The remaining of this interview is translated by non-other than uchihamel 大先生 from YL.



Say thanks to uchihamel for the translation ;)

Previous translations: Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 9 - Part 10

uchihamel: Italics

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Even if I get lost, music teaches me a lot, and saves me. I think that was what kept me going, guiding me.

YUI: … Plus, Bianco Nero went to Tokyo about a year before me so I thought “Bianco Nero is in Tokyo too, so let’s do my best!” and that kind of made me more reassured. To have someone you are close to around definitely makes you more reassured. At first, I was feeling a mixture of anticipation and uncertainty but after moving to Tokyo, it became a sort of mental preparedness. Or determination. As such, I was ready to advance forward, and that was how it worked out.

# In YUI-san’s songs, even when there is a lot of darkness, loneliness or sadness, one will always strive towards that ray of hope. Which part of you do you think made you write such songs?

YUI: To not allow oneself to get defeated by that situation. When it seems that you are about to be defeated by the situation of things, if you do not have strong will, you will be defeated. To put it generally, hope. In order not for whatever circumstances to overcome you, you need to have strong will. Without it, you will definitely be unable to overcome various things. After debuting, many people are now listening to my songs, but hitting sales at a certain number is not my final goal. Even if there is a set target, upon achieving that, it becomes a new starting point. That was what I kept in mind as I went along. But there were definitely many times where I was saved by music. “Music is something which I cannot live without” is something which I said before debut but it still holds true now. Even if I get lost, music teaches me a lot, and saves me. I think that was what kept me going, guiding me.

# Tomorrow you are finally turning 20. How would you describe your 19 years of life?

YUI: ……… As usual, music plays an extremely vital part in YUI-san’s (jokingly referring to herself) life, yup (lol). It has influenced me a lot.

# That seems very true indeed.

YUI: I think so. Seeing that I was so obsessed with music. Though without doubt there was much hardship and trying times. Yet, precisely because it is something that I love which enabled me to overcome all obstacles and be where I am today. Up till now I have been carving a path by myself, so from now onwards I hope to continue doing so as well, while receiving support from the many people around me or new acquaintances, and moving forward positively with a strong will.

# The album「CAN’T BUY MY LOVE」is an album containing numbers with musical diversity, as well as a cheerful track which expresses gratitude towards one’s teenage years even though it consists of hardship. I think this album is reflective of how YUI-san will be in the many years to come, believing in music as well as things dear to you as you progress in life.

YUI: Yup. Right now, I feel very blessed to be able to do music. I hope to be able to continue doing music for a long time, and will give it my all in order to achieve that. I hope to work hard and show a truthful side of myself to everyone. In addition, I want to be able to excite people, put a smile on their faces and also make people say “Oh this is interesting”. I want to take on new challenges and enjoy my 20s.

# Your determination to do so won’t be swayed?

YUI: If it does, I will speak about it. And get encouragement, yup. But I think by going to watch more live performances, and recalling about how touched I was when I first watched a live, I will gain new inspiration. And also not wanting to change, in a good sense. (not being obstinate, but sticking to one’s own beliefs) I don’t want, for example, going to live houses to become part of my job. I have always loved music, so I hope to keep that touching memory of watching a live for the first time in mind as I go along. I also wish to learn many things from many people.


Picture credits to Reset.

# I see. Thank you very much for today.

YUI: Thank you very much!

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YUI first released feel my soul in year 2005, and this interview was done in year 2007, time really passes fast.

Thanks to YUI, my 4 year university life became much more interesting.

Big thanks to uchihamel for helping out to finish up this long due project, can't wait to see you again in August =P

The remaining of this interview is translated by non-other than uchihamel 大先生 from YL.



Say thanks to uchihamel for the translation ;)

Previous translations: Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 9

uchihamel: Italics

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

… For quite a period of time I was in Fukuoka working on song writing, and it was then I began to think that I might be debuting. When I was told to go to Tokyo, since there were many things which I was not familiar with, my feelings was a mixture of uneasiness as well as anticipation. Therefore, I spent quite some time considering about things.

# As a result, you had to go to Tokyo several times a month in order to prepare for your debut am I right?

YUI: Yes. A lot of preparation was in progress. I took the plane to Tokyo, and then switched to the monorail. When I viewed Tokyo from the monorail, it gave me a sense of disbelief. The scenery of Tokyo as seen from the monorail left quite an impression on me. And so after that I started song writing again. …… But I think I was doing so without any distractions. Instead of saying that I was overwhelmed with emotions, I was really able to concentrate working on compositions.

# You brought along the tortoise and goldfish that you were keeping when you moved to Tokyo?

YUI: That’s right. About a year or two before I moved to Tokyo – or perhaps longer than that? I bought them myself. They have lived really long haven’t they? Like my tortoise for example, it has grown so unbelievably big (lol). Even now I still wonder how much bigger it can get. I had to come to Tokyo several times a month for work and when I got the confirmed news that I would be moving to Tokyo the thing that I naturally thought of was how to bring my tortoise and goldfish along as well (lol). It seems that there was some discussion about that issue. Though I only heard about that later. My pet tortoise and goldfish which I so naturally and wilfully brought along to Tokyo are so pitiful (lol). In any case, during the later period in Fukuoka, in order to concentrate on music, I was not staying at my house, but living alone. I focused on song writing in that place. As it was a place which belonged to us, I guess that is why I naturally thought of bringing them along (to Tokyo).

# How was it coming to Tokyo and interacting with the people in your current label company and all sorts of people?

YUI: I think I was definitely nervous at first, and so I ended up keeping quiet most of the time, or either I could not really communicate well with them. But when my debut song “feel my soul” was confirmed as the theme song for drama airing during the 9pm slot on Mondays, days where I had to work with the drama producer began. Of course, the decision for the Monday 9pm slot was made before my debut, so that period was really crazy, but in a good way. Those days I had to work with the drama producer, and create several A melodies (verse) within a day. For the last time, I met up with the producer in a spacious conference room, bringing with me my guitar as well, and spoke with him for 4 hours. Based on my understanding of that discussion, the final version of the song was created. It was the first time I wrote a song in that way, so from the beginning it was really rough, and I was totally caught up with it. Because there were a lot of things which I could not understand clearly. All the struggles, exploration and trial and error were attempts at trying to see which one would actually be suitable. Coupled with the fact that I had to suddenly debut based on such a large scale project. Although for a brief period after my debut I continued performing street lives, there were a lot of things going on, and I think it took me some time to completely rationalize and comprehend everything.


