Translated from Ameba Music, 2005.12.19
Are you all familiar with the blog at the top of the Ameblog music rankings, "kiyo's Bath?" It is truly the blog of a Superman, with a fast pace of daily entries (!) from kiyo, the keyboardist of rock group Janne da Arc. In the daily mishmash of his entries, the always surprising (?) kiyo tackles everything from stories about his family to reports of his own ruin through extravagance in food, carrying his digital camera in one hand. With the theme of "Fighting Human Emotion", he writes entries one after the other, always thorough, always interesting. With a style similar to a supermarket tabloid, we went to see kiyo to have some questions answered. We pressed him for a long interview...
A: kiyo, right now your Ameblog is at the top spot in the music rankings. What are your honest impressions?
kiyo: In all honesty, I question the fairness of saying that it's in the top spot. (Laughs.)
A: Eh? What was that?
kiyo: No...I think it has to do in large part with the publicity "kiyo's Bath" was given by the band's publicity department. Whatever appeal it seems to have must have come about in large part to that. At the beginning, it was very quiet around my blog. And then, with the introduction of it on Janne da Arc's official page, the readership multiplied. At the beginning I wanted to be more enthusiastic, but that still hasn't happened. (Laughs.)
A: You didn't think you'd get a big reaction out of starting a blog?
kiyo: At first, I thought that the best I could do would be to update about once a week or so. But, with gradual depopulation (smile) the outlook improved to once every two days. However, it makes me happy to have some sort of stability. My friend told me, "Ah, writing so much is a good thing!", but I didn't think I was that interesting. (Laughs.) The unwilling can't write, after all. But, recently I think I might be writing a little too much. (Laughs.)
A: Since you're updating almost every day, do you have a feeling that you're on somewhat of a mission?
kiyo: Maybe so, hm? I myself watch the blogs of various other artists, and I always think it's better when the person updates their blog themselves. That alone makes me happy. But, there's a distinction between my own blog and those that I watch, as far as writing is concerned.
A: Isn't there something that you've noticed about blogs, that "everyone writes with their own personalities"?
kiyo: Certainly, there is that. Trying to write, using a nice typestyle and your own use of characters together makes your own persuasive power come forth. It lends the feeling that I'm explaining my own view on things for myself.
A: Have you found any "self discovery" through this as well?
kiyo: It looks that way, doesn't it. In my latest entries, a lot of embarrassing stories about my past, as well as about my family, have shown up. The things that happened to me in elementary school, and middle school, are still a big part of me. And then, of course, I've realized all the more the large influence that my older sister and the other people in my life have had on me. That's true with my music, as well. My oldest sister left us when I was six years old, so that time of my life differed a lot from when my friends and I would listen to a lot of her music. In addition, I think that I've been seeing just how far the popularity of my favorite music extends.
A: How did your chance to start a weblog come about? You've already told us that your manager recommended it.
kiyo: Initially, I hated writing. I tolerated writing my sections for the fanclub newsletters well enough, and I was always pleased, when I was finished writing, to see how much I had actually written. (Laughs.) Of course, it was full of pictures of and from the other members. In the fanclub magazines, I only have one page of my own for pictures and such. So, I decided to make it in the style of something that you would read while sitting on the toilet.
A: ? The style of something you can read on the toilet?
kiyo: That is, those books that don't have very many words, but are easy to understand in reading, so you can read them while you're on the toilet. Because it's a private room, I really do like reading in there. Usually I'll read manga or picture books, but I'll read novels, too. But, that's not really something you can ordinarily do while in the bathroom. With the people who can read in their bathrooms in mind, that became the focus of the things I write about.
A: By the way, the title of your blog is a pun on the word 'blog', isn't it?
kiyo: That's right. It's kiyo's blog, but saying "Kiyo Buro" isn't very good, is it? That's what my manager said, anyway. So, I decided to use a phonetic equivalent. So, that's how it became "bath". (Japanese: 'furo') But, because it started with me writing in my bathroom, I suppose it was inevitable. Baths, of course, have meaning to me as well, so I wanted to see what kind of definition I'd end up attaching to them. It's just like when you're moving quickly on the bullet train, it's a time where you can't really do anything. Because it's not normally something that touches you emotionally, I wanted to make times like that into something that does.
A: kiyo, perhaps you're the type that cannot settle down unless he is doing something?
kiyo: No, actually I'm not like that at all. It's just in the bathroom or in the bath that I have to be doing something. It's like the saying goes, "Even when someone is sleeping, they're doing their best", except for me it's "At times I'm someone who tries my best." (Laughs.) Of course, while someone is sleeping, they're probably doing something else, too. (Laughs.)
A: kiyo, your blog is very readable, isn't it? For example, the way you write your sentences with a line feed between them, and plenty of blank space. Even with that being the case, it doesn't give one the impression of having a hard time.
kiyo: It just becomes my cool speaking style, doesn't it? I think about what to talk about, but usually the subjects are things that I happen to remember, so there are many stories contained in one entry. The inside of my mind, they say, is a "graphical" one. This being the case, there's a settled amount of time that should pass for the person reading. I work under the assumption that two empty lines are equal to one second passing in time. I think about the time allotted in general, when I write.
