Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Page 45

(a photo is uploaded. please check her official site)

So far this is my most favorite one.

I can eat three bowls of rice just by watching this.

東遊び(Azuma asobi, entertainment of the Eastern provinces) . . .
Would it be fun to do this? Well I believe it would be, right?

Monday, July 30, 2007

Page 44

(a photo is uploaded. please check her official site)

Found this fairly cool illustration on the page 44 of Daijirin . . . !

梓巫女(Azusa miko), why are you making a face like that . . . ?

Bellybutton

(a photo is uploaded. please check her official site)

Seems like both the weather in Tokyo and the election went through turbulence today~.

I heard the rolling of thunder a lot all through the afternoon, which was creating some uneasy atmosphere like something's gonna happen, and now I just turned on the TV and found the LDP's rout & the Democrat's surge~. What a turbulence~.


"Hikaru-chan   Today thunder scared us   didn't it"

'Yes it did~. It's said, you gotta watch out not to let Kaminari-sama(God of Thunder) take your bellybutton when it thunders. Well, but you got no bellybuttons so . . . '

"Awww   Hikaru-chan   Me got   no bellybutton"

'Yup, Kuma Chang, you originally don't have . . . '

"Bellybutton   It's taken away   Me got   my bellybutton   taken by Kaminari-sama   My   My bellybutton"

Sunday, July 29, 2007

Socks collection

(a photo is uploaded. please check her official site)

(^-^)/ Bonjour

I think I told you this before, but I love to wear weird socks.

I've got a bunch of socks - like, those with unbelievably strange designs, those that look so lame that you can never take your shoes off at shops(I take my shoes of in state, though!). For some reason I've got many with face pictures.

This one is the Yamaguchi-prefecture version, of those area-exclusive series I showed you before ! ! !

That's the home local area for Utada family!

Big up Yamaguchi! Yo Yo!

They serve uber yummy fugu sashimi~! Yo man!


When I was a little child there was this woman called "Yamaguchi-san" who often came in and out of my grandma's home, and hearing that she wasn't from Yamaguchi pref., I found it quite funny so I was laughing my head off for a while~. Was it when I was 4 or 5?

Even now this concept that "Yamaguci-san" is "not from Yamaguchi pref." triggers my laughter switch quite easily . . . !

I don't know why. My sense of fun is a little surreal, orbiting some distance away from other's so most of the time people don't understand me . . . Seems like once you're strange, you're always strange. At that time I felt "adults around stepped back from me" for the first time in my life. Yeah.

I wanna eat those natural, yummy fugu-sashi~ (^0^)

Wish winter will come soon~ * (- there you find someone who's already exhausted by summer heat though it's still the end of July)

Saturday, July 28, 2007

Too hot

(a photo is uploaded. please check her official site)

No wonder everybody turns their air conditioner on.

By the way, a kind person pointed out to me that using air conditioners does not produce the gas, said to be the culprit of global warming, so it doesn't directly affect arctic shiro-kuma san. So it just expends electricity.


'Kuma Chang, it seems like cars cause more troubles to shiro-kuma san than air conditioners.'

"Oh   OK   Hikaru-chan   U dun use car any more"

'What!? Come on~!'

"U can commute   by bicycle   By bicycle"

' . . . I'm not so good at riding bicycles, you know . . . '

"U kiddin' me   That can't be   Enough jokes   Hikaru-chan"

Friday, July 27, 2007

Internal struggle

(a photo is uploaded. please check her official site)

"Summer is here   Hikaru-chan"

'Indeed. It's so freakin' hot outside though the end of this year's rainy season is not yet announced.'

"Air conditioner rulez   So comfy   Hehehehe   Nuthin' could be better than this"

'Especially because your fur would be makin' you feel hot, Kuma Chang.'

"Why Hikaru-chan   turn off   air conditioner   Why don't you   keep it on   till the end of this summer   Let's make the room   chilly"

'I'm going to tell you some scientific thing which is hard to explain, but you know, if everyone used the air conditioner as long as they like, a lot of gas which makes the earth hot would be produced and those arctic shiro-kuma (polar bear) san would be in big trouble because the ice would be melted.'

"Eh Shiro-kuma san"

'Yes, it's getting to be more and more difficult for them to feed themselves or raise their kids, which is decreasing shiro-kuma san in number.'

"Hikaru-chan   Me dun ask u   to turn on air conditioner   any more   Me dun use it again   Never"

'You mean it?'

"But but   Me dun like heat   Me cant take it   Waaaah   What is me gonna do   Me never had   such a feeling before"

'That's what's called internal struggle. Well, why don't we just use it in moderation.'

"Yup   To do good thing is   to do difficult thing me think"

Thursday, July 26, 2007

5TGHJ

(a photo is uploaded. please check her official site)

The word search on the keyboard, which got me hooked alone in the middle of the night the other day.

