Billboard Japan

Fujii Kaze‘s rise to fame began when his 2020 release, “Shinunoga E-wa,” trended on TikTok. He now enjoys popularity in Japan and throughout Asia, and has recently released a new song, “Workin’ Hard.” The song was created in Los Angeles with sound producer Dahi, who has also done sound production for Kendrick Lamar and SZA, and was used as the theme song for Japanese broadcasts of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023, which was held in the Philippines, Indonesia and Japan. It isn’t just a sports fight song, but a song that energizes and encourages people throughout their day-to-day lives.

This summer, Fujii embarked on his first international tour — Fujii Kaze and the piano Asia Tour — playing in seven cities throughout Asia. Billboard Japan spoke with him about the indelible tour and his new song, which represents a major turning point, as well as the process of making the song’s music video together with its director, videographer MESS.

You toured Asia from June to July. What was that experience like?

Fujii Kaze: More than ever before, I felt a spiritual connection that transcended language. I’m so grateful that they are paying attention to the content of my songs and trying to see the humanity and spirituality within. I want to keep trying to tear down those barriers between me and others. I don’t want there to be this feeling that there’s some kind of distance between us. I want us all to feel like we are one.

Were there any particular scenes that stand out in your memory?

Fujii Kaze: With each show, it felt like I myself was also being liberated. I was focused on my inner world, so I could feel the changes going on inside me. And somehow they made me feel proud to be Asian. It felt like my hometown and brotherhood was expanding. That feeling was new to me. 

Did you start working on your new song, “Workin’ Hard,” after being approached with an offer for FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023?

Fujii Kaze: Yes. Basketball is the sport I have the closest personal connection to, and it has a definite hip-hop image. The team wanted me to make a song inspired by the NBA, which brings together the finest players from around the world, just like the World Cup does. That’s why we went to Los Angeles to watch a game. The stadium often resounded with the rumbling bass of hip-hop, and that’s when I was sure that I wanted to create a hip-hop inspired song for the event.

You took on a few new challenges with the song, making hip-hop and working in a new songwriting environment.

Fujii Kaze: When I released my last song, “grace,” it felt like I’d said everything I wanted to say and done everything I wanted to do. I felt burned out. For a long time, I didn’t know what I should do next, and I didn’t feel the need to create more music. So when I received this great offer, the energy welled up within me to do something I’d never done before, starting from the ground up. I like trying new things, but the message I need to share through my music stays the same. It’s basically one single message. Because that message is so constant and unchanging, I wasn’t sure if there was any room to explore new approaches to conveying the message or any new methods I could use. I was looking for a totally new approach that wouldn’t just be rehashing what I’d already done, and this offer was the perfect fit.

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You created the demo and then worked with Dahi to flesh it out, right?

Fujii Kaze: I had the whole completed song in my head, so I looked for someone who could realize the song as-is while adding their own special magic. I only met Dahi in-person once, but we did all of the recording then. Dahi kept coming up with good idea after good idea, and unless I said “I like that!” he’d just keep going. I put out everything that was in me at that session, and then we put all of the finishing touches on online. The whole process was very smooth, and the final song went in a direction that was even cooler, more refined, and more stylish than I’d anticipated.

Singing and rapping seamlessly blend into each other in the song. What did you pay special attention to when it came to singing style and flow?

Fujii Kaze: Ever since “Matsuri,” my mindset has been all about relaxation and being laid back. It’s been important that the music I create doesn’t place undue stress on listeners, and that it conveys to listeners the relaxed mood with which it was created. With “Matsuri,” I feel really confident about the sound of the song, the way I sing it, and my flow. When I made it, I realized that this was the sound I wanted to have going forward. I debuted with “Nan-Nan,” but when I released “Matsuri,” I felt like it was a “second debut song.” I ended up almost immediately closing that chapter with my next song, “grace.” So with “Workin’ Hard,” I had to bring back so much energy and passion that you could even call it a “third debut song.”

