HIROHIKO ARAKI MEETS Clint Eastwood (October 2012)
Interview Archive
An interview between Hirohiko Araki and Clint Eastwood in the JOJOmenon mook, published on October 5, 2012. It begins on page 4 and ends on page 12.
Interview
Araki: In "Trouble With The Curve", there's this scene where the main character visits his wife's grave and sings "You Are My Sunshine" to her. I found it really moving and I'm still tempted to cry even now when I think about it. Is there a particular song in your life you love even now? For me, it's The Carpenters' "Superstar".
Eastwood: Every once in awhile, certain songs, or even movies, will randomly pop into my head. I couldn't tell you why, but the other day I started humming "Mona Lisa" to myself. It's this song by Nat King Cole that I heard a lot as a kid. It's very old and was all the rage when it first came out. No one else but Nat King Cole who could have made a song like that into a hit. It's very painful and bitter, so that may have been why it resonated with me at the time.
Araki: I'd like to give a brief explanation of the drawing I brought today. His name is Jotaro, and the dog is Iggy.
Eastwood: Why did you name him “Jotaro”?
Araki: It's a generational thing where I put “JO” in front of the name of each main character.
Eastwood: I see, that makes sense.
Araki: Jotaro and Iggy both have supernatural abilities. Jotaro's is capable of high-speed movements, but he doesn’t really move and talk much himself. Those characteristics were influenced by you, Mr. Eastwood. And since I came from Japan to give you this drawing, I decided to put drew Mt. Fuji in the background.
Eastwood: That’s wonderful. So Jotaro and Iggy, huh?
Araki: Items that feature drawings of Mt. Fuji are typically considered to be very lucky. I'd be very happy if you'd accept it as a gift.
Eastwood: Thank you. Some guys I used to play golf with back in the day would always tell me, “it’s better to have luck than skill (laughs).”
Araki: Thank you very much for your time today.
[Translated by MetallicKaiser (JoJo's Bizarre Encyclopedia)]
