#akemi oshima

[eyelectricmoon]

Rock n' Roll Diaries vol. 1 by Akemi Oshima, p.33 - about ISSAY (Der Zibet) & Toshiaki Honjou (Kinniku Shoujo Tai) - English translation

[exact date unknown], published in November-December 1990

Today’s report will be about a duo from Der Zibet and Kinniku Shoujo Tai. Both bands get their hair done by a hair and makeup artist called Tecchan. To be honest, I’m also one of his customers, he comes up with very original hairstyles, and he answers all kinds of impossible and unreasonable demands, even including me requesting that “I want dreadlocks, but they gotta have a heavy metal vibe”. One of his latest hits has been the hairstyle of ISSAY from Der Zibet: golden extensions attached to the ends of his already long hair, reaching down to about his ankles. Surely with hair like that even walking is a challenge. “Because of this hairstyle my daily life’s been ruined,” laments ISSAY (or maybe he’s delighted?). Apparently one of the biggest struggles has been getting on the train. It’d be really dangerous if his hair got caught in the door, so he has to pay meticulous attention when boarding. And because of ISSAY, one man’s heart has been set aflame with feelings of rivalry. I’ll tell you who it is: Honjou-kun from Kin Sho*. Despite his declaration that he wanted to be the one with the flashiest hairdo, he took his hat off to ISSAY’s hairstyle. As soon as I said I was currently gathering material on Der Zibet, he proclaimed: “I can’t lose, so I pass by Tecchan’s salon every single day!” He says that his new fine-braid hairstyle is in progress, that it will take 7 months to complete, and that he even visited the salon just now, right before reporting to me. I can’t wait to see what on earth his hairstyle will turn out to be.

[T/N] *Kin Sho, or King-Show – a shortened/alternative name of the band Kinniku Shoujo Tai (Muscle Girl Band)

(illustrated by Atsuko Shima)

original excerpt under cut

X月X日

今日の取材は、デルジベットと筋肉少女帯の２本立て。この両バンドは、ヘアスタイルをテッちゃんというヘアメイクアーチストに頼んでいる。実は私も彼のお客さんなのだけれど、とても独創的なヘアスタイルを考えてくれる人で、私の「ドレッドにしたいけど、ヘビメタ風じゃなきゃイや」なんていう無理な注文にも答えてくれる。 そんな彼の作品の最近のヒットが、デルジベットのISSAYのヘアスタイル。長髪の先っぽに金色のエクステンション（付け毛のこと）をくっつけて、その長さは足首くらいまである。当然、歩くのも大変なほどで、「俺の日常生活は、このヘアスタイルのせいでなくなってしまった」とISSAYは嘆いて（喜んで？）いた。特に、困るのは電車に乗る時。ドアに挟まれたら危ないから、彼は細心の注意を払って乗車するそうだ。 そして、そんなISSAYにライバル心を燃やしているのが、何を隠そう、筋少の本城君。「俺がいちばん、派手な髪型にしたい！」と思っていたのに、ISSAYのこのヘアスタイルにはさすがにシャッポを脱いだそうだ。「今、デルジベットの取材をしてきたとこだよ」といった途端「俺だって負けちゃいられないから、テッちゃんのとこに毎日通ってるんだ」とおっしゃる。 すべて出来上がるまでに７月間はかかるという細かい三つ編みのヘアスタイルを今、作っている最中だそうで、今日もこの取材の前に行ってきたとか。いったい、どんなヘアスタイルが出来上がるのか、とっても楽しみだよね。

[kurumeki]

Akemi Oshima (music journalist, MC) on Twitter

Ever since I saw the obituary, I couldn’t believe it; yet yesterday I have accepted the reality. A composer and guitarist who produced wonderfully unique sounds and melodies, he was always such a warm person and put everyone in a good mood. YOU-chan, you have created s omany great songs, these will stay with us forever.

[eternity-called-darkness]

Akemi Oshima with Kamijo and Hizaki 10 years ago . She said :

I met Versailles members 10 years ago on Revenant choir PV set. Next month, I made my debut as MC at Rokumeikan press conference. That’s why I was happy to see their dream coming true. 

[eyelectricmoon]

That time hide, Heath and Akemi Oshima went to a gay club in 1992 (SHOXX 1999/6 translation excerpt)

[T/N] context: In 1992, Akemi, Heath, hide (and presumably some unnamed friends) were hanging out around The Limelight nightclub in New York.