Picture credits to Reset.

# After all, everything happened within such a short span of time isn’t it.

YUI: Yeah in the blink of an eye. I guess I felt a little fearful at that time too. But I think that fear was in a good sense. After all, since I was in a position where I totally couldn’t grasp an understanding of the current situation, there must have been a certain amount of insecurity and uncertainty about where it would all lead to.

# The theme song “feel my soul” for the Monday 9pm slot is a song which illustrates YUI-san’s emotions when you moved to Tokyo, and it is about searching for a ray of light in the darkness. To start off your major debut song with the phrase “I’m tired of crying”, what sort of feelings did that contain?

泣き疲れてたんだ　問いかける場所もなく
迷いながら　つまずいても　立ち止まれない

Nakitsu karetetan da Toi kakeru basho mo naku
Mayoi nagara Tsumazuite mo Tachi domare nai

I got tired of crying. Life doesn’t hand out answers.
I might wander and stumble, but I can’t stop.
Translation: Gin

YUI: It was like a lot of pent up emotions from experiencing so many different things. I think that’s precisely what it was about. I think there are many factors involved, but a part of it would probably have to do with the seemingly impossibility of doing music in my future ahead back then when I was a first year high school student, and that was really saddening. It felt like I had nothing in my life.

# What was the most important reason which made you decide on coming to Tokyo and make your major debut?

YUI: ……… Firstly, I wanted to be a filial child to my mother. I’m sure that feeling was in me. For instance, to talk about something more practical, when I entered high school there was surprisingly quite a sum of money set saved for that. There were such things. There was somewhat a feeling that I wanted to be filial. As I was always seeing her working hard (to support the family). And also, there was a part of me which genuinely loved music. Bianco Nero and everyone else also gave me much support so I decided to do my best.

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Next: ROCKIN' ON JAPAN Interview Part 11

The remaining of this interview is translated by non-other than uchihamel 大先生 from YL.



Say thanks to uchihamel for the translation ;)

Previous translations: Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8

uchihamel: Italics

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was told “Should you lose interest in music someday and neglect it, I will be asking for that back” when I received my guitar.

… At the beginning, back in the past when people randomly stopped or just walked by, I was nervous, and didn’t know what was what. However, halfway through I began to calm down and sing more smoothly. Should the performer of the street live be nervous, people who would stop to listen will end up not stopping, thus with the thought of creating a relaxing and pleasant atmosphere in mind, I managed to calm myself down. Then, it was like one person would stop to listen a while, and then maybe another person would stop too. That was how it was like. There were people listening every now and then, and at times people who also performed street lives would chat a little with me when they pass by on their way home, like “Oh you’re doing a live today?”

# Did you feel that you were taking a step closer to your dream of doing music if you continued performing lives like that?

YUI: At that time I was simply thinking of the present, I just thought of improving my guitar playing skills.

# So this means that you had no serious thoughts on wanting to debut?

YUI: That’s right. I was not thinking about that yet. When I was just beginning music, I went to an audition that the people at the music school recommended me, and talks about debut began. I was simply doing things which I liked hence when it developed into talks of debut I was very surprised.

# That audition was Sony’s SD Audition right?

YUI: Yes, that’s right.

# It is an audition where many musicians make their debut, did you not think of anything related to that?

YUI: Not at all at first. Up till then I was not aiming to debut, but it was more like there happened to be an audition, and I went as part of the music school. At the audition I sang cheerfully as I usually did. As the talks went on should I say, rather only towards the end did the actual feeling and realization of debuting dawn upon me. I began to think about more things. During that time, I took an airplane for the first time and came to Tokyo for the first time too. The people at the music school were worried about me so they accompanied me. My thoughts were like ‘there are many people here after all’, ‘the buildings are really tall’ as I walked around looking upwards. And if you carried a lot of luggage with you, scouts would approach you. Though since I had this sort of image in my mind, I was not too surprised in a way like “So this is what Tokyo is like!” But as expected, going to an entirely unfamiliar place and meeting people you don’t know was a little unnerving. I went to this hall where there were a lot of people from the record company, and a final assessment was held. I got permission to perform in my usual style and sat cross-legged while playing the guitar. Although I was instructed to perform 2 songs, I sang a bit of a third song. I did the songs the way I did during my street lives. That is why instead of expecting some kind of response from the audience, I treated them as if they were casual listeners who stopped by to listen to my performance. Since I was really nervous, I recalled how I did my street lives, and decided to perform in the same way. Memories of how amazing Bianco looked when I first saw them surfaced, and I wanted to reproduce that same feeling in my performance. Instead of 2 songs, I did 2½ songs. The song “I know” was a song which I composed a little while back, and since it was a song full of hope, I wanted for them to listen to it, hence I sang just a teeny bit of it. But as I was kind of afraid that they might be annoyed at me for singing more than 2 songs, I quickly left the place after that before I got told off or something (lol). I left without making eye contact with anyone.


Picture credits to Reset.

# When and how did talks of debut take on a more concrete form?

YUI: There wasn’t exactly a detailed notification that I was going to debut. Rather, after discussions with the record company, I began to do a lot of compositions. So it was like I sort of saw that coming.

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Next: ROCKIN' ON JAPAN Interview Part 10

The remaining of this interview is translated by non-other than uchihamel 大先生 from YL.



