B=PASS August 2011 Theme Interview- "Japanese"
Originally scanned here by pyroyale . There are three "interviews" in this magazine, this is the keyword interview on what it means to be Japanese.
The theme for this keyword interview is "Japanese people". The new single "Episode.0" is written from a Japanese perspective, and the B side "Paranoid Doll" has a taste of Japanese sounds in it. And, more than anything, what can be felt from GACKT's own actions is "Pride as a Japanese person"… Therefore I would like to hear his thoughts on the theme of "Japanese people". GACKT, when was it that you fully became aware of your Japanese identity?
"When did I become aware of being Japanese?… Well, I guess that's not something you feel during day to day life. But, that's because Japan is a homogenous society. Well, recently the number of people from other countries has finally increased, though. This is something I've been saying for a while, and showed in the movie "MOON CHILD", but in 30 years from now, the population of Japan… if you only count ethnically Japanese people, will be cut to 70 million. Cutting it to 70 million people will mean that our country only has two thirds of its current strength. And with only two thirds of the country's strength, even if we decide to leave that alone, it won't be left alone. In other words, we'll start to take in capital and workers from overseas. The point is, the number of Chinese, South East Asians, South Americans, and of course Koreans, and also Middle Eastern people in Japan is going to increase dramatically. From then on, I think people will definitely be aware of their own "Japanese"-ness in general life. But then, someone will… the point is, I'm definitely not suggesting we should rely on foreigners to give us the sense of being Japanese. Therefore, if we don't spend the years until then establishing "What is a Japanese person?", I think this generation's children will feel lost. "What is being Japanese?"
I guess that's true.
Hey, assuming that, inside ourselves, we have a way of thinking, believing and morality that comes from actually being Japanese… where would that have come from? Other countries… many peoples around the world, depend on a religion to live. Religion is the foundation for their hearts. But if we ask if Japanese people live with religion as the foundation for their hearts, they don't, right? Religion exists, but we are not a people that live based on religion. This is an extremely rare thing. In a country this advanced, with such an economy, with an homogenous population of 120 million Japanese people, that we live without reliance on religion is a very strange thing when you look at it from a global perspective. Although it's natural to Japanese people. So, if you ask how it is we came to be like this, it's that the bushido that was cultivated during the Warring States period, created the foundation of Japan, or so I believe. That way of thinking known as bushido… it greatly resembles European chivalry, but what it is is protecting someone while constantly living with death by our sides. I'm simplifying it, but that's the spirit. And the class of people who kept this bushido didn't really need religion. By the way, it was the merchants and farmers, who did not carry the idea or concept of bushido who spread religion throughout Japan. The Christianity of that time and Buddhism were both spread in the same way. Religion spread because of the peasants. The reason is, because they didn't live by bushido.
They had no foundation?
Right, because they had no foundation. But that doesn't mean that religion became a cornerstone in Japan, and everyone lives like that… How should I say it? Europe is different, right? In Europe, chivalry and religion had separate places, and there are a huge number of people who have religion as the foundation of their heart. If you ask Japanese people about it, they'll say they don't like being religious, but this the standard around the world. So if you go overseas and ask "What do you believe in?" you'll usually get an answer. But when you ask Japanese people, they go, "Huh? Belief? Ummm…well, I guess my family is Buddhist?" or something. But if you ask them, "What is Buddhism?", they say, "Well, I don't really know". Aren't there a lot of people like that?
(Laughs) I think most people are like that.
So how did everyone end up like this?… The reason why we were able to live without religion as our foundation was that fundamentally bushido was passed along from adults to children.
During day to day life?
Right. It's not that they were teaching anything special, but grandfathers and fathers would say to a child, "You shouldn't do this" and "At times like this you should do this" and so on. Or they'd teach through the way they lived. Also, in Japan we have corporal punishment, and parents hit and discipline their children. For a parent to raise their hand against their child is very odd from an overseas point of view, and strange from the perspective of some religions. But in bushido, in other words the spirit that created the samurai, there was corporal punishment for things you must not do, and you followed the law so that your children would not be punished too. But as the era changed, bushido went out of fashion, and rapidly faded. Even in school education, of course there are no classes that say "This is bushido". Something that was originally passed on from parents to children has died out. School teaches study, but not how to live. It doesn't teach a foundation for the heart. And so the kids… they have no choice but to get it from music and manga and games. But it was originally something that adults had to teach the children.