A: That could be because of your short stint as a film director, right? Of course, it's very much like a musician, as well. But, because of those intervals, seeing them gives you a good feeling, don't they? And then, of course, your way of adding in really great images. That really adds to making your blog so interesting, especially with your use of the 'slice' technique.
kiyo: Oh, that. (Laughs.) That was something I picked up doing the members-only materials for my band's subscription-only mobile telephone site. Now, in spite of this site being free, I still want to use that technique. However, the way of putting pictures on blogs is "showing the whole picture". (smiles) "Just a little tease", something like that. At the beginning, I wanted to set myself apart from the normal way of putting pictures up. It's good that I've become unexpectedly famous for those pictures.
A: What about those pictures of your hair, when you had it done?
kiyo: As for that, I got requests of "Give us a picture where we can see you from the front!" But, that was eventual, I guess. (Laughs.)
A: When I saw your picture of "Bean Curd Hell", I fell into it too.
kiyo: Ahaha. When I had that bean curd, at first it gave me the image of eternal Hell. But, I've recently been able to not only eat it, but to develop a fondness for it. It's a memory of my conquering some kind of Hell, at least.
A: kiyo, your hometown is Hirakata, Osaka, isn't it? That being the case, do you think there are a lot of people from there who embrace the subject of "ruin through extravagance in food is indispensable"? (Laughs) However, you like eating various things very much. Of course, this feeling is circulated very strongly through your blog.
kiyo: When I debuted, my producer taught me the phrase, "Food takes precedence over everything." (Smiles.) I thought, "What an awesome guy." For example, there are times in the studio where you have to order lunch, but it takes 40 minutes to arrive. While we're waiting for the meal to get there, of course, there's a lot of tension. But, the idea that "The food is on its way!!" has yet to set in...it doesn't really suit me. Rather, it's the feeling of "The food is all the way over there..." (Laughs.)
A: I see, I see. (Laughs.) At any rate, there's a connection between the way you eat and the way you make music, isn't there? It honestly makes you feel good.
kiyo: "You're one who lives to eat, kiyo..." since I hear this a lot, I understand that is how I am. But, every day, I have the desire to write just as much, too.
A: You really do love to eat...
kiyo: That's right. (Sage nod.) I like to cook, too, though it isn't my strong point. I don't know if I can say it like this, but I like "manufacturing things". While I wait for Tuesday to pass by, I start putting everything in order. I love when everything snaps into place. Of course, when I start overeating is when the order to my cookware comes to a swift end.
A: That compulsion for perfection, that's indicative of an A type personality, isn't it? For example, people who don't like things strewn everywhere, or not knowing where they are?
kiyo: Yeah, I'm like that~ However, it also makes me very tired, I think. (Laughs.)
A: Nevertheless, I heard you had fun at Guru Messiah!
kiyo: Oh, that was so much fun. And so delicious, too~.
A: On that day of "fixation with meat", your words became very plain and laid out in the same fashion, too...
kiyo: Ahahahaha. I like meat~. When people ask me what my favorite food is, I'm the type to completely ignore cooking styles and things like that, and just say "meat". It's magnificent, meat is. (Laughs.)
A: What kinds of meat do you like the best?
kiyo: Recently, I've really been into pork.
A: I'm sure it's popular in Osaka, but how do you find things like beef?
kiyo: Oh, it's popular. Of course, I like beef, too. When I go to my butcher, who has a fantastic roast, I always look "enraptured" by the meat, but when I was younger, eating meat used to hurt my teeth, so it concerned me a little bit.
A: You like meat to that extent. However, an expert on meat would tell you that it's not the meat that does anything to your teeth, and it's nothing to be concerned about. Certainly, you've heard this.
kiyo: Oh, of course. (Laughs.) I'm the type of person who considered eating tender meat for a year. However, I've gotten to like fish recently, too. I like to eat most vegetables, as well. I don't have green peppers and onions at my house very often, because I don't like them very much; I do like carrots, though.
A: However, on one day of your tour, you ate a rather nice helping of them. You went on about it for three lines.
kiyo: I really did eat them, didn't I? For the time being, there's no false information on my blog. It's so much fun to see responses like "I've been to that place that you mentioned." To begin with, it appeared that my blog was pretty objective. "Aa, let's see what they left me to read today," things like that. It makes me extremely happy.
A: So, to see the responses day after day after day is amusing, isn't it?
kiyo: It is amusing~. The comments too, even on the days when I get at least 200 of them, I really do read them all. Of course, they're all indented into one column.
A: Doesn't your blog occupy a large part of your day, kiyo? Hasn't your life changed on a rather large scale in the last several months?
kiyo: It seems that in all the time I spend writing and reading things from the fans, I could have composed a song! (Laughs.) I know that, but honestly, the minute I finish writing on my blog for one day, I'm already thinking about what I'll write tomorrow... Because I do have to write music, I can't be in my house all the time; so that means that having something to write about is kind of my number one pursuit. (Laughs.) However, sometimes when I'm playing, I'll suddenly get an idea for a new sound source unexpectedly or something.
A: So you're the type of guy who, much like the swan sitting undisturbed at the top of the water, actually has his legs frantically paddling underwater?
kiyo: Ahaha, that's true! I may be the type of person who is working hard, even if you can't see it. It fits my personality, anyway.
[part 2]