Say thanks to uchihamel for the translation ;)

Previous translations: Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7

uchihamel: Italics

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Song writing, Performances

# How often did you go each week?

YUI: … And in the midst of all that, I could feel myself wanting to learn more about music, becoming better at playing the guitar, and I was really happy. As such, one day, when someone from the music school said that he was giving me a guitar, I was elated. Having my own guitar made me feel very happy. That person also said to me “Should you lose interest in music someday and neglect it, I will be asking for that back”. And so I brought that guitar home. When I was going to practice at home, the sound of the guitar was loud, so I figured that I would not be able to practice at home. Instead, I went to places such as the paths in the rice paddy field or the seaside to practice the guitar. Doesn’t the body of the guitar feel a little chilly, or cooling? Or it could also be due to the fact that I played it during winter, I’m not sure. But I think I definitely became accustomed to this coolness over time. This allowed me to calm down. I felt secure too. Gradually, I became better at playing the guitar, and probably as there were many people around me who were composing their own songs, I naturally thought of trying it out too. As such, I started by attempting to create a melody in accordance with the chords. Before then, I had no idea that this was the way in which tunes were composed, so when I learnt of it, it had quite an impact on me. I was extremely thankful for being able to gain such knowledge. I would first strum a chord, and then somehow affix a tune that gave me a good feeling to it. Then as I went along, it gradually became a melody that was reflective of my own style. From there, I worked on the finer details of the song.

# The first song that you ever composed was “Why me” am I right?

YUI: Yes.

# What was the process of composing that song like?

YUI: As it was my first time trying to match the lyrics to the melody, it was pretty much trial and error. It was rather difficult indeed. I think I approached some people for advice, but I tried to match the lyrics to the melody in my own way. At first, the lyrics of ‘Why me” was entirely in English. Halfway, I changed the lyrics to Japanese and sang it. Upon completion, that special feeling of having a song which belonged to me just felt very unbelievable, and I was simply overjoyed. From then on, whether I was at home, or in a vacant room at the music school, I worked a lot on compositions. I was in contact with music every day, yup. And so, I composed 2 to 3 songs based on my feelings. Rather than saying that I got the hang of things and knew which direction to go in, it seemed more like I composed melodies based on the chord progressions I liked and so on, and in this way, more songs were created.


Song making session. Picture credits to Reset.

# Even now, you said that you are not familiar with things such as fashion, or other more girly stuff, but are there no other things which have caught your attention?

YUI: I don’t think there was any. I do read books now and then, but besides that I don’t think there was anything else. Music was really enjoyable and so, in a good way, I was totally engrossed with it. I was happy that it (my music knowledge) was slowly taking shape.

# Around when did you begin your street lives?

YUI: If I’m not wrong, it was after I composed “Why me”. It was to train my courage (to perform live in front of others). Other artistes such as Bianco often did street lives, and had their own following of fans. And so I was allowed to perform the opening act during their lives. It was truly good training for gaining courage. As it was my first time performing at a street live, I did not have the slightest idea about how it would be like, my mind just went blank and I could not even play my chords properly. However, Bianco was just next to me playing their guitars, and also sang the chorus along with me, so somehow I managed to get through my first ever performance like that.

# Approximately how many people were present at that live?

YUI: I think there were more than 20 people. They were all spread out in front. That’s why I was really nervous. But as they are all Bianco Nero’s fans, the atmosphere felt warm, so I was less worried about making mistakes. After that, when Bianco Nero performed at summer festivals or at temples, I would go along with them, and then perform a song for the opening act. And after singing, the uncles who came to the summer festival would approach me for an autograph. At that point of time, I recall simply writing my full name in kanji on their backs (lol). I was thinking if it would be okay since it meant ruining their t-shirts (lol). Those were good memories, yes. When I first started out doing solo street lives, I chose the spot where I first watched Bianco Nero’s live. That time the 4 of them were sitting cross-legged on the ground and playing their guitars, and now it was my turn to do the same at that spot. Everything began from there. Bianco Nero appeared dazzling when I first saw them, and as I kept wondering to myself what they were seeing and what sort of emotions did they have while singing, when I performed solo street lives it really held a special meaning for me.

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Next: ROCKIN' ON JAPAN Interview Part 9

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Misc Rants:

I want to change the layout of this website and host it on my own but I don't want to spend a lot of $$$

How?

Anyone wanna help? I'm providing YUI goodies =D

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CLICK HERE

Don't get heart attack.

As usual, I'm neutral on this. This is what ah Mel and me think few minutes ago...

ah Mel: She can be nana now, with this hairstyle. Where is the choker and the wrist band etc
Teo: Haha. Yeah time to do another movie
ah Mel: Movie! would be great! I wonder what are her plans. Someone interview her quicklyyyy
Teo: You go stalk her at Shibuya then
ah Mel: Haha. must pick up some stalking tips. Hmm end of summer then she cut it short. 干脆 cut it in summer.. more refreshing
Teo: Maybe for the upcoming promotions of new single. Might as well image change.

(Changes topic)

What do you guys think of this image change?


In the meantime, check out this awesome video by our beloved Tsun Vun~



He has tabbed out It's all too much, as usual.

And Kikino rocks.

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Misc YUI info:

I like Amami Yuki, but the new movie with It's all too much as theme song looks weird.

Manga based movie, no wonder. I'm sure YUI already read it.

So they say It's all too much is another Beatles song, then Never say die should be the name of a horse which has something to do with Beatles' ex-drummer Pete Best??? Or a song by Black Sabbath?????

Somehow because of YUI, I get to know more about the legendary Beatles. I guess it is a good thing.

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Now that I'm back in Malaysia, guess I'll have to buy It's all too much/ Never say die from HMV.

It's all too much still growing on me. Can't say much about the song, might have to look into the lyrics too. The intro sounds fun to play.

As I was trying to look for myself in the ROCK IN JAPAN FES 2009 video, I compared the video with pictures I took on that day. In the picture below, the place near the stage there was a small space in the middle, I guess to separate the audience? For security reasons?



After repeating the Love is all performance video for like more than 10 times, all I could see was human, heads, people and more people.



WHERE IS THE HOLE???


