Mr. WINTER SKY (Blog Magazine Issue 83 Excerpt)
DEAR MY G-LOVERS
My most recent words
are posted on the GACKT Blog Magazine
so check it out if you want to read it all
*This article is an excerpt from the GACKT blog magazine.
(Updates 3x a month)
http://ch.nicovideo.jp/channel/gackt
Merry Christmas...
That said, it's already the 26th...
2am on the 26th.
I spent this year's Christmas
at "b's east",
a snowboard shop in Machida.
The store's representative, Baba-san,
opened the store especially for me
and waited in the middle of the night.
Tonight, we remade all my gear
to prepare for the snowy mountains.
Before,
when I went out to eat with Baba-san,
he said,
"How about we take a mold of your footprint
and make some custom-fit Deeluxe boots?
We're the best in Japan at this technique,"
brimming with confidence.
After that, he took my footprint,
and came to make the boots.
Of course, once before I had gone to a different store
and had them make Deeluxe boots from my footprint.
However, the boots that were made that time
were not satisfactory, frankly.
To be honest,
I went to the store this time not expecting much.
But, as soon as they started making the mold
I was grateful from the bottom of my heart
for how carefully they worked.
Veteran specialist Takemura-san, has been doing this work for 17 years.
I have to take my hat off
for his detailed and careful attention.
"You'll be surprised by the finished product."
That one sentence of his got me all excited.
Actually it was already 11pm by the time I got to the shop in Machida,
it was already past the top. [Note: I'm not really sure what he means]
All the other staff in the shop waited for me.
Their smiles were nice.
There was quite a large amount of clothing lined up in the store.
As far as gear goes, this store sells the most Flow gear
anywhere in Japan.
They make limited edition boards with Yonex,
and you can tell how much people in the industry love this shop.
I mainly use kickers,
and for most of the season,
I focus on kickers more than free runs and half pipes.
When I told them that,
they put together a recommended set of
a board, boots and binding.
Previously, I had the impression that Yonex boards were stiff,
but apparently they've evolved a lot over the last few years.
There was a push from the Yonex side,
so I decided to use this board this time.
Every year, I try riding a lot of different boards,
so I'll report at a later date
how much this board suits me in the end.
Getting back to the making of the boots,
the detail of the process of taking my footprint,
and later, how he looked at my feet
and guessed in detail where they had been hurt
gave a glimpse of the abundance of his experience.
It wasn't the way my footprint had been taken before,
and I was excited by how they took my footprint
using vacuum shaping.
Nevertheless,
it does take a lot of time.
This is inefficient,
and to be honest,
isn't worth it in terms of profit [for the store].
But,
he continued his attention to detail here,
and it was wonderful to see
what he'd perfected over 17 years.
This shop isn't just loved by pro-snowboarders,
but also many celebrities.
It's a big deal that they put so much attention
into a making a one off pair of boots.
Most stores usually wouldn't think twice
about selling things with a more efficient method.
There are a lot of orders,
so there are still a lot of people waiting for their turn.
When you see the mountains of ordered boots piled up on the shelves,
you know how trusted they are.
By the time the boots were finished,
it was 2am.
After that,
I tried on some jackets
and found one to wear this year.
The mountains are waiting for me.
I thought that it would be a lonely Christmas,
but I'm thankful from the bottom of my heart to the owner, Baba-san,
and the specialist Takemura-san
and all the staff,
for making it a precious Christmas
surrounded by wonderful smiles.
Well then,
it's a new day now.
Today is the classical concert.
I think I'll be able to sing well.
My heart is refreshed.
My name is GACKT.
My motto is "Mr. WINTER SKY"
My heart is the clear winter sky.
In a few hours,
I'll deliver the greatest song to you.
GACKT
