L'Arc~Compendium

This is a translation of the talk with L’Arc~en~Ciel from the July 1, 2005 episode of Music Fighter. This translation was previously posted on Pieces. This is a revised version. As always with video clips, it is possible that I misheard something and thus mistranslated it. Enjoy!

Begin

After an introductory portion with the three hosts alone, L’Arc comes out.

First part : I want to get to know you better!!
With special feature : yukihiro talking!! Legendary!

First question : Is it true that ken has a dam fetish?
ken : Yeah, it’s true.
host 1 : What’s so intersting about them?
ken : They take about 30 years to make. Nothing else takes that long.
host : I see.
ken : They’re wonderful. (much laughing) Looking at them, it’s like looking at the pyramids.
host 2 : Do you take your dates to a dam?
ken : Well, I might have had one or two ‘dam dates’. (laughs) But, it’s not very dreamy to say “Let’s go to a dam.” Being with me is the dreamy part.
host 1 : The girls aren’t gonna want to go see a dam, though.
ken : We just go on a drive, and then happen to find a dam on the way.
host 2 : It’s not a coincidence; ken-san intentionally drives toward the dam!
ken : On purpose, yeah. (laughs)

Question : What are the other member’s fetishes?
Sign : tetsu-san has a tall building fetish.
tetsu : Well, I like how they rise, and I like the view.
host 1 : The way you can see soooo far from the top of one, right?
tetsu : Just for that, I took a private trip to Hong Kong.
Everyone : Whaaaat?
host 1: Just to see buildings?
tetsu : Yeah.
host : To look at buildings?!
tetsu : (laughing) Yeah.
host : One more time : TO LOOK AT BUILDINGS?!
(Much laughing)
host 2 : You took a plane to Hong Kong just for that?
tetsu : In Tokyo, they’re all so small.
hosts : What? Really? Tokyo?
tetsu : Compared to New York, or to Hong Kong, then yes.
host : You were always looking up, weren’t you?
tetsu : (nods)
hosts : You must have looked like a stupid kid.
(laughter)

Sign : hyde-san has a slope fetish.
hyde : They really excite me.
(lots of laughing)
Aoki : How come?
hyde : To censored and stuff.
(Lots more laughing)
hosts : Does anyone see you?
hyde : (nodding) That’s bad, really bad.
hyde: It takes a good slope. It’s OK if it goes straight up, but I’d rather have it wander off… (some laughter)
host : ?
hyde : So you can’t see the path. “I wonder what could be over there?”
host : I can’t imagine it at all…
hyde : I like a slope with lots of side paths. One that looks all scattered. So then I can turn around and peek. Slopes are good places for that. Just take a moment to (mimes peeking around the corner; much laughing ensues) Just like peeking at panties.
host : That’s not a good thing to tell people.
hyde : Well, normally, I think there’s too much of that going on. It’s got to be a common thing to do. (lots of laughing)
Hosts : Today’s guests are weird!
Hearts : Slopes! Buildings! Dams!

host : I’m scared to ask about the last one. (laughs)

Screen : Tales of yukihiro : The first! What’s his fetish?
Sign : yukihiro-san has a corner fetish.
yukihiro : Um, corners. It’s right angles I like. (laughter)
hosts: What’s that supposed to mean? Right angles…
yukihiro : I hate rounded tables.
Hosts : Like this one?
yukihiro : Corners have a nice tension to them. (laughing)
host: Tension?
yukihiro : If it’s more than 90 degrees, no good. It’s gotta be a 90 degree angle. Like “Wouldn’t it hurt to bump into that?” (laughter)
host : That’s tension? And you like that?
yukihiro : (nodding) Yeah, and… that makes up my lifestyle. (cracks up laughing)
host : yukihiro-san?
yukihiro : (laughing uncontrolably)
(The audience laughs and calls his name)
yukihiro : (still laughing)
Aoki : Wow, he talked and he laughed all by himself!
yukihiro : (still laughing)

Next topic!
Sign : hyde-san followed Shaolin kenbou.
hyde : I used to.
Host: Really?
hyde : (nods
host : You said “used to,” so how long ago was it?
hyde : Probably middle school.
(Note : I can’t translate the next part very well since I don’t understand the sport terms)
(Aoki asks if hyde reached something, possibly a level or rank?)
hyde : I passed.
host : Which way did you do your kata?
hyde : Both ways.
Host : You did kata?
hyde : (nods)
Audience : We wanna see <3 hyde : Morons! (laughter) host : You've forgetten it all by now, right? hyde : Yeah, and that's for the best. (laughing) host : You remember doing this move? (he does a silly move) hyde : Yeah, that's it. Other host : What kind of sports did everyone else do when they were students? tetsu : The go-home club. (laughing) host : So nothing. tetsu : But I ran home as fast as I could. (laughs) host : How come? tetsu : I had stuff to do. Aoki : Uh huh... tetsu : Like, I wanted to drink water! (more laughing) host : So what did you do once you got home? tetsu : I watched dramas, the afternoon reruns. (everyone laughs) Host : That's depressing! Really depressing! tetsu : I'm a depressing guy <3 (Everyone cracks up laughing) Screen : Tales of yukihiro : The second! He did sports? yukihiro : I was in track and field. host : You did all those athletics? yukihiro : I did. Host : What was your specialty? yukihiro : I was a sprinter. Host : The 100 meter? yukihiro : Yep. host : What's yout best time? yukihiro : About... 12 seconds. Hosts : That's fast! Must have worked out well for you. yukihiro : Actually they kicked me out. Cause I hated practise. (laughs) They'd have us run somewhere and back, but I thought that was such a pain. So I'd go halfway and hide in a mountain, then wait for everyone to come back and join them again. I did that a few times, till it fell apart. host : But with ten or so others around... It's a good strategy. yukihiro : (nods) Host : Can you still run like that? Or are you slow now? yukihiro : Probably (laughs). Host : That would be interesting. Having yukihiro-san show off his speed. Other host : WHERE'S THE CORNERS?!?! Next question : Is it true that yukihiro-san has a teacher's license? Screen : Tales of yukihiro : The third! He has a teaching license? yukihiro : That's not true. I don't have one. Aoki : Then where did the rumour come from? yukihiro : Well, I have done some tutoring, maybe people heard about that. Host : Ah, so you were a tutor. yukihiro : Yeah, just for a bit. Host : For what? yukihiro : English and math. Host : When you teach math, you run into corners, right? (Everyone laughs) Host : Like those problems with the triangles and figuring out the angles. Other host : "It's got tension <3" yukihiro : (laughs) Host : For more tension, work with squares. Four right angles! (Much laughter) Host : What were your best subjects? hyde : I hate them all!! (Lots of laughing) Host : You weren't good at any? hyde : I really hate all of them! Host : Since always? hyde : Absolutely. Aoki : Weren't there any subjects you liked? hyde : Only art. Host : Ah, so drawing and stuff. That's fun but look out for the corners! (more laughter) Don't you have any good memories of school? hyde : I wondered what use it would be when I grew up. Host : You could have learned to draw good corners. host : How about tetsu-san? tetsu : Physical health class! Host : You were a perverted middle schooler! tetsu : (laughs) I got hundreds on the tests! (Everyone laughs) Host : Pervert! I'd be embarassed to get a hundred on that. (more laughing) Host : What about ken-san? ken : My good subjects... Math and physics. Host : Woaah... Other host : yukihiro-san's eyes lit up! (everyone laughs) Hosts : Math?! Physics!? ANGLES?! Speed?! Host : This is going to be a reccuring joke. yukihiro : And I'm the butt of it... Next sign : Is it true that ken-san auditionned to be a voice actor in Doraemon? ken : I gave the audition a try. Host : Why? ken : It's on the same channel as Music Station, right? When I was there (At Asahi TV) I saw the flyer. And so I thought.. will I always have my guitar fingers? (laughing) Host : So it was a backup plan. And Doraemon is forever! ken : I talked about it a little, so the rumour got out. Host : Aahh.... Other host : But ken-san, your voice is very distinctive. Whose voice would you have done? ken : Doraemon of course!! (Everyone laughs) Aoki : You're totally wrong for that! Hosts : What kind of role model is that? Hosts : Which one of you was it who expressed shock when they changed the voice of Kazuo-kun? (Note : all Doraemon characters got new voices in March 2005) Audience : Who? Who? Host: Was it ken-san? ken : No, no it wasn't. tetsu : Was it me...? hyde : Wasn't me. Host : Wouldn't it make a good story if it was yukihiro-san? (Everyone laughs) Tales of yukihiro : the fourth! Is he comfortable with improvising? Host : So was it you? Were you shocked by that change? yukihiro : Yes, I was. (Much laughter and hillarity) The next part is about preparing spicy korean food since L'Arc is going to do a concert in Korea. They showed L'Arc the video of the one host being challenged to eat more and more hot sauce in the soup. Afterwards, they dared the members to try the sauce, so hyde did... hyde : (is about to eat a spoonfull) Hosts : Are you insane? Don't eat it like that! It's not like ice cream! This is spicy stuff! hyde : (takes a tiny nibble) (Everyone is looking at hyde) hyde : (eats more) Hosts : How is it? hyde : It's good. Could be spicier. (Everyone else tries some) Aoki : SO SPICY!! hyde-san, you're weird! Transcribed and translated by Natalie Arnold

The following interview was published in the July 2005 issue of UV, scans of which are available on the internet if you will just look around. This translation has never been posted anywhere else!

Begin interview

No matter what kind of music they create, when it comes time to perform, the four members of L’Arc know their craft. That is why it can be said that no matter how hard it seems, they are not facing hardship.

It is unusual to find a musician as even tempered as he is. Of course, this refers to tetsu. Not to say that his manner of speech and action lacks undulation, but rather that since he is made aware of his position as a musically creative individual on a daily basis, he is rather self-conscious. Do you understand? If so, please allow your eyes to take in the following discussion. AWAKE, a rock album comprising multiple pop facets, has naturally attracted much curiosity. At last its secrets will be unlocked via these tranquil yet passionate words.

– tetsu-san, has your personal impression of the album AWAKE changed at all now that it has been completed?
[No, cause I…… didn’t really listen to it (laughs). I only listen to music when I’m in my car, I don’t listen to much at home. But lately, I haven’t had many opportunities to drive around on my own.]

– Take for instance, the discussion of the album’s subject matter at the time of it’s completion. Were you at all affected by the clearer picture that came out during that time?
[Hm, no. I think it’s an incredible album, I personally like it, and that hasn’t changed. But, usually, L’Arc has ten or eleven songs per album, and this one has the most with twelve songs, right? Even so, now that we’ve finished all the work, some of the songs we didn’t record are still in my head.]

– Do you include that in your overall impression of AWAKE?
[Not exactly, but anyway, there were a good 15 songs recorded for it. Including the ones that weren’t part of the final product. In the end, it looks like only those twelve songs were made. So, how can I put this…… I haven’t adjusted to that, yet. Of course, by the time those songs get released, I’ll have forgotten all about this. Like “When did we make this, again?”]

– I had thought that, like a strong ache, creating art was something that couldn’t be completely forgotten. Rather, was this album produced smoothly and quickly?
[Hm, was it? It took a long while. Personally, the impressions that stay or don’t stay with me have nothing to do with how smooth it went, or so I think now. I’ve completely forgotten some recordings that were full of trouble, and I still remember exactly how some completely smooth, trouble-free sessions went. What is it that makes me remember one or not? I don’t really know, myself. But, if I’m told it seemed like a rough one, I’ll end up feeling like there had been some trouble. With L’Arc, when the four of us make music, never once has the music not taken off, or has seemed like it would be better to give up.]

– You could also say that since you take extra care to complete an album with a certain number of songs, this affects your perception upon listening to it, does it not?
[Guess so. Well, anyway, all four of us are wonderful musicians, so each of us brings in lots of great music, and we have four composers putting out all sorts of music, having this wealth of variety to our music is a strong point. Also, no matter what kind of song it is, with the four members of L’Arc performing it, it becomes something amazing, and that’s what really makes us L’Arc. On top of that we’re good at performing……]

– You don’t dwell on the negative (laughs).
[Isn’t that why I can say that troublesome looking stuff isn’t so bad? You know, even though this recording was judged to have dragged on for an incredibly long time, I personally wondered if that hadn’t been a good thing.]

– What do you mean by that?
[Well, simply put, if we hadn’t taken so long, if every three minutes had only taken two takes, would we have had a finished product of the same quality?]