PS: I've decided to remove the chatbox because it is the one causing all those annoying pop-up ads. I hate those stuff (even though my firefox blocks it), ain't gonna let you guys 'suffer' from it too. I'll think of a way to replace that chatbox ya~

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Misc half-banana updates:

Just came back from Singapore few days ago, planning to have a road trip to Hat Yai (Thailand) in the upcoming Raya holiday.

I'm seriously infected by the travel bug after studying in Japan for 11 months.

Extra note: ah Mel still lookin' cute as ever =3

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Brings back all the memories. Total 160,000 participants wow. First day was 40,000 people.

I wonder if Europe has something similar with this *hint hint*

Report, will be on soon. Just to inform that I'm still alive.

One week break ends today, time to get serious on school stuff.

If someone asks me what would I miss the most in Japan, it won't be the food, the place, it will be the convenience of being able to move around easily and...

LIVE EVENTS.

ROCK IN JAPAN is an event filled with music loving people. Most of the people just dance along with whatever music they heard, and you can't help but dancing along too, especially being a Japanese music fan for so many years.

Short report:


Sound of Forest stage. I could see YUI clearly from the place I stood. It was torturing though, people squeezing each other. That's show how popular YUI is.

1. Laugh away
2. Ame agari no yozora ni (Imawano Kiyoshiro cover)
3. Rolling star
4. Love is all
5. I'll be
6. again
7. ZOO (one chorus, Kawamura Kaori cover)
8. Sea

Live report from official website with MOE pictures.

The moment YUI appeared on the stage, at first everyone was stunned for 2 seconds, then I could hear KAWAII~~~~~~~~~~ here and there. I couldn't believe my eyes too. Too kawaii to be true. YUI, was in front of my eyes.

Somehow I was hoping to see the normal T-shirt and jeans YUI, instead of wearing folded up yukata with heavier make up, since this is our first meeting with each other.

But once YUI started to talk, you will know it for sure that she's the same YUI who we've been supporting for years, slightly more outspoken which made all of us shocked when she made such remark:

YUI: I've shaved my armpit hair. =O

I didn't know the word armpit hair in Japanese so I guess she was saying that she had make 'protections' to prevent revealing her 'flesh' from the side of the yukata. The sleeves of the yukata are quite wide so if you are not careful enough, it'll get pretty sexy. If you know what I mean haha.

Then someone in the audience said "Check it out, check it out" and everybody burst out laughing. I didn't know why when I was there but after knowing the armpit hair remark, everything started to make sense LOL. So cute.

It's sweet that YUI chose to make tribute for the two artists who had just passed away recently. ZOO acoustic version (with a bit drums) was LOVE. YUI sounds brilliant when she plays acoustic stuff.

Before YUI I went to see Perfume at GRASS Stage, skipped Chatmonchy though =/


GRASS stage is so much bigger than Sound of Forest, with two big screens.

Perfume is love. Their MC was super hilarious. It was so fun dancing along with their well known songs, just ignore the fact that they are lip syncing.

I will write a detailed report once I'm back in Malaysia. Going back tomorrow =.=

Yeah I didn't get to wear Kikino's shirt =/ Long story. The package was few hours late. Sorry Kevin ><



Today I'll wear the normal one to show my Japanese friends.

Finally, check it out (lol) the well waited YUI-Lover collaboration 3 at YL. The details of the booklet done by Kikino can be found on his blog. Impressive stuff.

Waiting for your comments on the collaboration! Please visit Kikino's blog or tell him directly if you appreciate all the hard work he have done. I was the one who started this project but in the end Kikino and depyon has to finish up all the mess I've done, really sorry about that...

Last day in Japan!!

Album: 9mm Parabellum Bullet - VAMPIRE

For the past two weeks, I had one of the happiest moment in my life.


Final studio practice. Our 'band' technically has 20 members haha.

In one day, I got to play 'Les Paul', 'Fender bass' (the cute blue one above),



And posed with real PRS. Sweet guitar. The guitar strings and the neck are practically stick to each other. Now I understand why people can play barre chords non stop, thanks to such setting.



Out of 5 songs in our band, I participated in three songs:

1. Chatmonchy - Hana no yume (Guitar)
2. flumpool - Over the rain (Bass)
3. YUI - feel my soul (Guitar)

My first ever and final live in Japan *sad*, I'm gonna miss my band (わでぃバンド), regret for not taking group pictures with them, didn't record my own performance =/

But it was very very fun, completely different from usual gatherings in student centre, which would be something like this:



YUI - SUMMER SONG ～YUI Acoustic Version～

Director + Cinematographer - えりちゃん
Piano, Vocal - みさき (second collabo with her)
Guitar, Vocal - りょう (he can play DEPAPEPE)
Guitar - Teo

Basically I was just sitting there and played simple chords haha. This was the day after the newcomers' live, we didn't have much time to do rehearsal. This week somehow I've got to perform 4 YUI songs, luckily I've know how to play all of them before I came to Japan, if not I'm gonna screw up classes big time.

YL Collaboration 3 has been postponed to July 14, I'm still waiting for your entries!!

I can totally understand why YUI wrote songs specifically for live performances now, certain songs are fun when played in lives. I think I got a ticket to ROCK IN JAPAN FES 2009, I already paid for the ticket but I still don't get any confirmation email, weird.

27 days till I'm back to Malaysia.

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Misc YUI Rumours:

According to this blog, YUI is having secret lives under the name e.u.Band. Instead of Muta san, drummer is the cool girl we always see in YUI PVs.

They did once on February 20, then recently on June 12, they performed again in some live house. Set list:

1. Laugh away
2. 雨上がりの夜空に (The singer just passed away recently)
3. Rolling star
4. I'll be
5. Love is all
6. again
7. Sea

If YUI performs the same songs in RIJ, the rumours will confirm true, I suppose. I wonder how will I react if I go to some random live house, and the special guest turned out to be someone famous.

In this forum, some speculated that:

E.U.
イーユー
ユーイー
YUI


LOL.

