I meowed in Golden Alley

Oh my, this title sounds like a slut to me~!
But it's absolutely true that yesterday morning I meowed in Shinjuku's Golden Gai(Alley) where many parking lots and love-hotels stand close together! Hey what's wrong with you Hikaru, you're finally gonna be a wicked girl?? No, I was shooting photos of the posters, for my new album! It was not only the first time I was on location in the streets of Tokyo, but also the first time I ever actually met and worked with Mr. Daido Moriyama, who is such a great photographer that I cannot help asking myself, "Do I deserve to be taken by him?", so I was engaged in the shooting with great enthusiasm. Today I've got heavy muscular pain. . . it's because yesterday I had a hard day of waking up at past 6:00 in the morning for location and then photo shooting/interviewing for 2 magazines till night, but I really felt the photo shooting is collaboration and also a fight - this time in Mr. Moriyama's base, the streets!

A many years ago, when I stayed at my friend's cottage in the countryside I found and wondered about two raccoon dogs killing or fighting each other outside at midnight; the grown-ups explained to me the raccoon dogs were copulating, and I was impressed with it like "wow, for us it looks like they're fighting each other!". . . but now I thought of it again and realized - it was not that they looked like fighting; the two raccoon dogs, which were creating their junior together, were actually seriously fighting! You see, they were doing an amazing thing - "1 + 1 = 1", scientifically. It's just like, two persons with a strong personality scramble for a place and at the same time offer it each other, on the sole page called a photograph. I wonder if that's the relation between who takes photos and who is taken.

Pheeeeew I spent all my energies!! I'm so happy now. . . happy enough to forget about getting tanned. Actually I feel like I became handsome!!!(lol) I can hardly wait until the photos are developed---!!

Aghh I've gotta go now, I'll talk about this story and stuff again later!

Ah yes, HEY HEY HEY, have you already seen me on its preview?? That's so quick, when did I record that. . . two days ago? After that I did the last work for my album returning from the TV station to the studio! While recording the program I just couldn't control my tension properly 'cause I was worrying about "the last work" too much. You'll be surprised many times by what I say. Well, honestly I'd been discouraged recently, thinking like "I guess this time I can't do promoting well, maybe I could take a rest for a while?" - but when I was reading your mails drinking hot ginger water, I found many people telling me my TV/radio appearances in May would give them much energy for working throughout the month; and I realized those words gave me much energy to hold on to!!!!

Thank you - !!!


********************
(NOTE by Nuuk)
"love-hotel" ... sort of Japanese motel for couples or lovers.

Report

Some of you might be worrying about me 'cause I've not been writing here lately though the album's deadline - which I was fussing over like "I can't make it if I can't finish all the lyrics and recordings within a few days!" - has already passed!

So, here I am to tell you I've finished all the lyrics and recordings!

I don't know why I didn't tell you this sooner . . . I feel like, I've let all the words out of my body, said everything I wanted to say . . . I'm emptied out, after I finished writing the title song "Deep River" last of all. It's like all the animals have left my woods of words.

Well I think I'll take a bath now . . . huh?? This sounds like I haven't taken a bath for a long time and I'm so dirty now, doesn't it??? (lol)

P.S.! (Please read my previous message first!)

Okay, so you remember I wrote about "good work" around the end of my previous message, right?
Somehow I couldn't sit still, so I was vacuuming up till now(after that shocking-dish-washing "Hikari" PV comes vacuum-cleaning PV?! Hey is that for "SAKURA Drops"? Just kidding(lol)). And then I got it! Thinking that vacuuming really made me realize how much effort I put into cleaning up the room, I found myself struggling with the big vacuum cleaner with all my might. In my previous message I wrote like it's pretty cool if people around us or our family can actually feel the work we are doing; that is, what's important is how much we can realize our own work and how much power we can pour into it . . . it's just a simple thing but I think I'd forgotten it for a while . . . well that's all I wanted to tell you for now!

Talk to you later!

Wow! Toshiba design team did a great job!

They've renewed this site before I knew it! And the basic colors are changed to pink and white. Aren't these the fashionable colors of the season?? That's cool! Looks smart!