– This time, you were prepared ahead of time to compare the length of time with your previous work.
[Right. Compared to SMILE, or compared to our earlier albums, this one took a long time to make. Looking at it from a company president’s point of view, it probably seems that the scheduling and budget for SMILE were a bit too tight. Well, actually, the other members might not have the same opinion, I haven’t asked them, but a lot of opinions were taken when the scheduling was worked out this time. So there was a whole lot of time allocated. What it boils down to is that this time, the work didn’t drag on because of delays. We had allowed a lot of time for it since the start.]

– As a result, you think that it is because so much time was allowed that you were able to produce work of such substance.
[Yeah. We had time, so we could try things out. Record a little, listen to that, and if it’s no good, try a different approach and record it again. That only works if there’s a lot of time allocated. But, looking at the results, I think we should have been able to produce something of this quality without taking quite so much time. In the end, I think they both went overboard. Looking at SMILE and AWAKE. So next time, I want to be smarter, more efficient about it. So……. well, it’s a lot like that. Construction work at the end of the year (laughs).]

– Great description!
[Like, the budget needs to be used up (laughs). After all, if you don’t use it all, they won’t give you as much money or time for the next one. Lately, I realised that’s sort of how it works. Well, it might be just me thinking that way.]

– I see. Well, moving on, comparing the two albums, I found that the greatest difference was not in how the music was structured but rather that it had a different feel to it. In the case of SMILE, did it not contain many songs that didn’t feel like they had been made by L’Arc? It’s as if each of you had pulled the songs from your individual stock.
[Well, that happened this time too. Two of hyde’s songs came from his solo stock.]

– But even so, AWAKE came later, so it is expected that the process of making SMILE and the tour that followed it would have no small repercussions. That must be clear to yourselves, as well.
[I guess so.]

– For example, when making SMILE, as L’Arc was deciding how to progress with it, I’m sure you must have been instrumental in determining which direction to move in, tetsu-san. For making the music, as well. Are you self conscious about that?
[Yeah, a little.]

– Are you aware of your duty, your mission?
[Pretty much, since I’m the leader and all. It might seem like an obvious thing to say, but during SMILE, right before we started working on it, it was like our engine needed to be started, like we couldn’t move until that engine had warmed up. Of course, I think we did the best we could at the time, but of course, now that we’ve made SMILE, our engine is already warmed up for the next album, and so we should be able to make better music, I think. So, the fact that it turned out this way falls within my expectations.]

– And now, even though you had shown up a lot on the precious album, it seems that this time the other members were more prominent. This time, there was the song New World; it was honestly surprising that yukihiro-san had composed it. For instance, are there things you would have to write yourself on previous albums that are better left to other members now? To put it more blatantly, if you don’t write those fast-flowing pop songs, they’ll come from the other members. I think there’s been a change in what a tetsu-san song sounds like.
[Oh, no, it’s not like I was deliberately trying not to write any songs like that for this set of twelve songs. I don’t feel that way at all. See, between the four of us, we brought in just under 20 songs this time, and twelve of those were recorded, but it doesn’t mean the other songs were rejected because they were bad. There are still plenty of ways for those songs to make their way out into the world later on. There’s no such thing as “Even if I don’t write it, this sort of song will get made.” I may be the leader, but each one of us, each of the other three members, we’re all capable of producing things ourselves, of arranging things, and then I think it’s simply “This one would sound cool on the next L’Arc album.” But, well, last year we went on tour, so we spent a lot of time together, we had a lot of talks. I think the reason hyde came up with AS ONE might have been because ken-chan said to a magazine “I wanna try doing a Slipknot style song.” (laughs).]

– I thought it sounded more like Pantera (laughs). Honestly, I thought there would be more songs from you, tetsu-san. But in the end it was only Jiyuu e no Shoutai and TRUST, wasn’t it? About TRUST, could it be that recently, you’ve told yourself “I shouldn’t forget to write this kind of song,” or something along those lines?
[Yeah, sometimes. This time, I submitted seven songs, but if my seven songs were all the same kind of thing, that wouldn’t be interesting, and the order in which I made them matters to me, too. After writing a couple of up-tempo, cheerful songs, I feel like changing the tempo and making the next one a bit darker. That’s how I get around to writing something like TRUST, and sometimes that’s the only kind of song I can come up with.]

– Is it different, when you work on a fast flowing song, as opposed to when you work on one like TRUST?
[No, it’s the same thing. It’s just that after making a song, I feel like making something different from the one that came before it.]

– About the song TRUST itself, what’s your personal analysis of it?
[When it comes to singles…… It’s always the light hearted pop numbers that are easiest for our staff to sell, and I think that’s going to continue, but there are more and more of these kinds of elements, since I’ve been able to write more of this type of song. Actually, I think there have been rather more dark songs on my solo album.]

– Indeed (laughs). Whether you need a pop song or a dark song, you’re capable of producing either one, right?
[Yeah. I like both. But right now, the tendency around the world is the perception that “Pop song = weaker” and “Dark song = tougher,” isn’t it? And some musicians hold that perception themselves. I think that’s really stupid of them.]

– Actually, I think TRUST is a pop song, too.
[I think so too.]

– By the way, the word “pop” has lost it’s meaning, it’s used so lightly.
[Yeah. That’s just Japan though.]

– For example, in the 80s, heavy metal and new wave both became part of the mainstream, didn’t they? It wasn’t strange at all to like both of them, yet if you listened to Mötley Crue, you were OK, but if you listened to Depeche Mode you were looked down upon. I think that perception comes from the past, after all.
[It hasn’t changed, has it? I think I’m not as judgemental as most Japanese. Instead, I manage to make use of that perception. Just by wearing leather, hard clothes like that, I can be thought of as a tough guy.]

– That means, if I may explain it this way, that you have a talent for manipulation. Moving on, let’s hear about the new single released in July, Link. This is a song you wrote, tetsu-san, but when I heard it I felt that it was a “songwriter’s product.” It’s a song for people who know how to write a proper song. Or so I thought. It gives the impression that “this was made by a rock musician who knows what goes into a pop song.”
[I kind of resent being called a rock musician. “What’s rock?” And what defines a pop song? …… I thought Mötley Crue were pretty pop, and I think Marilyn Manson is pop, too.]

– And Metallica has pop songs, too.
[Yeah. They do, they do. I don’t know what makes something more rock as opposed to more pop. For example, it’s said that “If your work is colourful, then it’s pop music,” right? As if wearing bright clothes means you’ll be seen as pop.]

– Yeah. In the end, even though L’Arc itself is a rock band through and through, you’ve had some colourful periods so I think it’s possible to classify you as a pop band. And even if you aren’t classified with the pop bands, you’ve always had those kinds of elements, haven’t you? In other words, you incorporate both aspects, and that has become one of the special characteristics of this band.
[That’s right. Regardless of what kind of song it is, we work on it normally. We can make songs like twinkle, twinkle; we can make songs like Ophelia. So far, for our band, no kind of song has been impossible. I don’t think there can be many other bands like this out there.]

– I agree. Now, back to Link, was this song written just like the ones on AWAKE?
[You see, when we were working on the album, we had already decided to do the tie-in with Fullmetal Alchemist. And then this song ended up being one of the ones that wouldn’t be on the album.]

– Was it just a matter of timing?
[Yeah. When I was first writing Link, I thought it would probably get chosen. That was just my own impression, but I thought it would end up being the one, and in the end it was.]

– Then you were looking ahead at where it would end up. You personally knew what you needed that song to be.
[No, that’s not it. Whenever we agree to a tie-in, there are lots of songs that could fit what we need. So its just a matter of letting them pick one they like. However, for Link, they didn’t give us a very specific request. Well, we knew that it was going to be an anime opening song, so we were only told what the opening atmosphere was going to be like, whether it would be easygoing or heart-pounding.]

– Did it cross your mind that since it’s for an anime, there will be kids exposed to it, too?
[Since little kids are watching, too, “don’t make them feel like crying” (laughs). It really doesn’t have anything scary in it.]

– For instance, when your band was just starting up, you could make songs by thinking “Let’s try making one like this,” or “What if we did a song like that?” but now, when you go about creating new songs, what is most important?
[Well, basically, it has to be something we’d feel like listening to, ourselves.]

– Do you mean that now, you don’t pay attention to the rest of the world?
[No, I don’t really listen to music that much, so I wouldn’t know. What the rest of the world is doing, that is.]

– If you want something, create it yourself. I think that’s a healthy way of thinking. Instead of going around looking for something, start by creating what you want to have by yourself.
[Yeah. Of course, I want to hear new music, good new music. But generally, it’s a bother. If someone tells me “This is good” then I’ll give it a listen…… but I don’t have many friends who recommend things to me like that. (laughs)]

– What to recommend to you next? (laughs) By the way, now that it’s summer, how do you feel regarding the tour?
[No, nothing yet.]

– Do you plan it out, like “Next time let’s try something like this” or “How about doing that for the next one?”
[Oh, yeah. Lately, we’ve…… played around. We didn’t goof off much during the recording, so now it’s play time.]

– When you say playing, do you mean going home and working on new songs?
[No, not working…… but lately, I have been thinking that I should write some songs.]

– To get the next album done sooner?
[Mm… No, more for my solo. I still have some stock left for L’Arc, and we don’t have a set recording date yet. So, it seems like now would be a good time to write some songs for my solo work. Well, I do still have a bit of a stock ready for my solo work.]

– This is completely changing the flow of the conversation, but AWAKE is memorable because it is your tenth album. Did you keep that in mind beforehand?
[No, not at all. That why when people first pointed that out, I thought “No way!”]

– Is it a “ten already” feeling, or rather “only ten?”
[“Ten, already.” Besides, with ten albums made, it’s pretty clear that there must be over 100 songs, right? That’s incredible…… it feels like they mean someone else (laughs).]

– Normally, when a band starts up, they don’t go around thinking they’re going to make it to ten albums.
[No, actually, when we first debuted, we signed on with Sony for seven albums. But I remember wondering if they actually expected us to make it to seven (laughs). Even though I thought that way, with each new album that got us closer, I thought it was obvious that we would keep going even once we’d passed the seven album goal (laughs). But still, I’d like it if when people became fans, they’d listen to everything in order. There might not be many people going that far, though.]

– Right now, it seems that AWAKE is an ideal “first L’Arc album.” Of course, I think that all of your past albums make good gateways, too.
[Yeah. Of course, I think so too.]

Text by : Yuichi Masuda
Translated by Natalie Arnold

This is the translated script of the Aura no Izumi episode on which tetsu was the guest. It aired on 8th August, 2005. The hosts speak in a rather ambiguous manner, and so it is possible that I have made mistakes in translating this show. I have done my best, but please do not hesitate to let me know if something seems to be way off.

Aura no Izumi

Kokubun (Male host) : This is a bit sudden, but I have something to ask you, Miwa-san.
Miwa (Female host) : Ehehe. You can ask me anything.
Kokubun : Basically, I’ve heard that you don’t really like rock.
Miwa : I don’t have an opinion either way.
Kokubun : Ah, so its not that you particularly dislike it but (he is cut off)
Miwa : If it’s good quality, then I might be able to say I like it.
Kokubun : It’s about today’s guest. He’s the leader of a band quite famous in Japan. Do you know what kind of person he is?
Miwa : Only by name. I’ve never seen him in concert or anything.
Kokubun : So this will be your first meeting.
Miwa : A first meeting. I don’t know what sort of creature is awaiting.
(laughter)

(Show intro)

Disembodied voice : tetsu-san of L’Arc~en~Ciel
tetsu : Yes.
Disembodied voice : Welcome to Aura no Izumi.
tetsu : It’s good to be here.
Disembodied voice : Let us now begin the spiritual check.
tetsu : Yes.
Disembodied voice : If you were to be reborn, what would you want to be?
tetsu : I don’t want to be reborn.
Disembodied voice : What sort of challenge would you like to attempt?
tetsu : Let’s see… I’m interested in being a real estate agent, maybe.
Miwa (laughing) : Interesting.
Disembodied voice : How would you describe your personality in one word?
tetsu : Easily bothered by annoying things… A bit dark… dark on the inside… (laughs).
Disembodied voice : What do you look for in a lover?
tetsu : Hmm.. let’s see. Someone I can feel at ease with, when we’re together.

(TV ad spot)

Kokubun : I’ve seen you on music shows before, but you don’t come on talk shows like this very often, do you?
tetsu : That’s right. I usually don’t.
Kokubun : How come you decided to come to this show?
tetsu : I really like watching this show.
Kokubun : Oh really? What was your impression? Were you impressed?
tetsu : Well it’s sort of… kind of scary (laughs). I wondered what it would be like to go on.
Kokubun : Ah, of course. Even though us two monsters are here (laughter)
Miwa : You mean yourself, too.
Kokubun : You’ll see what I mean once we start today’s check. I think you’ll find it interesting.
tetsu : No, I’m not that interesting.
Miwa : This is the first time I’ve heard anyone say they wanted to be a real estate agent.