“Matsuri” and “Workin’ Hard” were both turning points for you, but did you realize this while you were working on the songs?

Fujii Kaze: Yes, I did. “Workin’ Hard,” in particular, came after “grace” and after “Shinunoga E-wa” had become popular even outside Japan, and it was the first song I released this year, so in many ways while I was creating it I felt like I needed to make it a new beginning and to show people something new.

It’s been a while since “Shinunoga E-wa” gained widespread popularity. As its creator, what do you think about it now?

Fujii Kaze: What happened was really like a gift from God. “Shinunoga E-wa” and “Matsuri” were my favorites, too. So the popularity of them gave me the confidence in sharing what I truly felt was cool.

The music video for “Workin’ Hard” also makes quite an impression.

MESS: I started out with this mental image of a garbage man holding on to the back of a garbage truck as it drove down the street. From that starting point, I interpreted the message of the song through its lyrics, and I came to think that showing scenes of people working in different workplaces would be the best way to convey the song’s message. When I met with Kaze and talked about it, he said that was exactly what he had imagined.

Fujii Kaze: I wanted something which people who hear the song or watch the video could apply to their own lives. I was hoping to visually convey that “this song belongs to you.”

MESS: I thought of this song as a song for everyone. I don’t think “work” should just be used in reference to one’s job, but should include the housework in your daily life too, which is why in the end of the video there are the scenes of him airing out the futons and hanging up the laundry.

Fujii Kaze: Who would have thought I would end up beating the futon at the last hook? I saw some comments that they are glad the video includes chores as well. That hadn’t even occurred to me, so big kudos to MESSY.

What’s the meaning behind the artwork illustration you made, MESS? 

MESS: This cover art shows all kinds of characters taking care of garbage using a bucket brigade style to express that no matter what our jobs are, no matter what our environments are, we’re all “Workin’ Hard.” If you look carefully, you’ll see that the knots on the garbage bags are all hearts. The bucket brigade can also be seen as how our love, praise, and consideration for others are passed on from person to person, reaching people far away. I think I was able to make a video to even better express this message.

Fujii Kaze: Without a doubt, the visuals really expanded the world of the song. I think the song has really been supported by the video, and I think they’ll continue to synergize and help spread this message.

—This interview by Tomonori Shiba first appeared on Billboard Japan

Sakurazaka46 shared the new music video accompanying the group’s new song “Shoninyokkyu” (“esteem needs”), featuring second-gen member Hikaru Morita in center position of the choreography. The popular J-pop girl group’s seventh single is set to drop Oct. 18. The girls express the struggles of people living today, wondering who they have become as a result […]

The upcoming new season of the popular TV anime SPYxFAMILY will feature a new track by Ado called “Kurakura” as its opening theme song.  “Kurakura” will drop digitally worldwide on Thursday, Oct. 5, ahead of the show’s season 2 premiere in Japan on Oct. 7. The song was written by meiyo, with arrangement and performances […]

Billboard‘s International Power Players list recognizes the leaders driving the success of the music business in countries outside the United States. Avex’s CEO, Katsumi Kuroiwa, was chosen from the music industry leaders of the world for inclusion in the list for the first time.
Billboard Japan interviewed Kuroiwa in recognition of his selection for the list and discussed the challenges involved in creating global hits and the potential of female artists.

You were selected for the 2023 Billboard International Power Players list in recognition of the success of XG’s debut and their appearance in the Mediabase Top 40 Radio Airplay charts, the first time ever for Japanese female artists. Could you start out by discussing some of the challenges you faced with XG’s debut?

