Tetsugaku 52 : Sports
– You’re fairly secretive about it, but you keep up your physical strength, don’t you?
[I do. I have a small body, so I get asked “Are you eating properly?” and people worry needlessly (laughs). I’m a big eater though. I eat so much but don’t get fat, it’s in my genes. I was never on any sports teams, so physical training isn’t part of my image, and I think it surprises people, but I’ve always had good reflexes. I was born with good reflexes and fast feet. I thought I had a pretty tough body too, but then I started going to the gym and I was told it’s actually soft. Before I started training, (the trainer in charge of massaging) said they were going to dig into me. Then, when I was getting stretched, they stopped at about the same angle a normal person could reach. It wasn’t affecting me at all, so I said “Push me a little farther, please,” and they answered something like “Eeeh?! Are you sure?!” They told me “Out of everyone we have here, no one else is this tender.” I definitely don’t get injured much. When your body is stiff, it’s easy to get hurt. It’s probably because mine’s so tender that I’ve never gotten injured much.]
– You have the ideal athletic body. You don’t put on weight, your body is soft, and you seem to have nice muscles.
[When I put my mind to building muscle, they built up right away. I could be a musician or a soccer player…… but I never wavered even once (laughs). That reminds me, yesterday I dreamed I was playing soccer. I screwed up wonderfully. It’s embarrassing so I won’t tell you the details (laughs). But it felt like the whole country was watching me.]
– (laughs) As an example, did you ever get into a sports club?
[No, not really.]
– Then, you’re just good at everything?
[Well, to a degree.]
– In that case, did you simply never bother to get seriously involved with anything?
[I never thought my body was especially strong, ever. Even though I don’t have a weak constitution or anything (laughs).]
– Well then, how do you feel about watching sports?
[Watching? I’ll watch soccer sometimes. I always watch the international games, but don’t watch the J-league much (1). As for sports shows, I’ll watch a digest or something. I’ve never really cared much for watching sports. I hate baseball, and marathons too. There’s nothing to watch, they’re just running (laughs).]
– May I bring up the gym again? Do you visit the gym regularly?
[I haven’t been going lately. Since the recording started, I’ve only gone once or twice. And it’s been cold, too.]
– Then, it wouldn’t be quite right to say you were going to the gym with regular physical activity as your goal.
[That might be true. But you know, if it suited my lifestyle rhythm, I think I’d go every day.]
– There’s no extra room in your schedule where you can fit it in, right? How about before a tour?
[Before a tour, I have space for it, time wise. Promotions are paragraphs, so the work I have to do is substantially just reading. Basically, once I’ve finished that part of my day, I’ve got time to plan for things like going to the gym. Around then, I’m thinking of preparing my body for the tour, anyway.]
– You expose your body quite a bit during lives, right? Then, you’re probably concerned about the lines of your body, too.
[Well, I don’t really…… I don’t want to build up too much muscle. So I’m persistently moderate.]
– Is that so? Even so, I think you have the figure of a boxer, tetsu-san.
[I’m not that cool.]
– But I really think so. Your body is slender with just the right amount of muscle.
[Oh, really? Well, there’s no fat on me, so my muscles are visible.]
– You can eat a ton and not get fat, not put on any weight. I’m envious.
[I’m so lucky, being able to eat anything without getting fat. You know, being on stage takes more physical power than you’d imagine. Back during “Danger II” (An event put on by the record company responsible for L’Arc~en~Ciel. Held at Nihon Budoukan on December 26 2003, tetsu went on stage as both TETSU69 and part of L’Arc~en~Ciel), being both a vocalist and a bassist in the same day was quite the experience. That’s when I realized bass is exhausting.]
– Is it?
[Being a vocalist is more mentally taxing, and you have to make sure you take good care of your throat and so on, but physically, in terms of physical strength, it’s harder to be a bassist. First off, a bass is heavy, you know. Carrying that, plucking those thick strings, and moving around the stage while performing, it’s quite the sport. Even thinking about being on stage for just under two hours is already tiring. People who aren’t especially sportive wouldn’t be able to stand being on stage that long. So that’s why I go to the gym sometimes, and every day right before a tour, because I can’t afford to lose my strength.]
– Interviewer : Kikuchi Keisuke
Translated by Natalie Arnold