GACKT Blog (13 July 2016): From Blomaga Editor's Notes (Blomaga Issue 134)
DEAR MY G-LOVERS
My voice can be heard
on GACKT Blomaga so,
those who want to read it all, check out the Blomaga
※This article is an excerpt from the
“GACKT's Trashy Stories” corner in the Blomaga.
【Delivered thrice a month】
http://ch.nicovideo.jp/channel/gackt
With regards to the use of the images from the GACKT Official Blog, they cannot be used for commercial means, adult sites, or prompts linking to other sites,
use in news sites, reproduction on personal blogs or SNS are authorised.
In such cases please indicate【GACKTオフィシャルブログ GACKT.com より転載】(GACKT Official Blog GACKT.com All rights reserved). However, if our company deems your site to be inappropriate, posting will be immediately prohibited.
(c)G-PRO inc.
I was thinking as I put my hands together at the grave.
It's been 17 years since I've gone solo,
and likewise it's been 17 years since he passed.
I've grown older by yet another year.
All in the blink of an eye.
Even for this long LAST VISUALIVE tour,
the curtains have closed safely on the Japan performances
following July 2, and 3's
2 days at the Saitama Super Arena.
To all the many LOVERS
who celebrated this GACKT's birthday
on both days,
I want to send you my sincere feelings of gratitude.
And,
also to the LOVERS
who sent their many wishes
even if they couldn't come and attend,
I want to send you these same feelings of gratitude.
Truly, thank you.
Before I realise it, it happens in a flash.
He, who was a year older than me,
is now much younger than I am.
『Time flies, it's already been 17 years...
I'm turning 43 this year』
My words flowed out before him.
During my 20s,
I used to think
【birthdays are pretty meaningless...】.
However,
since I entered by 30s, the importance
of the meaning of growing older has started to resonate more in me.
Overseas,
people tend to say things like
「Age is just a number」 but,
I don't think so.
These number of years represent an important number
that speak of your own history up until this point.
For those who are earnestly running through life,
I believe that they won't see it
as just another number.
Before performing this time's last performance,
the last of the hall tour
was held for 2 days in my hometown Okinawa.
We entered the local area few days before the Okinawa performances,
and together with 30 people, including band members, dancers, and staff,
we carried out grave cleaning for the whole family
for 3 hours under the blazing hot sun.
Since it would be the first time I've returned in awhile,
I decided to first do cleaning and reset my mind
before going for the live.
Then,
my band members and dancers
said that they would help with that
and also came to Okinawa a few days early.
Actually, 3 hours after we started cleaning,
while getting drenched in sweat,
I was laughing a little at how desperate we became.
Cleaning for dear life in this manner is not normal.
However,
me desperately besieging even the smallest bit of dirt
is really hilarious.
Maybe because there was that,
everyone could reorganise their feelings properly
and bring out the best live in my hometown Okinawa.
In that sense,
performing a live in Okinawa
holds a lot of meaning
for myself.
Previously,
when I came back to Okinawa
for the VISUALIVE 7 years ago,
my grandmother, whose body was weakening,
made her way to my live with support.
And,
after the live ended, she said
『Although Gaku's fans are watching,
the inelegant side can't be shown!』
and walked out of the concert venue on her own.
That's my indescribably proud grandmother.
I loved that grandmother of mine.
And,
I wanted to show my grandmother this time's live too.
I wanted to send her lots of energy.
But,
grandmother's body could not hold on until this tour.
Last year,
she passed at the age of 105 but,
『She'd definitely have watched from somewhere in the venue...
She would be delighted, for sure』
At the casual words from my older sister, tears came out.
After we were done with cleaning the graves,
I could feel a deeper meaning
behind putting my hands together for my ancestors
year after year.
It was a strange feeling.
At the end, with my hands together,
I wanted to convey some thoughts to them but,
oddly enough no words came to mind.
Instead,
it was as if there was an empty gaping hole...
It made me think
『So this is how it feels to be free of thoughts...』,
as I continued to put my hands together
without anything coming to mind.