Kuroiwa: We launched XGALX, a global artist project behind artists like XG, six years ago, in 2017. This was when the world’s attention was first turning to K-pop. Of course, K-pop already had its fans at the time, but this was about when it started to establish an overwhelming presence due to BTS. Avex has a long history of producing K-pop artists such as BoA, TVXQ, and BIGBANG. We formed a partnership with S.M.entertainment in 2001, and we created a label with YG Entertainment. The strong impression I got through our activities with them was that they were keeping a close eye on the Japanese and global markets. Leveraging this experience, we launched the XGALX project with the aim of creating global hits. Initially, we were aiming for a 2020 debut, but the COVID pandemic but a halt to any major moves, so the debut ended up being in 2022. We built up even more knowledge in the intervening time, so in the end it turned out for the best.

XG is based in Korea, but all of the members are Japanese. How does it differ from K-pop?

Kuroiwa: We have a great respect for K-pop, but what really sets XG apart is their originality and freshness. We built the group together with our partners around the world, taking the best elements from Korea, Japan, and the US. The potential of the members, the music production, the video, and the fashion all came together, overlapping and giving birth to XG. We didn’t want to make them a J-pop or K-pop group, but instead create an all-new genre, X-Pop.

The members of the group had a lot of different ideas about what language the lyrics should be in. Some said that since the members are Japanese, they should sing in Japanese, but ultimately they came to the conclusion that since they’d be targeting the global market, including the Korean market, English would be best. None of the members are native speakers, so we really focused on pronunciation from the very start of their artist development.

Comparing the Japanese and US hit charts, it feels like in Japan, songs are often supported because of their strong melodies, while in the US and K-pop charts, songs with distinctive rhythms enjoy a lot of support. Do you take things like that into consideration?

Kuroiwa: Yes. Part of our company’s DNA is dance music, but we want to create an “XG rhythm” that features the originality of the members.

Could you talk a bit about the future you see for XG?

Kuroiwa: We don’t have any experience or expertise with creating global hit artists. That’s why we’ve been working with marketing firms and digital streaming platforms (DSPs), sharing ideas with each other. Thanks to these efforts, we’ve achieved organic growth, and I believe that the knowledge we’ve accrued will provide extremely valuable.

In the world of sports, like baseball and soccer, Japanese players have become really prominent presences, but that’s not the product of the sporting scene suddenly changing. No, the world has changed because of the efforts of all kinds of players, like Hideo Nomo, over the course of decades.

I don’t want the XGALX project to just shut down after a year or two. I hope it keeps going for 10, 20 years, creating a world in which Japanese artists thrive in the mainstream music world. Of course, I’d love it if XG were the breakthrough artist, but by having various artists take on the challenge, we can shift from these being isolated successes to a tide that creates a new market.

When YOASOBI took the top position in the US Billboard “Global Excl. U.S.” chart in June 2023, it created quite the buzz. Artists like Ado, Fujii Kaze, and imase are starting to build up support around the world.

Kuroiwa: It’s extremely encouraging. Every artist gains ground in a different way, so I think we need to take a close look at the data to see just how they’re growing in each individual country, including Japan. Right now, roughly 30% of XG’s listeners are in Japan, 20% in the US, and 50% in other countries. I think this is an ideal distribution, and if Japanese artists from all kinds of genres become widely listened to — if people say “Fujii Kaze’s great and YOASOBI’s great, but XG’s also great” — then I think the future of the Japanese music market will be a bright one.

In August 2023, NewJeans took the number 1 position in the US Billboard200 album chart for the first time. Overseas, female artists like BLACKPINK, Taylor Swift, and Olivia Rodrigo have been very successful, but looking at the Japanese charts, most of the artists have been men for a while now, and there are still few high-charting female artists. What do you think about that?

Kuroiwa: Male artists, especially male groups, enjoy a lot of support from female fans, which makes it easy for them to generate revenue. However, we’ve made a lot of female artists, like Namie Amuro and Ayumi Hamasaki, into hit artists. Around the 2000s, what happened is that although these artists had some male fans, there was a societal phenomenon of female fans who aspired to be like these artists. For both men and women, it’s common for an artist to enjoy a lot of support from the other gender when they debut, but once they reach a certain level, female artists also have a lot of female fans. They have the power to create a kind of culture of their own. I’m not sure if, in our current age, it’s right to speak in terms of gender, but I think female artists have the power to transcend gender and generation barriers.

