– You once mentioned that you like children. Did you mean playing with them, or do you prefer simply seeing them?
[I like playing with them. It’s tiring, but I like it. It’s kinda nice to take care of them.]

– As surprising as that is to hear, it’s also understandable. According to you, tetsu-san, what is it about children that makes them cute?
[Just the fact that all their parts are so tiny, that alone is enough to make anything cute. But see, these kids, like my nephews and my friend’s nieces, I only see them once in a while. Since it’s not that often, I’ll play with them, but if it was 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, then it would be terrible. Since I haven’t had that kind of experience, I don’t think I can really say what’s cute about them.]

– Well, we’ve discussed marriage, or not getting married, before, so do you think you’d want to have kids of your own?
[Hmm, I’ve never thought about it, really. I don’t especially feel like I want them, but don’t absolutely not want them, either. You know, as far as people’s children go, it seems like lots of people think of them almost like pets, so they’ll have kids just as easily as they’d raise a pet. I don’t think it’s that simple. And so, it’s a principle of mine not to keep pets. Then, when it’s a human child, they can’t keep up their previous lifestyle, so people say things like “Oh well, I had one so it can’t be helped,” right? I can’t stand that sort of thing. There’s an economic side to it, too. To raise one person until they graduate from high school takes tens of millions of yen, doesn’t it? You need to have the right income. Then, in daycare centres and nursery schools, where they take care of one and two year olds, sometimes those kids die, you know? Like, they fell asleep while lying face down and suffocated. But I can’t understand the nerve of those parents, letting someone else take care of their one or two year old children. For one and two year olds, the parents alllllways have to take care of them, or else. There’s no way they can get away with having someone else do it while they go to work. I think that if you can’t live on just the father’s earnings, don’t have kids yet. At least until the child is three years old, if the mother needs to work because the father’s earnings aren’t enough of an income, I think they shouldn’t have children.]

– Ah, well, I think that’s correct. You at least need that much preparation, planning, and foresight, right.
[Right. However, I’m not saying they need to grow up overprotected. They should be left alone when they need to be, but I think it’s best to also have strict rules. But of course, there needs to be love in it for it to work.]

– I think that if you ever had children, tetsu-san, they would grow up very happily. Oh, yes, tetsu-san, you’ve often said that you’re a child yourself, so in which specific ways do you see yourself as one?
[In every possible way (laughs). In the end, of course, I love myself, I think I’m the cutest. If I had a child, that would become someone I’d throw my life away to protect if necessary, but I’m still a complete child. I don’t think children can raise children. I think I’d feel sorry for the kid. I’m still not a complete person, a complete human being, yet.]

– I understand.
[No, but if I ever have children, then that’ll be that, everything will change from the moment they’re born, probably. But right now, everything down to my way of thinking is childlike. My bachelor life is fun.]

– Interviewer : Honma Yuuko
Translated by Natalie Arnold