A. Prom. It's a dance party, like, for uh…graduating students. And uh…I had a girlfriend, she was, like, two years older than me. So, when she was a senior, she was going to graduate, I was, like, in sophomore. Yeah. We went together. Yeah.
Q.25 What happened to her?
A. What happened to her. Uh…well I moved back to Japan. So, you know, there's, like, not much chance to, you know, see her or anything. So, yeah, we broke up. Yeah.
Q.26 In the future, what kind of person do you want to marry?
A. Uh… hmm…uh… let's see. honest person., I guess.
Q.27 Would you marry someone who is poor?
A. Yeah. Yeah, of course.
Q.28 Would you marry a foreigner?
A. Yeah. Yeah.
Q.29 Would you marry someone who is not beautiful?
A. Yeah, if she's, her personality's great, then yeah. (O.K.)
Q.30 Would you like to have a big wedding or a small wedding?
A. Uh…small. Yeah. Make it easy. Yeah.
Q.31 Do you think people should postpone sex?
A. Postpone sex. Uh…I guess it's up to the people, you know, the couple. Yeah. I can't say, like, "you can't have sex," or anything like that. So, yeah.
Q.32 What do you think men want in life?
A. Men want in life? Uh…let's see. Money, and…like, well name, you know, like fame. And uh…uh…someone nice. Like, you know, some, you know, girl that's, she's nice, and… I don't know. Yeah.
Q.33 What do you think women want in life?
A. Women? Uh…I think they want someone that they can rely on, you know. And someone that takes care of them. Yeah, and money also, and, you know, fame and that kind of stuff. Yeah.
Q.34 What is "love"?
A. What is "love"? Love is, let's see... caring about someone else. And…uh…like, thinking of them. And, like, you know…

(O.K. Very good. Thank you.)

(Thank you.)