It seems like a lot of people tried the same thing after that, so I got lords of emails telling me "I found this word!" (lol) It makes me smile in a strange way to imagine everyone playing that somber game.

Somberness rules!

Yay to somberness!

Somberness wooooot!



Phew.


So, here I drew an illustration of "Ekaki Kuma (Kuma the painter)," which got the largest number of references in the emails!


Aside from this. The studio I frequent got a lot of young female staff. They handle any kind of work quite quickly and efficiently, like reception work, office duties, food preparation, clearing tables, just anything.

Most of the time I go to the studio in casual wear, like T-shirt and jeans. I'd say the female staff in the studio are dressed much more smartly than I.

The other day, I was looking in the magazine rack nearby when some other guests using the same studio were about to sit down to eat in the lobby, and a woman of them said to me "Excuse me."

"Huh? Oh, yes?" I replied back, embarrassed.

"Well, we'd like to have a meal in a group of 14, so can we ask you to prepare more tables, chairs or those kind of things just same as before, please?"

"Oh! well you know, I'm not a staff of this place . . . I'm afraid but . . . " The real staff people appeared when I was excusing myself for some reason, then handled the request like "Oh~! We're sorry~! Yes! Yes ma'am!"

. . . That's right, they completely had me confused with the studio staff. Hahaha, baby . . .

:slumps down: I have zero aura . . . hehehe . . .


My dad, who was watching what happened, laughed his head off.


It's okay, I don't care about it much, I love somberness . . . (T o T)


********************
(NOTE by Nuuk)
"5TGHJ" . . . on Japanese JIS keyboard it reads "E KA KI KU MA"(in Japanese hiragana letters), which means "Kuma the painter."

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

July greetings***

(this message is originally written in English. please check her official site)

Sweet Kuma

(a photo is uploaded. please check her official site)

Last week Zanecchi had his birthday. (It may be just me but don't we find many people whose birthday is in July?)

That day we were working in the studio, and it seemed like the staff people looked somewhat in a twitter, going in and out, then you know what, here came a surprise birthday cake ! ! !

On top of that, oh my God! Could that fried-shrimp looking, golden brown illustration possibly be . . . !

Kuma Chang~! ! !

Looks b-l-o-o-d-y- similar---!


I have no idea why Kuma Chang is on this birthday cake for my dad. I don't really care 'bout that ! ! ! (I should say, this is almost like a birthday cake for Kuma Chang(lol))

The staff who ordered this fussed over details, making special requests in detail to the pastry chef like "No! The red color of the ribbon must be deeper!"

. . . Must be an annoying customer.

But it was worth it, just look at this end result! Couldn't be greater!

So excited! (I was, I mean)

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Okita Hidenobu

(a photo is uploaded. please check her official site)

His eyebrows are, I mean.

Also he's kinda up on rock music.


********************
(NOTE by Nuuk)
the letter "薄" means "thin," mainly.
Mr. Okita's interview can be found here.

Monday, July 23, 2007

It's Ver-Bara trash can~!

(a photo is uploaded. please check her official site)

(^ o ^) Gooooooooooot it!

T-H-A-N-K-S SOOOO M-U-C-H Mariya-san-!

I heard it's been sold at Yahoo Auctions but I'm not registered to Yahoo. A friend of mine once got scammed on Yahoo Auctions, which made me imagine such stories like "Utada bid off something with great expense, which ended up a Yahoo Auction scam!" so I've been too scared to jump in.

A fan person was kind enough to bid this off, and send to me . . . !

Ooh what a lucky person I am . . . ! (T o T)

It's more than . . . I deserve! (T o T)
Thank you so much.

This really is in good preservation, looks beautiful~!

I just can't throw tissues I used to blow my nose into this can~!

Aww what should I do. Where should I place it. What should I put in it!

W, what is this . . . ?

(a photo is uploaded. please check her official site)

Could this possibly be . . . ? ! ? !

Saturday, July 21, 2007

"Jara"

(a photo is uploaded. please check her official site)

Oops, I happened to used Oricon Style with my picture on the cover as a bookmark for Daijirin.

Two nights earlier, suddenly this started to bug me:
What does "じゃら(Jara)" of "毛むくじゃら(Kemukujara, hairy)" derive from? "がむしゃら(Gamushara, hell-bent)" ends with "しゃら(Shara)" as well, is there any relation between them? Are there any other words like these? I was thinking "毛むくじゃら . . . 毛むくじゃら . . . " while loafing around in my bed, then fell asleep before I knew it. (So I haven't tried Eyebon yet)

Yesterday, I looked in Daijirin as soon as I got up, and learned that "がむしゃら" meant "我武者ら(us, the warriors)." Oh, so "Shara" part cannot be separated. (For your information: there also exists a word "我武者もの(Gamushamono)." Which stands for devil-may-care person. But don't you think it's strange to add "もの(Mono, person)" to "武者(Musha, warrior)" which already has "者(Sha, person)," seemingly?)

