Interview - Fool's mate (April, 2002)

Issue: April, 2002

Translation by: Oritsu_luv

You're wearing hakama for this shoot. Do you feel different when you dress up in formal Japanese dress like this?

I do feel more proper.

Do you think this kind of dress suits you?

I look good in anything.

Excuse me, then. (LOL) We're going to be talking about the difference between adults and children this time. What is an adult to you?

Have you ever wanted to be a kid again?

Yes, I have.

When you think 'I want to be a grown up!' that means you're a kid. And then if you remember that you want to be childish again, that means you're a grown up.

Do you ever look at the other members and think that they're very grown up?

Grown up? Well, the other three guys are really like awesome big brothers to me. So they're like big brothers, not grown ups.

For example, when do you think Sakito is a grown up?

He's really good at every day life. He's really down to earth, even in private. I can't do anything but music, so I don't put emphasis on my private life, and I can't really do every day life.

No, you really can't. (LOL)

I don't know anything about every day life. Sakito-san knows all about filing taxes and getting a car, he's know everything. I think he's really cool, and I really rely on him for that stuff.

What about Kikasa?

He's really sweet, the way he interacts with people. Also, he's way more responsible than I am. Not unlike Sakito. Once he cleaned my bathroom.

Your bathroom?

Yeah. We were playing this game and one of the punishments for losers was to clean my bathroom. He was amazing. He bought all the cleaning products himself, and he cleaned it till everything shone! It even smelled new!

He's very thorough.

I was really surprised! I was like, 'He's obsessed with bathrooms!'

I don't think that's it. What about Kazuki?

He knows when to draw back, I guess. Like me, I'm always raring to go, like, 'Come at me!' but he knows when to remove himself from situations. I think that's a grown up thing. I never go back on my opinion, I can't even think about it. But I think that's one of Kazuki's good points. All of the members are grown ups. Of course I'm the most grown up...(LOL)

Is that so? (LOL) Well, I guess there is no real definition of what makes someone a grown up...

I think you're a grown up as long as you can wipe your own ass. Even if you eat four nikuman (pork buns). (He really did eat four buns before the interview.)

Even if you sleep in the car on the way to the studio?

(LOL) Even if it ruins your makeup... The definition of an adult, huh?

I think it's being responsible for yourself, like you said earlier.

Yeah, I think so. As far as ways of thinking go, I don't want to become an adult in the bad sense.

Like thinking you understand everything?

Like thinking and figuring something out without really trying it. That's what I mean by being an adult in the bad sense. I want to always keep an open mind and a big imagination.

If you look back on when you were younger, do you remember moments when you wanted to be a grown up?

I guess maybe dirty videos? When I was in elementary school I went to go rent some, but they sent me home!

Of course they did!

But like, the thing is that when you get to be old enough to rent then, you don't go do it.

Maybe that's what being an adult is about.

When you're a kid you want to be grown up, and when you're grown up you want to be a kid again. The grass is always greener on the other side.

When do you think you really changed?

Maybe after I dropped out of high school? I feel like that way I look hasn't changed much, but internally, I started to have a better idea of what really wanted to do.

So, you played guitar in your home town, the same as you do now, but do you think you're very different now?

I am. Because I didn't even know how to interact with fans then. I would just kind of cower in the beginning. D'uele was my first real band, and I hadn't ever done a recording or anything.

That was about three years ago?

I think like two and a half years ago? I think the biggest change is my suddeness.

You mean that you're impulsive?

Yeah. That's really the only way I do thing, impulsively. My decision to come to Tokyo was impulsive, so much so that I didn't even bring my wallet or my PHS. (NOTE: phs was a precursor to cell phones)

Well that sure is impulsive.

I've gotten less impulsive as I get older, but I don't want to lose that spontaneity entirely. It's really easy to stay in one place, but I think if you do that, you really lose your ability to just leap into action. So I always want to feel impulsive. Like, how much can I act before I speak? Really put my money even before where my mouth is. There's a word 'kotodama' ('the spirit which is present in words') and it's to convince yourself, I think that once you tell something to someone, you gradually lose your wish to do it. Start with action. Don't talk about it, just do it.

That's true, if you have the time to be talking about it, you should go do it.

Right. It's easy to move your mouth, but it's not too late to talk about it after you've moved your body. Because even if you get old and feeble, you can still talk. And like, you can sleep when you get old.

Move while you can still move, you mean.

Cuz like, the end of your life, the last point of life is sleep, right? So I think that once I get there the biggest, longest sleep will be waiting for me, so I want to move as much as I can now. Of course it's important to get sleep so you can keep your body in good shape. But I just want to do everything I can now. I talk about what's going on with me in Fool's Mate every issue, right? I've always talked about wanting to use my time well, and that there aren't enough hours in the day. Lately, I've learned how to be more organized, so my days are 48 hours now. (LOL)

You have your own time.

Yeah. That times is so important.

I'm sure you have a lot of fans are going to be having their own Coming of Age Ceremony this year. Do you have a message for them.

I haven't lived the kind of life that merits giving a message like that. I just want to thank them for supporting me, and I'm glad if what I say helps them think positively, so...”Let's think about things', maybe? Not because they've become an adult, but like...say there's something you have to do, if you think of it as a responsibility then soon thinking 'I have to do it' changes into 'I don't want to do it.' But if you just jump into things with saying anything, then when you do it, you feel like you're amazing. Then you can get really excited about things you have to do. It's important not to think about things as responsibilities.

That's true even with studying in school. I have to do it = I don't want to do it.

Not having any expectations put on you from the start, and being told 'It doesn't matter if you study' makes you think 'Oh yeah? Well, I'm gonna get amazing grades then.' It's really simple (LOL) but I think that just a little detail like that has a big effect on whether you enjoy things or not. And I think if you keep doing that, it will decide whether you have a fun life or not.

Think about things...

People have told me to think about things a lot. But I never really thought deeply about it. I think that it's onyl now that I'm an old man that I'm thinking about things as much as I do. (LOL) Super old dude! I wanna be a trendy old dude. (LOL)

Is there a battle inside you between your grown up and childish sides? Like, wanting to do everything, but trying to push those feelings down.

It's not a battle. I think that people are able to do both. Even though I guess some people can't. I'm sure there are some people who can only think in a very conservative way. I've definitely seen people like that. And I've seen people who are really creative and really imaginative but who can't even wipe their own ass. But I think both ways are good. It's okay to be a grown up or a child.

Do you have what it takes to be both?

When you analyze yourself, you don't only find one side. You've got this side of yourself and this one, and this one...

And sometimes you discover a new side of yourself too.

'Me' is made up of all different parts of myself. That's what I learned from trying to dissect myself. I although I don't know when I did tat. (LOL)

BTW, how old will you be?

That is a secret.