Public eye #22

Shige666, Musician

How did you spend your day today?
S: Drinking, at my place... after that I had something to do here in Shinjuku.

Do you often come to Shinjuku?
S: Normally I don’t come into town much, but I seem to have a special kind of affinity to Shinjuku and often end up coming here without really meaning to. I’m in a band, named Die!!die!!color!!!, so music is a big part of my life; when I come here I usually visit the music stores. I figure if I’m going out anyway, I might as well stop by somewhere that’s connected with music in some way.

Is there anywhere else that you often go in Tokyo?
S: Other than Shinjuku… probably Shibuya. The band’s based in Shibuya. To be honest, I don’t really much like it as a place, but I like getting caught up in the energy that comes from all the chaos there.

Are there any shops that you’d recommend in Shibuya?
S: There’s an old-school izakaya [Japanese-style pub] there, called Yamaga, which I go to quite often. It’s even open in the morning so it's really convenient. The clientele and the staff are all kinds of nationalities and inside its chaotic. I like it there.

Have you been anywhere particularly interesting lately?
S: Usually I tend to just stay indoors, hmm… oh, come to think of it, I recently went to the Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry.

You mean on a guided tour right?
S: Yeah [Laughs]. In July we’re scheduled to perform in Paris, at the Japan Expo – a convention that promotes aspects of Japanese culture such as manga, anime, video games and music. Places like America are supposedly pretty into anime, but the Japan Expo seems to be concerned with a whole range of different things. It seems the government will also be exhibiting at the event and they’re trying to create some kind of promotional media or something that uses promotional videos from the different artists who’ll be performing. So I went along to discuss some ideas.

Who else will be performing at the convention?
S: Groups that have played there previously include AKB48 and Puffy. Among the most well-known groups scheduled to play this year are Morning Musume and Seikima-II. Oh, and it looks like Yoshiki and Toshi from X Japan will also be appearing. When I first heard that I was pretty surprised [Laughs].

Will this be your first trip abroad?
S: Not everyone in the band has been overseas. However, when I was a college student I went to London and Paris, so I can’t say it’ll the first time for me personally. It’ll be the first overseas performance for the band as a whole, though.

Was your trip to London and Paris just a regular holiday?
S: At the time I was at college, training to be a hairstylist, and the trip was an overseas study tour. In the UK, I got the chance to give English people haircuts. In Paris, we were given a day to do our own thing so I took off on the metro alone, got lost, and ended up being glared at by French people on the train. [Laughs] I glared back at them. [Laughs]

So, is there anything in particular you’re looking forward to doing in France this time?
S: I plan on focusing 100% of my energy on giving the best performance I can. Apart from that… I’d like to find something new and interesting. Although I’ve been once before, I’m sure to feel differently about the place now. The culture there is completely different from ours, I’d like to walk around the streets a bit, see how things have changed and take in the atmosphere.

More from Shige666:

‘Cosplay seems to be a big hit in Europe. Especially in France, which I’ve heard referred to as a ‘cosplay country’ second only to Japan.’

‘I’m often told that I look like the character ‘Ryuk’ from the manga “Death Note”.’

‘I’ve always had a tendency to stay indoors. Despite being born in Yokohama, I was a junior high school student before I’d even visited Chinatown.’

Die!!die!!color!!!：sound.jp/diediecolor/
Japan Expo：www.japan-expo.com/