I was unable to cast any words their way,
feelig nothing but,
the strange sensation
of a blank mind with when praying.
After that,
while watching everyone with their hands put together from behind
『Until when can I keep doing this...』
was the thought that crossed my mind.
After everyone had prayed,
I was asked to say something but I was unable to put anything into words well
and when I looked up to the sky,
the word【Family】
suddenly descended on me.
【Family】
It is not simply
because we have gone through a tough tour together
that we can become family.
We sweat with all our efforts,
sometimes we bleed,
dedicate ourselves to reach our aim,
and run together as we look to the same goal.
Putting it in words,
it sounds simple but
to repeat and sustain that everyday,
and build those feelings stronger
is, in reality, difficult.
My right hand man, and the eldest of the masseuses
said something to me in the past that I still strongly recall now.
Right after the 2011 earthquake disaster,
when we've yet to fully grasp the state of the disaster area,
when we've yet to fully understand
the effects of radiation among other things,
he was the one who volunteered
to deliver supplies to the disaster area.
『Waka, for me.
I feel that through this I can truly become a part of Waka's Family.
Family (家族 - kazoku) is different from this Family (ファミリー - famiri).
Kazoku is made of people with the same blood as you.
Family (ファミリー) is made of the people you love
who you'd be willing to bleed for.
Well, I'm leaving...
I'll deliver Waka's feelings to them』
It was something that happened right after the terrible earthquake,
in the midst of moving without rest or sleep.
The friends who have always stuck close
even in tough spots
and no matter the situation
have now become family (ファミリー).
And now,
the tour has ended without incident.
Maybe it can't be said that it was without incident
but we managed to get here by the skin of our teeth.
My body too somehow managed to wait for this.
At the end I was doing it with only my willpower.
Maybe its because I went past the peak of my exhaustion,
or maybe there were other causes at play too,
on both my skin and in my internal organs,
the damage was steadily showing itself.
However,
I don't have time to spend whining about it.
In any case,
there were just a few more...
so I summoned up my willpower to face them.
And when it came to an end,
I collapsed from exhaustion.
There is something that I have decided on a long time ago.
【If I can't do it anymore halfway through, I'll retire immediately】
Going up on stage is,
to me, having the resolution to do just that.
That's why,
in my training and my self-management too,
if I don't face everything seriously
this body will quickly become useless.
In the first place,
my body isn't strong.
When I was a child,
I was often in the hospital.
In the past,
I used to think「Why is it only me
who has such a weak body?」
and I used to hate my parents for that.
Instead, now,
there are even times
when I am thankful for the weakness of this body.
It is because it was weak,
that I have been able to understand many things.
It is because of this body
that I can properly do
what I have to do everyday.
If I led a sloppy lifestyle,
it'll soon become useless.
I am aware
of the weakness of my own mind.
Until I was 19 years old, I blamed
my lack of initiative, my various failures,
my lack of effort in the things I do,
and just about everything else,
on the weakness of my own body as an excuse.
Right now, its different.
It is because of my body being weak,
that I can understand the feelings of a weak person's.
It is because I am weak,
that I am keenly and acutely aware
of the things that I have to put effort into doing,
that I am able to continue doing them.
My eating habits have to be strictly controlled as well
otherwise I'll become no good.
If I go with the lifestyle habit
of only eating whatever I like,
in the blink of an eye everything will go up in smoke.
It is likely,
that the people with strong bodies
have never had to confront their own bodies
up till now in their lives.
For a period of time,
even if they stopped doing something
they probably never had to restrict their diets for over 20 years,
can eat the foods they like whenever they want,
if they grew fatter they can just lose a little weight... I guess its something like that.
For myself too,
if my body could be strong
I would definitely do that
because I think that it's only natural for it to be that way.
In the past,
a close friend of mine said something nonchalant
that I still remember today.
My close friend who saw that instead of breakfast,
I was taking a large amount of vitamins and mineral supplements,
and drinking juice
made from a slow juicer
began laughing and said this to me.
「Ahahaha, are you eating rabbit food?」
He probably didn't mean to cause hurt
with what he said though.