Kokubun : This is your first time meeting Miwa-san, right?
tetsu : Mm. Nice to meet you.
Miwa : Nice to meet you.
tetsu : Nice to meet you. It’s good to be here.

Kokubun : What do you think? Of Miwa-san.
tetsu : Um, she’s mysterious. (laughs)
Kokubun : Miwa-san, what do you think of tetsu-san? Meeting him for the first time?
Miwa : He seems like an artist, yes, I think so.
tetsu : Eeh, really? I don’t think I seem very artistic.
Miwa : No, you’re an artistic person. More than most. You think too much, you’re too nervous, too secluded. That’s common in people who are also gifted with genius. Hmm, but you’re no Modigliani.

(Screen caption : Amedeo Modigliani, Italian (1884-1920) A genius painter. While alive, he sold his paintings despite living in poverty. Although he long suffered of tuberculosis, he developed his own style of painting. After battling with the disease, he passed away at age 36.)

Miwa : The blood of a genius, an artist’s blood, that affects your entire life. You’d be unhappy as a normal person. The people around you must wonder what you’re thinking, they can’t understand you. Since they can’t create things, they become annoyed. (laughs) That’s how you are. That’s what I think.
tetsu : Oh, is that so… I’m always by myself.
Kokubun : Always alone?
tetsu : I’m often alone. Well, there will be people around, but I don’t feel like going out and joining them.
Kokubun : You don’t want to join them.
tetsu : Mm. (nods)

Kokubun : Oh, yes, Miwa-san was able to see all of this right away, weren’t you? (laughs)
Miwa : Oh yes. As soon as our eyes met I saw “Ah, this is what kind of person he is.”
Kokubun : Wow, how impressive~.
Miwa : He seems to be easy to get along with.
Kokubun : Ah?
Miwa : I’ve met a lot of geniuses in my life.
Kokubun : Ah. And of course as soon as you saw tetsu-san, you knew he was one, too.
Miwa : Hm, it’s hard to state clearly, but he has the air of a poet, of a true artist.
tetsu : I do?
Miwa : Of course you do. (laughter)
tetsu : I didn’t think I looked like it.
Kokubun : You don’t think you look like a musician?
tetsu : Right.
Miwa : If you think that way, that’s how you’ll seem. To those who don’t see you that way, being near you will be troublesome, so you should think of yourself as a genius.
tetsu : Ah… I see.
Kokubun : I try to do that sometimes, myself. (lots of laughing)

Kokubun : Also, this should be your first time meeting Ehara-san.
Ehara : Nice to meet you. Actually, I’ve gotten information from your fan club’s newsletter.
tetsu : (nods)
Kokubun : How interesting.
Ehara : I saw that it means “rainbow.”
Kokubun : Rainbow? Rainbow.
tetsu : Yes, L’Arc~en~Ciel means Rainbow, in French.
Kokubun : Who came up with that?
tetsu : I did.
Kokubun : That sounds interesting. It seems there’s something to this. Why you picked French… It’s not just for the sound. I think there is a connection to your past life. (laughter) I really think so.
Miwa : His past life?

Kokubun : A challenge you want to attempt… being a real estate agent?
tetsu : Yes, well… I think it’s interesting. If I wasn’t a musician, I think I’d be a real estate agent (laughs).
Miwa : That’s interesting.
Kokubun : Interesting. What are you interested in? The land? Or the buildings?
tetsu : Both. But you know, I really like tall buildings. I have a skyscraper fetish, so I like taking private trips to New York or Hong Kong.
Miwa : What do you like..? Lets say, what type of form do you prefer, or what kind of materials?
tetsu : Ah… The building I like the most is the Chrysler building, in New York.

Screen : Chrysler building : Built in 1930, it is a very tall building in New York.

Miwa : Ah, that’s Art Deco. Many books have been written about the Chrysler building. Art Deco is a beautiful style. The way it is built. And so more recent styles have not come anywhere near matching the way it employs a combination of glass and iron and concrete. More recent constructions all look like hospitals, don’t you hate that?
tetsu : (awkward laugh)
Miwa : (cutting him off) Say whatever you want.
testu : The.. There really aren’t any in Toyko. Buildings I like.
Miwa : Tokyo is lacking that way (laughter). It isn’t beautiful. It’s not beautiful, right?
tetsu : Ah, yes, that’s true too.

Kokubun : tetsu-san, within ten years, you’ve moved seven times. Do you get bored easily? Or do you simply want to change your horizons?
tetsu : Both. I do want to see a different view, really… I guess I haven’t found a place I really like. Not yet. So I move because I’m searching for the right location.
Ehara : Well, there are other reasons, too. (laughter)
Miwa : We’ve dwelled too long on this. (laughter)
Kokubun : We need to go to CM.

CM, followed by a screen reading “The chart of tetsu’s aura”

Kokubun : And now, we shall proceed to chart tetsu-san’s aura. (turning to Ehara) His past life…?
Ehara : (takes a deep breath) Let me see. He hasn’t been letting me inspect his soul at all. It is tightly shut. Actually, for anyone, including him, it’s not that they don’t want to see, but that they don’t want to be looked at, so they strongly wish to shut me out.
Miwa : Projecting a barrier.
Kokubun : A barrier.
tetsu : I’m doing that?
Ehara : Yes. Ah, but it’s useless to dwell on it, you’ll only worsen the condition. You’ll make yourself feel bad. The more frightened you become, I’ve been watching since before you see, ah, well, do you mind if I digress a little?
Kokubun : Go ahead.
Ehara: Well… I’m sorry if this sounds strange. Until now, you have lived by working very hard.
tetsu : Me?
Ehara : Yes. And so from now on, you mustn’t run out of spiritual energy. You were born somewhere on earth, and as you’ve lived here you have encountered incompatibilities with your life, but I think these things will come to an end.
tetsu : …Right.
Ehara : What you should do is focus on your own… how to put this…
Miwa : Reason for living.
Ehara : That’s it. You need to have a reason for living to improve your life. Also, will you please listen to this dream tale?
tetsu : Yes.
Ehara : Actually, this is connected to your past life. Let’s see. This is going to sound rude. You were rejected by your parents. And so, you were always homeless. Always wandering and being picked on. You went from place to place, and wherever you went you absolutely refused to open your heart to anyone. And, you had a poncho?
Kokubun : Yes.
Ehara : Similar to a cape. And also… hmm… an animal. You had some sort of small horse. A pony? Something like a pony.
Miwa : A donkey.
Ehara : Yes, that’s right. Like in an anime? Like in Haha wo Tazunete Sanzen Ri (Note : this title means 3000 leagues in search of Mother. It was about a child searching for his mother all across South America.) It reminds me of that story. That manga. There is a resemblance. Your thoughts and energy from that time, even though you don’t notice, these are surfacing in your work, in your style, as the energy you put into your creations. Of course, a spiritual guardian would naturally have a different take on it. And, um, there may be one person capable of helping you most. One person who could influence you. That person would be a priest. Now, relating to your present life. Although you have many connections to people, including your family, those whom you think of as family, your close friends, the people you love, you don’t understand them.
Miwa : He’s cool on his own.
Ehara : Right. On your own. You appear to be cold, and little by little that is going to cause some trouble. And of course, that is the way life is. Such is the spice of life.

Kokubun : Then what would be the best way to change?
Miwa : The fastest way would be to completely cut off your past life.
Kokubun : Cut it off.
Miwa : Yes. Your past life was a truly miserable lifetime. A normal person, upon seeing something sad on television, usually just laughs “Haha,” but sometimes they also cry. But the part of them that laughs is completely unaffected. I have seen the back of the back of the back of people’s minds. The despicable, the cruel, the dirty, the betrayals, all these things that run along the back of people’s minds. After all, that is part of being human. These things always come from past lives. So, in this life, why not study these things at the back of the mind? You’ve been reborn into this life, so focus on the light aspects, on making people happy, and this will make you happy, as well. You owe it to yourself to experience such things this time around. That is why L’Arc~en~Ciel has become popular, and why you sell your records. But your past life is not aware of this. It is cut off from your consciousness. You must remove that past life’s influence and move on. This time, you can make many people happy, supported by your fans. And, this will also make you happy. You personally. You would be better off if you reformed your consciousness this way.
Kokubun : Change your consciousness…
Miwa : Yes. You see, right now, these things are dragging him down.

Ehara : Now, going back to what was said before, I don’t think it was France. His past life. Look at him, what do you think? Spain?
Miwa : Inca.
Ehara : Ah, is that so? I was thinking of Toledo.
Miwa : Yes yes yes.
Kokubun : What sort of conference are they starting? (laughter)

Miwa : And so. You were part of the Inca tribe, among people who lived high up. You were followed by the Spanish army, and had to run from them. You ran and ran and ran. In the area of Peru.
Kokubun : That’s what he did in a past life…
Miwa : There are always many past lives. This particular past life is the one that repeats itself. Until the Inca’s highest.. what is it called? Their highest location.
Staff member : Machu Picchu.
Miwa : Right. Machu Picchu. It’s high up. Incredibly high. And in that location, they had build a city of stone. That was discovered later. This was all part of your past life.

Ehara : That is how you lived, going from place to place.
Miwa : That is why you were so guarded.
Ehara : That’s right. He is guarded.
Kokobun : Do you now want to change… how you feel about yourself? (said to tetsu)
tetsu : Ah (is cut off)
Miwa : Don’t you think you need to do something?
tetsu : right. Really, I’ve felt something like what you said, a long time ago. I’m very cold, I don’t trust people, I’ve never hoped for anything…
Kokubun : You don’t hope?
tetsu : It’s always coming…
Miwa : You have no energy.
Ehara : Right.
Miwa : That is, love energy. Loving, being loved, that joy.
tetsu : I don’t understand that.
Miwa : That’s right, you don’t. You don’t know what love energy is.
tetsu : I don’t really understand what it means to love someone.
Kokubun : Eh? Is that so?

Ehara : Also, above your aura, it looks bad, it is becoming black.
Kokubun : A black aura.
Ehara : Yes. But it isn’t a black aura. It’s not all black. Rather, I would say it’s silver? It seems to also be emitting some black, among that colour…. I’m sorry, I’m saying this arbitrarily. Um… it doesn’t seem alive. Currently, you have desires, you have a job, but this part of you appears weighed down. This looks bad.

Kokubun : How is your current situation? How do you feel about your situation as an artist, and so on?
tetsu : … I never thought that I would be a musician, although it’s been eleven years since my debut. It’s mysterious, it can’t be helped. How… How did I end up getting here?…
Miwa : You think it can’t be true.
tetsu : That’s right. Somehow, it feels like I’m not really me. Sometimes.
Kokubun : Oh really?
Miwa : Then, take notice of yourself. Notice your own position. How popular you are. How your products have sold, how you have fans who support you. Right? This should demonstrate what’s wonderful about you, illustrate how much you have accomplished.
tetsu : Eh…

Miwa : Right. The proper proof exists, yet even though it’s right before your eyes, you think “No way, it’s not true,” and reject everything that way. So, why don’t you take notice of the truth? It will make things easier.
tetsu :… I don’t think it has much to do with my own power. (laughs)
Miwa : Why do you say that? Why do you think that way? You deny all the positives and refuse to believe in them. You believe in all the negatives. Correct?
tetsu : That’s right (nods).
Miwa : That’s how you are. You’re highly insecure. Many young people are like that.

