I'll write some about Mr. Kazuo Matsui later, and . . .

Today I did aerobic exercise on the treadmill for 45 minutes, glancing at Mr. Kazuo Matsui's introductory Mets press conference on TV and listening to the karaoke version of "Hikaru no 5" set list in order using my iPod with headphones.

Doh, what an unintelligible sentence! Too much information in it! It's as complicated as the introduction page of how to get live tickets!! (lol) But that one came up as a result of the staff's deep consideration to find a way as equal and safe for all as possible. Please forgive us.

As written in Zanecchi's diary, it was around last April that I suggested the Budokan live concert this time. I'm so glad that it came true and we managed to get here. Ugh, these words sound too serious . . . but I'm really happy more than words can say. Now I'm feeling like, "Yeah! Now is the time to sing---!!"

You might be surprised as it came out of the blue and you thought "How come??". Going back to the past I remember the whole schedule was upset by the operation I had last year. I managed to finish the production of DEEP RIVER, but every kind of schedule - from TV/magazine appearances and video clip shootings to the production of my American album - fell apart once and that made a lot of people disappointed and wait; my condition and confidence couldn't easily be stable, which made me even more irritated, and the possibility of tours or live concerts had been almost zero for the time being. Then I made COLORS, got to work on my American album . . . Doh, it shouldn't go this way!! I've got Deep River, traveling, Can You Keep A Secret?, and much more songs I wanna sing live right away! Is it impossible to carry out due to the schedule, as the start of the production in America has been delayed this long from its original schedule promised in the contract? At least I can ask the staff if there is a possibility . . . this is how the feelings flowed over me.

About one month later in Tokyo, I went out together with a close childhood friend to do karaoke after a long time. Both of us didn't know the latest hit songs at all and found it hard to find the songs we could sing, so we sang some old songs of Morning-Musume and my own medley just for kidding, saying like "Hey what the heck is this unbelievable way of linking songs-! Even I myself can't sing it cause it changes too suddenly!(lol)" Then she made a song request for Deep River to me . . . Thinking it's been a long time since I last seriously sang in front of the people(actually in front of one person, though) I started singing, and I found her crying when I finished singing. Somehow I cried too, since both of us had experienced a lot in these one or two years. She told me "I'm looking forward to your album, so just go for it!" and after we hugged and parted, I again thought "I wanna do a live show even just for one day, if the tour is impossible. I've got to do it."

Sort of a cute story, huh! So how come it's called "Hikaru no 5," are you joking! (lol) - for all of you who thought like this . . . The day before yesterday, thanks to all of you I marked the 5th anniversary of my debut! Thanks for you all who gave me congrats. I happened to be able to hold 5 live shows right after I marked the 5th anniversary, and also it sounds good as it reminds us of THAT popular manga! (So it's a joke, isnt it? (lol)) And you know, the number 5, is deeply concerned with the human body and life, isn't it? Five senses, Five bodies("Gotai" in Japanese, stands for the whole body), Five fingers, and besides Five solid organs and six hollow organs("Gozou Roppu" in Japanese)! So that's why "Hikaru no 5" came up!

It's really a pity this time I can't do a round tour all over Japan for like a couple of months though the band and staff are called and huge stage-set is going to be built, but I'll surely do my best to make each live concert something that can satisfy everyone who comes from a distance. I'm so sorry to all of you who live too far away from Tokyo to come. I'll do the round tour next time, all over the country!!

Hmm I've got too much to tell you. I wrote too much, so that's all for today!