More sources can be found here, here, here. Japanese language knowledge is required.

Btw, the arrangement for Sea are done by Hisashi Kondo and, e.u.Band.

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Album: GO!GO!7188 - Antenna

I guess YUI secretly reads this blog, because she decided to appear on the first day (July 31) of Rock In Japan Fes 2009. I'll get to see Perfume (yay) and Chatmonchy (5th time?!) but according to the timetable, I might have to move around and it will be impossible for me to see dear YUI in front rows unless I start queuing on the day before.

Already reserved 1 ticket for the that day and lets hope that I will get it *prays*

I read that some people are wondering how to get concert tickets in Japan in YL forum. First get a person who stays in Japan if you want to get the ticket legally. Personal information are needed to buy tickets in Japan, and buying concert ticket is like getting a lottery, especially for famous artist. You can't select the exact seat you want.

The other day I was featured in YUPI-LOCKS, it took me by surprise wow. GREAT JOB Kikino!! Thank you! Gracias!! I want to go Chile!!!! I think Teo-chan resembles me alot haha, really honoured to be drawn. Thanks again! (Now I really have to send the CD to YUI......)

Then on Friday, I didn't get to see depyon's dance but I took a picture with him in his costume. The next day I went to see JYONGRI.


No signature keyboard.

Apparently it was JYONGRI's first appearance in Waseda, after being a student there for three years. For Waseda students: She likes building 11 (hate you guys). Never seen her around though. She sang 3 songs, including her new single which will be released on August for the very first time, and I think not many of the audience know about her.

Tomorrow studio practice!

So far I have received two entries for our YL 3 collaboration. Keep the entries coming!!

I've been spending most of my time on music club activities, this is what we did the other day:


I was wearing the 3rd tour shirt, for PR purposes. Messed up a little bit here and there but, it was fun =D

If any of you guys are interested, this is how our weekly gathering looks like. Basically you just go up and perform, it is fun, especially collaborating with others. Normally I chose not to sing but recently I am more willing to open my mouth, guess practise does make things better.

Director + Cinematographer - あかりん
Vocal Guitar - まちゃこ (the girl who did the YUKI JOY cover)
Backup vocal - あかねぇ (joined 10 mins before gathering started, yeah she's a pro)
Guitar - Teo

Special thanks to Kate for lending me her video camera.

YUI Lovers, keep working on your covers ya~

That sums up my recent life in Japan, skip classes, music, movie, books, and binge eating on 85% chocolates + blueberries.

PS: Samart, if you are coming here, lets perform Damien Rice in the next gathering lol.

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Misc Rants:

I skipped my grammar class just now because I wanted to finish reading Walden by today. What a lousy excuse.

After being a good student for the first half of this semester, I plan to skip more classes now =D

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HMV store, Shibuya.

I have received quite a few emails asking me to help buying again Limited Edition.

HMV Japan has just restocked the limited edition, please buy from there directly, it will save your time and my time, and money as well. Other stores such as CD Japan and Play-asia are currently out of stock.

If you really want me to buy, I will charge 500 yen for each CD, plus shipping. Yeah it's gonna be expensive, better find some other people who stays in Japan to buy for you instead ;P


PS: Requesting Namidairo acoustic audio from My Short Stories DVD.

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Misc YUI Info:

Sea has PV too?!!

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Today I didn't have to go two classes in the afternoon (one skipped one cancelled), hence after I had my home made lunch, I went to Shibuya, hoping that I might bump into YUI. It has been a while since I last visited Shibuya. I was kinda overwhelmed by the crowd.


Perhaps he is celebrating YUI's return?

First stop was Tsutaya.



YUI was already there. Dang. I didn't take any pictures because there's this big no camera sign near YUI's writings.

Next stop, HMV.


Someone was interviewing someone outside Coach's store.

She was here, as well.



Last stop, Tower Records.



I have Tower Records point card, so I was thinking of buying from here but I couldn't find any limited edition.


So tempted to buy that I LOVED YESTERDAY band score.

I ended up buying the normal edition, and went back to Tsutaya to buy limited edition.

Apparently again is number one on Oricon chart now, did you guys get your copy of again already? Need my help to send the post card to YUI?

If you give me your post card, I might consider helping to buy the limited edition haha. Note that I don't do free services, and I have accumulated a lot of stuff over the past 8 months stay in Japan so I don't want to waste my time figuring out how to bring back CDs and things like that. I can help out but someone has to pay for the shipping, and transportation fees. Sorry about that.

Lastly, don't forget YL Collaboration 3!! And vote for YL Banner!


PS: Anyone has the audio or video of YUI performing Namidairo acoustic? I only have the one in My Short Stories DVD.

Time to show off your guitar/singing skills!! For YUI! For details, please go to YUI-Lover Forum.


Special thanks to ah vun for providing this. Chords can be found here. Yes the CD has leaked.

Yes, IF everything goes well, I will try my best and pass the CD directly to YUI.

Now, I have to go practise CHE.R.RY. Performing later, then will be entering studio for the very first time.


My plucking failed. Was trying to play Coldplay's In My Place.


Deadline is June 30th! Send your covers to me at hinfinitie@hotmail.com. I'll be looking forward to your covers~

For more information, check this thread in YUI-Lover forum.

Questions, feedbacks, suggestions are welcomed!! In case I didn't make it clear enough.


Further Reading:

OMG YUI mentioned my name in YUI LOCKS for 4 times!!
The Second YUI-Lover Collaboration
YUI's 21st Birthday Present

Album: Rie fu - URBAN ROMANTIC

Yes I messed up Last Train even though it was the second YUI I learned 2+ years ago.


I discovered this music club thanks to Nahoko, and big thanks to Dennis for introducing her to me. We were wearing RADWIMPS tour T-shirt.

Are you guys still practising your YUI covers?? I have received support from two mods in YL so the official thread for YL 3 will be created on upcoming Monday, I wanted to give you guys something more special this time around. I know, YUI's new single again will be released in two weeks time, really sorry for the long delay.