In closing, the rise in streaming sales is driving ongoing, positive music market growth in Japan and worldwide. However, the rate of growth of that streaming is slowing, and new market development is starting to take place. What plans does Avex have for the future?

Kuroiwa: I think that issues like that affect the countries who were at the forefront of the adoption of music streaming, but in Asia, including Japan, in the Middle East, and in Africa, the streaming market still has a lot of room for growth. I think that Japan has come out of the gates late with respect creating global hits, including hits in those regions. We’re not a major foreign-funded record company, so we don’t have the kinds of internal resources those companies have. That’s why we established Avex Asia Pte. Ltd. in 2013 and Avex USA Inc. in 2018, and we’re adding new Avex sites around the world. In August of this year (2023) we established a new company, Avex Saudi Arabia Entertainment LLC. I think the strategy of connecting all of these sites in Japan, the US, China, Singapore, and Saudi Arabia organically will be an effective way for us to generate global awareness of the IP we create.

So you’re setting up new sites around the world?

Kuroiwa: Singapore, where Avex Asia Pte. Ltd. is located, is our Southeast Asian hub, and Avex USA plays an extremely important role in our creative and marketing efforts. I feel there is tremendous market potential in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East. As far as creating global hits, Japanese anime is an important form of IP, and it’s extremely popular in Saudi Arabia. That’s why in 2022, we produced the “Anime Village” event area.

In the fields of music, video, and anime, we’re going to sell original Japanese IP, which we create, around the world, and feed the results back into our future efforts. I hope we can become a company that keeps doing that for decades to come.

—This interview by Seiji Isozaki and Naoko Takashima first appeared on Billboard Japan

J-pop musician Nishina is the next featured guest on Billboard Japan’s Women In Music interview series highlighting female players in the country’s entertainment industry. The series is one of many projects being conducted as part of the initiative launched last year, honoring female artists, producers and executives who have made significant contributions to the music industry and empowered women through their work.
Nishina began her music career while still in high school and her smooth singing voice has steadily gained popularity through social media and performances in night clubs. The 25-year-old artist is also popular for her lyrics depicting relatable and genuine emotions. Billboard Japan chatted with the rising singer ahead of her Women In Music Vol.1 performance set for Nov. 3 at the historic Hibiya Open-Air Concert Hall and asked her about maintaining a healthy mindset and her mission to spread a message of self-love.

You’ll be performing at the upcoming Billboard Japan’s Women In Music Vol. 1 event. How did you feel when you were asked to participate?

I’m so honored to be a part of this project. I’m not thinking of doing anything special and hope I can properly convey who I am to the audience. 

The three artists/acts set to perform that day have different styles, so we’re really looking forward to seeing your respective live performances. Were there any women you looked up to growing up?

I didn’t have any particular image of an ideal woman when I was little, and honestly speaking, I remember being embarrassed about becoming more feminine during my adolescent years. I wasn’t put off by it, but I guess I was embarrassed by the changes in my body. It felt strange. But I did admire musicians, regardless of their gender. I liked singing but felt shy standing in front of audiences, so musicians who gave commanding performances onstage looked really cool to me at the time.

It’s amazing that you’re now doing what you used to admire.

I’m so grateful. I’m pretty pleased with who I am right now.

That’s such a good space to be in. There are people who have trouble getting over their hang-ups and accepting who they are.

I know. I mean, I say I’m pleased with myself but of course I have a lot of hang-ups. In Japan, all kinds of ideals in terms of how one “should” look still run rampant, regardless of gender. Like, “the skinnier the better.” I don’t think it’s necessarily bad to want to change to like yourself more, but I’d like people to first accept themselves as who they are now. I’m fortunately in a position where I can deliver a message to people and I want everyone to know they should love themselves properly.

