On the second floor of a local interviewing company, in a warehouse-like meeting room; such is the space he selected to hold his personal interview. “Me? I’m OK for an interview anytime!!” spoke ken-chan as he stepped before my tape recorder and had a seat. Starting with a simple “How’ve you been?”, our conversation ran off and split into various topics. The breadth of his activities and the sheer quantity of his work have accumulated, and he has encountered a true wealth of interesting episodes. There is no mistake that he is becoming accustomed to his fortune.
—
All notes in {<- } format are from the interviewer/editor and were present in the original Japanese.
– How have you been, lately?
ken [Lately?! Lately, I… Lately, nothing’s changed, not one bit.]
– Compared to your usual lifestyle in Tokyo, wouldn’t you say this is rather different?
ken [Oh yeah, you’re right. Lately, hey. If you put it to me that way, well let me see. I’ve had a lot of chances to shoot fireworks.]
– Oh, I see. Speaking of which, you held a big fireworks display didn’t you, in a past tour, a long time ago. It was on the beach, I believe?
ken [At night, you know, I’ve got nothing to do. The shops in these towns close early, see.]
– Yes, yes, they say there is such a thing as country town time. Since it ends early, the nights are long. Too long.
ken [Yeah, yeah. Fireworks, too, at first I was happy just playing with cheap ones from a convenience store, but now it feels to me like that’s not enough. So at Tokyu Hands (1) in Hiroshima or something, I bought some and bought some more. Spent 5000 yen on just fireworks. I bought lots -.]
– I can’t even imagine how much that would be.
ken [Well, I think it’s a seriously huge pile of gunpowder?! I’ve still got a lot left over, and come to think of it, isn’t it scary to walk around carrying all that?]
– You carry the fireworks around with you?
ken [Yep. Since I bought ’em, we’ve already had two fireworks parties. With about five or six people.]
– And is it you, ken-chan, who goes around suggesting “Let’s have some fireworks tonight!”?
ken [Yeah. Somehow or other, it’s me who says it, like “Let’s go do fireworks.” We had a fireworks party just the other day, and it was a pretty big deal, you know. I guess maybe we used about 5000 yen worth of fireworks just that one night!? We did it up on the seawall, shooting ’em one after the other, then I saw something that looked like harbour police or something, off to the side. So I went “Oh crap! Guys, don’t shoot right now!” when I saw them, and at first it was just a joke, right. In the morning, I went outside from the hotel, back to the spot we’d been shooting the fireworks, and I saw right next to it, the building said “Harbour Police,” for real! (laughs) Oops.]
– I’m glad you weren’t arrested… You weren’t arrested, were you?!
ken [It would be pretty bad if I was.]
– Yes indeed. …This might be just my imagination, but I think you’ve lost weight, ken-chan.
ken [Ah, I get that a lot. I guess I did lose some weight?]
– Yes. I think you did.
ken [When people ask me how I’ve been, maybe I should just tell them I’ve lost weight. Oh, and I saw a make-up artist that I hadn’t seen in a while, so apparently my face colour changed, and so did my eyes.]
– Did they tell you, specifically, what had changed?
ken [Hmm… I’m all grown up?! (Both laugh out loud)]
– (laughs) Like you’ve hit puberty, all of a sudden. But how about you, personally? Was it any kind of change you could actually notice?
ken [I’ve grown some facial hair, that’s probably it.]
– Oh, is that all it is?
ken [Yep. Oh, and I let my hair grow out, so I look dirty? (laughs) …What else could it be… Well, my lifestyle and environment changed, so the stuff I eat’s been changing too. So I guess it’s possible that my facial tone would change because of that.]
– Heh. I suppose facial tone is something that changes quite suddenly, when it changes at all.
ken [Isn’t it? A while back, I just happened to be looking through a bunch of polaroids that I got from some photoshoots we did. My face is totally different from how it used to be. Even in photos from a month ago, I look different. It’s my face.]
– How did your face look a month ago?
ken [It was just simple, I looked so much like a little kid.]
– Other than that, has anything else changed recently? On the inside, perhaps?
ken [Hmmmmmm… Changes, things that changed… What? What?!]