At that time, the only thing in that place was the remodeled church building. It had a lot of small rooms, so hide, brimming with curiosity, was like "Wow, what's over there!?" and immediately wandered off somewhere. I don’t remember what day of the week it was exactly, but the number of people was tremendous and despite us trying not to get lost in the crowd, it was really frantic…

Having been there before, I seemed to recall another building connected to that one, with a smaller club called “Shampoo”. Everyone was like, “Alright, then let’s go check it out!” and so we began to roam around restlessly in search of the entrance. Instead of us going dancing, it turned into a little expedition of sorts (laughs).

We wandered about for some time, getting lost here and there, until finally we discovered the entrance to “Shampoo”. However, as we went inside, we realised it was a perfectly gay club! What’s more, it was a 4-store building, and with each consecutive floor, the density of gayness increased. On the first floor you could still sporadically spot some girls and the gay couples were keeping it tame. But throughout floors 2 and 3, the aura of obscurity gradually thickened. At some point on the third floor we got a little scared, so we were like “Hey, hide-chan. Let’s stop here”. But he was like “Nope, we’re making it to the top no matter what!”, and contrary to our pleas, he started moving forward even faster than before. 

Just as expected, the condition of the 4th floor was terrible. There were only men; half-naked shredded men exposing bare muscles, men wearing skin-tight leather bodysuits with countless studs, anyway, with just one glance you knew for certain that they were all a part of that world. Even so, hide was completely unbothered by it all, he swiftly made his way to the counter and ordered a beer. It was difficult to be there for our girl gang, but as for Heath, who was clad in black enamel, he must’ve been taken for a man of the same tastes, because everywhere he went, he attracted inviting voices (and hands), it was quite a scene. 

After leaving the establishment, we confirmed that, save for hide, every single man, with no exception, had been approached by someone in the club. Hearing that, hide made a puzzled expression. “Why am I the only one who didn’t get hit oooon?” He made a confused face, but apparently there was no one in that club brave enough to approach him as he sat there calmly sipping his beer, staring intensely and scrutinizing the men around him.

"Oh, it makes sense”, we all agreed in unison, but hide alone kept questioning it till the end, tilting his head to the side in confusion: “But why?” (laughs)

source (Akemi Oshima's blog)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HEATH ♡

[eyelectricmoon]

also here's me screaming about Akemi Oshima and Tusk's interview from 2021 where they were reminiscing about hide and zi:kill---> full twitter thread with my loose translations

(more in the thread because it's pretty long and includes clips so it's hard to repost)

[eyelectricmoon]

a Taiji Sawada anecdote by Akemi Oshima - Rock n' Roll Diaries #1 excerpt (English)

沢田泰司、LOUDNESS

As for anecdotes about Taiji, there was an episode where he passed out from exhaustion mid-interview. After the “ROSE & BLOOD” tour ended, I interviewed each of the members for the tour photobook.

My interview with Taiji was supposed to take place in a room in a certain hotel, but Taiji had another interview before, and he’d been drinking with the interviewer all the way through. This way, by the time we were taking pictures in the beginning, he was already pretty wasted. He kept closing his eyes and dozing off whenever the cameraman took breaks to replace the film.

When we got to the digest interview, he seemed awfully sleepy, so I asked him, “Are you okay?”, to which he responded “I’m fine, I’m no Sid Vicious to fall asleep in the middle of an interview!”. But even though he said that… Little by little, his responses became shorter and shorter, and eventually when we got to the last question, I could hear him quietly breathing in his sleep!

I’ve been doing this job for many years, but that was a first… (laughs). But back then his schedule was ultra-busy, so he must’ve been tired; the location was a gloomy hotel room with a bed nearby, and on top of that, he had been drinking alcohol at a fairly quick pace… When you add up all these unfavorable conditions, you can’t really blame him, can you?

Afterwards, when we redid the interview, he arrived 30 minutes early, and kept repeating “Sorry about that before!” over and over. But really, even though you said you wouldn’t be like Sid Vicious and fall asleep mid-interview, you kinda became like him back there, didn’t you, Tai-chan? He truly is a “wild musician” after all (laughs).

[eyelectricmoon]

(psst i'm not dead, just away on a work training in between trips so my internet connection this month overall has been ..bad. i hope everyone's been well!)

for now, have this little yoshiki from akemi oshima's rock n' roll diaries as a treat

[kurumeki]

Akemi Oshima (music journalist and MC) on Twitter

Too sudden, too sad, I have no words.