I see, so in a way, the message you want to get out to people is also coming back to you. Do you think there’s a trick to maintaining that state of being pleased with who you are?

For example, the idea that “skinny is more beautiful” is a way of thinking that stems from the culture you grew up in or was imposed on you by others. Different things may be considered beautiful in different countries, and what seems like common sense at first doesn’t mean it’s absolutely correct everywhere. So I think it’s important to change your environment to question that common sense. 

Try not to think that the world around you is all there is, you mean. How did you come up with that way of thinking?

I’ve always been a bit of a contrary person, so maybe I have a habit of looking at things from a different angle. For example, even when I’m in a situation where people don’t like me, when someone rejects me, I think, “Why should I be told that by you?” and feel like affirming myself instead. I can’t give you any specific examples, but when one of my complexes is triggered by something, I have a tendency to want to accept myself because of that.

Accepting yourself because others don’t. If you can think like that, the noise around you could sound different. Do you think being a woman has any influence on your music career? 

I’d like to say no but I think it does affect me in some ways. I call myself Nishina because I didn’t want to limit my gender. I wanted people to value who I am without letting my gender influence them.

I imagine you probably think differently since you started calling yourself Nishina. How did you develop that awareness to recognize and value your own individuality?

I’m not sure how it happened… I think it means that my mind has matured. There are some things I’ve come to understand as I’ve grown older. Some people have a clear idea of who they are from an early age, while others, like me, gradually deepen their understanding as they gain more experience. These days, I have this strong sense of my inner self being formed.

So you’re still changing in a positive way. At what moments do you update the way you think?

I guess it’s when I feel really down. The first year of my professional music career coincided with the pandemic, so there were periods when I couldn’t perform live or release songs and all I could do was keep producing music. No matter how much I worked, I couldn’t get any feedback and it was so hard. I felt stuck and thought, “I can’t do this anymore, I can’t keep going.” But I shared my feelings with my manager during those times and took some time off from production to slack off and just go have some fun. After doing that and letting myself hit rock bottom, I wanted to sing again. By hanging in there somehow without quitting, I managed to get through the tunnel and began to enjoy singing again. Looking back now, it was a good experience.

I see. I imagine it takes a lot of courage to let yourself fall like that.

Yes, I think I was at my limit at that time. Also, I read a book back in junior high where the question of “What’s the point of my existence?” was answered by something along the lines of “That’s a problem everyone encounters at least once, but it’s no use thinking about.” I was taken aback by that reply because I was asking myself the same thing and was surprised to learn that everyone has similar thoughts. You might not notice something when you’re in the midst of it, but you begin to see it when you set yourself apart from it. Once I realized the importance of changing my perspective and looking at things from a wider angle, my thought process changed a little. There’s more than one way to look at things, and it’s OK to look for an easier way to navigate by looking from above or below or whatever.

Since you admired musicians from a young age, did you ever hesitate taking steps toward your dream of becoming one, or feel ambivalent about your direction? What would you say to people who don’t like themselves or don’t have the courage to take that first step?

I did feel anxious, but had no hesitation. I spent a long time thinking, “I want to be like that,” so I couldn’t let go of the opportunity that came my way.

The thing I’d say to people would be about changing your perspective, like I mentioned just now. Most of the time it won’t kill you whether you choose right or left, and that step you think you can’t take might not be such a big deal. If you take that small step, it may lead to a surprisingly big change. If you don’t like yourself, try to find one thing about yourself that you can like, whether it’s something on the inside or out. Once you find that, think of ways to cherish it and make it shine.

Last question. This project began in response to the fact that men make up the majority of the Billboard Japan charts every year. Could you share your thoughts on this?

