Blossom, Shunsaku, Tomoko, and Bubbles
Photo by The Brilliant Green

Tommy loves Elmo

CCC: Yeah, I was surprised to hear that Japanese artists can only release their English songs in Korea.

Manager: It's because of the tense political relationship between Japan and Korea.

Tomoko: We went to on a promotion tour across Asia that was incredibly stressful. As soon as we stepped off the plane- carrying all our handbags and heavy luggage- we were approached by a ton of people who were fighting to give us flowers and demanding our attention. Our schedule out there was non-stop.

CCC: Was it fans that were surrounding you and giving you gifts?

Tomoko: No, it was the paparazzi! They were quite aggressive.

Shunsaku: When Ryo and I went to Taiwan for promotions we did a guest appearance on a radio show. The people at the radio station were speaking in Chinese, but they had a translator there for us. So the person would ask a question in Chinese and the translator would ask us "do you like?" And we're like "Uhh.... do we like what?" The translator didn't understand a thing- it was unbelievable.

Tomoko: Taiwanese girls talk non-stop- it's wild!

Shunsaku: I think Taiwanese people might think it's rude not to talk, so they just keep talking to keep the atmosphere comfortable.

Ryo: It's very tiring.

CCC: Have you had any other memorable touring experiences? (Editor's Note: As I asked this question, lunch was served and the topic turned to food, namely crabs from Hokkaido)

Tomoko: When we toured in Hokkaido, a place that is world-famous for crabs, we were served frozen crabs! We were so looking forward to eating these fresh crabs and they were frozen. And also, normally when you eat crabs or whatnot, you finish the meal off with rice. But when we went to Hokkaido this time round, they gave us rice from the start. It was really strange.

CCC: I'm not sure I understand what you mean.

Tomoko: You see, we were all born in Kyoto. And in Kyoto there is a custom that if you have a guest come over and after awhile you decide that it's time for them to leave, you serve something called Ochazuke- a rice dish with tea poured over it. And that basically tells your guest that it's time for them to leave. So in Hokkaido when they served us rice straight away, we were so confused. We were like, "You want us to leave already?" (laughs)

CCC: Do you get recognized when the three of you go out to restaurants and other public places?

Tomoko: If we walk around places with a lot of young people like Shibuya or Harajuku, people recognize us and come up to us. But in other places it's usually fine.

CCC: On your second album Terra 2001 you decided not to translate the lyrics of "Round and Round" into Japanese. Why not?

Tomoko: Probably because we didn't have any time, even though our fans kept asking us to please translate all the lyrics into Japanese. Because my English is pretty bad, I always work on my lyrics with my American friend Tim and I think we just didn't have time to work on that translation.

CCC: But the lyrics are clearly about a person you dislike. So did you decide not translate the lyrics because you didn't want this person to understand them?

Tomoko: That's definitely another one of the reasons. I thought that the message behind the song might be lost if I translated it into Japanese. That particular nuance would be lost. Also if these lyrics were translated into Japanese, they would sound a bit too harsh, too direct.

CCC: So who is Brownie the cat?

Shunsaku: He's my cat. Ahh........ He's so cute! Once you get me started talking about Brownie, I can't stop. Today when I was leaving the house, Brownie was totally staring at me- he looked really sad.

Manager: What do you do with Brownie when you go on tour?

Shunsaku: I get a pet sitter.

Tomoko: Once we took Brownie to a pet kennel while we were away, but he got incredibly stressed out. So now he has to have a pet sitter.

CCC: Tomoko, what are some of your favorite shops?

Tomoko: I really love X-GIRL.

CCC: Which artists have you been listening to lately?

Tomoko: I listen to a variety of music. Lately I haven't been listening to much, but I guess I'd have to say BIS.

Shunsaku: Teenage Fanclub recently played a live show in Tokyo, so I've been listening to them a lot lately.

Ryo: There's a 80s French compilation that I've been listening to- it's pretty interesting.

CCC: Do you have a favorite movie?

Shunsaku: My favorite Japanese movie is Tsuri Baka Nishi. Do you know it?

CCC: No, what kind of movie is it?

Shunsaku: It's a comedy about this one guy who is really into fishing. It's a popular series film.

Tomoko: Titanic.

Ryo: Magnolia. But I intend to see again, so I might look at it in a different light.