What is inside of you, GACKT is bushido… I can sense the samurai very strongly, but where does it come from?
Hm, at times like when I worked overseas, I got asked. "Why do you keep on trying so hard?" "How do you keep on going like that without giving up?" and so on. At those times, even inside myself I thought, "Why?" and couldn't find the answer, but… The words that came out of my mouth were, "Because I'm a samurai…" I think that's definitely it.
The samurai spirit is in your blood naturally, because you have inherited bushido.
I wonder is that so?… Well anyway, in reality the education system has now changed, and schools don't teach how to live anymore. The parents whinge to the PTA if the teacher so much as scolds their child. I think that's weird. So who will scold them then? Who will teach them how to live, and how will they teach it? I wonder. It'd be different if we had religious based classes like Europe and America, but they don't fit with the climate of Japan. That said, if we did have a class on morals, it would be strange for the kids because they've already changed… I won't say I have the definite answer, but what I think is, one of the reasons it's become strange is the media. The point is, they only take up things that will increase the audience. For example, a teacher hit a kid. If that happens, the media will blow it up, and exaggerate it by presenting it as "Violent Teachers". Then they report it like the act itself of a teacher hitting is always wrong, and even schools that had been going well up until then create an atmosphere of "this is absolutely wrong", right? So next it was "pressure-free education". But that failed too. So now they're blaming pressure-free education. I think this is strange. Just, the viewers are the viewers. Japanese people are too controlled by television. There are too many people who live with television as their yardstick and let television make up their minds for them. But we've finally got to the point… with the earthquake on March 11 too, that people are thinking that what's being shown on television might not be the truth. I think everyone's starting to feel that way.
Including the incidents with the reactors.
Right. Though I think what they're realizing there is that in such an advanced country, for it to be so slow is odd. But in an information based society like ours, can't we find as much information as we want if we decide to search for ourselves? Then why are we still just passively taking in the information broadcast on television? I think this is the weakness of the Japanese who do not even try to look for themselves. To put it a different way, we've been completely taken in by the media's tactics. Long ago, before the information society, you'd find a book yourself or ask lots of others for information… and accumulated it yourself like that. Now you can do anything by switching on television. When the TV tells them, "This is good," or "This is popular," everyone does it. If they say, "This is no good," people stop. For example, when people heard about the food poisoning incidents with yukhoe, it's like everyone gave it up. From my point of view, I think it was unreasonable to sell yukhoe for 280yen in the first place. Don't you think so? And more than just being unreasonable, if I say it in a way that's easier to understand, if you look at it on a 20 year scale, only a handful of people died from eating yukhoe, far lower than the chance of dying in a plane crash, so why did everyone quit eating yukhoe?
If I try to put… when it's reported in the mass media, you sometimes believe it unconsciously. If you thought about it for a second you could figure it out, but you don't even try to.
They don't try to think about it, and up until now, even things that should have seemed a little strange, they didn't try to see. Or should I say, they tried not to see it. And so when the media said something was okay, everyone thought it was. But I think that's what caused the current state of Japan. Even though, essentially, everyone needs to think about it more, gather more information themselves, and create the country themselves. In the end they just leave it to others, unconcerned and apathetic. The result of that is, when something goes wrong they blame someone, "It's your fault". If I have to say it, it's not "your fault", the biggest problem is that everyone is apathetic. But the truth is if Japanese people these days go on forever with this way of thinking, nothing in Japan will change.
But, I wonder if, with a person like GACKT, for example… not saying anything political, but making various statements and announcements, if the number of people noticing will increase little by little.
Yeah. Though,with that in mind, I'm little by little opening a place for me to make those statements. Twitter, for example, is like that. It's just, I don't really like Twitter, and honestly, if you ask me if I'm going to keep doing it forever from now on, I don't think so.
Oh, is that so?
Yeah. It's just, the reality was that after the earthquake, Twitter was the biggest source of information. Twitter is a strong source of information, good and bad. Its ability to spread information is also incredibly fast. In other words, if good information can flow, so can bad information…so I don't think its necessarily a good thing if people like me who have a certain amount of influence spread information willy-nilly. There's a difference between the general population and those with influence tweeting. It's important to understand that. And now, having actually used Twitter, I thought that even more. Well, I basically don't use Twitter for normal tweets anyway. I use a system of answering questions I've been asked. I think Twitter is effective on that front. But then according to people "GACKT doesn't tweet properly", and I think "Oh I just don't know anymore!" (laughs)
Hahahaha. No matter what you do, there's always people who will complain and nitpick.