Until I was asked to do this interview, I wasn’t aware of this fact at all. I’ve gone through phases of listening only to works with male vocalists. Or maybe it has something to do with the power of women supporting male artists. I don’t think it’s necessarily something to be pessimistic about, though. It’d be a shame if there’s an air of female fans being made to feel out of place among a sea of male fans, but events like Billboard Japan’s Women In Music Vol. 1 are happening and there are many opportunities for people to listen to songs on social media now. I hope there will be more opportunities for everyone to freely encounter the music they like, regardless of gender.

–This interview by Rio Hirai (SOW SWEET PUBLISHING) first appeared on Billboard Japan

On Sept. 7, RIKIMARU released his first full album, CLOWN OR CROWN. After serving as a member of boy band INTO1 through the WARPs PROJECT, it’s the first release from the solo project he launched this summer which also shares the same name. In this interview, Billboard Japan spoke to RIKIMARU in depth about the artistry his fans can expect from his solo project and album.
You’ve said that your newly launched solo project would be a “mutual sharing of philosophies between you and listeners as well as an embodiment of the reasons you create as an artist and a way to pursue your goals.” What led you to attempt this?

In the past, the images associated with my music were “freshness” and “youth.” That was fun, in its own way, but looking at myself as a person, it felt like that image didn’t truly connect to the real me. I felt like an image of “craziness” would be a closer fit. That’s why I decided to make an album whose image is more along those lines. Through my songs, I wanted to examine societal issues and interpersonal relationships, not romance. I wanted to make songs whose themes would resonate with listeners, which is why I launched the project.

You’ve released your first full album, CLOWN OR CROWN. Why did you choose that name for the album?

I had this mental image of a deaf clown and a blind king. The deaf clown is a symbol of freedom and craziness. He is totally immersed in his own world, which is why he can’t hear others. The king lives in a dark castle, and he doesn’t know what kinds of lives people outside his castle are living. The album’s themes revolves around these two people, whose outlooks on life and whose perspectives on the world are so totally different from each other. Based on that foundation, I wrote songs as stories of what I myself have seen and felt, and what I’ve heard from others.

So it’s something of a social satire.

Right. But it’s not just a deep, heavy album — it has a lot that will also resonate with listeners. The stories could be interpreted differently if taken in different ways. CLOWN OR CROWN has this deaf clown and this blind king sharing information and their own sensibilities, so I want listeners to also share their own ideas and impressions.

I’m getting the feeling that album is encouraging people to broaden their perspectives.

Right. For example, I think about 80% of what I read online is fake (laughs). The majority opinion isn’t always the truth. Sometimes the minority view is correct. And not everything you see is real. It’s up to you to determine what to accept and what to reject, and if you change your perspective, you can get insights into all kinds of different worlds. That’s one of the things I want to convey through the album.

I know exactly what you mean.

And the difference between “CLOWN” and “CROWN” is just the difference between an “L” and an “R.” In China, I’m known as “Liwan,” and in Japanese my name is “RIKIMARU.” I often hear that “When you’re just chatting, you’re ‘Liwan,’ but when you dance you’re “RIKIMARU’.” Looking at the first letters of the names I go by, it’s an “L” and an “R.” I only noticed that afterwards, but it’s an interesting coincidence.

It sounds like an album that provides people with insights into various aspects of your character. You released “TALKIN’BOUT,” a single from CLOWN OR CROWN, on July 27, before the album was released. What is the meaning behind the song?

Recently there have been a lot of people struggling with bullying or violence online. It’s also common for the people making these abusive comments to be faceless. You often don’t know who they are. Even if the people around you are saying positive, uplifting things, sometimes it just doesn’t get through. The theme of this song is that you need to turn your attention to the positive. If people want to criticize, let them criticize.

That’s a problem that’s become particularly prominent as of late. So on the album, you’re focusing on that issue.

Some of the people who criticize others online are doing it because they’re stressed. If you get in their crosshairs, it’s almost like an accident. I realize it’s easier said than done, but I think the most important thing is to not let it get to you. If you let yourself get affected by negativity, you lose sight of yourself, right? That’s what I wanted to communicate. I want listeners to make their highest priority being true to themselves.

