[ENGLISH TRANSLATION] MIYAVI x GOETHE_magazine interview 2020

 

 "Having the power to challenge the world comes from having the right habits! Exciting power opens the future."

 

MIYAVI is the samurai guitarist who plays the electric guitar by slapping it with his fingers and has activities all over the world.  Hasegawa Shin dispatches Japanese manufactured goods around the world.  What exactly motivates these two? 　

 

Skin care habits lead to confidence and an attitude to challenge!

 

MIYAVI is a guitarist who makes great strides within Japan and overseas,  Hasegawa Shin’s company Moon-X is aiming to create a world where Japanese manufacturing and technologies are seamlessly blended.  They two know each other but this is the first time they have had a sit-down together.  There are many similarities between the two, they are from the same hometown, have spent time living abroad, many mutual friends in work, so that was the starting point for this conversation.  They opened their hearts to each other.

MIYAVI(M): Speaking of Hasegawa’s company, Moon-X, I find there is a resemblance between you and Elon Musk (the CEO of Space X).

Hasegawa Shin(H): Is that so? Haha.  I’m often asked “is it a space business?” but it isn’t, it’s beer and skin care.  I want to use the internet and technology to spread Japanese manufacturing around the world.  I’ve lived abroad and because of that was able to understand how great Japanese goods are.  Japan’s manufacturing is particularly wonderful.

M: Certainly, you can definitely recognize more of Japan’s charms from outside the country.

H: With the skin care line Skin X, we take great care to use locally sourced materials.  The Tree Porous was developed by SONY and is blended in facial cleansers.  It is a naturally-derived carbon material produced by rice husks which has a great ability to absorb sebum and dirt.

M: Rice husks?

H: Rice husks have been farmed and harvested in such a way that it has caused environmental problems.  I think it’s a noteworthy material so I want to fix that problem.  The moisturizing lotion also contains water from Izumo’s hot spring for those with oily skin and deep sea water from Ishikawa prefecture for those with dry skin.

M: Water is important!  When only technology is developed, the people are the analogue.  When I pursue what I really need, I feel like I will eventually end up with a product of Earth.

H: Ah that might be so.  I have heard it described as “Japanese manufacturing” but I think of it more as the “essence of Japan” getting affected by the land and features.

 

Putting things to order by charging your skin with energy

 

M: I feel like our society is becoming purely decorative with how saturated we are between objects and the news.  That’s why I think we need to have a return to the essence, reset back to zero, just once.  At the very least, I want to do what I believe in and what makes my heart happy, without being confused with unnatural things.  Even with music, it is the hundreds of thousands or millions of people that have listened to it but the one or two people that it truly touched the depths of their hearts and had an impact on their lives.  That’s what I cherish.

H: I agree.  Actually, Skin X was started with the challenge of pushing the brand or men.  While men’s skin care is becoming more common, it isn’t a habit for everyone.  Now that I have more opportunities to see my skin like on the monitor, I am realizing how important my skin is.  If your skin is in a good condition, you will feel better and more confident.  Which leads to more energy.  It seems like MIYAVI also has a good skin care habit.

M: Yes, I put on makeup for photoshoots and performances.  Because I’m washing, putting on lotion, and putting on beauty essence, I feel like sometimes I do more than some women haha.  I think it’s weird that we pay so much attention polishing our cars and our shoes yet we never care for our skin.  That’s why I decided to do this and make it cool.

H: Do you think it’s because men find it to be too much of a hassle?

M: If you make it a routine,  it isn’t a hassle, I just start doing it and it flows before I know I’m doing it.

H: I think the point is to make it a habit like that.  Having proper habits will prepare you and give the energy needed to take on the next challenge.  When I look at MIYAVI, I can feel it.  Do you have any other habits?

M: When I wake up in the morning, I take a shower, exercise, and meditate.  I’m often going abroad so I need the time to adjust for time differences and reset.  Many of my overseas friends and acquaintances have their own way to feel like themselves too.

H: Certainly.  In particular, I often hear from executives that having habits helps.  Actually, I do a small meditation every morning.  It takes a minute or two but I just repeat the word “grateful”, “enjoy”, or another word that makes me happy in my head.  It’s true that work isn’t always easy.  That’s why I feel that there are places where I’m suggesting to myself to find a way to enjoy it.

M: Enjoying oneself is very important.  Especially in our profession, the future can be opened by being excited.  If I’m not excited then there is no way for me to convey that to someone else.  That’s what I think.

H: Excite is a good word!  Taking care of your skin shouldn’t feel like it is a duty but something you are excited to do.  That’s the concept for Skin X.

 

Technology is showing the world the next level of the evolution

 

H: What has gotten you excited recently?

M: I started doing online lives after the state of emergency was declared but there is more to the concert than just the live music.  It’s the weather and temperature of the day, who I was with and what we talked about, it’s the story before, during, and after that.  It’s not possible to do that with online concerts so I am trying to approach it differently.  As technology evolves further, it may even one day be able to convey touch and smell.  I’m really interested in what happens to the point of contact between real and virtual, and I’m excited to see what I can do.

H: Technology is changing what we consider to be common knowledge.  In the past, if you wanted to do business globally, you needed to actually build a company there but now, you can get it all done with a smartphone and a credit card.  While Japan is good at making world-class goods, we have weak transmission power.

M: I think the weakness of transmission is also a problem of language ability.  We are also planning language education for Japanese children.

H: I have a lot of things I want to try and I’m excited to do it.  Skin X wants to continue to be a brand that supports men like MIYAVI. 

 

Shin Hasegawa

Born in Hyogo prefecture in 1977. Raised in Seattle, USA from ages 2 to 9. After graduating from Kyoto University, he worked at Tokio Marine, P&G, and Rakuten before becoming the representative director of Facebook Japan in 2015. After working for three and a half years, he retired and established MOON-X in August 2019.

 

MIYAVI

Born in Osaka in 1981. He has been active as a guitarist, actor, and model, having successfully performed more than 350 performances in 30 countries, making his Hollywood debut with a film directed by Angelina Jolie. He is an ambassador for the UNHCR.