Ehara : You create your own reality, right? Preforming it yourself, right?
tetsu : Yes.
Ehara : That is not reality.
Miwa : You’re in those weekly publications that girls look at, right?
Kokubun : (laughs)
tetsu : That’s… Not really (laughs)
Miwa : You are.
Ehara : But doesn’t that mean there are people who love you?
Miwa : Doesn’t it?
tetsu : Eh? Are there?
Ehara : It’s not just that. You have friends among your fans?
Miwa : Don’t you?
tetsu : Ah…

Kokubun : How is it? While talking to these two, have you felt anything?
tetsu : (after some hesitation)…Specifically… What should I do?
Miwa : Ah… The simplest way… the simplest method, would be for you to search for something to be thankful for. Always. Wherever you are.
tetsu : Something to be thankful for?
Miwa : You should find something. I once did a concert with Mishima Yukio-san. The profits went to an institution for the physically disabled. At a time when I was poorest, when magazines were writing bad things about me, it had gotten into people’s heads that I was worthless, they would badmouth me, refuse to come near me, and I slipped into self-hatred. And at the same time, I saw these children who had obstacles. They spoke honestly : “What are you so worried about? Your worries aren’t anything to worry about. You can walk, can’t you? You can see. You can tell the people you love “I love you” with your own voice. But you won’t even tell your own children, spouse, parents, grand children, that you love them. With your own voice. Why aren’t you thankful? Why aren’t you happy?” When I heard that, it was as if something had struck me in the head. Suddenly, I understood. Oh, that’s right. I can walk, I can see, I can hear, I have a place to call home. With walls. Long ago, I was homeless, I slept wrapped in newspapers. I’ve had to go months barefoot because I didn’t have shoes. Now I’m grateful for these things, grateful for my shoes. I’m happy. Once I began to take consciousness of all this, my life energy began to flow. Don’t you also have many things to be thankful for?
tetsu : Hmmmngg…
Miwa : You must have so many reasons to love. Your name is known all over Japan. What are you unsatisfied with?
(laughter, followed by CM)

Miwa : Don’t you also have many things to be thankful for?
tetsu : Hmmmngg…
Miwa : You must have so many reasons to love. Your name is known all over Japan. What are you unsatisfied with? (laughter)
tetsu : Unsatisfied? …
Miwa : Don’t you mention luxuries! (Said in rough language)
(laughter)

tetsu : What about luxury?
Miwa : Luxury. That’s what you have. In some tens of years, your name won’t be spoken, your records won’t sell, you’ll realise you’re just another of many 40-50 year olds. I know a lot of people like that. If they heard you talking now, they’d beat you. They’d tell you to smile, or else.
tetsu : Ah. I see, yes.
Miwa : And so… You see, people who truly care about you are going to appear.
Ehara : Yes.
Miwa : And then, when that time comes, do not be suspicious of those who love you. Don’t begin by thinking it must be a lie.
tetsu : Right.
Miwa : You always think it must be lie, at first.
tetsu : I do, at first.
Miwa : You do.
Ehara : I think that love first comes from the family.
tetsu : From… the family.
Miwa : After a long time spent crying, you can attach yourself to those people. And so, please open your eyes to that fact.
Kokubun : It means you have a place to return to.
tetsu : But why… I’ve lived this way ever since I was little, and I wonder why… was it my past life, then…
Miwa : It’s been this way since the life before the life before the life before your past life.
Ehara : Tell your fans you love them, too.
(laughter)

Kokubun : So, tetsu-san, how was your experience today?
tetsu : Ah, that’s right. I’m Marco, aren’t I? (Note : The main character of the anime cited earlier) I don’t really like Marco. He’s so impatient, going “Here, here, here!”
Kokubun : But, that’s how those around you see you, probably.
tetsu : Oh, really.
(CM voice talks over Kokubun’s summarizing of what was said)
tetsu : And my aura’s colour changed, didn’t it?
Kokubun : It seems so.
tetsu : I see. To reflect my heart?
Kokubun : Right. As your feelings change, the bit of black we saw come into it today should vanish. At least, I think so.
tetsu : Ah.. So it’s stuck being black…

(Ending)

Transcribed and translated by Natalie Arnold

Here, you will find other tetsuya-related translations that Nanani has done. Some are L’Arc~en~Ciel pieces, others are solely tetsuya, tetsu, or TETSU69, but all fall within this scope. Most have been posted elsewhere, usually because they were requested there, but the version on this site will always be the most complete and least likely to have mistakes and typos.

1)I am not translating this work in a professional capacity. It is always possible for mistakes to sneak in, but these will be minimal.

2)NO STEALING! Everything that appears here took a lot of time and effort, so do NOT steal my work!

3)Do not repost these translations anywhere. Ever. Link to this page if you want to, giving out credit when you do so.

4)The translations may not be used for fansubs (in the case of video clips) or scanlations (if I ever do anything scanlateable) without getting my permission first.

I’d like to give thanks to my beta readers, because without help these things would be far less coherent.

There is no set schedule for updates, but please check often nonetheless.

– tetsu-san, please tell me your weak point.
[It’s probably that I’m short tempered. I get really rude. I think I’ve hurt a lot of people that way.]

– Let’s say you’re supposed to meet someone. How long are you willing to wait for the other person to show up?
[I don’t wait for anyone. I don’t know if I do it to others, too, but I absolutely despise being kept waiting. Either they come see me or I go see them. Sometimes I’ll arrange to meet up with someone, but its rare for me to do that.]

– Have you always been like that?
[I used to be even stricter when it came to time. Let’s see…… I’ve gotten more casual, haven’t I?]

– Casual? Perhaps a part of you has come to think “Well, whatever,” when it comes to these things?
[But I don’t think “Well, whatever.” Even though I think “This is bad,” I do things for speed when I’m going to be late. Normally, the only things I don’t rush with are washing my face and changing my clothes. So it takes me the same amount of time to do it regardless of whether I’m in a hurry or not (laughs).]

– Of course, arrangements to meet someone bring about a certain pressure.
[Meeting someone, deciding “Which day, what time,” and the like, always feels like work to me. Even if it’s arranging to have fun with friends on my own time. I don’t know how I’m going to be feeling on that day, at that time. By then, I might not even feel like going anymore, so I don’t make promises like that. Even if something sounds like fun on the day it’s being planned, I don’t know if I’m going to end up being in a depressed mood by the time that day comes around, so I really don’t want to make plans. It’s like I don’t want to keep too strict a schedule. I prefer something like “So call me on that day and we’ll see.” Or “I’m usually not working around that time, so call me and we’ll figure something out.”]

– Does that mean that cancelling at the last minute doesn’t suit your personality?
[Nah, sometimes I do bail out. Like “I’m sorry! I forgot!” (laughs). “I forgot” has got to be the worst thing I can say to a person. I’ve never talked about this before, but once I promised to go out for dinner with a friend, even going as far as making reservations in a restaurant, and then I completely forgot. I had dinner on my own, then after I finished, the phone rang, “Shit!” (laughs). I didn’t mention I’d eaten, I just said “Sorry! I forgot! Even though I made time for it!” or something like that.]

– (laughs) Yeah, that is pretty awful.
[It’s horrible. I’m so sloppy. From my public image, I seem like a strict, picky person don’t I? Well, since I’m a type A (1), I can’t say I’m not like that. But I’m sloppy. So much that it surprises people.]

– Although when it comes to work, you return to being strict, don’t you?
[Not really. It’s just that it often occurs to me that things would work better if I were strict about them. Lately, I’ve been thinking that I might be better off not being so strict. It’s not that I don’t want to be strict anymore, or that I’m being forced to change, but I really do think it would be better that way. Before, I followed “Hard on others, hard on oneself.” Lately, I’m going easier on others as well as on myself.]

– But isn’t that a good thing? Though it would be awful if you went “Hard on others, easy on oneself,” (laughs).
[You know, these thoughts I’ve had don’t really sound like they come from me, maybe someone’s been planting ideas in my head (laughs).]

– Ahahahaha. Do you have any others? Weak points. Even just things you aren’t good at.
[My social disposition. I’m rather shy, so I don’t often start talking to people of my own initiative. But if someone else talks to me first, I’ll talk quite freely. It might be a weak point. Just a little. But I like myself the way I am.]

– I see. So, how are you with things like horror?
[I like horror movies. I watch a lot of them. I used to make time to watch at least one horror movie every night. But then when L’Arc got started, I met hyde. He puts on a character, you know? Yet he likes horror movies even more than I do. Given how he acts, I hadn’t thought hyde could beat me that way; I didn’t think horror movies would appeal to him at all.]

– When you go to amusement parks, how much do you scream?
[I like screaming. I’m good at it. I think my record is riding the same roller coaster five times in a row. Isn’t it heart-pounding? Because it’s so much fun. When I was little, I really wasn’t afraid at all, but now that I’m older and wiser I’m a little scared.]

– Thinking “It might break!” “What if we get stuck?” and the like. But it’s OK if you scream. What else?
[…… Weak points…… Mentally, I don’t think I’m very strong. I’m easily hit. I fall for things easily, maybe, too.]

– Could that be why you’re the type to stay cooped up at home?
[I’ve always stayed cooped up at home, so that’s normal for me. I like being alone. I like being noisy with people, too, but I also like my solitude. I don’t dislike that aspect of myself. I’m not the type who can’t handle being alone. Sometimes I have more fun by myself.]

– If you’re weak, mentally, maybe you should work on toughening up……
[No, I wouldn’t say I’m “weak.” I think I’m just “not very strong.” I only said it so I’d have another answer to “What are your weak points?” Well, I guess I’m not very mentally strong, or something. I think this is the first time I’ve asked myself “Weak points? What are they?”]

– Interviewer : Honma Yuuko
Translated by Natalie Arnold

1. Type A as in blood types. According to Japanese superstition, blood type determines one’s personality. See chapter 15 for more. Go back.

Ren Chi msged me this morning asking if I knew of any tabs for the bass solo on New World. I didn’t have a tab but I had heard it so many times, I felt it was worth a shot to give it a go. This is what I came up with and at like 9:00am (I don’t look pretty) it sounded pretty accurate. I’ll check it again later when I am more AWAKE (no pun intended) for accuracy. Anyways, its in Quicktime MPEG-4 Video format for easy learning.

Enjoy the show!

– tetsu-san, you’re a bit of a sore loser, aren’t you?
[I don’t think I am, though. A sore loser…… partially, I am, but in other ways I’m not. Typically, I’m not. Of course, if I lose at something, I’ll feel bad. “Sore losers” are usually people who lost after putting in a lot of effort, right? So they could win. I’m not a hardworking person though (laughs). It’s just that first of all, I think “I’m not even competing.” “I wasn’t fighting from the start.” (laughs)]

– You’ve been in a different arena, right? Since the start. So it doesn’t matter if you win or lose.
[Right. I don’t think it’s about winning or losing.]

– Do you rather dislike competition, to an extent?
[Competition, well, there hasn’t been much of it in my life.]

– I see, I thought there would have been. Such as fights and the like.
[No, I’m an adult now, so I don’t get into fights. That’s not what “sore loser” means, is it? I think feeling bad about losing is different. Doesn’t everyone feel bad when they lose?]

– Then, what is a “sore loser?” A hardworking person?
[Isn’t it someone hardworking?]

– I understand. Let’s take a more practical example, relating to your work in music. Perhaps you can connect the topic to something there.
[Hm, when I can’t play something myself, I feel bad, and it makes me want to learn to play it. Is that what is means? “To hate to lose.” “I can’t play this part. Since I can’t do it, I’ll work hard until I can.” That sort of thing is “hating to lose” isn’t it? But it doesn’t mean I’ve lost to the people who can already play it, really. So it’s not a question of winning or losing, is it? It’s not a competition.]

– Ah, right. Do you have a “mind of a rival?”
[The “mind of a rival?” No, I don’t. I don’t have anyone to view as a rival.]

– This might sound odd, but do you concern yourself with the charts?
[When it comes to the charts, sometimes you can sell 100,000 copies and be number one, and other weeks you could sell 500,000 copies and only make it up to number three, so I think part of it is timing and luck. There are talks behind the scenes where the staff members who decide a CD release date take into consideration when other artists are releasing their work. The average person doesn’t know about that, right? Still, that’s how it is. We aren’t involved, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. They plan the order by noticing “We’re being talked about,” or “Our popularity is currently shooting up,” and that makes it easier to get into magazines and on TV, honestly. It’s pure propaganda. Spending money on that, or spending it on other things, well…… there’s a lot of talk about whether or not that’s right. So, anyway, even if release dates are set that way, thinking only about sales, the times are always going to have an effect. Compare with just five years ago; CDs were everything to the music business. But now around the world, they’re selling less and less, so its not a simple question of counting the number of discs sold anymore.]

– That’s true. The current social situation is influencing things.
[Right now, copying is a problem. Young people spend their money on cell phones and stuff, so they aren’t buying CDs…… that’s one of many elements. And it’s not something you can solve with “If I lose, I’ll work harder.” It’s a business, and so there are record company politics involved, too. So, all I can do as a musician is to make good music. We don’t think about anything beyond that.]

– I understand. Perhaps you mean that it’s not the artists themselves, but clearly the people they work with who compete and complicate things with their schemes.
[But, I think that’s a natural part of selling things. Take electronic appliances. You have companies A, B, and C. When company A makes a new product, companies B and C try to make something better, something cheaper, and they compete that way. So, you can just imagine the same thing when it comes to selling CDs. Because it’s a “product.” I don’t think it’s a bad thing, from a sales point of view it’s only natural.]

