Pistol Takehara is a singer-songwriter/actor. The song has a passionate message that gives strength to those who listen to it.
When Takehara was a student, he dreamed of becoming a musician and devoted himself to boxing.In fact, at the time, there was a man he met as a rival in the same weight class who was an NHK announcer. I am Kazuhiro Mukai, announcer for Hakodate Broadcasting Station.
Mr. Takehara and announcer Mukai are old friends who are still in touch.
At Mr. Takehara's request, ``It's hard to speak even if Mukai uses honorific language...'', so we conducted the interview in a ``tame'' manner. What is Mr. Takehara's true face revealed through the casual exchange between the two who reunited in the ring where they once fought?
(Interview: Yoshiaki Takaichi announcer)
“Interview starts here” missed broadcast
*Missed broadcast will be available until 7:53 a.m. on Monday, February 19th.
What happened after retiring from boxing?
(Mukai)
The only thing I don't know about is the period between ``Boxer Kazuo Takehara'' and ``Takehara Pistol.''
(Mr. Takehara)
That's right. After I quit boxing, I had a vague dream of becoming a professional musician.
(Mukai)
Was it already there then?
(Mr. Takehara)
Yes, there was. It's been a dream of mine since middle school. I even brought my guitar to university. I vaguely thought that I wanted to be a musician, but I didn't take any concrete activities or actions, and as a reaction to quitting club activities, I spent my days drinking and having fun with my friends. I've been spending a lot of time.
(Mr. Takehara) I
think around the summer of my fourth year of university, I went for a drive with about four or five of my friends. I was sitting in the passenger seat, and suddenly I felt my blood boil. My mind is occupied by the anxiety of ``Oh my god, what? Am I going to fall?'' and I can't think of anything, and I feel like I'm feeling dizzy.
(Mukai)
Does it feel like your consciousness is slipping away?
(Mr. Takehara)
Yes. I've never actually fallen down, but I feel like I'm going to fall over and over again, which is scary. This tends to happen when I'm meeting someone for the first time, or someone I'm not that close to and I get nervous when I meet them. On the other hand, when you're with someone you get along with and are really good friends with, it's totally okay. Also, to make matters worse, I was fine when I was drinking.
(Mukai)
Gradually, do you feel like you're being swayed by "that guy" and your mental health is being eroded a bit?
(Mr. Takehara)
Yes. I worked part-time jobs while feeling groggy, and when I got home, I ended up drinking, drinking so much that I ended up being late the next day or getting fired. So, I've never felt like I wanted to die, but I've felt at a loss and thought, ``Will this last forever?'' Or, combined with the symptoms, I was like, ``No, is this going to last forever?'' Just when I was feeling depressed and thinking, ``I don't like this,'' Hamano suddenly called me and said, ``I don't like this.''
The phone call that was a turning point and the confidence I regained
Mr. Takehara, who was suffering from an unexplained illness, suddenly received a phone call from Hirochika Hamano, with whom he had played in a hobby band in college. This is the person with whom Mr. Takehara would later form the folk band Nogitsune Zen.
(Mukai)
I wonder why Hamano-kun called.
(Mr. Takehara)
No, I don't know.
(Mukai)
I don't know? I asked.
(Mr. Takehara)
Isn't that a lie? To Hamano?
(Announcer Mukai reads out the interview memo to Mr. Hamano)
"I had a clear feeling that I wanted to do music together.The way I started expressing this was by saying that I wanted to return the keyboard I had borrowed, and... There was a demo tape we made for fun when we were in college, and after we graduated, we were listening to it with friends from our hometown of Asahikawa, and they said, ``You should definitely do it with this guy.'' That was the call I made without knowing where Takehara was.''
(Mr. Takehara)
Seriously!? Oh, that's right! So he called me thinking he wanted to play music with me?
(Mukai)
Said.
(Mr. Takehara)
This is terrible, that's it. amazing! Do you know that now? If I had known about him earlier, I would have taken better care of him. Wahaha (lol)
But still, that one phone call from Hamano still makes me shudder when I imagine what it would have been like if Hamano hadn't contacted me that day.