And here comes the key part, "毛むくじゃら" . . . guess what!

The historical kana orthography of "じゃら" is unclear

This is what is clearly mentioned ! ! !

This explanation may have been kindly added because there's no end to the number of people who look in Daijirin wondering what "じゃら" means, just like me . . . !


So, I'd like to thank you for giving me the title of 2007 Favorite Artist chosen by 20,000 music fans----!

Check out Oricon Style if you see it, I drew some illustrations of Kuma Chang acting various artists for it*

You can also see this sexy-and-cool Kuma Chang who's mimicking Koda Kumi san. (But I wrote the last letter of her name as "来" while it should be "來" . . . I'm sorry! So sorry for that!) I also tried one in Exile san style. And many more!

I'm betting if those people who're not familiar with Kuma Chang see that illustration page . . . they would think "What the heck is this" . . . I wonder if it's gonna be okay. I hope the fan people of other artists would enjoy it too!

Friday, July 20, 2007

Today's wake-up

(a photo is uploaded. please check her official site)

"Hikaru-chan   Hikaru-chan   Wake up   Me have good news"

'Mumble, hmm . . . ? Aaaghh! Oh, Kuma-chang, what happened?'

"Boku wa Kuma   topped number of downloads   worldwide   Yay yay"

'Huh?? Boku wa Kuma did . . . ? Ah, I think that's about Flavor of Life.'

"What's that   u mean   not Boku wa Kuma"

'Well it's like, close but not the same. I'm sorry it was not about Boku wa Kuma.'

" . . . Me   made mistake"

'Everybody makes mistakes!'

"Me is   perfectionist"

Thursday, July 19, 2007

A day for reading

(a photo is uploaded. please check her official site)

Today I'm reading books at home all day long.

I finally got started on reading "Kukai the Universal"! I had always wanted to read this but been browsing some other books as it seemed to take a lot of time to read this Kukai book. And I got a year-late start!

So much fun! And so many kanji letters I can't read! (lol) Gotta study harder.

Lately I've been having tired eyes because of overuse by computer works, games and reading, so my staff bought an "Eyebon (an eye lotion brand)" for me. My first Eyebon experience . . . I think I'm getting nervous a bit . . . How would it feel . . . I'll give it a try tonight.

I'm really getting nervous . . . I wonder if I can make it . . .

KU MA

(a photo is uploaded. please check her official site)

Please look at "H" and "J" on the keyboard.

They say "く(KU)" and "ま(MA)"*

I got such a wonderful email. (Thanx Ayu-san!)

I can't believe I didn't notice this earlier!

Indeed! They say "KUMA"! I feel happy!

But I'm not yet satisfied enough. There may be more words on the keyboard that contain "KUMA" . . . having this assumption I looked at the keyboard. Harder. Even harder. With intense concentration.

. . .

Then ! ! ! I found one!

On a line, just as it is, it says:

く ま の り れ-

Which means KUMA NO RIREI(Kuma's relay race) ! !

I was thrilled by imagining Kuma's athletic festival! I almost had a nosebleed by imagining Kuma Chang "the terrible athlete" running desperately holding the baton in his hand ! ! Someone who decided the allocation of Hiragana on the keyboard, must be a genius! (T o T)

I was switched on. I kept searching!

Then! I found another one ! !

く ま
   も ね る

This is what it says ! ! KUMA MO NERU(Kuma sleeps too) ! !

Quite so! No wonder Kuma sleeps too!

I had a feeling there could be more, so kept searching further, frantically!

. . . .

Or maybe there wouldn't be any more ?

The moment I started thinking like that, I found one!

   に ら
く ま   り
       る

. . . KUMA NI RARIRU(freaked out by Kuma)!

Woot! Sounds great! Is this about me who loves Kuma Chang just too much and getting sick in the head?!

Me: "Kuma . . . hehe, Ku, Kuma . . . hehehe . . . hihihi, Kuma . . ."


Ahem. Pardon my embarrassing behavior. (What am I doing in the middle of the night . . .)

By the way, those keys on the far upper left of the keyboard -

ぬ ふ

- I think these kick a__ too.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Impulse 2

(a photo is uploaded. please check her official site)

What the heck is this eccentric atmosphere . . .

Looks kinda scary . . .

But you know, I didn't have a speaker at home (I was too lazy to buy one, so I was using my laptop as a sound output) but always thought I'd wanna have one, so I'm gratefully using this kuma-shaped speaker for now ! ! !

Thank you very much*
(Sorry for my doodles . . . )


He'd look so cute if I played some hard-core Hip-Hop or Heavy Metal . . .(^-^)

Impulse

(a photo is uploaded. please check her official site)

A fan person gave this kuma-shaped speaker to me.