I really start to think, what is with "Tweeting"? (laughs)
(Laughs) But getting back to "Japanese people", in July you're setting off to tour Europe for a second time as YELLOW FRIED CHICKENz. I think that your foreign fans will of course be very pleased by that, but it's something we can be happy and proud of too. That there's such an amazing artist, an amazing performer in Japan! We can puff up our chests about that.
This time, with doing YFC… if you ask why I made a new YFC, is that YFC was started with the idea that, "In Japan now there are nothing but weak and rotten men, so let's make some cooler guys!" But when the recent earthquake occurred, I felt clearly that our way of being, of existing wasn't at that level anymore. And I talked to the members too about it, but, from now, it will take 10 years to rebuild. And due to the various problems in Japan, we are in a position where we have to seek understanding from overseas. We are certainly victims on the earthquake front, and if you talk about the problem of the reactors, we're the villains too. If you say it from the point of view that we're polluting the planet. In that part too are many things we need to make announcements about. There are many things we must not forget. There are many things we must not become jaded to. There are many things we must answer to overseas about, and many things we must ask of them. Isn't it okay for YFC to exist for that purpose?… If so, let's spread our music around the world, and convey our feelings and the things that mustn't be forgotten. We'll put these things in a song and convey them that way. Isn't that our way of being as Japanese people? And our way of being as YFC? From there, it was decided to make the new YFC.
I see… It looks like it's going to become a more meaningful thing.
Yeah. Though, I think basically my way of living is rock…
I think everyone thinks so.
But it's a frequently asked question as to what a "rock" way of living is, right? There are people in there who think it means "Fuck government!" "Fuck politics!" But I think "You there, saying 'Fuck government," you're a fuck!". Anyone can just say it. That's why I say, "So let's take action!"
That "taking action" is the new YFC itself, right?
Right. It's not just words, we're taking action. That's my way of doing it, and my way of living. I think that's okay.
The theme for this keyword interview is "Japanese people". The new single "Episode.0" is written from a Japanese perspective, and the B side "Paranoid Doll" has a taste of Japanese sounds in it. And, more than anything, what can be felt from GACKT's own actions is "Pride as a Japanese person"… Therefore I would like to hear his thoughts on the theme of "Japanese people". GACKT, when was it that you fully became aware of your Japanese identity?
"When did I become aware of being Japanese?… Well, I guess that's not something you feel during day to day life. But, that's because Japan is a homogenous society. Well, recently the number of people from other countries has finally increased, though. This is something I've been saying for a while, and showed in the movie "MOON CHILD", but in 30 years from now, the population of Japan… if you only count ethnically Japanese people, will be cut to 70 million. Cutting it to 70 million people will mean that our country only has two thirds of its current strength. And with only two thirds of the country's strength, even if we decide to leave that alone, it won't be left alone. In other words, we'll start to take in capital and workers from overseas. The point is, the number of Chinese, South East Asians, South Americans, and of course Koreans, and also Middle Eastern people in Japan is going to increase dramatically. From then on, I think people will definitely be aware of their own "Japanese"-ness in general life. But then, someone will… the point is, I'm definitely not suggesting we should rely on foreigners to give us the sense of being Japanese. Therefore, if we don't spend the years until then establishing "What is a Japanese person?", I think this generation's children will feel lost. "What is being Japanese?"
I guess that's true.
Hey, assuming that, inside ourselves, we have a way of thinking, believing and morality that comes from actually being Japanese… where would that have come from? Other countries… many peoples around the world, depend on a religion to live. Religion is the foundation for their hearts. But if we ask if Japanese people live with religion as the foundation for their hearts, they don't, right? Religion exists, but we are not a people that live based on religion. This is an extremely rare thing. In a country this advanced, with such an economy, with an homogenous population of 120 million Japanese people, that we live without reliance on religion is a very strange thing when you look at it from a global perspective. Although it's natural to Japanese people. So, if you ask how it is we came to be like this, it's that the bushido that was cultivated during the Warring States period, created the foundation of Japan, or so I believe. That way of thinking known as bushido… it greatly resembles European chivalry, but what it is is protecting someone while constantly living with death by our sides. I'm simplifying it, but that's the spirit. And the class of people who kept this bushido didn't really need religion. By the way, it was the merchants and farmers, who did not carry the idea or concept of bushido who spread religion throughout Japan. The Christianity of that time and Buddhism were both spread in the same way. Religion spread because of the peasants. The reason is, because they didn't live by bushido.