But,
even I thought that this appearance of mine
really was like a rabbit...
and it made me feel miserable.
Even now,
friends who visit before training
will definitely say this when they see that breakfast of mine.
「Is that all?」
Yeah, that's all.
Just like this, without my body
taking in too many meals,
I've been in a constantly depleted state of insufficiency for 23 years.
Even now there are many things that I restrict myself from.
I don't think that this is strange.
Recently,
my eating habits have taken on a little more enjoyable style,
its called the【Silicon Valley Diet】,
and is said to be the the latest dietary style.
From my point of view,
I think its just right
for a person to always be in a state of lacking something.
This doesn't only refer to food,
but also the continued motivation for your own desire.
If it was satisfied or fulfilled,
you'd quickly not want to aim to go higher.
You'll become lazy.
That's why,
this is just right.
I'm fine with this body.
I'm fine with my way of life.
From around the time I passed the age of 30,
I started to be able to think in this way,
and now celebrating my 43rd year,
I can praise myself more this year than last.
Little by little I no longer hate
but instead I face it and have lived.
And,
many of my friends
and family are celebrating with this me.
To me,
there is nothing that can be happier than this.
The day after celebrating my birthday,
I put my hands together at his grave
and the words flowed out again.
「It's already been 17 years...」
“Success is not a destination,
but the road that you're on.
Being successful means that you're working hard
and walking your walk every day.
You can only live your dream by working hard towards it.
That's living your dream.”
I'll work a little harder.
Because there are still things
that I have to do.
GACKT Blog (22 June 2016): From Blomaga Editor's Notes (Blomaga Issue 133)
DEAR MY G-LOVERS
My voice can be heard
on GACKT Blomaga so,
those who want to read it all, check out the Blomaga
※This article is an excerpt from the
“GACKT's Trashy Stories” corner in the Blomaga.
【Delivered thrice a month】
http://ch.nicovideo.jp/channel/gackt
With regards to the use of the images from the GACKT Official Blog, they cannot be used for commercial means, adult sites, or prompts linking to other sites,
use in news sites, reproduction on personal blogs or SNS are authorised.
In such cases please indicate【GACKTオフィシャルブログ GACKT.com より転載】(GACKT Official Blog GACKT.com All rights reserved). However, if our company deems your site to be inappropriate, posting will be immediately prohibited.
(c)G-PRO inc.
We arrived at the tour's final location,
my hometown Okinawa.
In just another 2 weeks,
I'll grow older by another year.
It's fast...
In the blink of an eye
time passes just like that.
During the period from my birthday last year until today,
looking back,
I've been constantly caught up
in work related to this Last Visualive.
We're also close to welcoming
the end of the Japan tour for this Last Visualive.
Yesterday's Kagoshima performance,
was made possible through the cooperation with lots of strong friends,
who made it possible to quickly make preparations
to transfer the cancelled Kumamoto performance over.
Truly,
many friends are always helping me out in this manner.
It's something I'm grateful for.
A person can't survive
by constantly leaning on others.
However,
you can't survive alone either.
I've realised that with my feet firmly on the ground,
if I encounter difficultties
and just grit my teeth and continue running forward,
when I glance to the side,
there will be guys who are beside me
gritting their teeth and running with me.
At that point,
we will feel sympathy for some reason,
and we will acknowledge each other.
Then,
after that, when you lend each other strength,
oftentimes they will become precious friends to you.
When you further grit your teeth and keep running,
just a little ahead of you,
a mentor (senpai) of life will appear, smiling and waving to you.
They aren't there to drag someone further forward,
they're just there to tell their juniors (kouhai) who reached that point
『good work』
with a smile.
Each of their words are exceptionally warm,
and then,
they let you realise
that the place you just arrived at isn't the goal
and that it's only the start line.
However,
from there, most life mentors
will teach you how to run,
occasionally they will even kick your ass
or give you pep talks.
Their words are very strict and pertinent
so sometimes, you'll even feel biting pain from it.
