[TRANS] SO-EN (Jul 2022): In the chasm between black and white.
Matsumura Hokuto
In the chasm between black and white.
Matsumura Hokuto-san, a member of SixTONES who challenges music expression boldly to aim for new heights; and actor in the NHK serial television series “Come Come Everybody”, movie “Holic xxxHOLiC”, plus the currently-airing drama “Koi nante, honki de yatte dousuruno?”, he charms his audience through his multifarious roles. This photoshoot began with us conveying “we want to express Matsumura Hokuto’s various personalities and emotions through fashion” to him who genuinely loves fashion. Expending tremendous effort from outfit choices to makeup, he took on the photoshoot to show multiple facets of ‘Matsumura Hokuto’ that no one has ever seen.
With a cycle of destroying and creating,
I can become new again.
I had a lot of fun today! “SO-EN” is a magazine that I’ve loved for a long time and when our group was featured 3 years ago, I tried harder than anyone to leave an impression (laughs). This will be my third shoot, but we have a thorough discussion every time while we do the photoshoot, so I feel like my history with “SO-EN” is deepening.
That’s why I will destroy myself here, and recreate it again. I came here thinking that this will be different to last time, that I’d be able to rebuild myself. Also, the amount of clothes that I was greeted with when I entered the studio was incredible (laughs). It made me so happy to see the mountain of clothes that my self-consciousness disappeared. My conscious was focused all onto the clothes. I forgot who I was, everything from my name to my being, I simply contained the emotions of “this top is cute”. Rather than “which suits me?”, it was “wah, wah wah~ cute!” - it was a harem Matsumura-wise! (laughs)
Prior to the shoot, I had the chance to really get deep into the outfit picks and confirm the meaning and purpose of them, and although they were all pieces that made my heart race, I deliberately chose outfits that I might not ever encounter again if I missed this opportunity. I thought about the hair and makeup in conjunction with the clothes, and used my whole body to appreciate the fashion. Just like I thought, there is plenty that I can only express through “SO-EN”. Whether it’s the clothes I wear or what I want to exhibit. My body, expressions, thoughts and existence. I wanted to show something of myself, and I had so much fun losing myself in the process of connecting to my sensitive side that…… I started to get hungry (laughs).
It seems like everyone who meets me has a different image of who I am, as if there are multiples of me. But, instead of being like this in front of him, or being like that in front of her… it’s just that there are different sides of me that exist. I mean, I should respect that diversity when I’m with different people and I realise that I have contrasting faces that are as stark as black and white, but I don’t think of that as a bad thing. I’m simply going in between the chasm of black and white.
Me, I’m not the type to live life proudly either, so I try to use fashion to fill the flaws that I’m overrun with, and also incorporate elements of the people I like with my own. There are moments where I see those imperfections positively, but those voids are something that I don’t possess in the first place, so I can only compensate with outside elements. If I load and mix things together for that, it can also become something new. It might look lame and embarrassing to others, but I’m fine with that. Because I believe that you can become the real deal even if you have to start through imitation. Besides, I think “that’s nice~” when I see something nice about someone, and also “let’s take that! Let’s enjoy life!” when I find something lovely about another’s merits.
At the end of the day, me myself and fashion both need to change. Even if I say “let’s live life with common sense”, that common sense and norm can be destroyed and created arbitrarily, becoming something entirely different. To not be able to reconstruct oneself even when change is continuing to happen around them… that feels dangerous to me even. In any case, I want to be free. Incredibly. I want to wear the clothes I like and say the things I want. But freedom is not the same as denying other’s criticisms. Not being reproached by the public and being able to do things to the degree I can withstand is the best. I don’t mind if people think that I’m wearing clothes that are a little weird, but if I want to wear something that’s absolutely outrageous, I think I can safe-keep my freedom and mind if I walk on streets that are deserted and avoid people’s attention.
Fashion is an expression of feelings, but wouldn’t it be fun if emotions like fear and dislike can be seen beautifully? Just like how you want to listen to a song about heartbreak when you go through a break up. It’s okay to deliberately wear clothes that give off a weak and fragile atmosphere when you’re feeling scared. If you can change those sad emotions into beautiful clothing, things will become a plus swimmingly. It might be a form of escape though (bitter laughs). It’s the same when I’m acting, there’s a part of me that doesn’t mind whatever role or production it is, as long as there’s something beautiful and charming about it. The act of creating something with SixTONES as a group, and the act of wearing fashion too - they should all be separate, but they’re the same in terms of creating something artistic, so I feel like the method and thought is similar. When I’m creating something, the things that I, Matsumura Hokuto, possess and can utilise, are things that I already own. They’re just things like my mental attitude, opinions and personality, but they are all things that are unique to me even though everyone has them. I will destroy those and create again. That’s how I can become new again.