So, you wonder, what the structure of the white cloth I wear on my latest photos and cover picture of "SAKURA Drops" shown at the New Releases section is?? Well even I, who put it on while shooting, have almost no idea(lol) - ask about it to COMME des GARCONS please!! That collar looks great, doesn't it?? See, that's the color the guy who said "open Japan to the world " wore. Yes it's Mr. Perry, Mr. Perry! The collar is formally called as "Van Dyke Collar." I heard my mom, Keiko Fuji was praised for her beauty with the nickname of "Woman who deserves close-ups", so please call me "Woman who deserves Van Dyke Collars" from now on! (Just kidding! Please don't call me like that! (lol)) We imaged a handsome boy like Shiro Amakusa. It has a good balance with the *tune.*

SAKURA Drops, when you hear it briefly it might give you a slightly different impression from the theme I intended. (but that might be also what I intended!) The word SAKURA reminds us of something like springtime, but actually it is the song of early summer. And though a "woman" appears in the song, I got a part of inspiration from a fighting manga for boys(lol). I think all the women have - somewhere in their minds - certain aspects of temperament and unexpectedness, which are charming, or somewhat close to anger, or sometimes like those of adolescents; I meant to describe the aspects like that. I guess soon you'll have more opportunity to hear it and the more you listen to the song or read the lyrics the more different interpretation you might get to have on it, just like I and the production team had. Once I heard that perfumes change their smells uniquely depending on the person's skin or constitution as they merge into the skin little by little(why do I, a perfume-hater, know such things??), and I'd like the song to vary its color inside each one who listens to it, just like *perfumes.*

And "Letters," this belongs to Utada's new genre and I'm happy to name the genre "Kouha Roman(die-hard romanticism)"(lol). The lyrics make me imagine something like that.

By the way this work is good!!! Very good! Sometimes I feel myself shortening my own life a little because of the severe ups and downs of emotions, but you know, it's so important to heat myself up for the work! Sometimes I concentrate on writing music, and sometimes I get hooked into writing lyrics; after the days of modest working comes the days of consecutive promotions. Now I'm writing the last lyrics, reading Junichiro Tanizaki's "Bunshou Dokuhon(A Style Reader)" the engineer Goh-san gave me and getting excited with "sentences"; I look messy and my hair is wild now. I'll clean myself up a little by the time I start working for TVs and magazines next week. (lol)

I thought of the reason why craftsmen and cooks are way cool, and found it's because we can see "what they do," in other words "their works" clearly! Like "I'm making ramen!" I think there is a certain difference between a kid who grows up without knowing what his/her parents' work really is and who can clearly say "my dad built this iron bridge!". The work our kids can actually feel is pretty neat, even if it's not huge or touchable. It's not that the work should be something which can be left materially; I think it's up to each person's attitude if their work can leave a sort of actual feeling in the end, no matter what occupation they have, an accountant, information clerk or whatever. I grew up watching my mom on the stage, touching costumes or jewelry when she hardly came home and it made me miss her. . . I did sense her feelings, no matter which I could see her or not.
I wanna be a worker just like that!!!

Thank you for your every good support, Toshiba design team!
And those who became a new member of society, please do good work!
(I'm your senior by 3 and a half years as a member of society! heheh! )
Good luck!!


********************
(NOTE by Nuuk)
"Shiro Amakusa" ... the leader of the resistance called "Shimabara no Ran(Resistance in Shimabara)" in 1637. It is said he was a very young and beautiful boy.

Yay!!

"Letters" has been on the air since last week and I heard it's got powerplay!!

I was both happy and surprised as "Hikari" did very well on the radio and sold more than I thought it would(yeah I was really thinking of that song like "I bet this won't sell well" as always!(lol)), but as for "Letters", I really really love this song!!!

I'm so moved!!!

Every time someone asks me "say that Docomo-CM song sounds very good, what's that? You don't cut it as a single?", I feel happy and my heart dances with joy! Right now Utada's heart is pounding like it's on the dance floor!!
"Letters" is the coupling song for "SAKURA Drops" and actually I prefer this one. (lol) It's worth a *check* - it may sound a bit strange I myself say this, though.

I'm getting reports like this from Kaji-san, by email full of joy!
It makes me so *happy*, hehe!!
Making my album, it's really arriving at the climax.
I can't make it if I can't finish all the recordings by (April) 22nd.
Oh my, this really gets me!
Ha ha ha ha !

(Why am I using so many smileys??)

I'm so sooooorry for not writing for a while! Recently I've got an 8Mb connection of ADSL, and as I'm so happy with the connection speed I cannot help but surf around the net to no purpose. . . (maybe I gave in to temptation too easily!) You know, a couple of days ago I went to amazon's site(where we can get stuffs like CDs, books and more) and found my 3rd album already listed in the pre-order CD ranking as "(not yet titled)"!!! Then I felt a sense of guilt, as if someone spotted me doing something evil. . . (lol) I've got to finish the album soon!! I'm almost reaching the end - hope you'll like it.

I bet I'll be back here later to write this and that for a change. . .