– 1969 is the year you were born, right, tetsu-san. Do you have particularly strong feelings towards that year?
[That’s to be expected. I’ve thought “1969 was pretty cool, wasn’t it?” ever since I first started getting into music. In Japanese, you can say the “69” in “1969” as “ro-ku” (1). Also, 1969 was the year Woodstock happenned. Apollo 11 landed on the moon for the first time. Humanity successfully reached the moon’s surface. There were a lot of meaningful things happenning that year, I’d say that’s pretty cool. So many wonderful things happenned, didn’t they, in 1969. Also, I like that number a lot, so I like the year too.]

– By the way, which sign(2) was it?
[It was the year of the rooster. I don’t like that very much. (laughs)]

– Were you thinking “I want to hurry and be a grown up!” since all the way back then
[Absolutely not! Not even once. That’s something that a kid, because they’re young, would say alot, isn’t it? I think it’s pretty common. But that line, “I want to hurry and be a grown up” isn’t something that I thought. It’s because it’s inevitable. Even if you ignore it, even if you don’t like it, you can’t do anything about growing up. On the other hand, at that age, there are still a lot of things you can’t do, so I think it’s understandable to be a bit envious of adults.]

-Interviewer : Toujou Sachie

Translated by Natalie Arnold.

1. The digits 1 through 9 are often shortenned when said in rapid succession, such as when giving out a phone number. 6, roku, becomes simply ro and 9, kyuu, is shrunken down to ku. Roku is also how the Japanese would pronounce rock, as in rock music. Go back.

2. Signs of the chinese zodiac, mythology well known in Japan. Go back.