– For example, in your behaviour?
ken [It’s always been like this, but lately, I’ve gotten to really hate staying still (Both burst into laughter). You laugh, but you know what I mean, right? (laughs).]
– Yes. Lately, I’ve noticed you seem to be moving around constantly. You’re definitely more active.
ken [You can call me active, but it’s not like I plan any activities or anything. I just hate standing still. In my mind, you know, it feels like being sent back to elementary school. I’m like a little kid who loves baseball; if there’s a ball and a bat, you know I’m gonna go hit it.]
– Just before this, in the next room over, isn’t that what you were doing? I saw a ball and a bat.
ken [Yeah, yeah. Before a live, while everyone else is getting their makeup done, I play with those the whole time. ‘Cause I haven’t been wearing makeup, lately. So I just find a big enough space and start hitting it.]
– While the other three are in front of the mirror.
ken [Yes.]
– You run around with a bat.
ken [Yes. And then I go on stage, just like that (laughs). Seriously, sometimes I go on without even bothering to get changed. Sometimes, it feels like my other choice of clothes would be too dull, surprisingly often actually. When it comes to clothes, first the manager asks “What do you feel like today?” And then I answer. Like “Today I want Ikebukuro,” or maybe “Kabuki-cho style” (2) or something like that. And then the manager picks out an outfit that feels like Ikebukuro.]
– Hahahahaha. (Big round of laughter) So dirty. But, it sounds like fun. What happens if the outfit that gets picked out doesn’t fit your image of Ikebukuro?
ken [Well, actually, I may the one saying it, but I don’t really think about it much. About whether it fits my image or not. Plus, it always ends up being Sakamoto Issei stuff, for me. By the time we get three songs into a show, I’m already down to a sleeveless top. It only matters if it’s black or white. And when I play baseball, I’m sleeveless. I’m sleeveless today, too.]
– Indeed, you are just like a little kid. Like a school kid on summer vacation. But ultimately, is there any opposition to your being sleeveless like that from the beginning of the live? { <- Stupid } ken [Well I guess I have to wonder if it isn't kind of rude. So I try to wear the outfits they pick out for me, too. It's like sex. Rather than just get naked from the start, no matter how close and familiar your partner is, isn't it better to show up in a bathrobe or two? { <- This may be rather silly also } - Um..... ? ken [Well? I'm right, right? Right?!] - Yes. ken [Right!? And of course, you are going to leave this part in, right? { <- I don't know him anymore }] - You may rest assured that I most certainly will. By the way, how has the audience response been, during the lives themselves? ken [There are good days and there are bad days, but the good days are seriously awesome.] - What are the characteristics of a good day, for you, ken-chan? ken [In a live, hey... When I can't tell up from down. It's a question of feeling, though. On the other hand, I can tell it's a bad day when I stay calm. When I can tell what I'm doing, where I am, when all that stuff is clear. Obviously, things are more interesting when I can't tell up from down. There are days when I'm just howling, for no reason. Then I wake up later. "I think I was going WOO."] - And outside of lives? ken [What makes a good day? Let me see... I guess it's when I get to goof off a lot.] - Have you been able to goof off a lot lately? ken [Hmmm.... Lately, I .... I've been thinking that I want to go fishing. Fishing, to do that, you have to be able to stay still for a really long time, right? And I suck at staying still. So, I've always been really bad at fishing, but somehow lately, I started liking it. And you know, I heard that there's a fishing pole maker called KEN. So I want to buy their stuff. When I first heard about that, I thought "That's so cheesy, having stuff with my name on it," and then someone said to me "When something has your name on it, you start to want it, you know?" and then boom, it happened. "Yeah, that's what they say, and now I want that too." (laughs) And the lures, they're all so pretty.] - Ummm. ken-chan, going fishing. ...How ...unexpected. ken [I think so, too. Since I can't stand to stay still, I think I'll get bored with it right away. But I also think it'd be a good thing to try, once in a while.] - You mean, a good thing to try and hold still once in a while. ken [Yeah. I feel that way sometimes.] - Is there something in particular that you think of when that happens? ken [What am I gonna do next, when I'm done? Oh but sometimes, I space out and don't think of anything at all. My eyes are open, and there are people next to me, but I don't think about anything, no thoughts. It's like... it's like I go into this totally empty world. I might have talked about this before, but when I walk, almost 100% of the time I'm spacing out. Once, a long time ago, hyde passed by, really close by, and I didn't notice him at all.] - Hehh. I suppose that's extreme. Do you just walk around in circles, or...? ken [Well, I'm spacing out. So maybe I do.] - Do you feel that "extreme-ness" inside of yourself? ken [Well, I am type AB. (3) {It had to be said}]
– Ah, indeed you are. Do you feel aware of it, as in “Ah, I’m such an AB-type”?