They had no foundation?
Right, because they had no foundation. But that doesn't mean that religion became a cornerstone in Japan, and everyone lives like that… How should I say it? Europe is different, right? In Europe, chivalry and religion had separate places, and there are a huge number of people who have religion as the foundation of their heart. If you ask Japanese people about it, they'll say they don't like being religious, but this the standard around the world. So if you go overseas and ask "What do you believe in?" you'll usually get an answer. But when you ask Japanese people, they go, "Huh? Belief? Ummm…well, I guess my family is Buddhist?" or something. But if you ask them, "What is Buddhism?", they say, "Well, I don't really know". Aren't there a lot of people like that?
(Laughs) I think most people are like that.
So how did everyone end up like this?… The reason why we were able to live without religion as our foundation was that fundamentally bushido was passed along from adults to children.
During day to day life?
Right. It's not that they were teaching anything special, but grandfathers and fathers would say to a child, "You shouldn't do this" and "At times like this you should do this" and so on. Or they'd teach through the way they lived. Also, in Japan we have corporal punishment, and parents hit and discipline their children. For a parent to raise their hand against their child is very odd from an overseas point of view, and strange from the perspective of some religions. But in bushido, in other words the spirit that created the samurai, there was corporal punishment for things you must not do, and you followed the law so that your children would not be punished too. But as the era changed, bushido went out of fashion, and rapidly faded. Even in school education, of course there are no classes that say "This is bushido". Something that was originally passed on from parents to children has died out. School teaches study, but not how to live. It doesn't teach a foundation for the heart. And so the kids… they have no choice but to get it from music and manga and games. But it was originally something that adults had to teach the children.
What is inside of you, GACKT is bushido… I can sense the samurai very strongly, but where does it come from?
Hm, at times like when I worked overseas, I got asked. "Why do you keep on trying so hard?" "How do you keep on going like that without giving up?" and so on. At those times, even inside myself I thought, "Why?" and couldn't find the answer, but… The words that came out of my mouth were, "Because I'm a samurai…" I think that's definitely it.
The samurai spirit is in your blood naturally, because you have inherited bushido.
I wonder is that so?… Well anyway, in reality the education system has now changed, and schools don't teach how to live anymore. The parents whinge to the PTA if the teacher so much as scolds their child. I think that's weird. So who will scold them then? Who will teach them how to live, and how will they teach it? I wonder. It'd be different if we had religious based classes like Europe and America, but they don't fit with the climate of Japan. That said, if we did have a class on morals, it would be strange for the kids because they've already changed… I won't say I have the definite answer, but what I think is, one of the reasons it's become strange is the media. The point is, they only take up things that will increase the audience. For example, a teacher hit a kid. If that happens, the media will blow it up, and exaggerate it by presenting it as "Violent Teachers". Then they report it like the act itself of a teacher hitting is always wrong, and even schools that had been going well up until then create an atmosphere of "this is absolutely wrong", right? So next it was "pressure-free education". But that failed too. So now they're blaming pressure-free education. I think this is strange. Just, the viewers are the viewers. Japanese people are too controlled by television. There are too many people who live with television as their yardstick and let television make up their minds for them. But we've finally got to the point… with the earthquake on March 11 too, that people are thinking that what's being shown on television might not be the truth. I think everyone's starting to feel that way.
Including the incidents with the reactors.