If you connect an iPod to him he plays it with a fairly high sound quality, and on top of that he flickers lights synchronized with music! A kid fave!

Since he looked pale and kinda dull, I just couldn't stop myself from adding eyebrows to him with a felt pen . . . (yes I've passed the point of no return . . . )

Now this kuma-san looks quite macho . . . hehe, well, good that he now has some sort of character . . . huh?

You just can't but love him when you tweak him like this.

And you know what, this kuma even has a pocket on his stomach, which can store an iPod. A foreign guy in the studio was saying like "Oh! Marsupial bear!"

By the way, as I said in the beginning he has a function to flicker lights, and I thought "Oh Jeez, with these eyebrows he could look kinda geeky while playing music and flickering lights, couldn't he?" (Saying out that he looks already geeky just as he is is putting it too bluntly, though)

Now I turn the switch on . . .

To be continued

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Earthquakes are scary

(a photo is uploaded. please check her official site)

Niigata had another big earthquake.

It fairly shook a lot even in Tokyo which scared me, but I heard it was just an earthquake with a seismic intensity of 3. You know, earthquakes scare you a lot when you are in Japan.

Having watched the news images of the people in the shelters sleeping without their pillow, I once again realized that a life with your pillow is such an invaluable thing. I hope everyone can go back to their bed at home and take a good sleep as early as possible!

The damages of the earthquake can be seen in many places, which would need a lot of reconstruction works, and here I hope everyone can go back to their normal daily life as soon as possible, by helping each other as same fellow Japanese. Or rather, as fellow beings!

"Me   think so   too   though   me is   Kuma"

'Kuma is our fellow too, Kuma Chang'

The image above is Kuma Chang about one and a half years ago. He looks younger than he is now, huh . . . ?

Monday, July 16, 2007

Typhoon gone

(a photo is uploaded. please check her official site)

'Oh! Are you still holding your umbrella Kuma Chang?'

"Mumble . . . Hmm   Morning   Hikaru-chan"

'The typhoon is already gone. It's a beautiful day in tokyo after a long time~.'

"Eh   Typhoon already   gone"

'Your umbrella looks so cute, Kuma Chang. Give me a peek.'

"Aww   No me don't give this to u it's mine"

'I won't take it away from you! It's a little smaller type of umbrella, huh. Does it say "Naked Bunch"?'

"My NAGEDOBUNCHI umbrella"

'I think it reads Naked Bunch . . . but anyways . . . You can close and put away your umbrella for now. Okay?'

"Aww   No me don't give this to u it's mine   Me don't"

'Hmmm, alright then, why don't you hold your cute NAGEDOBUNCHI umbrella for today! It looks fine on you too, Kuma Chang.'

"Yup   mine   umbrella"

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Typhoon #4

(a photo is uploaded. please check her official site)

"Hikaru-chan   Me heard   Typhoon #4 is coming   Me scare   water"

'You're safe unless you go outside. But in some places, disasters like mudslides are breaking houses, pushing people to shelters, which is a big trouble. Typhoons are scary.'

"Me   was too scared   to sleep   last night   Me can't protect me   only with this   umbrella   Look   Pillow-san is scared   this badly"

'Don't worry~. You're not in Toshiba-EMI building (lol)' (now called as EMI Music Japan building)

"What do u mean"

'It's the building located in Tameike-Sanno in Tokyo, which was once flooded above floor level, had troubles having its underground studio full of water by heavy rains. You can seldom hear this sort of story in Tokyo. I can't believe it. I'm curious to see it, though . . . '

"No kidding   That can't be possible in Tokyo   What are u talking about   Hikaru-chan"

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Miyake Akira

(a photo is uploaded. please check her official site)

I wrote a letter reflecting the image of Mr. 三宅アキラ(Miyake, Akira: wrote it in a Eva-ish way).

(I find myself writing more neatly with a brush pen than with a pen~. It's fun to write~. In terms of Shuuji it's far from accuracy. Corrections are always welcome! (lol))

Anyone in this world would never be more impatient than Miyake-san - I may be going too far, but He's such a real impatient guy of all time.

He walks fast makes footsteps like tap tap tap tap! So I can easily tell "Oh, Miyake-san is coming."

When I find a pencil with a lot of bites placed on the table of the studio, I can tell "Oh, Miyake-san used it."

When I find lots of candy wrappers littered all over the table, I can tell "Oh, Miyake-san was here." (I throw the wrappers away too)

Sometimes, or often maybe, I have no idea what he says.

In such cases, it is always Okita-san the director who is the only person understanding what he said. Awesome. The long-term boss-subordinate relationship has made it possible!

His favorite phrases are "Did you finish it? Did you finish it?" and "Alright, I'm gone for a while" I believe.