ken [I do. I feel like I’ve got two personalities. …But normally, everybody does, don’t they? For thinking about stuff, they say there are two kinds of justice, generally.]
– Inside of yourself?
ken [Yeah. And, you can agree with either one. So, to decide things, you need to add in morals. You need to add morals to the mix, then decide which is better. If you leave it, if you say “Whatever, both work,” then you end up not wanting it either way. That way, you can see the two versions of yourself. …I think everyone works that way, probably. …I do. I think I can see my two selves much better now, more than I used to. Before, I used to get confused, all of I sudden I couldn’t remember why I was doing something, but now, I can sort things out and understand, and take consciousness of all those ideas, and go “Okay, this one.” Before it was just “Which? What? Whey? WHAT NOW?”]
– How did you manage to come to this understanding, I wonder. It’s quite fascinating.
ken [ …I think I just realized that if I took a step back, I could see things both ways, pretty clearly. And then, I could think about them… But anyway, I really feel like I just somehow figured out how to do it. I want my mind to be like this {As he spoke, he pointed his two index fingers upward and lined them directly before his eyes}.]
– You want to be like that.
ken [It’s more fun to be just the one. I think I’m jealous… Oh, by the way, what was today’s theme?!]
– It was “How have you been, lately”.
ken [Oh right. So how have you been, lately?]
– You don’t change at all, do you? Okay, so lastly, can you tell me how the other members have been, recently?
ken [Uhmmm, I think they’ve all gotten over the cold I gave them, so I’m relieved, seeing as I’m the one who made them sick.]
– But ken-chan, you had to have caught the cold from somewhere yourself, too?
ken [I didn’t catch it from anyone else, I created that cold myself. That was a really bad cold. It might be myself-enza.]
– That is, influenza, your style.
ken [Yeah. If you checked under a microscope, the germs would all have my face on them, I bet (laughs).]
—
All notes in {<- } format are from the interviewer/editor and were present in the original Japanese.
– How have you been, lately?
ken [Lately?! Lately, I… Lately, nothing’s changed, not one bit.]
– Compared to your usual lifestyle in Tokyo, wouldn’t you say this is rather different?
ken [Oh yeah, you’re right. Lately, hey. If you put it to me that way, well let me see. I’ve had a lot of chances to shoot fireworks.]
– Oh, I see. Speaking of which, you held a big fireworks display didn’t you, in a past tour, a long time ago. It was on the beach, I believe?
ken [At night, you know, I’ve got nothing to do. The shops in these towns close early, see.]
– Yes, yes, they say there is such a thing as country town time. Since it ends early, the nights are long. Too long.
ken [Yeah, yeah. Fireworks, too, at first I was happy just playing with cheap ones from a convenience store, but now it feels to me like that’s not enough. So at Tokyu Hands (1) in Hiroshima or something, I bought some and bought some more. Spent 5000 yen on just fireworks. I bought lots -.]
– I can’t even imagine how much that would be.
ken [Well, I think it’s a seriously huge pile of gunpowder?! I’ve still got a lot left over, and come to think of it, isn’t it scary to walk around carrying all that?]
– You carry the fireworks around with you?
ken [Yep. Since I bought ’em, we’ve already had two fireworks parties. With about five or six people.]
– And is it you, ken-chan, who goes around suggesting “Let’s have some fireworks tonight!”?
ken [Yeah. Somehow or other, it’s me who says it, like “Let’s go do fireworks.” We had a fireworks party just the other day, and it was a pretty big deal, you know. I guess maybe we used about 5000 yen worth of fireworks just that one night!? We did it up on the seawall, shooting ’em one after the other, then I saw something that looked like harbour police or something, off to the side. So I went “Oh crap! Guys, don’t shoot right now!” when I saw them, and at first it was just a joke, right. In the morning, I went outside from the hotel, back to the spot we’d been shooting the fireworks, and I saw right next to it, the building said “Harbour Police,” for real! (laughs) Oops.]