In the chasm between black and white.
Matsumura Hokuto-san, a member of SixTONES who challenges music expression boldly to aim for new heights; and actor in the NHK serial television series “Come Come Everybody”, movie “Holic xxxHOLiC”, plus the currently-airing drama “Koi nante, honki de yatte dousuruno?”, he charms his audience through his multifarious roles. This photoshoot began with us conveying “we want to express Matsumura Hokuto’s various personalities and emotions through fashion” to him who genuinely loves fashion. Expending tremendous effort from outfit choices to makeup, he took on the photoshoot to show multiple facets of ‘Matsumura Hokuto’ that no one has ever seen.
With a cycle of destroying and creating,
I can become new again.
I had a lot of fun today! “SO-EN” is a magazine that I’ve loved for a long time and when our group was featured 3 years ago, I tried harder than anyone to leave an impression (laughs). This will be my third shoot, but we have a thorough discussion every time while we do the photoshoot, so I feel like my history with “SO-EN” is deepening.
That’s why I will destroy myself here, and recreate it again. I came here thinking that this will be different to last time, that I’d be able to rebuild myself. Also, the amount of clothes that I was greeted with when I entered the studio was incredible (laughs). It made me so happy to see the mountain of clothes that my self-consciousness disappeared. My conscious was focused all onto the clothes. I forgot who I was, everything from my name to my being, I simply contained the emotions of “this top is cute”. Rather than “which suits me?”, it was “wah, wah wah~ cute!” - it was a harem Matsumura-wise! (laughs)
Prior to the shoot, I had the chance to really get deep into the outfit picks and confirm the meaning and purpose of them, and although they were all pieces that made my heart race, I deliberately chose outfits that I might not ever encounter again if I missed this opportunity. I thought about the hair and makeup in conjunction with the clothes, and used my whole body to appreciate the fashion. Just like I thought, there is plenty that I can only express through “SO-EN”. Whether it’s the clothes I wear or what I want to exhibit. My body, expressions, thoughts and existence. I wanted to show something of myself, and I had so much fun losing myself in the process of connecting to my sensitive side that…… I started to get hungry (laughs).
It seems like everyone who meets me has a different image of who I am, as if there are multiples of me. But, instead of being like this in front of him, or being like that in front of her… it’s just that there are different sides of me that exist. I mean, I should respect that diversity when I’m with different people and I realise that I have contrasting faces that are as stark as black and white, but I don’t think of that as a bad thing. I’m simply going in between the chasm of black and white.
Me, I’m not the type to live life proudly either, so I try to use fashion to fill the flaws that I’m overrun with, and also incorporate elements of the people I like with my own. There are moments where I see those imperfections positively, but those voids are something that I don’t possess in the first place, so I can only compensate with outside elements. If I load and mix things together for that, it can also become something new. It might look lame and embarrassing to others, but I’m fine with that. Because I believe that you can become the real deal even if you have to start through imitation. Besides, I think “that’s nice~” when I see something nice about someone, and also “let’s take that! Let’s enjoy life!” when I find something lovely about another’s merits.
At the end of the day, me myself and fashion both need to change. Even if I say “let’s live life with common sense”, that common sense and norm can be destroyed and created arbitrarily, becoming something entirely different. To not be able to reconstruct oneself even when change is continuing to happen around them… that feels dangerous to me even. In any case, I want to be free. Incredibly. I want to wear the clothes I like and say the things I want. But freedom is not the same as denying other’s criticisms. Not being reproached by the public and being able to do things to the degree I can withstand is the best. I don’t mind if people think that I’m wearing clothes that are a little weird, but if I want to wear something that’s absolutely outrageous, I think I can safe-keep my freedom and mind if I walk on streets that are deserted and avoid people’s attention.
Fashion is an expression of feelings, but wouldn’t it be fun if emotions like fear and dislike can be seen beautifully? Just like how you want to listen to a song about heartbreak when you go through a break up. It’s okay to deliberately wear clothes that give off a weak and fragile atmosphere when you’re feeling scared. If you can change those sad emotions into beautiful clothing, things will become a plus swimmingly. It might be a form of escape though (bitter laughs). It’s the same when I’m acting, there’s a part of me that doesn’t mind whatever role or production it is, as long as there’s something beautiful and charming about it. The act of creating something with SixTONES as a group, and the act of wearing fashion too - they should all be separate, but they’re the same in terms of creating something artistic, so I feel like the method and thought is similar. When I’m creating something, the things that I, Matsumura Hokuto, possess and can utilise, are things that I already own. They’re just things like my mental attitude, opinions and personality, but they are all things that are unique to me even though everyone has them. I will destroy those and create again. That’s how I can become new again.