What he says to me most often is "Once again," and "Okay, let's do the second one" "Third one" "Fourth one" I think(lol)

Loves gossips; super-naturally-goofy; lovable; kind and AB-blood type.


********************
(NOTE by Nuuk)
the letter "急" means states like "rush" "in a hurry" " urgent" "quickly" and such.

Friday, July 13, 2007

Red corrections added

(a photo is uploaded. please check her official site)

Oh! A person who's a teacher of Shuuji sent me a link to my writing with the corrections~! (lol)

Wow*

Congrats! To my being corrected for the first time! (lol)

All these proper corrections kinda amuse me, all the more because I wrote this letter just as I liked in my own way with no intention of writing correctly, as I had zero experience of Shuuzi.

I'm so happy, as I've always wanted to learn Shuuji. Ishii-san! Thank you very much!

By the way, here is Sir Isii's comment: "This letter looks energetic, similar to Yan Zhenqing's typeface." (Sir! Please tell me if you'd like me to delete this image!)


My Japanese writings look really collapsed and messy and people often tell me I'm like a small child, but I can concentrate just like drawing a picture when using a brush-pen, so maybe that's why I can write better than the usual.

By the way, I've got tons of emails asking me "On the back of what did you write it?"

They say they can only read "Genki?(How's it going?)" but other mysterious characters are transparent, looking like ancient scripts, which make them wonder.

That's a note which was in the business documents delivered by my dad. I always grab the papers around and draw doodles on the back of them. The other day I drew Kuma Chang on the back of a schedule . . .

I just like something that can be seen transparent from the back side. It gives a taste of noise to things, which prevents space from being lonely.


By the way, I always keep TV or DVD on at the very lowest volume every time I make music putting on headphones at home. It's because, you can keep your concentration as you can still hear some noise-like things when you stop playing music.

Did you just thought "Isn't it the other way around?"

I find myself at a loss when I concentrate on sounds and then suddenly all the sounds go on mute, sometimes even feel quite exhausted rapidly. (lol)

I have this feeling that I can continue my work for longer periods of time keeping the state of insensibility (the state that you are highly concentrated, just like being in a trance) if I can hear noise-like sounds consistently.

Well, maybe it's just my imagination, though*

"Me write too . . ."

(a photo is uploaded. please check her official site)

*swish*

*swish* *swish*

Thursday, July 12, 2007

One letter

(a photo is uploaded. please check her official site)

The iodine-enriched eggs . . .


Not that, but it's my real name.

I had been mistaken by many people for a boy because of this name "Hikaru" since my childhood, but I just found that when written in Kanji it looks even more like a boy's name!

And it looks like an egg brand name when written by fudepen(Japanese brush pen)! (lol)

And it looks anime-ish when written in katakana! (lol)

This name shows multiple talents.

I used a fudepen for the first time in ages when I drew the picture yesterday, which I found quite amusing. Among all the letters I wrote for some reason, I think I like this one best. It's pretty hard, to write "光."


When I was about to debut from Toshiba EMI, it came to the discussion of what to do with the stage name thing while - if I remember it right - doing recording in the studio, and someone said "Doesn't this name give a stiff impression to people when written only in Kanji?" Yes, that's true.

I decided to use "ヒカル" which had the same stroke count as the Kanji version, as "ひかる" had a different number of strokes. I didn' wanna change the number of strokes in my name, since the stroke count of my name was considered as one of the best!

By the way, as for my case, my surname is indeed a super rare one, but there should be a couple of "宇多田"san in Yamaguchi prefecture ! ! !

All the Utada-sans across Japan, my apologies for all of you who's got annoyed even just a little bit, by my making this surname popular(?) in a strange way! (Jeez, This is what I have wanted to tell you since a long time ago!) I thought you might be bothered if being asked like "Are you her relative?" and such . . .

The little good thing is that "宇多田"comes up quite easily these days when you use the Kana and Kanji conversion by PC or ke-tai(lol)

Come to think of it, a parent person told me by email that his/her elementary-school child, who had the similar name as mine, had been bullied at school because of the reason that the child was poor at singing though the name was similar." (makes no sense, huh?) I felt so sorry for that, so I wrote back "I'm sorry!" before I knew it, but he/she didn't believe it was me, thus perversely I made a phone call to him/her, talked directly and made him/her believe it was me . . . The subject was somehow changed from "to apologize" to "to have the person believe I am Utada Hikaru" while talking, and it seemed like the parent person was surprised and felt so timid. I made him/her so embarrassed at that time . . .

Since then, I've never done things like that(._.*)

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

It's hard to draw a picture of food

(a photo is uploaded. please check her official site)

I wanted to talk about daikon oroshi (grated radish) but didn't have the real thing on hand, so I drew a picture of it.

Once again I thought that it's difficult to draw a picture of food!

If only there were some medias like paints on which I could blend the colors . . . ! Well actually I rushed to color the picture with colored pencils. So it looks like this.