– I’m glad you weren’t arrested… You weren’t arrested, were you?!
ken [It would be pretty bad if I was.]
– Yes indeed. …This might be just my imagination, but I think you’ve lost weight, ken-chan.
ken [Ah, I get that a lot. I guess I did lose some weight?]
– Yes. I think you did.
ken [When people ask me how I’ve been, maybe I should just tell them I’ve lost weight. Oh, and I saw a make-up artist that I hadn’t seen in a while, so apparently my face colour changed, and so did my eyes.]
– Did they tell you, specifically, what had changed?
ken [Hmm… I’m all grown up?! (Both laugh out loud)]
– (laughs) Like you’ve hit puberty, all of a sudden. But how about you, personally? Was it any kind of change you could actually notice?
ken [I’ve grown some facial hair, that’s probably it.]
– Oh, is that all it is?
ken [Yep. Oh, and I let my hair grow out, so I look dirty? (laughs) …What else could it be… Well, my lifestyle and environment changed, so the stuff I eat’s been changing too. So I guess it’s possible that my facial tone would change because of that.]
– Heh. I suppose facial tone is something that changes quite suddenly, when it changes at all.
ken [Isn’t it? A while back, I just happened to be looking through a bunch of polaroids that I got from some photoshoots we did. My face is totally different from how it used to be. Even in photos from a month ago, I look different. It’s my face.]
– How did your face look a month ago?
ken [It was just simple, I looked so much like a little kid.]
– Other than that, has anything else changed recently? On the inside, perhaps?
ken [Hmmmmmm… Changes, things that changed… What? What?!]
– For example, in your behaviour?
ken [It’s always been like this, but lately, I’ve gotten to really hate staying still (Both burst into laughter). You laugh, but you know what I mean, right? (laughs).]
– Yes. Lately, I’ve noticed you seem to be moving around constantly. You’re definitely more active.
ken [You can call me active, but it’s not like I plan any activities or anything. I just hate standing still. In my mind, you know, it feels like being sent back to elementary school. I’m like a little kid who loves baseball; if there’s a ball and a bat, you know I’m gonna go hit it.]
– Just before this, in the next room over, isn’t that what you were doing? I saw a ball and a bat.
ken [Yeah, yeah. Before a live, while everyone else is getting their makeup done, I play with those the whole time. ‘Cause I haven’t been wearing makeup, lately. So I just find a big enough space and start hitting it.]
– While the other three are in front of the mirror.
ken [Yes.]
– You run around with a bat.
ken [Yes. And then I go on stage, just like that (laughs). Seriously, sometimes I go on without even bothering to get changed. Sometimes, it feels like my other choice of clothes would be too dull, surprisingly often actually. When it comes to clothes, first the manager asks “What do you feel like today?” And then I answer. Like “Today I want Ikebukuro,” or maybe “Kabuki-cho style” (2) or something like that. And then the manager picks out an outfit that feels like Ikebukuro.]
– Hahahahaha. (Big round of laughter) So dirty. But, it sounds like fun. What happens if the outfit that gets picked out doesn’t fit your image of Ikebukuro?
ken [Well, actually, I may the one saying it, but I don’t really think about it much. About whether it fits my image or not. Plus, it always ends up being Sakamoto Issei stuff, for me. By the time we get three songs into a show, I’m already down to a sleeveless top. It only matters if it’s black or white. And when I play baseball, I’m sleeveless. I’m sleeveless today, too.]