Don't stop practising!! (I'm referring to myself)

As a warm up YL collaboration 3, here I present our version of Last Train: MediaFire (That's how YUI play the acoustic version in YUI Radio 5, if I didn't mess up the strumming)

I have to apologise for messing up the lyrics, stopped half-way, and not being able to hold Bm chord firmly. Blame my Telecaster for having a thin neck =x Only during the bridge part I finally got used to that Seagull acoustic guitar, same thing happened previously when I performed with Marina as well. Buy a new acoustic?? Haha.

If you guys are wondering how good the Japanese students in the music club are, this YUKI cover is one of them. My jaw literally dropped when I saw the real performance last week.

This is the original song: YUKI - JOY

*Embarrassed* Okay I shall not comparing myself with others, I'm well aware of my guitar skills, not planning to be Ecchan or Yuu san anyway. My job is to drag as many YLs to join this thing =D

Somehow writing this post makes me all fired up. I shouldn't waste any available opportunity to jam with Japanese students here. You guys too, we have a lot of talented artists in YL forum, lets show to YUI and the Japanese how united we are ;)



Borrowed this bass from my dorm mate the other day and tried to mess around with it. Had problem following the tempo, but it was interesting though I can sense that my time is running out >.< Maybe I should put aside my low carb/diet venture?


Try to spot as many processed food as possible in Teo's fridge haha.

I have been spending a lot of time and money buying groceries and cooking, but so far the process has been very enjoyable. It is fun to know the names of those vegetables, spices and stuff, though I still have a lot to learn. Today I tried to make chicken stock from scratch by following this video, it turned out to be some sort of chicken soup, I can just drink it like that lol. That taste reminds of something my mom always make.

Never knew that cooking can be so fun, I used to loathe it, ALOT. There are just so many possibilities in the culinary world, being raised in a multi ethnic country, now surrounded by Japanese cuisine, and the internet is filled with western recipes, it took me quite a while to differentiate between green onion, leek, chives, scallions, as well as spices such as turmeric, bay leaves, paprika, thymes, bla bla bla.

Hmm, I am really a jack of all trades, master of none.

To prove that I'm in Japan now wahaha.


Source: Yahoo Japan



Wide Screen




According to Hisashi Kondo's blog, the guitarist in again MV is オダクラユウ (Odakurayuu) and the bassist is Backy.

And, the limited edition single comes with these goodies =D


Source: YUI STAFF DIARY

Hope to see dear YUI appears on TV soon~ *Prays for ROCK IN JAPAN FES*


Random YUI related rants:

There's this cute Korean girl in one of my class. Last Monday she carried a guitar bag on her back and being such a busybody, I asked whether it is an electric or acoustic.

Turned out to be a Gibson Les Paul =O The same model used by Bump Of Chicken lead singer. I told her that I bought the same red Telecaster because of YUI too XD

Then she told me that she heard that YUI can't really sing in live performances, she has to rely on electronics and stuff to sound better. I was like, what??? I never heard of such rumour. Being a polite person, I replied that it doesn't really make sense because YUI used to perform street lives, if she sounds that horrible, she wouldn't be able to perform street live. Plus, I've never heard of her voice live, so I can't say much about that.

Come to think of it, why didn't I defend YUI when people made such a offensive remarks, in front of me??

She's very cute though, and plays electric guitar. We talked about Chatmonchy too lol.


PS: 99% chocolate is damn bitter >.<

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Misc YUI Info/Downloads/Rants:

Hisashi Kondo aka Shigezou san posted a picture of YUI band doing rehearsals of again and Sea in the studio in his latest diary post.

Actually, Hisashi san is a radio host of this show called Satayan, he has to travel to Hokkaido back and forth every week.

On April 12 episode, he actually called dear YUI twice (around 1~2 pm), without informing her beforehand. He seems to know YUI super well, dare to call her around such time. And dear YUI seems to be fine with it, replying in a polite tone, as usual.

Credits to someone in 2ch.

Rants:

That reminds me of when my dorm mates knocked on my door when I was sleeping, to give me some cakes to eat because it was someone's birthday on that day. When I answered the door, they felt very guilty (especially the birthday girl), I wasn't angry at all, if that was the case I won't be answering the door at all. I was in fact quite happy because they still thought of me.

A lot of times, being scolded is way better than being ignored. I didn't accept the cake though, dieting you know.

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When I'm depressed/down/sad/nothing to do, I'll sleep/scratch or pick my face/waste my time doing random surfing, watching shows/eat a bunch of junk food.

Thanks to those scratching, my face is just like the moon's surface, even 10 layers of powder cannot cover them. Now that I'm on diet, I can only nib on 86% dark chocolate or almond. Those are the only 'edible junk food' available in my room now.

I feel that I've been such an @ss lately, ignoring messages/calls, forgetting birthdays, I still haven't send out a bunch of thank you cards, especially to my Japanese boss who treated my lunch in Japan 3 months ago. I didn't send a message or something to my sensei who is leaving my university at all, I didn't call to say thank you to my other sensei and my host family, I didn't send any wishes on mother's day, I didn't......

I will only start contacting people when I'm visiting their place, asking certain favor, wanting something from them, when I'm lonely......

I promised a lot of things but I failed to accomplish them, for this blog it will be ROCKIN' ON JAPAN interview, YL Collabo 3 (still no news from mods), I wanted to launch a YUI fansite but I'm too lazy to figure out how to set up a website, coding, and stuff. I wanted to learn Korean, I wanted to finish my homework earlier, I wanted to...

Yes I'm such a self-centred person. My trip to Akita (秋田) confirmed that. Somehow.

On Friday night I took 11:30 pm night bus from Tokyo station, and reached Akita station on 9:00 am next morning. The last time when I came to Akita was on last year, I only spent a couple of minutes here because of the luggage incident.


The cheapest way to Akita is by night bus. I bought the ticket from discounted ticket shop so each way costs 5900 yen, 600 yen cheaper than buying directly from the bus company.