Yaki zakana (baked fish) and daikon oroshi, the ultimate duo. We always eat them together for granted, but there should've been someone who was first to try this standard combination~.

Every time I eat this combination, there's something I always tend to think about . . .

Those expressions like "a harmony of this and that" are often used when someone tries to review a dish; and it is often said that cooking is similar to making music on the point that scientific compatibility and sensitivity mean much.

When I eat gohan (rice) with yaki zakana and daikon oroshi as a main dish, I find myself thinking randomly like "Maybe yaki zakana could be the chorus part of a song~." When I stuff myself with yaki zakana and daikon oroshi, I always think "Woow, this daikon oroshi with some drops of soy sauce, this tastes so good! Nothing could match yaki zakana better than this! Daikon oroshi . . . daikon oroshi . . . chomp chomp . . . hmm this could be . . . the best back chorus ! ! "

Honestly, I find myself a little annoying!

Seems like I've got into this habit since the tour of last year. I ordered Japanese-style breakfast many times in the rural hotels on the tour. Until then I seldom had breakfast, alone, quietly and slowly.

Daikon oroshi tastes so good, seriously. It's the best supporting actor that supports the standard good taste of yaki zakana. In contrast to warm fishes, it feels cool as well as tastes hot a little, and its centerless texture spreads steadily in the mouth. It's exactly like the spread of the time when you record a song in a falsetto!! I mean the cool way of singing, that can wrap the main vocal.


Well I again say, yakizakana and daikon oroshi taste good.


All this time, what I clearly remember as the happiest thing among all that was praised by my dad, is that when I was 12 years old and eating aji no hiraki (dried horsemackerel) for dinner, he said "Wow, you ate it in a real tidy manner, didn't you! I say you ate it with a better manner than I. So you really like horse mackerel."

This one line!

I don't know why but in these 24 years this could be something happiest for me among all the things I was told by someone. For the time being I mean. At that time, indeed I always ate the mackerel away leaving bones and skins(would this be the correct name to call?) only.

I have no idea but these memories have been an emotional sustenance for me. Whenever I tell this to others, they say it sounds strange . . . Does it? That's how a human life goes, isn't it??

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Day of Nattow

(a photo is uploaded. please check her official site)

Today I'm scheduled to go out with my friend in the afternoon, but I was making a song and found myself up all night!

I named the file as Day of Nattow, as I started making it after the date had been changed to today. For some reason I used the word nattow, not nattou. 'Cause to end the word with a "w" looks kinda better.

Such a file name like this could automatically be a tentative song title as I start making a song doing some programming in the software called logic.

Once the works in the studio begin, I'm pretty sure all the staff will repeatedly shout "DAY OF NATTOW" "DAY OF NATTOW" like crazy until the real lyrics are wrapped up . . . Hehehehe . . . Things like this are a part of huge amusement in making music . . . You know . . . Hehehehe . . . .

By the way this is the 2nd one from the soy-food series.

I made a song with the file name Shoppai Misochiru in the past.

When I asked Komori-kun, the studio assistant guy, "What's your favorite food?", after thinking hard he replied:

" . . . Could be soy-food or stuff like that, I'd say . . . "

His reply somehow pulled the trigger of my laughter, so I laughed out loud very much.

Since I'm a Japanese, soy-food means so much to me.

I love nattow to death. LOVE. NATTOW LOVE.

I'm going out for now, keeping this strange excitement.

Great game!

The results was that Federer won his fifth consecutive Wimbledon title and Nadal lost again this year, but all in all it was really a good match!

Nadal has greatly evolved enough to make me think "How can a person change this much just in one year?" and Federer played as well as ever, which made me wanna ask him "Are you some kind of cyborg?" Neither of them gave an inch to each other. It was such a heated battle!

Nadal was sometimes dominant in the middle of the game, but after all the sets were over, Federer brought out his excellency and won the title . . .



. . . I heard like that.


Eh?

You said "I heard," Hikki, could it possibly mean . . . ?

(*^-^)/ Ye~s You got it~


I fell asleep in the middle of the game


Damn you!! (  -_-)=))XoX((=(-_-  ) You dork!!

You know, some of your fans didn't get enough sleep 'cause your last message you wrote in excitement made them watch the game, are you aware of that! (; -_-)


Hehehe. I was so sleepy that I fell asleep around at 1:50. (= that was the best part right before the climax)

As soon as the game started at 11:15 I started drinking a canned chuhai(Hyuga-natsu citrus, the limited time offer of Hyouketsu, tastes very good!) and stared into the screen in incredible hyper mode, then reached a peak of excitement when Nadal made his first successful challenge call to the judge, and around half past 1am I was totally drowsy.

Their loads of super performances made me exhausted(._.*)

I just saw Federer on the news, crying on his back on the court at the moment of his winning! Usually Federer is a cool, intellectual type of guy, but you cannot but be a fan of him a little when you see him in such a state, you know.

