[I like it when spring flows into summer. The weather is so light, too, and I feel a bit more open, myself.]
– Do you prefer heat or cold?
[Hmm, I guess I’d rather have heat. I don’t do well with cold. But, I’ve never been the type to spend much time outdoors, throughout the year. So I don’t really feel the seasons. You know, as soon as I get outside I just get into my car. Then, I move around, go into a building somewhere, so really, unless its for a shoot or something, I have no idea what the outside temperature is. And so, even though I know summer is hot and winter is cold, I don’t really feel it. It’s because I only ever go out for short distances.]
– Japan has four wonderful seasons, but you don’t really take notice of them, do you?
[That’s right, since way back. But I do think it’s a good thing to have four seasons. Sometimes I hate being cold and sometimes I hate being hot, but it’s not really summer if it isn’t hot. When winter comes, I know spring is on the way, and that doubles the joy.]
– Then, how about I ask you about each of the seasons in turn? What does spring mean to you, tetsu-san?
[Spring? Spring… in Japan, spring is the time for new school years and graduations, so its the back to school season. But, why do we do that in April, in Japan? If you look around internationally, not many others do that. So why? Because the sakura are in bloom(1)? But, doesn’t it make you feel like something is going to happen soon?]
– Certainly. Tied to having four seasons, once winter passes, more than the start of a new lifestyle, there’s an amazing, exciting, warm feeling as the new season begins. tetsu-san, do you have any memories of spring?
[Memories of spring…… Let’s see. My elementary school entrance ceremony? I’m not sure it was the ceremony itself, but on the way home, my mother was riding a bike and I was skipping down the road next to her, heading home. Down a straight road that went a bit past home. I was sort of skipping, keeping up with my mother’s bike, and we both went all the way home like that.]
– That’s a nice story. A lovely episode with spring as its backdrop; so wonderful. Now, how about summer?
[Summer is dangerous, as in “hito Natsu no Keiken” (2) (laughs). After all, a lot of kids change a bit when summer vacation comes around. By September, they’ve got different hair colours or something. I never did anything like that though. Because I thought it was “summer vacation-like” (laughs). To me, there was no point in changing just because it was summer vacation. Besides, it’s only one month, how much can you really change? If you’re going to change, you could just as easily do it gradually while you were still going to school. Does school really hold you down that much?]
– Now, tetsu-san, do you have a particular summer memory to share?
[A summer memory? If you mention summer, I think of “1999 GRAND CROSS TOUR”. It was hot. It’s a summer that remained in my memories. Actually, I don’t remember anything else about that summer. Anyway, it was extreme. We had a live every Saturday during that period. On most of the Fridays before, we had rehearsal. No same-day rehearsals. We had cover bands do the opening act, right? At that point I’d think that if the audience didn’t start coming in soon, it wouldn’t work. It takes a while to let that many people in. So yeah, Friday rehearsals. And Saturday lives, right. On Monday we’d head back to Tokyo. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday were normal work days in Tokyo, but Friday we’d go to the next venue and have rehearsal, that was the cycle.]
– The set’s construction was impressive, too.
[Put it up, break it down, move it, put it up again. It was like putting up a building every week. Must have been awful for the staff though.]
– Let’s go on to autumn. What’s autumn like for you?
[I don’t like autumn. It’s kinda sad, you know? Gradually getting colder. And it means my birthday is coming, too.]
– What, you don’t like your birthday?!
[I hate it. I’ve always been like that. I never once thought “I want to grow up quick”. Growing old one year at a time, it’s not exactly depressing, but it is sad.]
– Autumn is the sad season. Do you have any memories of it?
[Bunkasai and sports day(3), I don’t have any memories of those. I just goofed off (laughs). Hmm, let me think. I kinda regret that there’s a spring break, a summer break, and a winter break, but there’s no autumn break.]
– (laughs) But, autumn is probably the season with the most colourful scenery.
[Yeah, the autumn colours. I like watching the falling leaves dance in the wind while I drive around. Was it Hakone? Where they danced.]
– Lastly, winter. Your impressions and memories?
[Winter is, well, I like how cities light up before Christmas. I wish it could be like that all year. The atmosphere, the cold, the cool, it’s all so pretty. At night, too, it looks pretty. That lasts until the new year, but then it’s cold and I start hoping spring will come soon. By the way, some years ago we got a pretty big snowfall in Tokyo, you know? That time, I bought a remote-controlled hovercraft and played with it on the snow! It didn’t have much power so it couldn’t go very far, but it was fun. That was right during L’Arc’s remote-controlled toy boom, when I bought that. The snow came down, so I thought “Snow! Hovercraft!” (laughs)]
– You’re fairly secretive about it, but you keep up your physical strength, don’t you?
