After approximately one year, it seems we've opened our eyes once more to the irregular series "Isshi's Road Through History: The Way Of Kagura".
Isshi: I've completely turned into an Oni. (laughs) Or should I say, what I've become is this, a superdeformed figure of myself as Isshi of Kagrra,.

This year we're welcoming the critical point that is Kagrra's 10 year anniversary, and as we have you, Isshi-kun, in accordance with that, you may have it in your mind to express something of a personal origin again, right?
Isshi: That's right. This will be pretty special from the momentary flow we have here. Strong visuals appear on the surface, but I couldn't do just that so it's good to be here after a long time. As you'd expect, what I want to do is always a visual shock beyond being active in this scene. (laughs)

Among the recent readers who don't know Kagrra, at all, are there also people surprised to read this??
Isshi: Ahh, certainly in recent years I think the image of Kagrra, doing lovely and calm musical composition is pretty strong. But with the timing of our 10 year anniversary, we can do recent songs more at our lives in comparison to older songs, and we'll do a bit of an ominous atmosphere and fascinating image. Aren't such things showing the true worth of Kagrra,? That's what I feel.

Incidentally, the first time you opened your third eye was the time of [gozen] (an album released in 2002) if I remember correctly.
Isshi: Yeah. The eye I had at that time was on my forehead, but this time the eye is here (points at chest).

This eye is pretty big isn't it?
Isshi: I think I understand that the size is big to look at, but the blood vessels around it stretch up to my neck. And, horns are coming out of my head. (laughs) For me, if there were such an attractive figure as this kind of Oni, I'd want it to be like this.

Around how much time did it take to get to this point?
Isshi: It all took around 5 hours.

Seems tiring doesn't it?
Isshi: But, surprisingly, even at photoshoots and lives in the past, it was usual to take around that much time to do hair and makeup. It didn't often feel like that. Besides, if it's the case that I'm experimenting with things I want to express, I want to do it without sparing any time and effort. I never want to forget those moods.

Just the words I expected. Incidentally, for "Isshi's Road Through History: The way of Kagura," we usually pick out one song from Kagrra's existing songs, and take pictures with that as the subject and talk about it. But in this case it's taken a different form hasn't it?
Isshi: That's right. I was thinking about how up until now, I wanted to do an interview with the theme of "Oni" in the pictures. To tell the truth, it's not yet properly completed but it's something I want to talk about for the song that'll come up next time.

Well, about the title song of the single released on June 16th, "Tsuki ni Murakumo  Hana ni Ame"? Before this interview, you got us to listen to the original recording for around a minute and a half, but I understand that the sound and lyrics are to be polished further from this point on.
Isshi: That's right, we're composing it now. In the beginning the title was temporarily just "Ajisai" and it was only very recently that we decided to change it.

It's a song of hydrangeas that appear in June? Seems it'll be a song with unparalleled charm.
Isshi: It was Akiya who brought the original of this one, and from the first time we listened to it, it was a song in which we could feel the humidity. If pushed I'd perhaps say that it was a painful inner type. Since it'll be around rainy season exactly when it comes out, I thought in that case it'd be good to depict hydrangeas as the motif.

This title "Tsuki ni Murakumo Hana ni Ame" is something that makes me think of the proverb "Clouds over the moon, wind over flowers."
Isshi: That proverb "Clouds over the moon, wind over flowers," wasn't something that I had a good sense of originally. Then I was thinking about what I want to express in "Tsuki ni Murakumo Hana ni Ame" and the truth is it's not about a plainly forward-facing subject matter but conflict and contradiction.

Conflict and contradiction. I guess that's specifically what you're talking about?
Isshi: Akiya who composed this song suggested that the keywords of this song are "pain" and "tears" but there are so many songs that have expressed sorrow and pain so far, aren't there? This time I wanted to do something different from those, with language that hollows out the heart and therefore what I could do was something about conflict and contradiction.

I see. I don't know what's left in the complete lyrics, but when I listened to the song even for a little while there was a verse "Am I even myself?" In short, isn't this a condition of the ego faltering?
Isshi: I don't think I've written something like this up until now. But, before I knew it I'm only thinking about such things lately, you know? (wry smile)

And what are these circumstances??
Isshi: For instance, assume that I'm watching my own live videos at home okay? At such times, I'll be in a very strange mood. What I see reflected there is myself, but I have the sense that it doesn't seem like myself?