– Of course.
[And so, you know, I can’t help but think coolly about everything, and this talk has really gotten completely off the topic of “hating to lose.”]

– Well, tetsu-san, you wouldn’t consider “sore loser” to be a good description of your personality……?
[I don’t know whether I am or not. People have called me a “sore loser” before, but I’ve never sat down calmly and thought to myself “I really am a sore loser.” Though I don’t really think I’m not one, either. I think I’m quite normal…… That is all. (laughs)]

– No, no, we’re not done yet (laughs). tetsu-san, do you ever look at a person and think “This must be someone who doesn’t give up,” about them?
[Not really. You know, it’s unthinkable to me that I would be thought of that way. I think giving up is important.]

– It’s important to give up? Ah, but what could you be implying?
[For example, even after 40 rejections, I still see musicians growing their hair out and saying “I’m gonna be a pro!” painfully. “Give it up, you don’t have a chance.” I think giving up is important, and I think it’s bad to lose track of reality. Having a dream is very important to people, but I think there are a lot of people who make the mistake of fleeing reality.]

– There are many who accept that “If you wish for your dreams, they’ll come true” ?
[Even I say “If you really wish for it, it’ll definitely come true” about dreams. I say that because, if you make it come true, then it will become reality. But I don’t know if people I’ve never met or seen will appreciate that. The feeling that you need to do something for it is incredibly important. But then there are people in the world who wait for everything to happen, and awful things happen to them, right? So, to those who say “I wanted it so badly, but it didn’t work out,” I think there’s something slightly wrong with how you wished for it. I think, “Don’t you think something went wrong while you were wishing so hard?”]

– That’s saying a lot.
[And so, I think giving up is important. I’m not all that hardworking, I’m not very persistent, so I can’t possibly be what people consider to be someone who “hates to lose.” I’m more or less normal. Or rather, I probably lean more towards being careless. It’s just that all my dreams came true even though I wasn’t all that persistent. I’ve been amazingly lucky, lucky in finding the members, arranging lives, and debuting within two, three years. And selling out Budoukan (1) within two, three years of debuting, even.]

– Even so, I don’t think it’s true that you didn’t work hard.
[I worked more or less as hard as any human being does, in their lifetime. But doesn’t that go without saying? It’s nothing I’d go around saying “I worked so hard!” about. It’s just typical.]

– It’s typical, normal, anybody could do it.
[Anyone, normally. If you’re a taxi driver, you’ll typically know the roads. If you were to say “I don’t know the way,” then you wouldn’t be a pro at all, and I think you’d be ashamed of yourself. So, if I were a taxi driver, I’d have Tokyo’s streets perfectly memorized. Yeah, hard work. But it isn’t especially something to go around saying “Aren’t I great?” about, really. I’m just saying it’s typical. There are a lot of people in the world who typically can’t do typical things, and I’m not enough of a sore loser to go around saying “I hate losing!” and I’m a typical human being.]

– Interviewer : Honma Yuuko
Translated by Natalie Arnold

1. Budoukan is one of the most famous venues in Japan. It seats 13 449 people. L’Arc sold it out in 1995, effectively within two years of their debut. Go back.

– After graduating from high school, I understand you immediately started your search for band members while working part time jobs. Was that period difficult, in terms of lifestyle?
[No. Not really. I had all sorts of jobs. I went to band practice at night, and other than that, I was always working, so around then…… I had money. So, I don’t remember much hardship (laughs). It didn’t feel like I was a poor guy (laughs).]

– What kind of places did you work at?
[Record… no, CD stores, these days. And a variety store that sold lots of accessories and things like that. That was a really interesting shop. All the employees were either musicians, or they were girlfriends of guys in bands. Nobody else worked there (laughs), so that store was a little different.]

– It seems it drew in music lovers. How did you come to have the opportunity to work in that eccentric shop?
[That was because the CD shop I had worked in before was in the same fashion mall as that variety store. Saying fashion mall sounds so old (laughs). The stores were close to each other, so I met the other employees, knew who they were. That sort of thing. But eventually, fans of my band started coming to that CD shop and that variety store. So after a while it got a bit hard to work there. I worked away from the customers for the last two or three months. Going to factories, or killing time changing the light bulbs (Both snicker). It was all just to cover my lifestyle expenses.]

– Killing time by changing the light bulbs (laughs). You said you worked to finance your lifestyle, so wasn’t it hard on you before, when you had to work in places that didn’t have any relation to music whatsoever?
[Well, when I could get away with not working, I didn’t work. I always wanted to sleep, or goof off. But I had to make enough money to live on, so I worked.]

– When you worked in the CD shop and the variety store, you did customer service in both, right? When you actually did that sort of work, was it harder than you had thought it would be?
[It wasn’t any worse. I’m short tempered (laughs). I had lots of fights with the customers who came to where I worked. I never forgive a shoplifter. If I spotted someone shoplifting, anyway, I’d chase them down and drag them back yelling “The hell you doing?!” (laughs). But seeing how things are now, I wouldn’t be allowed to do that, right? That’s a slap in the face.]

– Why did you feel so strongly about shoplifting, to the point of putting yourself at risk? Of course, stealing is wrong, but as a part-time employee, you could have thought “What a pain…” and pretended not to notice. Yet, you wouldn’t let yourself do that.
[Yeah, but, if merchandise went missing, it’s us who’d get replaced. For instance, at the CD shop, I think these days they manage everything by computer, but when I worked there during high school, they didn’t have computers, so we had to wrap the CDs individually in transparent bags and put a card in. That card had all sorts of fine print on it. If we lost it, we had to start writing up the card from scratch again, and it was just awful. We had to write it correctly. It was even worse when we didn’t realise something was missing, because we couldn’t always order more of that product. All that happened was that when we took inventory, the numbers didn’t match up. Anyway, when I had those jobs, shoplifting pissed me off. So whenever I spotted someone stealing, I dashed like mad, so lots of people got caught at that store.]

– Like a hot-blooded thief killer. That’s kind of cool (laughs).
[First, if I spotted someone shoplifting inside the store, I’d loudly say they were gonna get caught the moment they left. Because some people try to dash out of the store and run away. Then I’d follow them and catch them. It was fun using teamwork to catch the shoplifters, too (laughs). The other staff, my friends, would keep an eye open and let me know “Ah! He’s back!” or “They’re about to leave!” We caught them by working together (laughs). Now that I think about it, work was pretty fun~ (laughs). Working at the CD shop and the variety store, I didn’t only get to know the other employees. I ended up making friends with people working at the other stores in that fashion mall, too. Ah! That’s right. It’s not as amazing now, but, that CD shop had “The highest amount of Dead End sales in the nation,” they said. Still, I worked there. And then, we even had MORRIE-san come by. Lots of musicians came, since that store was used as a stop on promotional campaigns.]

– When you met a member from your beloved Dead End (1), how did you feel? Your heart must have been pounding.
[Actually, the first one of them I met was (CRAZY COOL-)JOE-san. It was while I was working the counter in that CD shop. All of a sudden, he was in front of me (chuckles). Someone I’d thought “He won’t ever come~” about, suddenly showing up in front of me. At the time, I said “I’m a fan” to him. And later, MORRIE-san came. And YOU-chan came into the shop when I was working the video concert section. I think that must’ve been the time I went out for drinks with YOU-chan (laughs). Since I was working in that kind of store, I also went to a lot of live shows and stuff. Once the show was over, I’d go backstage and get to know people. Of course, I went to see Dead End. sakura was backstage, too (laughs). Of course, we didn’t know each other back then, so we didn’t recognize each other. Then later, when we were talking, I asked “sakura, was that you backstage?” and he said “Yeah, yeah!” So even before we knew each other, we’d actually been in the same places.]

– While you were leading this kind of life at work, you were also searching for band members. What kind of people did you originally have in mind, when you started that search?
[Good looks, and also a certain degree of technical talent. That kind of person.]

-Right from the start, you had atrociously high standards (laughs). How did you go about recruiting people who had those qualities?
[I passed through all kinds of live houses. Then, I sounded out the people I’d gotten friendly with. And they introduced me to people they knew. Then, when someone caught my eye, we’d go to a studio and have a session together.]

– You must have done that many times before you found the members of L’Arc~en~Ciel. Please tell me about how you found them.
[When I first met the guitarist, hiro, we were introduced by Sammy-kun, from Billy & The Sluts(2). I don’t remember how I got to know Billy, though. One day, Sammy-kun spontaneously came to the CD shop while I was working and said “Still lookin’ for a guitar? Cause I know a good one.” He gave me a memo with the kid’s phone number on it. So I tried calling. That’s how we met. And then, how did I meet the drummer, pero…….? Ah! I went to a Zi:KILL(3) live. To watch the show. I was arm wrestling backstage with other band guys, when I mentioned “I’m starting a band, myself.” or something like that (laughs). I was always doing that sort of thing. When I was at that Zi:KILL live, one of the guys next to me asked about my band, and we started talking. We talked quite a bit, and he told me “The band I’m in now is breaking up, so I’m looking for a new one.” It went like “What do you play?” “Guitar.” “I’m bass.” And we exchanged phone numbers. Then eventually, on the phone, we planned to meet up at a studio, right? I can’t remember if I asked him or if he asked me. Anyway, we went to a studio. That kid brought another guitarist with him. They had the twin guitars, and they were looking for people to do the bass, vocals, and drums. That kid was. pero-chan came to that studio, too. A lot of different bassists and drummers showed up. We just played around a bit, that’s all. Then we decided to come back to the studio another day. The next time I went, that kid had brought two people : pero-chan and hyde (laughs softly).]

– You had gone to the studio for a session, and unexpectedly met hyde-kun.
[Yeah. There were five of us at the studio. By then I had already recruited hiro into my band. Our vocalist was going to be a guy called MATAROU, but now he’s the drummer for The Willard (laughs). He played drums for test-No. too. (4)]

– From vocalist to drummer, that’s quite a change (laughs).
[He started out as a drummer, though. So, I got that group into the studio a few times, but things never really took off. Musically, and just in general. And then, hiro and I started saying “Let’s go with a different band.” I thought “You know, those guys who came to the studio, the vocal (hyde) and drum (pero-chan) are pretty good,” so I talked to them. But pero-chan and hyde were already in a different band. So I went to see their show, thinking “Wouldn’t they be better off working with us?” It was impolite of me (both laugh). Again, I said “Come join my band.” Until that band was over with, hyde couldn’t say “Okay.” It was hyde’s band. Even if he had joined us, there would have been too many things to organize and plan for. But then, after many months, we finally got together. Me, hiro, pero-chan and hyde came together with the name “L’Arc~en~Ciel.”]

– Naming your band L’Arc~en~Ciel, that isn’t exactly something that jumps to one’s mind when it comes to thinking of band names. How did you think of it?
[The four of us got together, and we had to think of a name before we could start doing shows, so we used the name I came up with. I thought hard about whether a simple name would be best or not. At first, I tried to find a simple name, but I didn’t find anything that worked. It’s long, but seeing it written out has an impact that makes it memorable. That’s part of why I thought L’Arc~en~Ciel was a good name. With brands of clothing, too, intricate names work because they’re recognizable. I felt that L’Arc~en~Ciel was a long word to remember, but I thought that was all right. Written down, “L’Arc~” jumps out at you, right? Because of the balance between the capitals and lowercase letters, and because of the “‘” and “~” (laughs).]

– I can see why you think so. Certainly, those symbols catch the eye. If you were to do things over, what do you think would make a good band name?
[Hmmmm….. I still hear people say “Shell” (5) (Both laugh). Shell as in shellfish, or Shell as in the gas company. It isn’t an English word, it’s “Ciel” in French. The closest approximation of the French word would be “Sieru,” and I don’t think anyone would misread that as “Shell.” But when you type in katakana, the “e” in the font itself looks small. Even when you make sure it’s full-sized, it still looks like a small one. That’s why even now, some people pronounce it “Shell.” Isn’t that incredible? We’ve sold millions of CDs, been on NHK’s Kouhaku(Utagassen)(6) three times, and still people can’t say our name right. Does that happen to anyone else?]

– Probably not.
[Why can’t they learn the proper way to say it? It’s kinda sad (bitter laugh). Just sad. We even made commercials about it, you know? We hate that enough to spend money on commercials, telling people that “It’s L’Arc~en~Ciel,” but they still say “L’Arc~en~Shell.” Lately, I’ve found that to be annoying, but what can I do about it? (laughs). I try not to let it bother me too much.]

