Comickers (November 2001)
Interview Archive
Commentary from Hirohiko Araki published in the January 2002 issue of the MANGA OMO! Magazine.
Interview
Why I Only Listen to Western Music
I think the last Japanese song I properly "listened to" was "You May Dream" by Sheena & The Rockets. I haven't watched Kōhaku Uta Gassen in over 25 years, and I've only ever seen Keisuke Kuwata, Yumi Matsutoya, Hikaru Utada, and Ayumi Hamasaki. They seem to be famous names, since I've often seen them in magazines, but I have no idea what kind of songs they sing.
I only have one CD by a Japanese artist at home, and it's one by Sadao Watanabe. How did I end up like this? I really don't listen to Japanese music at all.
I can't even talk with people about Japanese music. I have to immediately change the topic to something else, like, "Are Ayumi Hamasaki's eyelashes real?" When I was asked what my top 5 Japanese songs were in an interview for a music magazine, I froze like an elementary school student who forgot his multiplication tables in front of a teacher.
How could I have let this happen to me? I think the answer is that it's because I'm a manga artist.
When I work, I listen to all kinds of music in the background all the time, but my attention while working is focused on the feelings of the characters in the manga. I draw the pictures while considering the characters' joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness. If the background music has Japanese lyrics like "I'm an angel," "won't give in to my loneliness," or "my heart aches," and I'm not drawing that kind of scene at the moment, the feeling becomes a nuisance. Sometimes the lyrics make me feel angry or sad, and sometimes I think, "Please don't tell me that right now." Japanese music is also too emotionally straightforward, so it's not quite suitable for listening to at work. And so, I gradually stopped listening to Japanese music altogether. At least, that's how I saw it. So, then... what happens when you don't listen to it all the time? When I get in a taxi or something, I hear Japanese music on the radio the driver listens to. Lately, I've realized that I've started to feel like they're all the same artist and the same song.
I thought my sensibilities had clearly deteriorated. It seems music is something you definitely have to keep up with. So I figured, "I'll just listen to Western music."
洋楽しか聞かない理由
最後にちゃんと聞いた邦楽は、たぶんシーナ＆ザ・ロケッツの『ユー・メイ・ドリーム』だと思う。紅白歌合戦はまず25年以上は見てないし、桑田佳佑だとか松任谷由実、宇多田ヒカル、浜崎あゆみ。名前は雑誌でみてすごい有名らしいってのは知ってるけど、どうゆう歌を歌ってる人なのかまったく知らない。
家にある邦楽アーティストのCDはたった一人、渡辺貞夫。
どうしてわたしはこんな人間になっちゃったのか？邦楽は本当にまったく聞かない。
人と邦楽の話がまったくできない。すぐ話題を「浜崎あゆみのマツゲは本物ですか？」などと違う方向へ、持っていってしまう。音楽誌のインタビューで「邦楽ベスト5」をあげてと言われて、教師の前で九九を忘れた小学生のようにこおりついてしまった。
なぜこんなんなっちゃったのか？
答えはたぶん自分がマンガ家だからじゃあないかと思う。
仕事をする時はBGMにあらゆる音楽はずっと流して聞いているのだが、仕事中の自分の意識はマンガの中の登場人物の心情に集中されている。キャラクターの喜怒哀楽を考慮しながら絵を描いてるわけだ。そこにBGMが日本語の歌詞で「わたしは天使なの」とか「寂しさには負けない」だとか「胸が痛い」とか言われると。今そーゆーシーン描いてんじゃあないんだけどなーと、気分的にジャマなのだ。時にはなぜか怒りとかわいてくる歌詞とかあるし、おまえにそんな事言われたくないよ、なんてムキに思ってしまうものもあって、日本語は感情がストレートすぎる、仕事中には向いてない。…というわけで、だんだん邦楽は聞かなくなってしまったのだ。と自分で分析する。
で…ずーっと聞いてないとどうなるのか？タクシーとかに乗ったりして、運転手が聞いてるラジオからたまたま半強制的に邦楽を耳にしたりするのだが、これが全部同じ歌手同じ曲に聞こえるような感覚に自分がなってる事に気づいた。
明らかに感覚の衰退だと思った。音楽は勉強し続けなくてはならないものであるのは確かなようだ。
…でわたしは「洋楽だけ聞いてよ」っと思ったのだ。
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