It feels like this is a theme song for your entire solo project.

That’s true. I wanted to make it kind of a table of contents, a declaration that “I’m going to talk about things that are going on today.” That’s why I made it the first song on the album.

I heard that you’ve made numerous revisions to the song, refining it into its final form.

Until I started working on the album, my voice sounded…childish, I guess? Lacking in artistry. It felt like I was just singing. When I played it to people I knew in the music industry, they said “Your singing technique has improved, but there’s no emotion in your voice.” I didn’t feel that my voice was artistic, either, so during the recording of the song, I recorded each line, line by line, over and over again. In the past, it took me about three hours to record an entire song, including the chorus, but this time it took me five hours just to record the melody line alone.

You were really a perfectionist.

We only had ten days to record the whole album. So there were times when I’d go in to the studio a little after lunch, record all night until 10:00 the next morning, get four hours of sleep, and then go back into the studio again. I did the recording in the US, and the producer said “I’ve never had a recording session continue through the entire night before” (laughs). But everyone pulled together and contributed, making the recording a success.

You’ve also uploaded a music video for “TALKIN’BOUT” to YouTube. What are the highlights of the video?

The dancers are blindfolded, which represents the faceless people I talked about earlier. There are scenes where the dancers are approaching me from behind, or in which it looks like they’re looking at me, but they don’t truly see me. They’re just haunting me. It’s interesting seeing the reactions of people who watch the music video, reading their novel interpretations.

One of the appeals of the song is how much depth there is to explore its meaning. The choreography was done by YUMEKI, right?

YUMEKI’s been doing a lot of great work lately, and his dancing is really cool, so I asked him to choreograph the song. I want people to pay especially close attention to the dancing in the chorus and in the dance break that follows. This was a new experience for me — it was the first time I had one of my former students do my choreography. I thought it would be perfect for giving my dancing a different feel and showing a new side of me.

The lead song is “I am Riki.”

This song is in a totally different genre than my past songs. In the past, I’d danced straight through all my videos, but this music video has zero dancing. Instead, it’s like a short film of a story I created, and I did a lot of acting.

What was your story about?

When I get stressed out, I sometimes think “What am I? Who am I?” I don’t truly understand myself. When that happens, it’s like the world goes dark. I get disoriented. “Why am I here, doing what I’m doing?” My story depicted that feeling.

I’m sure that before writing the story, you’d thought about just who you were. What kind of conclusions did you arrive at?

I didn’t arrive at any conclusions (laughs). I never arrived at an understanding of who I was, or what my own ideal self would be like. But I did realize that a darker approach, like CLOWN OR CROWN, was a good fit for me. Also, I’m really fickle. Who knows, maybe when I listen to the album again later it’ll feel like a comedy (laughs). But I want to concentrate on myself as I am here and now, and I want to enjoy the moment, without thinking about the future.

All of your songs, including the two that we’ve discussed, have clearly defined themes. I’m sure there were a lot of things that you paid special attention to, and you faced a lot of challenges.

I really focused on the themes. Even if an album has an overall theme, it’s rare for each individual song to have a sense of story and to match the overall album theme. I spent about half a year thinking about that.

 As far as challenges go, the English was a challenge. With this album, I wanted for people around the world to discover me, so most of the lyrics are in English. When you sing, if your accent’s off, the emotion doesn’t come across. The nuance might change, as well. So I sang with an American, who provided input like “If you sing it this way, the singing matches the story” or “The emotion doesn’t really communicate well if you do it that way.” Making all those adjustments was difficult.

You really put your all into the album. In closing, do you have any message you’d like to share with your album listeners?

This album is like a fairytale. Each song tells a story, so I’d love it if you listened to it in the same way you’d read a storybook.

—This interview by Azusa Takahashi first appeared on Billboard Japan