However,
if you can firmly recognise
that their words
aren't said to just anyone,
you'll be able to sincerely listen to them no matter what they say
and realise that the doors of your heart naturally open up.
『Was I really a person
who was so willing to listen to others...?』
It's also natural
that you'll surprise yourself.
Life,
is really a series of surprises.
And by the time you realise it
you've already reached this age.
There are times when I feel like
the 26 year-old me is just from a few days ago.
Life passes in the blink of an eye.
That's why,
don't live your life in a way that will cause you regret.
People often
say to me
【you're living life too fast】.
For myself,
I've never thought that to be true even once.
I'm not living too fast.
Rather, isn't it the ones who came up with this phrase,
who appear to think
that time continues eternally for them...
If,
you came to know that you'll die one year later
how will you spend your remaining time?
That's how I live.
Before I reached 30,
I thought
that I'll meet the end of my life at 30.
The words that were said when I was a sickly child
have always stuck with me.
If I got into detail about that it'll become a long story
so I'll leave that for another time but,
until the time I reached 30,
I was really afraid of dying.
I wanted to clarify
the vague image of death so I thought about it a lot,
and much of my work
was written with death as the theme.
And then,
when I celebrated my 30th birthday
I encountered new feelings.
The fear surrounding that day completely disappeared.
『I managed to live until now...』
The feelings of anxiety that had been stuck in my chest for so long
had disappeared.
And from there,
with the thought that it's alright whenever the end comes
I decided in my heart
『In any case, everything I want to do,
I'll do as many as I can』.
On that day, the rest of my life began.
Counting up, I'll be celebrating the 13th year of the rest of my life next.
To other people, it may seem like
I live life recklessly.
But I'm enjoying my own way of life.
Suffer a lot
enjoy a lot,
and no matter what kind of hardship crops up,
keep running forward
with the confidence that when we look back at it
it'll become another story to laugh about.
Every part of the body,
has become bruised and battered.
I definitely can't become optimistic about the pain in my back.
But,
this pain is also my fortune.
The late Ogata Ken-san
said this
even as he suffered from cancer.
「The pain in your body
should not be made your enemy,
but should be accepted as part of yourself,
as something you walk on together with. That is life」
Now
I've come to understand a little more
the words that Father said.
Having come back for the first time in awhile,
Okinawa's sea breeze feels great.
"Don't be afraid of death; be afraid of an unlived life. Death is always at our side.
When we show fear.
it jumps at us faster than light, but if we do not show fear, it casts its eye upon us gently and then guides us into infinity..."
GACKT Blog (10 June 2016): From Blomaga Editor's Notes (Blomaga Issue 132)
DEAR MY G-LOVERS
My voice can be heard
on GACKT Blomaga so,
those who want to read it all, check out the Blomaga
※This article is an excerpt from the
“GACKT's Trashy Stories” corner in the Blomaga.
【Delivered thrice a month】
http://ch.nicovideo.jp/channel/gackt
With regards to the use of the images from the GACKT Official Blog, they cannot be used for commercial means, adult sites, or prompts linking to other sites,
use in news sites, reproduction on personal blogs or SNS are authorised.
In such cases please indicate【GACKTオフィシャルブログ GACKT.com より転載】(GACKT Official Blog GACKT.com All rights reserved). However, if our company deems your site to be inappropriate, posting will be immediately prohibited.
(c)G-PRO inc.
The LAST VISUALIVE JAPAN TOUR
is left with 10 shows until it ends,
and the only place left in the Kanto region,
is Saitama Super Arena.
From tomorrow,
we'll be going through the Hiroshima live and head straight towards Okinawa.
On such a night, I can strongly feel the fact that
the speed at which this body is recovering at
is on the contrary, steadily failing to keep up with
the growing excitement.
Although my body is exhausted,
I couldn't sleep at all.
Maybe because my immunity has dropped
a rash broke out,
and the aches in my body wouldn't heal,
in any case it was a long night.
『After this tour ends,
what are you planning to do?』
Recently, I've been asked this question a lot but,
honestly,
I've not thought of anything as of now.