– Indeed, you are just like a little kid. Like a school kid on summer vacation. But ultimately, is there any opposition to your being sleeveless like that from the beginning of the live? { <- Stupid } ken [Well I guess I have to wonder if it isn't kind of rude. So I try to wear the outfits they pick out for me, too. It's like sex. Rather than just get naked from the start, no matter how close and familiar your partner is, isn't it better to show up in a bathrobe or two? { <- This may be rather silly also } - Um..... ? ken [Well? I'm right, right? Right?!] - Yes. ken [Right!? And of course, you are going to leave this part in, right? { <- I don't know him anymore }] - You may rest assured that I most certainly will. By the way, how has the audience response been, during the lives themselves? ken [There are good days and there are bad days, but the good days are seriously awesome.] - What are the characteristics of a good day, for you, ken-chan? ken [In a live, hey... When I can't tell up from down. It's a question of feeling, though. On the other hand, I can tell it's a bad day when I stay calm. When I can tell what I'm doing, where I am, when all that stuff is clear. Obviously, things are more interesting when I can't tell up from down. There are days when I'm just howling, for no reason. Then I wake up later. "I think I was going WOO."] - And outside of lives? ken [What makes a good day? Let me see... I guess it's when I get to goof off a lot.] - Have you been able to goof off a lot lately? ken [Hmmm.... Lately, I .... I've been thinking that I want to go fishing. Fishing, to do that, you have to be able to stay still for a really long time, right? And I suck at staying still. So, I've always been really bad at fishing, but somehow lately, I started liking it. And you know, I heard that there's a fishing pole maker called KEN. So I want to buy their stuff. When I first heard about that, I thought "That's so cheesy, having stuff with my name on it," and then someone said to me "When something has your name on it, you start to want it, you know?" and then boom, it happened. "Yeah, that's what they say, and now I want that too." (laughs) And the lures, they're all so pretty.] - Ummm. ken-chan, going fishing. ...How ...unexpected. ken [I think so, too. Since I can't stand to stay still, I think I'll get bored with it right away. But I also think it'd be a good thing to try, once in a while.] - You mean, a good thing to try and hold still once in a while. ken [Yeah. I feel that way sometimes.] - Is there something in particular that you think of when that happens? ken [What am I gonna do next, when I'm done? Oh but sometimes, I space out and don't think of anything at all. My eyes are open, and there are people next to me, but I don't think about anything, no thoughts. It's like... it's like I go into this totally empty world. I might have talked about this before, but when I walk, almost 100% of the time I'm spacing out. Once, a long time ago, hyde passed by, really close by, and I didn't notice him at all.] - Hehh. I suppose that's extreme. Do you just walk around in circles, or...? ken [Well, I'm spacing out. So maybe I do.] - Do you feel that "extreme-ness" inside of yourself? ken [Well, I am type AB. (3) {It had to be said}]
– Ah, indeed you are. Do you feel aware of it, as in “Ah, I’m such an AB-type”?
ken [I do. I feel like I’ve got two personalities. …But normally, everybody does, don’t they? For thinking about stuff, they say there are two kinds of justice, generally.]
– Inside of yourself?
ken [Yeah. And, you can agree with either one. So, to decide things, you need to add in morals. You need to add morals to the mix, then decide which is better. If you leave it, if you say “Whatever, both work,” then you end up not wanting it either way. That way, you can see the two versions of yourself. …I think everyone works that way, probably. …I do. I think I can see my two selves much better now, more than I used to. Before, I used to get confused, all of I sudden I couldn’t remember why I was doing something, but now, I can sort things out and understand, and take consciousness of all those ideas, and go “Okay, this one.” Before it was just “Which? What? Whey? WHAT NOW?”]
– How did you manage to come to this understanding, I wonder. It’s quite fascinating.
ken [ …I think I just realized that if I took a step back, I could see things both ways, pretty clearly. And then, I could think about them… But anyway, I really feel like I just somehow figured out how to do it. I want my mind to be like this {As he spoke, he pointed his two index fingers upward and lined them directly before his eyes}.]
– You want to be like that.
ken [It’s more fun to be just the one. I think I’m jealous… Oh, by the way, what was today’s theme?!]
– It was “How have you been, lately”.
ken [Oh right. So how have you been, lately?]
– You don’t change at all, do you? Okay, so lastly, can you tell me how the other members have been, recently?
ken [Uhmmm, I think they’ve all gotten over the cold I gave them, so I’m relieved, seeing as I’m the one who made them sick.]
– But ken-chan, you had to have caught the cold from somewhere yourself, too?
ken [I didn’t catch it from anyone else, I created that cold myself. That was a really bad cold. It might be myself-enza.]
– That is, influenza, your style.
ken [Yeah. If you checked under a microscope, the germs would all have my face on them, I bet (laughs).]
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