[I do. I have a small body, so I get asked “Are you eating properly?” and people worry needlessly (laughs). I’m a big eater though. I eat so much but don’t get fat, it’s in my genes. I was never on any sports teams, so physical training isn’t part of my image, and I think it surprises people, but I’ve always had good reflexes. I was born with good reflexes and fast feet. I thought I had a pretty tough body too, but then I started going to the gym and I was told it’s actually soft. Before I started training, (the trainer in charge of massaging) said they were going to dig into me. Then, when I was getting stretched, they stopped at about the same angle a normal person could reach. It wasn’t affecting me at all, so I said “Push me a little farther, please,” and they answered something like “Eeeh?! Are you sure?!” They told me “Out of everyone we have here, no one else is this tender.” I definitely don’t get injured much. When your body is stiff, it’s easy to get hurt. It’s probably because mine’s so tender that I’ve never gotten injured much.]
– You have the ideal athletic body. You don’t put on weight, your body is soft, and you seem to have nice muscles.
[When I put my mind to building muscle, they built up right away. I could be a musician or a soccer player…… but I never wavered even once (laughs). That reminds me, yesterday I dreamed I was playing soccer. I screwed up wonderfully. It’s embarrassing so I won’t tell you the details (laughs). But it felt like the whole country was watching me.]
– (laughs) As an example, did you ever get into a sports club?
[No, not really.]
– Then, you’re just good at everything?
[Well, to a degree.]
– In that case, did you simply never bother to get seriously involved with anything?
[I never thought my body was especially strong, ever. Even though I don’t have a weak constitution or anything (laughs).]
– Well then, how do you feel about watching sports?
[Watching? I’ll watch soccer sometimes. I always watch the international games, but don’t watch the J-league much (1). As for sports shows, I’ll watch a digest or something. I’ve never really cared much for watching sports. I hate baseball, and marathons too. There’s nothing to watch, they’re just running (laughs).]
– May I bring up the gym again? Do you visit the gym regularly?
[I haven’t been going lately. Since the recording started, I’ve only gone once or twice. And it’s been cold, too.]
– Then, it wouldn’t be quite right to say you were going to the gym with regular physical activity as your goal.
[That might be true. But you know, if it suited my lifestyle rhythm, I think I’d go every day.]
– There’s no extra room in your schedule where you can fit it in, right? How about before a tour?
[Before a tour, I have space for it, time wise. Promotions are paragraphs, so the work I have to do is substantially just reading. Basically, once I’ve finished that part of my day, I’ve got time to plan for things like going to the gym. Around then, I’m thinking of preparing my body for the tour, anyway.]
– You expose your body quite a bit during lives, right? Then, you’re probably concerned about the lines of your body, too.
[Well, I don’t really…… I don’t want to build up too much muscle. So I’m persistently moderate.]
– Is that so? Even so, I think you have the figure of a boxer, tetsu-san.
[I’m not that cool.]
– But I really think so. Your body is slender with just the right amount of muscle.
[Oh, really? Well, there’s no fat on me, so my muscles are visible.]
– You can eat a ton and not get fat, not put on any weight. I’m envious.
[I’m so lucky, being able to eat anything without getting fat. You know, being on stage takes more physical power than you’d imagine. Back during “Danger II” (An event put on by the record company responsible for L’Arc~en~Ciel. Held at Nihon Budoukan on December 26 2003, tetsu went on stage as both TETSU69 and part of L’Arc~en~Ciel), being both a vocalist and a bassist in the same day was quite the experience. That’s when I realized bass is exhausting.]
– Is it?
[Being a vocalist is more mentally taxing, and you have to make sure you take good care of your throat and so on, but physically, in terms of physical strength, it’s harder to be a bassist. First off, a bass is heavy, you know. Carrying that, plucking those thick strings, and moving around the stage while performing, it’s quite the sport. Even thinking about being on stage for just under two hours is already tiring. People who aren’t especially sportive wouldn’t be able to stand being on stage that long. So that’s why I go to the gym sometimes, and every day right before a tour, because I can’t afford to lose my strength.]