In the meantime do you have a sense of distance between the self who stands in public, and your ordinary day self?
Isshi: It's exactly as you say. Furthermore, at the same time there's a self who thinks the gap is detestable, and on the other hand there's a self who thinks it's proper to turn both halves off and on, so that's where there's contradiction and conflict again.

It's complex isn't it?
Isshi: As a fundamental stance, I think the self on the stage is always getting just a little closer to my usual self.

Nevertheless, isn't it a possibility that you'll be exhausted in mind and body when you probe into it too much?
Isshi: Yes, yes that's right. (laughs) Ahh but, on the surface of that I may have attained balance with the past.

Which reminds me, when you met your fellow band members for the first time by way of member recruitment, it was an episode in which you appeared in a gallant way with a considerably showy appearance wasn't it?
Isshi: That's true of that time, because as anyone can see my appearance was visual kei from the time I was a student. (laughs) From the beginning of Kagrra, until "Sakura" (an album released in 2001) came out, my hair was like this. (makes a gesture of a hime-cut while saying it) In that case, it seemed I'd inevitably stand out wherever I go. After all, it'd be difficult to be as I am this time in every day life, wouldn't it? People would be afraid of me and be suspicious of me even if I don't do anything. (laughs)

Oh dear. This conversation seems to have gone in a circle.
Isshi: Also, the truth is there's such a conflict when I'm writing lyrics too. The self who writes lyrics at home is not the usual Isshi. However, the one who sings those songs is Isshi, so in that case it's not that I change modes when I'm writing lyrics at home, that's no good. If I don't get a little something like adrenaline from inside myself when I'm reading some books, it doesn't quite suit me properly.

There are many of your lyrics written with the delicate heart of Japanese aesthetic, and a sense of beauty in loneliness, aren't there?
Isshi: Those are vital points, so no matter when I seem like myself I think it's a surprisingly difficult thing. I can say this now, but when I look at pictures of me that were in here around the time of "Shizuku" (an album released in 2007) it's like "Uhhh..."

It's often said around that time you were de-visualized, and such things, right?
Isshi: Of course, the truth is that at that time we had various good intentions, so I can't really deny it? But, I think certainly the current Isshi of Kagrra, is "a little bit distant" from that.

At that time, I got the impression that even your musical parts and lyric subjects were trial and error and you repeated new challenges.
Isshi: The appearance is as usual, but at the same time my lyrics are realistic and I was writing using words like that... While we have various experiences in the Major world, I want us to be acknowledged more, we have to be acknowledged more, those are the kinds of things that appear strongly.

I think that's something you'll think about most here. Surely even when the Kagrra, of that time is seen by a third party, they could dislike that you wandered a little off course, but in that time there were a lot of experiences of trial and error so isn't it that the current Kagrra, has definitely gotten feedback in the amount of experience you have?
Isshi: I think that's it. Because after we've attempted one thing and another, saying things like "If we do our usual appearance and usual songs, that'd be no good in this scene right? But even so, we want to keep being in this scene. In that case, we'll probe deeper into this chapter as Kagrra," we arrived at an idea. Maybe, it's not that we're shifting from this point as a band.

As the band continues after 10 years, it's natural that at times there will be mountains and valleys. With regard to your personal strengths that you've acquired in various settings, I think for this year's Kagrra, you're once again making a display of your style and potential as a band.
Isshi: It's difficult to say band, exactly, because if there are 5 people there are 5 ways of thinking right? Therefore, at times it will be difficult to put that all together, but on the contrary when the thoughts of 5 people are exactly in agreement, it's not that 1+1+1+1+1=5, but I think the solution produces a power from 0 to 100. This year, I want to demonstrate that our strength as a band is like that.

Well, we're anticipating the release of the single "Tsuki ni Murakumo Hana ni Ame" more than anything.
Isshi: We'll do our best to put the finishing touches on it so that we'll deliver a work that you can say is definitely characteristic of Kagrra,. And then we're having our "Kihou" live as a commemoration of our anniversary (June 3rd) at Shibuya O-EAST, and our summer tour "Angya Hyakkiyakou ~kage~". I think we'll reliably convey our various wishes as Kagrra, at those places this year.

Notes:

My translation of Tsuki ni Murakumo Hana ni Ame is here.