Q&A with X JAPAN at Japan Expo

During their European tour, the legendary X JAPAN made an appearance at Japan Expo 2011 and took part in a Q&A session, answering questions about their reunion, the current tour, their future plans and more.


First of all, thank you very much for coming to Japan Expo before your concert at Zenith tomorrow. Thank you from all the fans that you have in France. You held a concert in London, how did it go?

PATA: Bacchiri.
SUGIZO: Bacchiri.
YOSHIKI: It means “superb.” The show in London was really good. Excellent, yes, thank you for asking about it.

Do you think that the French audience will make much more noise than the Japanese and English audiences?

YOSHIKI: I do not know... Yes (in French).

How did you feel about reforming X JAPAN?

YOSHIKI: We did it for you. You know, I remember it was some years ago [in 2007] when I came to give a press conference. I talked about this reunion. I thought about it again after that and talked about it to ToshI. It’s for you that we are here, that we are back together.

Do you still have solo projects nowadays despite this reunion?

YOSHIKI: Well, working on X JAPAN is taking up almost all of my time.

ToshI: I have my solo career at the same time as X JAPAN.

HEATH: I put X JAPAN at the center of my efforts.

PATA: I have Ra:IN, with whom I already came here twice. And we will come back!

SUGIZO: I manage many important projects even though X JAPAN is very important. There is Juno Reactor with whom I came two years ago, my solo career and LUNA SEA.

You are releasing your new single. Is there a date for the next album?

YOSHIKI: I was thinking about this album for the past 14 years. I think we can imagine it coming out end of this year. We can promise it?

Was it more difficult to compose your new songs in English or in Japanese?

YOSHIKI: It was very difficult to write in English, French is also difficult. But I am able to say certain things... I am happy to be here (in French).

Can you imagine composing in French?

YOSHIKI: Hmm... Yes.

What interesting things have you recently heard about in the Japanese music scene?

YOSHIKI: Maybe AKB48.

Questions from the audience

YOSHIKI, Art of Life is my favourite song. How long did it take you to compose it?

YOSHIKI: It took me thirty minutes... No, I’m joking! Art of Life is rather long, it took me approximately two weeks to write it and two years to record. During the two weeks, I locked myself in at home, in the dark with closed curtains. It was intense.

We come from Russia and would like to know whether you are thinking of coming to our country. We read on Twitter that you would like to come. What do you say about it?

YOSHIKI: We would love to go there and are discussing it, not for this European tour but during the next one. Hopefully next year, but our plans would depend on the progress of this tour. We would still have to decide on the cities and venues, but... Yes, we would love to go there.

What are your impressions on this European tour?

YOSHIKI: For the moment we only played in London, but I think that the concert tomorrow will be awesome!

What do you think about visual rock that you have created and its evolution?

YOSHIKI: When we started doing visual kei, we were like the black sheep of the family, we were pushed aside. We played heavy music with lots of makeup and crazy hairstyles, so the media and critics were asking themselves “Who are they? What are they doing?” At that time we dedicated ourselves to our fans that became more and more numerous. It’s from there that many other bands appeared... I think visual kei is not limited in having crazy or extravagant appearances, it’s more the spirit of freedom: nothing is impossible. There are no limits.

PATA, why the beard?

PATA: I can’t be bothered to shave.

At your beginning, you cited KISS as an influence, what is your favourite song?

PATA: Gold Gin.

ToshI: Hard Luck Woman.

SUGIZO: I don’t like KISS.

HEATH: Beth.

YOSHIKI, what is your favourite song?

ToshI: I like Tears.

YOSHIKI: I don’t know... I like them all. I would say probably Jade, which I have just composed.

How do you feel about the latest songs? Born to be free, for example, is rather dance.

YOSHIKI: That’s an interesting question. I’ve done a lot of heavy songs, but for Born to be free it was... I love dancing. Why do you like this song, ToshI?

ToshI: Because you composed it.

We would like to thank the band who took their time to participate in this conference.