– Interviewer : Kikuchi Keisuke
– Do you prefer heat or cold?
[Hmm, I guess I’d rather have heat. I don’t do well with cold. But, I’ve never been the type to spend much time outdoors, throughout the year. So I don’t really feel the seasons. You know, as soon as I get outside I just get into my car. Then, I move around, go into a building somewhere, so really, unless its for a shoot or something, I have no idea what the outside temperature is. And so, even though I know summer is hot and winter is cold, I don’t really feel it. It’s because I only ever go out for short distances.]
– Japan has four wonderful seasons, but you don’t really take notice of them, do you?
[That’s right, since way back. But I do think it’s a good thing to have four seasons. Sometimes I hate being cold and sometimes I hate being hot, but it’s not really summer if it isn’t hot. When winter comes, I know spring is on the way, and that doubles the joy.]
– Then, how about I ask you about each of the seasons in turn? What does spring mean to you, tetsu-san?
[Spring? Spring… in Japan, spring is the time for new school years and graduations, so its the back to school season. But, why do we do that in April, in Japan? If you look around internationally, not many others do that. So why? Because the sakura are in bloom(1)? But, doesn’t it make you feel like something is going to happen soon?]
– Certainly. Tied to having four seasons, once winter passes, more than the start of a new lifestyle, there’s an amazing, exciting, warm feeling as the new season begins. tetsu-san, do you have any memories of spring?
[Memories of spring…… Let’s see. My elementary school entrance ceremony? I’m not sure it was the ceremony itself, but on the way home, my mother was riding a bike and I was skipping down the road next to her, heading home. Down a straight road that went a bit past home. I was sort of skipping, keeping up with my mother’s bike, and we both went all the way home like that.]
– That’s a nice story. A lovely episode with spring as its backdrop; so wonderful. Now, how about summer?
[Summer is dangerous, as in “hito Natsu no Keiken” (2) (laughs). After all, a lot of kids change a bit when summer vacation comes around. By September, they’ve got different hair colours or something. I never did anything like that though. Because I thought it was “summer vacation-like” (laughs). To me, there was no point in changing just because it was summer vacation. Besides, it’s only one month, how much can you really change? If you’re going to change, you could just as easily do it gradually while you were still going to school. Does school really hold you down that much?]
– Now, tetsu-san, do you have a particular summer memory to share?
[A summer memory? If you mention summer, I think of “1999 GRAND CROSS TOUR”. It was hot. It’s a summer that remained in my memories. Actually, I don’t remember anything else about that summer. Anyway, it was extreme. We had a live every Saturday during that period. On most of the Fridays before, we had rehearsal. No same-day rehearsals. We had cover bands do the opening act, right? At that point I’d think that if the audience didn’t start coming in soon, it wouldn’t work. It takes a while to let that many people in. So yeah, Friday rehearsals. And Saturday lives, right. On Monday we’d head back to Tokyo. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday were normal work days in Tokyo, but Friday we’d go to the next venue and have rehearsal, that was the cycle.]
– The set’s construction was impressive, too.
[Put it up, break it down, move it, put it up again. It was like putting up a building every week. Must have been awful for the staff though.]
– Let’s go on to autumn. What’s autumn like for you?
[I don’t like autumn. It’s kinda sad, you know? Gradually getting colder. And it means my birthday is coming, too.]
– What, you don’t like your birthday?!
[I hate it. I’ve always been like that. I never once thought “I want to grow up quick”. Growing old one year at a time, it’s not exactly depressing, but it is sad.]
– Autumn is the sad season. Do you have any memories of it?
[Bunkasai and sports day(3), I don’t have any memories of those. I just goofed off (laughs). Hmm, let me think. I kinda regret that there’s a spring break, a summer break, and a winter break, but there’s no autumn break.]
– (laughs) But, autumn is probably the season with the most colourful scenery.
[Yeah, the autumn colours. I like watching the falling leaves dance in the wind while I drive around. Was it Hakone? Where they danced.]
– Lastly, winter. Your impressions and memories?
[Winter is, well, I like how cities light up before Christmas. I wish it could be like that all year. The atmosphere, the cold, the cool, it’s all so pretty. At night, too, it looks pretty. That lasts until the new year, but then it’s cold and I start hoping spring will come soon. By the way, some years ago we got a pretty big snowfall in Tokyo, you know? That time, I bought a remote-controlled hovercraft and played with it on the snow! It didn’t have much power so it couldn’t go very far, but it was fun. That was right during L’Arc’s remote-controlled toy boom, when I bought that. The snow came down, so I thought “Snow! Hovercraft!” (laughs)]
– You’re fairly secretive about it, but you keep up your physical strength, don’t you?