Right now what I have to do
is to finish this without problems so
what comes after that,
I've always decided to only think about it after finishing this.
Honestly,
I've felt that it's physically demanding
during the tour
more than once or twice.
I've felt like I want to end the tour early but,
when witnessing
the actual end of it in reality,
an indescribable feeling of loneliness wells up.
As we made our way to this point in time,
from the harsh trainings in the mornings
to the review meetings late at night,
I believe that the members, and dancers,
who grit their teeth through it all everyday,
feel the same way too.
Only 9 performances left.
Everyone's bodies too, from an early stage
is in a pretty good finished state,
and further more, during the tour period,
they continued giving their all without compromising,
and now, everyone's bodies have really become wonderful.
Because I think that not one person was lacking,
thanks to everyone supporting each other
while withstanding reprimands until this point,
and everyone also wanted to show you an elevated world.
In order to deliver the best work,
we steadily increase the quality of our work through the best bodies and spirits.
Saying it sounds really easy but,
in reality you need an inordinate amount of time and perseverance.
If you think of cutting corners,
there are lots that can be cut.
If we were just aiming for an enjoyable live
we probably don't need to push ourselves to this extent.
It was like everyone was possessed,
to not want to lose to any other artiste,
to feel that they ought to deliver the best performance
of a world that they can feel proud of from the bottom of their hearts,
and they've been doing this without holding back
on the amount of effort that they put in, an amount that only makes sense to themselves.
That's why I can say this.
That we're
【the best and strongest family】.
There are a lot of staff members,
who have followed us together through the tough schedule.
The journey of the tour is definitely not an easy one.
Each person has their own responsibilities
and they fulfil their responsibilities that they have to.
This probably sounds like common sense but,
the saying that people who lose interest will appear in a long journey
is not a strange one.
Much less,
you can say that it is only normal
that those who run out of steam, or lose the feeling of tension
are bound to appear with such a large number of people involved.
In the past, when I shared this same thought,
I had been betrayed before
those by those who agreed with me.
In the end,
the reason why they somehow lose their tension,
could have been because of me GACKT.
Another one thing I learned in these 17 years
is that being only kind and gentle is of no use either.
At any time, always,
having the pride of being associated with GACKT and
the responsibility, and being conscious of it,
is the pride of being a family.
Those who can proudly speak of that tension,
are now my close friends.
The other day,
in the live venue,
I conducted a surprise drug test for us all together.
I thought that when they hear this phrase,
I might feel something like a heavy
and severe atmosphere drifting in the venue but,
instead it was the opposite.
Everyone said the same thing.
『If anyone does something that stupid, they aren't family』
Instead, it was a funny scene where the atmosphere
was one with laughter.
Friends or companions,
its not that I do not believe in my own members or my team
but instead it is because I trust them that
I always do these things unannounced.
We won't betray you.
Dealing with drugs,
is nothing but betrayal to us.
My heart aches and I feel a righteous indignation
when artistes or entertainers
somehow get implicated with drugs,
and at the waves in media.
However,
I am really infuriated
with artistes or athletes
who were actually caught with drugs.
『As someone who stands in front of others, what on earth are you doing!!』
It has nothing to do at all
with whatever personal accomplishments
they have had in the past,
or how wonderful a person they are.
This is nothing but an act of betrayal
to the fans who support you.
In the first place,
there has to be a strong relationship of trust
built between the fans and the artiste.
It is the same as us
desperately training our physical bodies and our spirits
day after day
since even before the live started.
It's all because we don't want to betray your expectations.
No,
instead, it's about you.
How far we can exceed
the expectations of us is,
based on the circumstances
of GACKT
and the people who are involved with GACKT.
That is the unspoken rule of GACKTJOB
and the GACKT family,
and on it,
our unity as a family grows even stronger.
Well then,
I'll run swiftly
to wherever I can get to with the remaining lives.
Even if,
this body can't move anymore.
“Respect is earned.
Honesty is appreciated.
Trust is gained.
Loyalty is returned.
I am GACKT.”
Wait for me.
Because I'll deliver to you
the best smile
with the best work.