Well personally I'd prefer Nadal, who looks like a primitive man, always in fighting fettle, nervous and sullen-looking*

If anything, I myself is a Federer type of person, who's not so good at revealing my fighting spirit or emotion, so maybe that's the reason why I think Nadal, the opposite type guy, is cute. I guess Federer would also be a sensitive type of guy, who can't easily be honest to his feelings.

I regret that I missed the French Open which Nadal won the title . . . I mean, when did they air it?

Sunday, July 08, 2007

Again this year!

(a photo is uploaded. please check her official site)

Alright! Come on guys!

It's time for the men's singles final of Wimbledon ! !

It's just before the start on NHK channel 1!

(BS-hi is broadcasting it live(?) from a while ago but I cannot watch it at home . . . )

The finalists are exactly same as last year's. World No. 1 Federer and No. 2 Nadal.

I remember this time last year I was doing live coverage, excitedly.

Once again I must say Nadal is cute! He's so cute, obviously less relaxed than relaxed Federer!

I'll cheer for him!

Ooh here it comes!

Saturday, July 07, 2007

Wish 3

(a photo is uploaded. please check her official site)

This morning I was able to arrive in the shooting site 10 minutes before the agreed time, which made all the staff surprised ! !

Hah Hah Hah Hah !

Despite a spatter of rain the outdoor shooting went well and finished around noon, then I returned home*


The shooting was done in Yokohama area. Yokohama Chinatown was just a few blocks away . . . but today I chose sleep over food, so I rushed back home and took an afternoon nap.

I did the jacket photo shooting of Beautiful World/Kiss & Cry. I'm really looking forward to seeing what it's gonna look like! I woke up early but as it was a natural wake-up, it seems like I did the shooting in good order, with a refreshed feeling. On top of that the cool breeze outdoor was so pleasant and nice!

Oh, I just remembered, a person pointed out to me by email, that my wish "Hope I can get up early on the 7th of July" which I wrote on the tanzaku, was originally supposed to be heard in the night of Tanabata, which meant my wish had little meaning. Well said.

Hah Hah Hah Hah !

Well at least it's still in the night of Tanabata, so if the last one wasn't heard, I might be allowed to write just one more or so . . . .:*:.(*^-^)


********************
(NOTE by Nuuk)
the words on the tanzaku reads "Hope Me can win the Dream Jumbo lottery   Kuma Chang"

Yes yes!

(a photo is uploaded. please check her official site)

I'm going now!

I'm in top shape!

That's what I'd like to say, but actually I have a slight stomachache, maybe it could be because I ate habanero last midnight for the first time in ages(._.*)

Darn, why am I being stupid like this . . .


Gah, seems like I underestimated habanero . . .

Dang it, I'm going now!

Yes!

(a photo is uploaded. please check her official site)

Got up!


Correction, woke up!

I woke up automatically at 4:30.

Just 2 more hours to go, if I could resist temptation of falling back to sleep, I would manage to leave home at 7:00 and make the stuff surprised . . . Hehehe . . . HE HE HE Haaaa! Gwa HA HA HA HA ! ! !

But you know, you tend to press your face against the pillow, close your eyes a little bit saying "Hehe . . . I won't sleep, I won't sleep, otherwise I'll have big trouble" and such pounding your heart, whenever you shouldn't fall asleep. I believe you've had such an experience, right? (lol)

Alrighty I'm getting hyper, I'll get through this for sure ! !


********************
(NOTE by Nuuk)
"woke up" is written as "okita" in Japanese and she referred to "Mr.Okita(the director)" in the first line.

Wish 2

(a photo is uploaded. please check her official site)

Hmm?

Seems like Kuma Chang wrote his wish on tanzaku too.

"Hehe . . . "

Friday, July 06, 2007

Wish

(a photo is uploaded. please check her official site)

Tomorrow is . . . *sigh* . . .

I'm worrying about tomorrow. I feel insecure~ . . . I'm so worried that I may not be able to sleep tonight~ . . .

Huh? So you ask me what's making me worried like this?

Well, it's not that I'm worrying about Tanabata.

Tomorrow, is the day I am to leave home at 7:00 for the early-morning on-location shooting.

I am such a person, who was always late for school as I was never good at getting up early. And I'm still afraid of early-morning shooting. I'd cause loads of problems to everyone if I was late. It's no joke. (Well, actually you shouldn't be late for school, too . . . )

I have a lot of actor drinking buddies, and those guys always say they'll do shootings from around 7:00 or 8:00 in the next morning, but have a bust till late at night. Sometimes they go home earlier, though. They're such tough guys, which makes me respect them. It seems like, you can never be an actor unless you have lots of stamina.

A frail today's child like me could only manage to be a light-skinned musician.