– Now, when your activities began under the name of L’Arc~en~Ciel, you must have wondered what would become of this band, and if you would ever take it to Tokyo. What definite goals were you working towards?
[Nothing. I didn’t put much thought into it, at the time. Really, that wasn’t until two or three months later (laughs). I guess just drawing lots of people to us at live houses, that sort of thing.]

– How did it feel when the four of you first started making music together?
[Well, everyone’s technique was at a level that exceeded my standards, so I wasn’t worried.]

– Did you feel a premonition that this band was going to become something incredible?
[No, I don’t remember any. But this was more than ten years ago (laughs).]

– Back then, who took care of booking venues and the like?
[Me and hiro. hyde made the fliers and stuff. I made a few of those, too.]

– Was it easy for you to mobilize everyone for live shows?
[It was. Right from the start, we drew in crowds for our shows. Our first live as L’Arc was on May 30th, 1991. We came on after another band, but about 130 people came in just to see us. From the next live
onward, we always managed to bring in at least a hundred people. Then, around October, we started doing shows on our own. Three hundred people came, then. In Osaka, getting that many people means you’ve got a reputation. Our reputation spread all the way to Tokyo, and major labels started approaching us around then.]

– And it had only been half a year since your formation! How did you react when you started getting approached by major labels?
[I was so thrilled~! I said “We don’t want to go major.” (laughs) Rather, we went out for fancy yakiniku(7), and once we were done eating, I told them so (Both laugh hard). “First of all, we have no intention of going major at the moment. We’re going to make an indie album first. We want to see how far we can get on our own, and we can’t find that out if we sign with a major label.” That really is how we felt.]

– You had major labels extend invitations to you, yet you went up to them and said “We’re going to make a CD first, then become pros.” You kept calm.
[No, no. We hadn’t put enough songs together yet. We weren’t ready to make an album yet, at that point. I thought it was still too soon even for an indie album. Really, we’d only formed half a year earlier. But how long did they think we’d been active? We were giving out free videos at our gigs. At Nanba Rockets and Shinjuku Loft. We made Rockets into our homeground. Rockets had it’s own label. For indies. They said to us “You won’t leave, will you?” As we got to be better known, we never heard anything like “Well, we can’t quite…” from the people at our homeground (laughs). We told them “Once we have a few more good songs, we’re leaving,” and took off from that place. But, they wouldn’t give up. Next time, they said “Fine, why don’t we put out a video for you?” and made us that offer. However, we didn’t like the idea of selling things, so we said “We don’t want you to sell anything, but if you make it a free video then it’s okay,” and tried to get away from them that way. They made a free video of one of our gigs. They were kinda restrictive, so it was hard to get along with them, in the end.]

– So those were the circumstances behind the making of that free video.
[Right. We didn’t want it made at all. We absolutely didn’t feel like we had to release something quickly. You know how you can feel “It’s too soon” about normal things? Our music just wasn’t ripe yet. We wanted to release something only after it was ripe enough.]

– You had been approached by major labels. Had you come up with a vision of how your major debut was going to go?
[No. It’s not that I was avoiding the thought, I just wasn’t thinking much about it. Besides, our music still had quite a way to go, so I wasn’t looking that far ahead. Not even imagining it. And I was just in my early twenties.]

– Moving on, how did ken-chan come to join the band?
[That was later, as our music was just about ripe. We started talking about putting out an indie album, and we were going to do the recording for it. It was with a label called Night Gallery. That’s who Dead End made their indie records with. So, I definitely wanted to work with Night Gallery (Both laugh). And then, right before we were going to do the recording, about a week before, our guitarist, hiro, quit. So I went to ken-chan, saying “My guitarist quit. Wanna join my band? We have a recording to do soon, so come on!” (laughs)]

– So, he joined you when you were in quite an awful situation. But how did you invite ken-chan?
[How indeed…… It was the day of our last live show with hiro. After the show, that was the day I called ken-chan! And after the show that day, at dinner with the other members, we talked about what to do about our guitarist. hyde knew about ken-chan, too. We’d talked about how I had someone like him for a childhood friend. I played a demo tape or something that ken-chan had made, and hyde said “ken-chan’s pretty good!” So, we kept talking about it until the middle of the night. Of course, this was all before cell phones (laughs). ken-chan was an ordinary university student at the time, and if I’d called him in the middle of the night, he would’ve sleepishly said “I don’t wanna,” so I waited until morning. In the restaurant. Then, around 8 or 9 in the morning, I thought “He must be awake by now” and called him. “My guitarist quit, so do you wanna join? We have a recording to do,” I told him. ken-chan was going to university in Nagoya, so he was living in Nagoya. Of course, we talked about how joining L’Arc = moving back to Osaka. “I don’t think you can make up your mind right away, so think about it for a day or two before answering,” I said. I called him back two days later. “Did you think about it?” I asked. “I know. Let’s do this together,” is what he answered me with. ken-chan came back to Osaka. Before he got back, I tried desperately to find him a place to stay (both laugh hard). Then I said “It’s settled, ken-chan.”]

– You had until he arrived to find a place for him. It must have taken incredible effort to pull that off.
[I was looking for a place that was better than what I had! (laughs) For ken-chan.]

– Just because you had such high expectations for ken-chan.
[Actually, ken-chan had just about decided on a job, at that point in time. So, there were big changes going on in his life, probably.]

– Such as deciding to join L’Arc. And so, ken-chan returned to Osaka. Did you go record that album as soon as he joined?
[We started the recording. And we almost finished it. We worked on recording it until only the mixing was left to do. Lots of stuff happened before the recording, and we had all sorts of problems during the recording itself. Eventually, I started feeling rather anxious about putting out an album with Night Gallery, to the point that I was saying “I don’t want to release this album.” However, we had made plans to release a single before the album was supposed to come out. Then, the discussion turned into “The magazines are already printed. We paid this much for the advertisement. It’s cost us this much for the recording we’ve done so far. What are we going to do about that?” But I kept saying “I don’t want to release it.” The company replied “Then, we will no longer deal with you. Send in an attorney.” “If you are willing to pay for everything described in our agreement, you do not have to release anything, but otherwise we will retain the rights to sell it,” they said. And so, we couldn’t help releasing the single. Rather than have it be sold, I think I would have prefered to pay for everything in the contract, but there was no way we could pay for that. That must have been around October. Then they told us “If you do not have the remainder paid for by the end of this month, we will hold the rights to the album and begin selling copies.” I had no idea what to do. Financially, this was in the range of two to three million yen. “There’s no way we can pay that much. We might be done for……” This was on the 28th, 29th of October. I remember those days quite clearly. Especially one evening. I was at home, sinking into despair, when the phone rang. The phone rang, and I answered it. “This is Ooishi from Danger Crue (the company L’Arc is affiliated with).”]

– Wow~! What incredible timing. Had you been contacted by Danger Crue beforehand?
[Not at all. But, of course, I knew who Danger Crue were. I didn’t know that this Ooishi guy was the boss, though, so I wondered “Who is this guy, anyway?” (laughs). Earlier, Matoba-san from ‘Rockin f’ (A specialised music magazine) had talked with me. Matoba-san and I had become quite good personnal friends. At the opening of the AION (8) exhibition hall, that Matoba-san asked me “Lemme hear your music~.” There hadn’t been a single L’Arc demo tape sold yet, so I had him promise “Make absolutely sure you don’t let anyone else hear it,” and I mailed one of our demo tapes to him. But Matoba-san did let other people hear it (Both snicker). Ooishi-san heard that tape, and called me, saying “I heard some of your music, and your sound interests me. Would you like to meet with me?” Me, I was just thinking “Lucky~!!” I said “Absolutely. I’ll go to Tokyo in the morning.” My car flew all the way there.]

– Being able to say “This is it!” and have the insight to make that decision on the spot must also be a part of your talent.
[That time, the day after the phone call from Ooishi-san, the whole band piled into my car and ran off to Tokyo. There, we explained everything about the situation we were in. We told them “We’re in trouble.” It turned out Ooishi-san was originally from Kansai, and so he knew Night Gallery’s president. Ooishi-san worked everything out. Everything was smoothed over, and then we signed with Danger Crue.]

– …… (Speechless). Such incredible timing, coincidence, and luck. It really seems as though fate itself was changing everything for the better.
[It was incredible. Dramatic. It was by amazing coincidence that I met the other members, and that we started this band together. Then, when we were in horrible trouble, we happened to meet Ooishi-san. Matoba-san, too. Even though I made him promise not to play that tape for anyone else, I’m glad he did (laughs). So many important coincidences. It’s so dramatic!]

– That kind of sweet coincidence makes for impressive drama. It can be felt that this band named L’Arc possesses a certain “destiny.”
[Doesn’t it~? I really think we do.]

– When you arrived in Tokyo and showed your face at the Danger Crue offices, what was your first impression?
[First, Ooishi-san and Kadoma-san came out to the front office. They were wearing black suits, and drove the same Benz SL as now. I thought “Woah! Yakuza!!(9) They tricked us. This sucks!” to myself, at first (both laugh). Then, Ooishi-san asked us “Why don’t we start things off with a meal?” I drove the L’Arcmobile, a little bucket of bolts with all of us crammed in, right behind that huge Benz. We were going “Now what? Wanna run away? Where are they gonna take us?” and stuff (Both laugh hard) the whole way there. And then, we end up at this totally normal family restaurant (laughs). It was called Forks. I remember. Anyway. Once we got there, Kadoma-san got in first. He was singing “Tatatataa~,” taking small steps as he went to get us some seats. While he did that, we were waiting by the entrance to Forks, and I bumped into another customer. I yelled “Ah!” (his eyes go round, as if he’s just heard a gunshot) and my eyes went wide. Seeing that, it’s like “So they ARE Yakuza!” (Both crack up laughing). Kadoma-san was a celebrity. I’d gone to Anthem (10) lives and stuff, so I knew he was nicknamed “Death.” “This guy is Death! He’s Death!” I said. Then, during the meal, we explained our situation. We also talked about why we didn’t want to release the album. Then Ooishi-san offered “Why don’t you try recording the same songs over again?” That’s how it went, which led us to recording it for good.]

– Might you be talking about DUNE?
[That’s right (laughs). But just as we were getting ready to record the good version of DUNE, our drummer quit.]

– After that, the new drummer you found was sakura-kun.
[Right. In October, I was in Tokyo talking with Ooishi-san. We were planning to do the recording just after New Years. So, for the rest of that year we were rehearsing in Osaka. We were going to come to Tokyo after New Years just for the recording itself. At that point, everybody knew who sakura was. He was with Harem Q (11), as a support drummer for them, so I thought “Since he’s not an official member, maybe he’d be willing to join us if I invite him.” (laughs). I forget how I managed to find out how to contact him, but I gave sakura a call. We talked, and he said “I’ll be in Osaka for two or three days helping out with this band, so let’s meet up while I’m there.”]

– See, there’s another marvelous timing coincidence. You called him and he just happened to have a show in Osaka right around the corner. It really is dramatic, how events played out.
[So, four of us went to see that live. Me, ken-chan, hyde, and Kadoma-san. After the show, we went out for dinner and decided “First, let’s try going to the studio together.” And so, the next day, we went to the studio right away. If I remember right. We played together a bit, and everyone was saying it sounded good. Then we talked, and he said “I’m with you.” From New Year’s onwards, we were living in a Tokyo Weekly Mansion (12) and recording DUNE.]

– Considering how much trouble you had already gone through, you must have been thrilled to finally finish DUNE, right?
[Yeah, we were. We went through a lot to get that far.]

– From the point where you started going back and forth between Osaka and Tokyo, like when you were trying to find your new member, didn’t you think it would be easier to shift your base of operations to Tokyo?
[Not at all. Cause, there was no point in doing that. As far as we were concerned. We weren’t particularly trying to become pros. DUNE was released as an indie album, so whatever happened we could think “Wow, great,” and then maybe think about the possibility of making a career of it. Releasing DUNE wasn’t a specific goal, and I don’t think we were talking about going major during the DUNE period.]

– It wasn’t one of your ambitions to work towards becoming pros.
[During that phase, I personally wanted to make our situation a bit better. That kind of feeling, you know? That’s how I felt. When we first formed, we could only have shows in tiny little live houses. So, then, I was thinking that it would be nice if we could get enough spectators to fill up an entire hall. For recording studios, too, at first we didn’t have much money, so the timing was tight. And so, I wanted to be able to schedule more time at the studio to make better recordings. And I thought it would be nice to get a better studio, too. That’s not really restrained to the music life, is it? If you live in a small place, you want to get a bigger place next time. I think it’s the same sort of thing.]