Base Ball Bear live starts at 6 pm, I had 8 hours to wander around. My first mission, find food. I brought 3 hard boiled eggs, 22 kernels of almonds, and 1 piece of dark chocolate just in case I couldn't find anything to eat.

There are two big supermarkets near Akita station, but I was surprised that no Yoshinoya/Matsuya/Sukiya, there goes my cheap meat sources. For breakfast I had a green salad from Sunkus (the only salad without corn inside and cheap) with 2 hard boiled eggs, plus some almonds.


I had my breakfast nearby this pond.

Then I decided to checkout the venue of the live, Club SWINDLE, which is located 15 mins away from Akita station. I had a hard time looking for it because it is just a small live house located below a hotel. Not your typical Zepp or BLITZ. I couldn't find the exact entrance of the live house so I went inside the hotel and took the elevator to B1 floor.


Snucked a picture of this place.

Afraid that someone might chase me out, I quickly left the place. It is a really small live house. I went to Senshu Park after that, the only touristy place I visited.



They were having some sort of event in the park, I got pretty tired after all the climbing uphill, sat on a bench and started to read Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. Then this lady approached me and asked me to write some appreciation words on a card, to celebrate something. I was kinda puzzled by it but still, I wrote down that I'm glad that I came here, thank you, and my name on the card.

When she asked about my name, I told her that I'm from Malaysia and stuff like that, she took out a book and asked me to close my eyes and flip a page and point my finger on anywhere of the book. It was a book contains a lot of phrases, the one I pointed on sounded something like this: Take off your hat and share with others.

Something like that. She explained that we shouldn't keep everything on ourselves, only through sharing with others, we will gain happiness. People happy, we happy. I began to wonder, maybe I'm getting more and more self-centred these days, I'm a Leo after all. The lady gave me a little book (which I haven't read) and I thanked her before she left.

I tried to walk around the park but it wasn't fun walking alone, plus it was kinda hilly, I didn't feel like wasting my energy climbing here and there, and went to search for food.

After carefully examined every cooked food in two of the supermarkets, nearby restaurants, convenient stores, they were either too expensive or too difficult to figure out the nutrition content because they were not labelled properly. I gave up and ate my remaining hard boiled egg, almonds and that one and only piece of dark chocolate. After 2 weeks of no sweets, it tasted great.


'Camped' here for 2 hours, reading Silent Spring and sleep. You won't find such large space with free chairs and tables in Tokyo.

When I got hungry again, it was around 2:30 pm, another 3 hours to go. I went to Seibu department store's basement floor and bought this drumstick for 210 yen.


3 types of plastic bags + 1 styrofoam plate were used just to wrap this piece of meat nicely.

Now I know where to find food while on low carb diet, depachika =D Normally I don't buy food here because the food is more expensive than bento shops or conbini. Only in depachika they have cooked meat sold separately from rice/pastas, and less preservatives.

There were chairs around so I sat at a corner and ate it with my steel fork. People were eating bread, bento, ice cream, I was the only person poking around my food with fork, as silly it may sounds. Who cares, I got more satiated by eating this instead of bread, dorayaki, or onigiri for the same price.

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Then I continued my reading + sleeping process in the depachika. I didn't really care if people snapped a picture of me taking a nap in department store haha. It was 4:30 pm. I didn't care that my phone wasn't receiving any signals (being at the basement) even though I was supposed to meet another Steve from Canada, aka the legendary doubledown11 from Shangri-la Chatmonchy forum.

Steve was the person who introduced me the awesomeness of live houses, even though I got him a #1 ticket for FREENOTE concert, he didn't really enjoyed the live, after spending so much $$$ by paying me to see FREENOTE live for free, plus the transaction + shipping fee, and not to mention another extra ticket. My ticket number was #306, I knew that he has two ~#100 tickets, and he is a very generous person. Before I came to Akita, I was thinking of giving him something for treating me a free live, besides some corny Malaysian key chains, I couldn't think of anything. In the end I gave up the thought of giving him stuff, instead, I thought of treating him a cup of coffee or something if we do meet up.

I'm not really THAT stingy, you know. And secretly, I was hoping that he would give me that #100+ ticket, after showing my 'sincerity' haha.

But then, I didn't receive any calls from him. So I guess he chose to ignore me because I love YUI more, listen to mainstream Jpop, not an active Shangri-la member and sucked away his hard earned $$$. Before going to the live house, I bought another piece of drumstick, told the aunty not to wrap any plastics, and she remembered that I bought the same thing 2 hours ago. Opps.

Then, off to Club SWINDLE~

The moment I reached there, I spotted Steve's back immediately, since he is so tall. It was around 5:20 pm. The live house opens around 5:30 pm. I went to say hi to him, he seems to be in a hurry. Since he had no reason to give me the ticket for free, and I was still in a blur mode after all the napping at the basement, I told him that I couldn't afford to buy off the ticket. And then we went apart. I went to line up at the ~#300 area, wondering why I didn't persuade him to give me the #100+ ticket, in such situation, he could either give me the ticket or throw it away.

I should have been more 'pushy', yet I didn't want to owe him anything more. But then, I was more looking forward to have a small chat with him, since he knows so much on music and live houses in Japan, even though he is not staying in Japan. Guess that I should work harder on approaching 'famous people'.

After reading Steve's live report in Shangri-la forum, I knew that he was going to give me the ticket after all haha. Too bad I was hiding at the back and he couldn't pass me the ticket. Too late >.<

The venue is really small, at first I thought that I might not able to see anything but when Chatmonchy appeared, the crowd started to move forward and I squeezed all the way to the bassist side, in front of the speaker, 4th row I think. Akko was just in front of me. But I couldn't see anything below her shoulder, nor Ecchan's guitars.

This was the first time I saw Chatmonchy, up close. There were couple of times I met eyes with Akko XD Secretly I wished that I was at Ecchan's side though.