Alright, now I set my mind, to get up early by any means, go to the shooting location and make the staff surprised ! ! ! Hurrraaahhh!

Everyone on Earth! Please share your strength with me!


********************
(NOTE by Nuuk)
the words on the tanzaku reads "Hope I can get up early on the 7th of July Hikaru."

Thursday, July 05, 2007

Kuma Chang and Rubik's Cube

(a photo is uploaded. please check her official site)


Kuma Chang's challenge to Rubik's Cube, ready, go!



*slip*


"Aww"



- THE END -

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

One week later

(a photo is uploaded. please check her official site)


********************
(NOTE by Nuuk)
the echo-word on the left reads "plop;" the line of the ghost reads "Bye for now~."

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Kumazemi

(a photo is uploaded. please check her official site)

There's this type of cicada called Kumazemi(Black Cicada).

The males are from 60mm to 64mm in length. The femals are from 63mm to 68mm. (Hmm, so the females are bigger~.)

They are reportedly living mainly in urban areas.

They reportedly sing only in the morning.

Their buzzing reportedly sounds like "Kuma- Kuma- Kuma-." Which is a lie.

Actually they buzz like "Shaww Shaww" or "Washh Washh Washh."

Humph, that's no fun!

Awww

(a photo is uploaded. please check her official site)

One more correction!

"UDATAHIKARU"-san's autograph on verbal-san's blog: I heard it was not in Fukuoka, but at Club Quattro in Shinsaibashi, Osaka! I just wrote the message based on an anonymous info, without reading the text parts carefully(._.*)


"*Giggles*   Hikaru-chan   You are irresponsible   more than me thought"


*Frightened*

Monday, July 02, 2007

Wow Aw

( ^-^)/Bonjour*

Okita-san the director pointed out that I made a critical mistake in my message of the day before yesterday!

(Actually Okita-san told it to my dad, and my dad told it to me today. Why? Okita-san! I could've corrected it sooner if you'd told it to me sooner by email~! Awww~!)

I wrote I made the opening theme of the cinema version EVA over and over again, but actually my song is gonna be played at the ending, not opening ! ! !

I have no idea why I wrote it as opening. Here I correct it!

My autograph . . . ?

(a photo is uploaded. please check her official site)

I found this on the blog of m-flo's verbal-san, and it seems like this was taken in the dressing room of Zepp Fukuoka. Thanks for the fan mail information*

I rushed to check out verbal-san's blog. YO YO

Found this image in the section where those artists who did the live events there were shown.

Woo~! So this is it~! Hehe, I once again have to admit my writing is kinda crooked~.

Huh? But hey, have I ever been to Zepp in Fukuoka . . . ?


. . . ( ^_^)



Hmmmmmmmm ? ! ? !

Hey, look at this, it reads "U DA TA HI KA RU" ! ! !

The letter "TA" should come before "DA"!

Who the heck is that ! ! (lol)


Well, so, you know, the thing is that I wanna visit Zepp in Fukuoka someday.

. . . And, now that I look closer, UDATA-san's writing looks more uniform in vertical & horizontal widths and slope than mine, so I should say his/her writing is steady and stable.


More importantly, who the heck is Yuipyon.

Sunday, July 01, 2007

On Sunday in Akihabara

(a photo is uploaded. please check her official site)

I found myself doing this when I visited Akiba a while ago.

Took a commemorative photo with the put-your-face-in Eva panel~!

Woohoo!

. . . I remember I was quite hyper at that time, but now looking at this photo, I find I look kinda pale and blank. Am I all right? What's wrong? Having a stomachache or what?

I intended to give a !nice! smile there. Now I kinda realized why the photographer people always tell me "Show me your smile!" or "Don't look so sad" . . .

So.

The new cinema version of Eva is scheduled for release this summer ! ! You know what, I did the opening theme for it ! !

I was really surprised when I received this offer. I asked the reason, and it seems like my enthusiastic talk in the Eva special issue by Weekly Playboy Magazine caught the eye of the film producer people. Any work is worth a try, isn't it*

I wavered for a moment because I thought it might arouse opposition from Eva avid fans if any songs other than "A Cruel Angel's Thesis" by Takahashi Yoko san were going to be used . . . But! But! I'll never have another chance like this!

I don't care even if Eva Ota people beat me up when I visited Akiba or Nakano Broadway! I'm just so happy to be involved in Eva-related things!

I have no regrets for my life! (T__T) *sheds tears*

So, as a Eva Ota, I tried my best to make a song that wouldn't conflict with Eva world-view much, but until I watch the opening scene of the wrapped-up movie . . . I can't tell what the results will be!

*pound* (-_-;) *pound* (-_-;)

This is why the physical release of Kiss & Cry took so much time, as we were planning to release it with Beautiful World! Sorry to have you kept waiting! This is gonna be a gorgeous single after a long time*