– Rather than run off with the first major label that caught your eye, you wanted to be sure of things, looking over each step carefully before progressing to the next one.
[Like I said, I wasn’t at all thinking that I wanted to become a pro. It was only when I personally felt ready to take a step up that I did so. That is how humans think, isn’t it? I did realise that the way things were going, if I kept taking these steps, I would end up being a pro musician. I think humans are creatures who constantly seek to improve their own situation. I think that’s what I was doing.]

– Of course, every human being wants to progress. However, in the story of L’Arc you’ve told so far, the people you met, the unbelievable timing and coincidences, the way incidents were so perfectly connected, the result of it all led you to progress in ways that others cannot. It truly seems that above and beyond your own efforts, something else was at work.
[I’ve always been lucky. I got as far as I did in life because of that “luck.” Lots of luck, and the rest was effort. It feels like that’s how I got where I am now.]

– Ooishi-san called you with excellent timing, your fortunate meeting at the AION opening, it really does seem like luck is what ties all of it together.
[But, like I said before, there’s a certain amount of effort required, too.]

– Concretely speaking, what do you mean by that?
[To have Ooishi-san listen to that demo tape, and have him take an interest in our music because of it, I had to put together some bass work, first. I went to AION shows, and even to the opening of that hall. If I hadn’t met Matoba-san from ‘Rockin f’ there, that demo tape never would have been passed along. There was luck involved in my going there, but I worked at it, too. To a certain degree, some people are lucky and others aren’t. That applies to people, and to places too, I think. So, it’s possible to work on improving your luck a little. I can’t give any concrete examples of how to do that, though. In my case, for example, I went to a lot of lives and got to know a lot of people that way, and that kind of effort ended up leading to good results. Back then, I was doing all the management work for the band. I got another phone, in addition to my private home line. I called it the “L’Arc~en~Ciel contact” office. Of course, that’s the phone number Ooishi-san called me on. I had a seperate mailbox set up for it, too. Having the mail forwarded to my home wasn’t cool, because then the fans found out where I lived. So it wouldn’t be cool to have the same phone for the band and for private use, right? I wouldn’t know which way to answer it, either. Act as if I had a lot of staff? I was doing it all on my own. That was another kind of effort. Because I worked on that aspect of things, I think I made some important connections. Besides, however many demo tapes we made, no matter how great the music on them is, we’re not constantly making music. If people could just go ahead and contact us directly, like for example, at a member’s home, we wouldn’t really want to answer the phone, right? I had a phone just for that, and an answering machine and fax, too. Because of that, I didn’t have to worry about answering the phone wrong. When I answered the contact phone, I always got a chill down my spine, and answered saying “What is it?” or something (laughs). Not a good way to answer, is it?]

– I see (laughs). Has your opinion on luck and effort stayed the same, or has your viewpoint changed since that era?
[It’s still the same.]

Interviewer : Toujou Sachie
Translated by Natalie Arnold

1. Dead End has been mentioned in many previous chapters. The four members are MORRIE (vocal), YOU (guitar), CRAZY COOL JOE (bass) and MINATO (drums). Go back.

2. Billy & The Sluts were a Japanese indie heavy metal band who were successful enough to release an album. Go back.

3. Zi:KILL were quite a famous band from the early 90s, who have since disbanded. Interestingly enough, yukihiro’s debut as a drummer was with this band. Go back.

4. The Willard are a rock band still active today. test-No., who MATAROU also did some drum work for, includes RYO and DEN as guitar and bass, respectively, as well as sharing the vocals. These latter two are members of ZIGZO, formed by sakura after he left L’Arc~en~Ciel, with that group’s vocalist being TETSU of Malice Mizer’s early days.Go back.

5. In Japanese, L’Arc~en~Ciel sounds like “Raruku an Shieru” when read from katakana. The “Shie” part is often misread as “She” leading to the “Shell” mispronunciation. The “Sieru” version is written with a katakana combination that does not naturally occur in Japanese. The sounds “She” and “Sie” are both written by combining the symbols for “Shi” or “Su” with a small “e” that transforms the vowel sound. A normal sized “e” is not always easy to tell apart from a small one, hence the possible confusion. Go back.

6. Kouhaku Utagassen, meaning “Red White Song Battle,” is a New Years special broadcast annually. Famous artists are split into two teams, red and white, and their performances are judged by other celebrities. Being one of the artists on a team is considered a sign of incredible success. Go back.

7. Yakiniku, also known as Korean Barbecue, is a meal where cuts of meat are grilled at the table, as one is about to eat them. The fancier the meat, the more expensive the meal.Go back.

8. AION is a company based in Osaka that makes industrial materials, such as sponges. Go back.

9. Yakuza are the Japanese mafia. Black suits and driving expensive cars, like the Benz, are sterotypical Yakuza traits. Go back.

10. Anthem were a Japanese power metal band that started in the 80s and were successful for a long time. They went through many member changes, but have been active intermittently during the 90s and even during the last few years.Go back.

11. Harem Q actually released an album while sakura was drumming for them. This album was called ‘opium’. Go back.

12. Weekly Mansions are pre-furnished apartments, often quite costly. They are rented out on shorter terms than regular apartments, hence the name ‘weekly’. Note that in Japanese, a mansion refers to a large apartment rather than a large house.Go back.

– You like clothes, don’t you?
[Let’s see~, I do like them, but I wouldn’t go as far as to say they’re one of my interests.]

– But you seem to be well aware of what looks good on you.
[No, I just buy what I like. But the thing is, I don’t make good use of what I wear, really. I have a habit of buying tons of clothes. As soon as I hand over my money, something a little different will catch my eye. Not a colour like black, but a rare colour. That’s what I’m after when I shop.]

– Speaking of which, when you were little, you must have been a trendy kid?
[Well…… I ended up being trendy. People around me told me I was.]

– Also, when your mom bought clothes for you and you didn’t like them, were you quick to say so?
[Hmm, yeah, that sort of thing did happen. Early on in elementary school? When I went shopping with my mom, I picked things out myself. By the time I started middle school, I was only wearing what I chose for myself.]

– What kind of clothes did you like when you were in middle school?
[I don’t think it was that different from what I like now. Pop-ish things, cute things. Well, the times have changed, so different things are out now, but the style of things I like hasn’t changed. I was flashy, in middle school. Leopard prints, animal prints, I had lots of those. And fake fur coats and jackets, too.]

– You certainly made a gorgeous middle schooler (laughs). Did you wear rubber soles back then?
[In first year of high school…. or third year of middle school? They were expensive for me, back then. So, I wore battamon ones, not George Cox ones or anything like that(1). You know, if you only have one of the real thing and you wear it every day, it’ll wear out fast (laughs). Genuine rubber soles wear out really quickly, believe it or not. Battamons take longer. Their soles are made stronger.]

– Oh! I didn’t know that! You used your allowance to buy those, right?
[That’s right. I didn’t have anything but my monthly allowance, basically. I’d save my New Years gift money, then get by on that. Oh, and I worked a little, too. I did some newspaper delivery.]

– When you were that age, tetsu-san, was anyone a sort of fashion leader for you?
[I guess the first were Duran Duran? During the New Romantics phase(2). That was in middle school, first and second year. By the end of second year, I was in a band myself, and I was into hard rock and heavy metal. I wore tons of skin tight, slim pants. It was the style, really~. Glam (rock) style.]

– Now you aren’t caught up in those things, you have your own original fashion sense.
[No, that’s not right. Its just that the brands I like change with each era, just like what’s popular in the world changes. I think that’s more or less it.]

– Do you keep up with what’s popular?
[I wouldn’t say I keep up, but to a certain degree I have to read up on the era, so I think I want to know what’s going on. It’s not that I actively work at it, at knowing what’s going on; I make my own choices.]

– Then… please tell me more about how the brands you like have changed.
[Let’s see, when I was in high school, Hysteric Glamour (3) was a big thing, I rather liked it. And Vivienne (Westwood) (4) too. But it was expensive for me, in school. Then, my early 20s were bad, weren’t they? Luna Matiino, Arrston Volaju, Gaultier and so on(5). Expeeeensive foreign stuff. All black, dressed like a host or something (laughs). In my teens, I had an eye for expensive things, even though I couldn’t buy them. Once I had a chance to dress like that, I started liking more casual clothes. I went back to Hys and the like. For the last two, three years, I’ve liked Number (N)ine, UNDER COVER, Dior (Homme), RAF SIMONS, D&G (6). And of course Vivienne. That sort of thing~]

– It seems you’ve gone back to taking it lightly, now, compared to high school. Do you still have any of your old clothes from that time?
[I kept some things. There are clothes I bought ten years ago that I still wear once in a while.]

– Do you think you’ll always buy the same kind of clothes as you do know?
[Hmm, I don’t think ahead like that. I think I’ll just pick out what I like at that particular time.]

– What do clothes mean to you, tetsu-san?
[The way I see it, wearing clothes you like is a way of bracing yourself. It affects your mood. Even though it’s said that “Appearances don’t determine a person,” it’s a fact that a lot of the time, you’re judged on how you look at the moment. For example, you can be sloppy on the inside, but if you dress yourself up a little you’ll be seen as a neater person (laughs). As an unexpected twist, I think that’s a good thing when used effectively.]

Interviewer : Harada Sachi
Translated by Natalie Arnold

1. George Cox is a brandsof shoes. George Cox is a more internationally famous brand. Battamon is a Kansai dialect word for an imitation product, meant to cheaply replicate a brand name. Go back.

2. The New Romantics Boom and Duran Duran were first footnoted back in Chapter 5. Go back.

3. Hysteric Glamour is originally a Japanese brand, started in the mid-80s, but is now popular overseas too. They make glam punk type clothing. Go back.

4. Vivienne Westwood is a British brand named after it’s first designer, who is moslty responsible for starting modern punk and new wave fashions. Her fashion, jewelry and perfumes are very popular around the world. Go back.

5. Luna Matiino was a brand of men’s clothes, typically worn by the long-haired gothic type. It doesn’t seem to exist anymore. Arrston Volaju is a Japanese brand. Gaultier, short for Jean-Paul Gaultier, is a French designer. Go back.

6. Number (N)ine is a Japanese brand. So is UNDER COVER. Dior Homme is French. RAF SIMONS is based in Belguim. D&G stands for Dolce & Gabbana, an Italian brand. Go back.

– What criteria did you use to choose a high school?
[Nah, I just went. Educationally (laughs).]

– What sort of clubs were you in once you started high school?
[None. Just like in middle school, I was in the go-home club.]

– What sort of changes were there in your lifestyle, going from middle school to high school?
[I got more serious about wanting to start up a band. The rest didn’t change. The “must cram” feeling got even stronger, in high school. It felt like I was constantly at cram school.]

– You felt like high school and cram school were merged together, then.
[I didn’t spend that much time thinking about “school” in general. I remember wondering why I was supposed to worry about it so much. Education until middle school is required by the national government, but after that, you’re free to choose whether to go to high school or not, aren’t you?]

– Certainly, that’s the case for high school.
[I decided on my own. Still, it felt like it was all cram school. Personally, I figured that since I chose to go to high school, I would stick with it until the end. Basically, I didn’t think that I’d need what I was studying at all once I got out into the world on my own. Especially so during high school. So then, the reason I willingly chose to stay in high school until the end, even though I thought it was useless, was that I wanted to see if I had enough perseverance.]

– It wasn’t to test your learning abilities, but rather to test your perseverance. I don’t think there are many people who go to high school with that kind of mentality. How did you come to think that way?
[Because, if you go to high school and say “I hate this! I quit!”, you’ll find that once you start working in a business, there’s lots more to hate. In school, it’s still safe to say “I hate this, I hate that, I’m gonna quit,”, but in business, I don’t think you can do anything about it. Then as soon as you find something slightly disagreeable at work, you’ll say “I quit!” right away. And then, you won’t do any work. So, even though I hated high school, I stayed in just so I could test my own willpower and perseverance. For instance, if a teacher I hate says something nasty to me, and I can endure it, well, when I get a job somewhere, there will probably be people like that, there, too. I think that treating high school as training for that kind of thing is a good way to look at it. Lastly, when it comes to having graduated high school, I don’t think you can do anything if you don’t at least have that academic background, can you?]

– I see. You made the decision while looking ahead at your ultimate goals in life. Then with that in mind, you started high school. What was your homeroom teacher like?
[The homeroom teacher for my first class was a male. He was young, so he was close to our age, and he was easy to talk to. And he had a sense of humour. Without that, we couldn’t have had fun, right? He wasn’t the kind of teacher who taught anything out of the ordinary though, so after graduation I forgot everything I learned from him. In the end, it’s the humourous teachers you remember more, isn’t it?]