Right. Though I think what they're realizing there is that in such an advanced country, for it to be so slow is odd. But in an information based society like ours, can't we find as much information as we want if we decide to search for ourselves? Then why are we still just passively taking in the information broadcast on television? I think this is the weakness of the Japanese who do not even try to look for themselves. To put it a different way, we've been completely taken in by the media's tactics. Long ago, before the information society, you'd find a book yourself or ask lots of others for information… and accumulated it yourself like that. Now you can do anything by switching on television. When the TV tells them, "This is good," or "This is popular," everyone does it. If they say, "This is no good," people stop. For example, when people heard about the food poisoning incidents with yukhoe, it's like everyone gave it up. From my point of view, I think it was unreasonable to sell yukhoe for 280yen in the first place. Don't you think so? And more than just being unreasonable, if I say it in a way that's easier to understand, if you look at it on a 20 year scale, only a handful of people died from eating yukhoe, far lower than the chance of dying in a plane crash, so why did everyone quit eating yukhoe?
If I try to put… when it's reported in the mass media, you sometimes believe it unconsciously. If you thought about it for a second you could figure it out, but you don't even try to.
They don't try to think about it, and up until now, even things that should have seemed a little strange, they didn't try to see. Or should I say, they tried not to see it. And so when the media said something was okay, everyone thought it was. But I think that's what caused the current state of Japan. Even though, essentially, everyone needs to think about it more, gather more information themselves, and create the country themselves. In the end they just leave it to others, unconcerned and apathetic. The result of that is, when something goes wrong they blame someone, "It's your fault". If I have to say it, it's not "your fault", the biggest problem is that everyone is apathetic. But the truth is if Japanese people these days go on forever with this way of thinking, nothing in Japan will change.
But, I wonder if, with a person like GACKT, for example… not saying anything political, but making various statements and announcements, if the number of people noticing will increase little by little.
Yeah. Though,with that in mind, I'm little by little opening a place for me to make those statements. Twitter, for example, is like that. It's just, I don't really like Twitter, and honestly, if you ask me if I'm going to keep doing it forever from now on, I don't think so.
Oh, is that so?
Yeah. It's just, the reality was that after the earthquake, Twitter was the biggest source of information. Twitter is a strong source of information, good and bad. Its ability to spread information is also incredibly fast. In other words, if good information can flow, so can bad information…so I don't think its necessarily a good thing if people like me who have a certain amount of influence spread information willy-nilly. There's a difference between the general population and those with influence tweeting. It's important to understand that. And now, having actually used Twitter, I thought that even more. Well, I basically don't use Twitter for normal tweets anyway. I use a system of answering questions I've been asked. I think Twitter is effective on that front. But then according to people "GACKT doesn't tweet properly", and I think "Oh I just don't know anymore!" (laughs)
Hahahaha. No matter what you do, there's always people who will complain and nitpick.
I really start to think, what is with "Tweeting"? (laughs)
(Laughs) But getting back to "Japanese people", in July you're setting off to tour Europe for a second time as YELLOW FRIED CHICKENz. I think that your foreign fans will of course be very pleased by that, but it's something we can be happy and proud of too. That there's such an amazing artist, an amazing performer in Japan! We can puff up our chests about that.
This time, with doing YFC… if you ask why I made a new YFC, is that YFC was started with the idea that, "In Japan now there are nothing but weak and rotten men, so let's make some cooler guys!" But when the recent earthquake occurred, I felt clearly that our way of being, of existing wasn't at that level anymore. And I talked to the members too about it, but, from now, it will take 10 years to rebuild. And due to the various problems in Japan, we are in a position where we have to seek understanding from overseas. We are certainly victims on the earthquake front, and if you talk about the problem of the reactors, we're the villains too. If you say it from the point of view that we're polluting the planet. In that part too are many things we need to make announcements about. There are many things we must not forget. There are many things we must not become jaded to. There are many things we must answer to overseas about, and many things we must ask of them. Isn't it okay for YFC to exist for that purpose?… If so, let's spread our music around the world, and convey our feelings and the things that mustn't be forgotten. We'll put these things in a song and convey them that way. Isn't that our way of being as Japanese people? And our way of being as YFC? From there, it was decided to make the new YFC.
I see… It looks like it's going to become a more meaningful thing.
Yeah. Though, I think basically my way of living is rock…
I think everyone thinks so.
But it's a frequently asked question as to what a "rock" way of living is, right? There are people in there who think it means "Fuck government!" "Fuck politics!" But I think "You there, saying 'Fuck government," you're a fuck!". Anyone can just say it. That's why I say, "So let's take action!"
That "taking action" is the new YFC itself, right?
Right. It's not just words, we're taking action. That's my way of doing it, and my way of living. I think that's okay.