– You quite like alcohol, don’t you?
[I do like it. Well, maybe? I guess I don’t really like it all that much.]

– Well, I guess you don’t drink your way to a pounding headache then? But, it is fun to drink a little, right? Did you start drinking a long time ago? I somehow get the impression you didn’t drink much in the past.
[I get told that by everybody but I haven’t changed much, really. It’s just that before, I didn’t open my heart much at all, so I didn’t go out drinking with people. Even when I did go, I didn’t get all that casual, did I?]

– I see. What kind of alcohol do you drink the most? I’d guess beer?
[I start off with beer. “Beer first” (laughs) (1). While I’m drinking my “first beer” I think of what to have next. Which way to go. Well, it depends on who I’m with and on the time zone, too. Sometimes I stop after that one beer, sometimes I move from beer to wine. If there are wine drinkers among the group I’m with, then we’ll get a bottle. That or shouchuu(2). If nobody else wants to get wine, I’ll drink shouchuu by myself.]

– You must drink a lot of ume no oyuwari(3) and the like, right?
[Yeah. But I was a late bloomer for shouchuu. There was a shouchuu fad just recently, too. Lots of young people drank it, right? It’s image used to be that it was the drink for old men who did manual labour. But now it seems like even young women drink it, it’s become a refined drink. I’m sure that’s how I got around to drinking it. At first, I wondered what was so good about it, and now it’s like shouchuu doesn’t get me drunk, so it’s nice. It doesn’t leave a single trace the next day. Ever since way back when, drinking barely leaves a trace on me. It’s not one of my weaknesses. I can drink up to a certain amount without getting drunk, and without it lingering.]

– I suppose you don’t get hangovers, then?
[Nope. At most, I’ll get maybe one in a year. More like one every two, three years. I regret those times. “Dammit! Why did I drink so much and make myself sick?” (laughs). Basically, I drink because it’s fun. Because I want it to be fun. I’ve never gotten drunk out of despair. I don’t change when I drink. Since I don’t change, it’s like nobody can tell I’m drunk. I just get a little more talkative, I think. I talk a little more than I usually do, or something.]

– But, the corners of your eyes start to droop, and you get a little cuter……
[I get panda eyes, right? (laughs)]

– I think the time I saw you most drunk was at the party after the TETSU69 first live “Sweet December” right? You were pretty drunk that time. You even had trouble climbing stairs.
[Oh, yeah, I did drink a lot that time. But, wasn’t the mood rather drunken anyway?]

– You seemed to be having a great time. Even at the party, you kept singing your songs.
[I was still singing even though the live was over, right? (laughs)]

– That’s right. So, you should have made the live a little longer! Or something (laughs). Now, how do you feel when other people are drunk around you, but you aren’t?
[I like happy drunks. But, I hate when people walk around with that look in their eyes that says “Wanna tangle?” In the end, it just makes me think they can’t hold their booze. It’s like, usually I control myself rationally, then I hear all these stories people only bring up when they’re drunk, and I can think about them. So, I think that people who get violent when they’re drunk are actually just holding back the rest of the time, and that’s their true self. I’m glad I’m not like that. For better or for worse, I don’t have much of a hidden side. A lot of painful incidents happen that way, though.]

– So, you claim that even when you’re drunk, you can still exercise calm judgement. Deep down, you must admire calm, sensible people.
[Yes, I think I do. I think so, but I really do think I’m that kind of person myself, too. It’s no different when I’m drunk. You know how hairy people get a lot of pity? I think it’s because they say humans originally evolved from apes, so being hairy = being primitive. Primal and instinctive. Well, I’m particularly hairless (laughs). So, I guess that means I’m not primitive, and I think I’m a more evolved person. I’m not talking about whether that’s good or bad. It’s just that rather than give pity, I’m the type to coolly analyse things, staying very cool to think about them. If that means I’m cold, then I guess I’m cold.]

– I see. We’ve gotten a bit off topic. Let’s see… Do you ever drink when you’re at home by yourself?
[At home, I make Ditamonis (4). By myself. Consistently. I don’t keep that much alcohol at home, though. Beer and Dita and Kahlua and that’s it?]

– That’s a lot of sweet drinks.
[Cause I’m still a kid (laughs). I don’t drink every day at home, though. Maybe three or four times a week. When I want to reward myself for a good day’s work and so on. “Otsukarechan!” (5) (laughs). Oh, and I don’t sleep much, so sometimes I drink a little and sleep. I have awful sleeping habits since I’m such a night person. Well, alcohol is the lubricant of life, right? I could live without it, but it seems like having it makes life move along more pleasantly.]

– Interviewer : Kikuchi Keisuke
Translated by Natalie Arnold

1. He’s playing with the phrase “Toriaezu biiru,” which translates to “First of all, beer,” or “Beer first.” Typically, when Japanese go to a bar, they order a beer first instead of a fancier drink, and the ordering is done with this phrase.Go back.

2. Shouchuu is a traditional Japanese alcoholic beverage that is sometimes called “Japanese vodka.” It has a rather high alcohol concentration. Similar drinks are made in China and Korea.Go back.

3. A drink (in this case shouchuu) mixed with hot water and ume juice. Ume is a species of Japanese plum.Go back.

4. A drink that combines lychee liqueur, tonic water and grapefruit juice.Go back.

5. The phrase “otsukaresama” is said to coworkers, teammates and the like after a hard work session. By changing the end to “chan”, he is making it cuter, which is compounded by the fact that he’s saying it to himself.Go back.