– Did your homeroom teacher give you any advice about your wanting to start a band?
[His stance was to neither discourage me nor encourage me.]

– Since you wanted a band that badly, surely you must have met some opposition?
[I didn’t. There wasn’t any, but some people did see me badly. “There’s no way you’re ever gonna pull it off,” they said. When I used “I have band practice” as an excuse not to do something or go somewhere, the usual reaction was “That’s totally pointless. You ain’t gonna feed yourself with a band!” and things along those lines.]

– In your high school days, did you still go to your senpai’s house after school, where you, the senpai, and ken-chan would hang out listening to records?
[By the time I started high school, we weren’t doing that anymore, really. Senpai and ken-chan both went to a different high school. They were in a different grade, and they couldn’t spend so much time goofing off the way we did in middle school. We each ended up in separate bands. With our respective school buddies. So, it was only occaaaaasionally that I’d play music with my childhood friends.]

– Holding band practice and renting studios costs money, doesn’t it? Were you already working part-time jobs by high school?
[I was. In fast food. Making taiyaki and yakisoba (1). Japanese fast food places. I always followed a manual, so if you asked me to make some now, I wouldn’t be able to (laughs).]

– Your high school allowed part time jobs, then (2).
[It was against the rules, actually (laughs). But my parents were the type to say “Get a job. Never mind their rules.” (laughs). In the end, the Japanese constitution is more important than the school rules. As long as it’s within the law, little things like breaking one school’s rules don’t really matter, do they? Would they have arrested me for that? In my family, we did things our own way. I think that might be why I go against the stream (laughs). I didn’t do anything legally wrong. I didn’t smoke, I didn’t shoplift, I didn’t even ride a motorcycle. I mean, I just had a job, and what about those guys who were smoking?]

– Who were the members of the band you had in high school?
[We had members who came from a different school. You know how they have amateur nights in live houses sometimes? I’d go to watch my friends’ bands on those nights, when they played. I had lots of opportunities that way. That’s how we ended up forming that band.]

– By the way, what name did you use for that band?
[Byston Well. I picked it. I took the name from an anime I liked. Anime fans will get it right away.] (3)

– What kind of band was it? Both stylistically and in terms of people.
[We were a group of four. The life of that band was doing covers of Dead End. We had a few original songs, later.]

– Did you write any songs, back then?
[I wrote a few tunes. But what I wrote was really second string stuff for this band. Strictly speaking, I had changed the band’s name. At first, it was called Prisoner. Then, their bassist quit, and I joined the band. Until I joined, they had been doing covers of Reaction(4). And some of Sniper! too, but then I said “I like Dead End” and pretty soon we started covering Dead End instead (laughs). And, “Since I’m in now, wanna change the name?” Then I got the band name changed to Byston Well. In that band, even though I was the last member to join, I ended up becoming the leader (Both share a big laugh), before I knew it.]

– You don’t feel you took over the band, now do you? (laughs)
[So anyway, our guitar player wrote songs. I still think they were pretty good. There really weren’t many high school bands around who were playing original stuff. Around there, anyway. That band had good tunes, and good technique too. That’s why I joined them. Until then, I thought I was going to have to manage my members. “You be drums” or something like that. But I didn’t have to (pained laugh). “You guys are great doing what you’ve always done.” That’s what I figured when I met them. We became good friends. It started with “We’re lookin’ for a member” and “I do bass.” And then a little while later we had a talk on the phone. “Our bass just left, so you wanna join?” was the gist of it. I went “Lucky~!” (laughs). Really, I was, suddenly finding a bunch of talented people, and doing a band with them. I think that was in first or second year of high school.]

– Were the members classmates of yours?
[Actually, they were a grade or two below. But when I first met them at a live house, I thought they were older. Cause they were so good. They were doing covers of Sniper and sounded exactly like them! I figured they were young looking university students. Oh, and they had blond hair, even (laughs). And they were using incredible equipment. I think the drum kit had a double bass; anyway it was an expeeensive looking drum kit. And the guitarist was using a Marshall (amp) too. Looking at that equipment, and at their technique, you wouldn’t have thought they were in high school. I thought “They gotta be older,” but they turned out to be younger (laughs). But I still felt lucky to get to join their group.]

– And once you were in, before they knew it you were injecting them with your own chosen colours (laughs).
[Yeah, yeah (laughs). Maybe that’s why the members left (both laugh). Since they didn’t like my way of doing things, two members left at once. The guitarist and drummer. So then, I got ken-chan to come be the guitarist.]

– Wha! You were in a band with ken-chan back then?
[Yep. But my asking ken-chan to come join that band wasn’t the beginning of L’Arc (laughs).]

– Is that so? That’s the first time I’ve heard this story.
[Yes! Well, I am telling it more politely than usual (laughs).]

– But how did the incident where two members left at once come about?
[Well, they’d been in a quitting sort of mood for a while before that. Before, there was sort of two-against-two atmosphere. Then they said “As soon as we’re done here, we quit.” The last thing we did was enter a contest, and we were the winners. We appeared in the next Kansai-Shikoku-Okinawa rally (laughs). And they put us on TV too. There was a misunderstanding concerning that. It was an hour long program, but in the end credits, they had a close-up of me, only (both laugh). Why did they use a shot of me? Don’t they usually take close-ups of the vocalist? But instead of showing our vocalist, they picked me. And they only did that to our band.]

– It’s impressive that you won that contest, and even more impressive that you got that close-up shot.
[Anyone who saw it must have wondered who it was! (laughs)]

– Yes, yes, I understand your feelings.
[“They’re turning me into a representative of Japan, next they’ll be wanting me to go to the World Cup.”]

– Suddenly, the topic jumps to soccer (laughs).
[Well, soccer’s a good example, since you can get the same sort of misconception. “Without doing much work, you can somehow get turned into a pro.” In the end, no one’s going to be cheering (laughs). That’s the misconception. I think I’m happy with the results, though. If we had really become pros that way, I think we would have ended up as rotten people. Besides, none of us had been serious about becoming pros, yet. But looking back on it now, the people who’d been doing the image editing were incredibly good. That boy they did a close-up of turned out to be tetsu of L’Arc~en~Ciel (laughs). And so, once the contest was over with, the two of them left, our drummer and our guitarist, who had also been the main song writer, and then ken-chan joined us. And then we got a good, reckless drummer to join. They called him the local Higuchi Munetaka (5). After winning that contest, I wanted us to power up even more. With ken-chan and the new drummer there, we were able to pull it off ideally. Powering up the band. ken-chan was writing songs, so we started playing those, too. Somehow, a few songs from back then turned into songs that L’Arc used to do (giggles). Which songs, again? …….. They’re songs we played a long time ago, and I’ve forgotten the titles.]

– Wow! Do you really have songs from so long ago?
[We do. That band was the prototype phase. Then ken-chan had to go off to school, so he quit. Left that band. It’s not that we had serious discussions about him quitting or not, I think it was just that he was going to be busy with school (laughs). And that band was just a hobby. So, we changed guitarists again. I think we went through two other guitarists after ken-chan, and neither one was any good at writing songs (bitter laugh). That’s how it was. Since it was necessary, I wrote a few songs, too. That was around third year, or maybe right after the end of high school. “I could write better songs than what he’s making.” That was my first opportunity to write songs. Until then, we were doing hard rock, heavy metal music, so in my view writing songs was something the guitarist is supposed to do. On most of the albums I was listening to at the time, the guitarist wrote the music. Though sometimes, one or two songs on the album would have been written by the bassist. But I always figured those were on the part of the album that no one cared about (both laughed). That’s generally how it was.]

– How did you go about writing that first song?
[I started with the guitar riff. The first one I made went “Gaaga, gagagagah!” with the sound of a black metal riff. It was a crawly feeling song (laughs).]

– When you composed that song, did you also write the lyrics for it?
[I didn’t. I thought that the vocalist had to write the lyrics, at the time.]

– What happened to that band, later on?
[Eventually, nobody wanted to play guitar for us. The music wasn’t the same anymore. In terms of technique, we couldn’t get anyone who played as well as our first guitarist. “No good.” Naturally, we split up. After that, I decided I wanted to start a band from scratch and started looking for members. That would turn into L’Arc~en~Ciel.]

– You said your band naturally split up. Was that around your high school graduation?
[I think it was. A bit after graduation. I don’t remember much of what happened. In the later days, we weren’t doing many lives anymore. But when we did do lives, we pulled in a few customers. My face was well known, locally (laughs).]

– Before you graduated, what were your plans for after high school?
[Back then, I didn’t have any specific goal for my future. Any sort of job, at least. I just remember that I didn’t want to give up on my band. I still wanted to be in a band, so I graduated with the idea of being a freeter (6) while working on that.]

– Then you mean that you went through your high school graduation without having any idea where you were going to end up working?
[That’s right. I was the only one who graduated in that situation (laughs). Everyone else had decided on a career, or picked out a school. I was the only one who hadn’t decided anything. I’d had a part time job the whole time. So, after the ceremony, after high school graduation, I wasn’t just working after school, so I put myself on a job rotation, so my “morning come-in time” would always change. That was the biggest change in my life after graduating.]

– Since you were the only one with no plans for a career, didn’t your teachers talk your head off about it?
[They talked to me. My homeroom teacher never said anything, but other teachers said “There’s no way you can live on your music. Try a bit harder. After graduating, you need either more school or a real career.” They were always telling me things like that.]

– What did you answer when your teachers gave you that talk?
[“First of all, I can’t decide right now what I want to do for a living. I’m going to be a freeter while I look for what I want to do, and that’s good enough for me.” is what I said. I figured if I found a part-time job I wanted to stick with, I’d do that. Or if I discovered something I wanted to study, I could go back to school. While doing that, I was also searching for new band members, and that’s when I met hyde. L’Arc started up, and that leads us to the present (laughs) or that’s how it feels.]

– You can’t suddenly skip to the present (laughs). When you were thinking about your life after high school, you had no interest at all in going the way of higher education and applying to university?
[Hm. Somehow, I didn’t like the idea of doing something that would have me living off my parents after graduating from high school. Whether it’s university or trade school, the student life is pretty fun, isn’t it? Calling yourself a student is a sweet title. I realised it would be the most fun, but I didn’t think my parents would accept that explanation. And I didn’t like the idea of them wasting money on me. But looking back on it now, I realise my parents probably thought that my being a freeter was worse (laughs). But even if I had gone to another school, I probably wouldn’t have studied. And if I’d stayed at home, I’d have done nothing but band stuff. So I concluded that moving out and being a freeter was the best path, for me.]

– You decided on your own that you would live as a freeter, but how did your family react when you first told them what you were going to do?
[We’re pretty laid-back at home, so they didn’t say anything. But, if by age 23-24 I still hadn’t reached any sort of conclusion about my future, it would be too late. Whether it’s studying or getting a job, the older you get the harder it becomes. It was like “Make sure you decide what you’re going to do with your life before you turn 23.” Or something like that. My parents said that, and I felt age 23 was a good target. At the time.]

– You weren’t going to be a freeter forever, you had decided yourself that it was only for a set period.
[That’s right. …..To tell the truth, until graduation I had been thinking about more school.]

– Ah, did you?
[Going to school would have been easier. However, it was around then that my friend died. That’s when I thought “No waaay am I going to another school.” Also, once in a while I’d run into my senpai, who was in university at the time. When he told me “I think you should come to my school,” I told him “No way.” “I’m not going to waste my parent’s money on it.” And so, I gave up on schooling.]

-Interviewer : Toujou Sachie
Translated by Natalie Arnold.

1. Taiyaki is a fish-shaped pastry usually filled with sweet bean paste, though sometimes it can be made with other fillings. Yakisoba is a fried noodle dish that can include all sorts of toppings, but in plain form only includes noodles and sauce. Go back.

2. In Japan, many high schools have rules against students taking part-time jobs, based on the principle that these jobs can prevent them from spending enough time on their studies. Go back.

3. Byston Well is taken from the anime Aura Battler Dunbine. It’s the name of the world where the series is set. Go back.

4. Reaction were a rock group active in the 70s. Sniper were a rock band from the 1980s. Go back.

5. Higuchi Munetaka was the drummer for the famous Japanese band LOUDNESS, who were referenced in earlier chapters. Go back.

6. A freeter is a strange engrish word that refers to someone who is not a student yet who has no real career path other than part time work, in shops and the like. Go back.