[I do. I have a small body, so I get asked “Are you eating properly?” and people worry needlessly (laughs). I’m a big eater though. I eat so much but don’t get fat, it’s in my genes. I was never on any sports teams, so physical training isn’t part of my image, and I think it surprises people, but I’ve always had good reflexes. I was born with good reflexes and fast feet. I thought I had a pretty tough body too, but then I started going to the gym and I was told it’s actually soft. Before I started training, (the trainer in charge of massaging) said they were going to dig into me. Then, when I was getting stretched, they stopped at about the same angle a normal person could reach. It wasn’t affecting me at all, so I said “Push me a little farther, please,” and they answered something like “Eeeh?! Are you sure?!” They told me “Out of everyone we have here, no one else is this tender.” I definitely don’t get injured much. When your body is stiff, it’s easy to get hurt. It’s probably because mine’s so tender that I’ve never gotten injured much.]
– You have the ideal athletic body. You don’t put on weight, your body is soft, and you seem to have nice muscles.
[When I put my mind to building muscle, they built up right away. I could be a musician or a soccer player…… but I never wavered even once (laughs). That reminds me, yesterday I dreamed I was playing soccer. I screwed up wonderfully. It’s embarrassing so I won’t tell you the details (laughs). But it felt like the whole country was watching me.]
– (laughs) As an example, did you ever get into a sports club?
[No, not really.]
– Then, you’re just good at everything?
[Well, to a degree.]
– In that case, did you simply never bother to get seriously involved with anything?
[I never thought my body was especially strong, ever. Even though I don’t have a weak constitution or anything (laughs).]
– Well then, how do you feel about watching sports?
[Watching? I’ll watch soccer sometimes. I always watch the international games, but don’t watch the J-league much (1). As for sports shows, I’ll watch a digest or something. I’ve never really cared much for watching sports. I hate baseball, and marathons too. There’s nothing to watch, they’re just running (laughs).]
– May I bring up the gym again? Do you visit the gym regularly?
[I haven’t been going lately. Since the recording started, I’ve only gone once or twice. And it’s been cold, too.]
– Then, it wouldn’t be quite right to say you were going to the gym with regular physical activity as your goal.
[That might be true. But you know, if it suited my lifestyle rhythm, I think I’d go every day.]
– There’s no extra room in your schedule where you can fit it in, right? How about before a tour?
[Before a tour, I have space for it, time wise. Promotions are paragraphs, so the work I have to do is substantially just reading. Basically, once I’ve finished that part of my day, I’ve got time to plan for things like going to the gym. Around then, I’m thinking of preparing my body for the tour, anyway.]
– You expose your body quite a bit during lives, right? Then, you’re probably concerned about the lines of your body, too.
[Well, I don’t really…… I don’t want to build up too much muscle. So I’m persistently moderate.]
– Is that so? Even so, I think you have the figure of a boxer, tetsu-san.
[I’m not that cool.]
– But I really think so. Your body is slender with just the right amount of muscle.
[Oh, really? Well, there’s no fat on me, so my muscles are visible.]
– You can eat a ton and not get fat, not put on any weight. I’m envious.
[I’m so lucky, being able to eat anything without getting fat. You know, being on stage takes more physical power than you’d imagine. Back during “Danger II” (An event put on by the record company responsible for L’Arc~en~Ciel. Held at Nihon Budoukan on December 26 2003, tetsu went on stage as both TETSU69 and part of L’Arc~en~Ciel), being both a vocalist and a bassist in the same day was quite the experience. That’s when I realized bass is exhausting.]
– Is it?
[Being a vocalist is more mentally taxing, and you have to make sure you take good care of your throat and so on, but physically, in terms of physical strength, it’s harder to be a bassist. First off, a bass is heavy, you know. Carrying that, plucking those thick strings, and moving around the stage while performing, it’s quite the sport. Even thinking about being on stage for just under two hours is already tiring. People who aren’t especially sportive wouldn’t be able to stand being on stage that long. So that’s why I go to the gym sometimes, and every day right before a tour, because I can’t afford to lose my strength.]
– Interviewer : Kikuchi Keisuke
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