Set List (thanks to doubledown11 aka Steve):

01 Hira Hira Hira Himitsu no Tobira
02 Shangri-La (Fun Fun Fun)
03 Kaze Fukeba Koi
04 Somaruyo
05 Sekai ga Owaru
06 Last Love Letter
07 Tobiuo no Butterfly
08 Koi no Kemuri
09 Renai Spirits

I was wearing a jacket with pockets filled with camera, two mp3 players, pedometer, hand phone, it was very difficult for me to jump around with pockets full of stuff =.= My attempt to record this failed during Shangri-La because my mp3 dropped. I didn't continue to record after that.

Live house >>>> Halls. I rather watch DVD then going to big venues, unless I have an expensive binocular. It was great to see that fans were interacting with the artist, when Kumikon and Akko were telling us what they ate, things like Kiritanpo, hata-hata which are famous Akita delicacies, one fan interrupted and asked what Ecchan ate. She replied bananas, of all things. Brought from Aomori.

Then Chatmonchy was saying that even though not many people know about this, they are really close with Base Ball Bear, some people replied: We know we know, Nyaku Nyaku Nannyo right? (I know about it too). We don't get to see fans interrupting MCs in big venues, we have to shout to get noticed.

Maybe because of the night bus, after Chatmonchy, I started to get tired. No more energy to jump. The one thing I don't really like about lives with guests is it takes a lot of time to set up the instruments, I had to stand there do nothing for 30 mins, luckily the background 80s JRock music prevented me from getting crazy.

Shiori san was even more beautiful in real life =O Luckily I was standing at her side *Happy* Been a fan of hers especially after watching Linda Linda Linda, who cares if she can only play so-so bass. I could see Koide's face most of the time, and had to jump to have a peak on Hori-kun and Shohei.

Set List (Thanks to in 小石川殿さん in mixi, he included all the MC too):

01. Dramatic
02. YUME is VISION
03. Gokusaishiki Imagination
04. Heaven's Door Girls (one of my fave in the album)
05. Dakishimetai
06. Labyrinth He No Timing
07. Kamigami LOOKS YOU
08. SAYONARA-NOSTALGIA
09. Yuugata Generation
10. Umi ni naritai
11. LOVE MATHEMATICS
12. CRAZY FOR YOU no Kisetsu
13. ELECTRIC SUMMER

Encore: BBB x Chatmonchy - SUPERCAR's Lucky

I didn't know about SUPERCAR at all before that, but I saw that bassist girl before in MUSIC JAPAN. I was looking at Kumikon and Shiori all the time.

Encore 2: Base Ball Bear - Matsuri no Ato

After watching the PV of Matsuri no Ato, I became a BBB fan. I was kinda happy that Chatmonchy mentioned this song during their MC =D I quickly dashed out from the live house after the song finished because I put my bag in a locker which operates until 9 pm. It was 8:45 pm. It takes 15 mins to go back to the station.



I managed to retrieve my bag back safely. I had another 40 mins before my night bus departs, so I went to Lotteria and ordered a piece of fried chicken for 150 yen, the flour coating definitely made this piece of chicken goes over 10g of net carbs.

That sums up my day in Akita. I don't think I'll come here again any time soon.


Expenses:

Live ticket: 3815 yen
Bus ticket two way from Tokyo: 11800 yen
Salad + dressing: 220 yen
Lunch and Dinner: 570 yen
Locker: 200 yen (cheaper than Tokyo by 100 yen)
Total: 16,605 yen


If you think that I'm lucky, Steve got autographs from BBB and Chatmonchy members.

PS: Three download links are hidden in this post.

I don't have a better looking picture for the Sea YUI mentioned in the song. when I was there, it was cloudy, raining and shitty.


Shingu beach, 22 February 2009

Check out the preview of Sea at YUI-net. Or YouTube.

Shigezou san was 'teaching' someone to play the evil F chord.

Partial Lyrics
Chords

Time to drag a member in my music club to sing this song =D Love it!


Speaking of the music club, I joined their camp thingy last weekend at Chichibu (秩父), Saitama prefecture. Apparently it was my first time staying in a ryokan (Japanese style inn), normally staying in such place in more expensive than hotels, but you'll get to eat traditional Japanese food, and hot spring.

As I'm still on Atkins diet, during the drinking session, I didn't touch any drinks or chips, snacks, junk food. MIRACLE. I just sat there and eavesdropping, learned this thing called Circle of fifths from a senior who played DEPAPEPE and Oshio Kotaro's Savanna. Way more fun than trying to make friends with people who already has their own friends or doesn't give a poop on you.


Guitar is a must have for this music club.

I wore the Singapore YL T-shirt to show how much I love guitar and YUI, telling them I am the 'head' of some international YUI forum lol, and played a couple of YUI songs in front of those first year students (future *victims*). If not no one will know what a YUI maniac we are, even though we are from overseas.

Today I managed to get one first year to drag other first years to sing CHE.R.RY together on next week's gathering, because another YUI fan (guy) said that guys would like to see CHE.R.RY, when she couldn't decide which song to sing lol.

I'll work hard on the barre chords >.<

Oh I have a temporary band now, and I get the chance to play these songs in newcomers live on June 28:

1. YUI - feel my soul (either electric or acoustic)
2. Chatmonchy - Hana no yume (electric guitar)
3. flumpool - Over the rain (bass)

Apparently YUI and Chatmonchy have the most votes among our group, I suggested Hana no yume and they seemed to like it heehee. They encourage members to try out other instruments so I chose bass instead. Hopefully it doesn't take up much practise time because I want to improve my guitar skills more.

Even though I was kinda alone most of the time during the trip, I didn't really mind since I'm going back soon, no more time for random chitchat or trying to fit/squeeze in first year's or second year's group. People like to be in groups, I'll just do my thing and if someone noticed my existence, that'll be a plus.

Wednesday will be RADWIMPS live~

I'm so gonna screw up in my Japanese classes.

Request: Any kind soul willing to send me the Last Train performance video in Yume Chika Live or YUI Radio #5??? Last Train performance only. I have the videos, just that I'm lazy to figure out how to cut it.