The two got back in touch and formed ``Nogitsune Zen''. Although I have no experience performing in front of people, I aim to become a professional musician.
(Mr. Takehara)
Once I decided to do it, I worked hard for a year to try it. I'll try to do everything I can. There was a time when we were talking about things like, ``I wonder what it means to survive,'' and ``I wonder what it means to survive,'' and I thought, ``If you put all your passion into one goal, one ambition.'' There was a time when, with a straight face, I said things like, ``I guess you could say I'm alive.'' So I guess Nogitsune Zen was born and continued as a unit that sings about those feelings. I feel like there were a lot of songs where people were yelling things like, ``You can't do this! What are you doing?!''
(Mukai)
Even if the song started quietly, there was always a roar somewhere.
(Mr. Takehara)
Hahaha.
It's a simple thing, the more you perform live, the less these symptoms appear.
(Mukai)
Why?
(Mr. Takehara)
That's why, although he was weak, he had a lot of confidence and pride in his role as a member of the boxing club. I wondered what it was that made him who he was, and I wondered if he was walking around proudly proclaiming that he was Takehara, a boxer. But when he lost the stone that made him proud, and he started slacking off because of his body, making it difficult for him to see his own future, he got a call from Hamano. . I guess that's why I started to think of him as Takehara, Nogitsune Zen's guitar and vocalist.
The origin of Utatai is “Dosamawari”
Nogitsune Zen's music, which sings "Live with passion," caught the attention of those involved, and he made his major debut in 2003. Mr. Takehara has fulfilled his dream of becoming a professional musician, but now Nogitsune Zen's personality becomes an unexpected problem.
(Mr. Takehara)
When I moved to Tokyo and gained more experience in life, I started to think, ``I can't generalize.'' It gives me peace of mind. This kind of life is good, this kind of way of living is possible, and this kind of life is also wonderful. It's certainly wonderful to pour all your passion into something, but isn't that just one example?
It's like... Nogitsune Zen is a duo that only sings about these kinds of things, and they're so particular about it, and they naturally have a range of ways of thinking and a range of ways in life, so I don't really understand what's going on. , It's getting kind of tiring.
After disbanding Nogitsune Zen in 2009, Takehara began touring small bars all over the country by himself. The role model for my activities was the seniors I met at live shows.
(Mr. Takehara)
I go on stage at a small shop almost every day, earn a little money, go to the next town, and go to the next town. I go on tour all year round. I travel around. It was at these stores that I met my senior Utatai artists. It doesn't matter how many guests the seniors have, or even if there are none, there are still people who sing to the master. Those seniors taught me that this is what singing is all about. This is the style I chose because, especially since I became a solo artist, I wanted to move around like the seniors I used to open for at the time. ``Dosamawari'' is just a phrase I used to say, but I kept on repeating the journey and the journey.
(Mukai)
Are we living in an era where increasing the number of numbers is the best thing you can do?
(Mr. Takehara)
Yes. There's no live show that leaves me with something to reflect on, so when I have regrets about what I should have done in today's show, I tend to want to try it out right away, so I'll just do it tomorrow. I'll be careful about that part tomorrow, and it'll be like, Okay, it worked. I feel like I can sing in a place like this. It was a time when traveling itself was a lot of fun.
Mr. Takehara, who continued to perform 280 live performances a year, steadily gained fans and finally made his second major debut. She made her first appearance on the NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen at the age of 41. The following year, she also had a successful performance at Nippon Budokan.
After quitting boxing, Takehara almost lost sight of her life, but by continuing to sing, Takehara regained it.
The “essence” of Takehara pistol
In the second half of the interview, we asked Takehara, who has now become known to many people after moving from the Ring in Sapporo to NHK Hall, about her thoughts on singing.
(Mukai)
This year marks 10 years since I made my major league debut at the age of 38. Looking back, how do you feel about your growth as an artist and as a person?
(Mr. Takehara)
Well, again, I'm sorry if this isn't a direct answer. Basically, I go on stage because I love singing in front of people. So, I don't care what the song is about. Originally. Anything is fine. It doesn't matter if it's a song I've written, a cover, or whatever, I'll do what I think will make the most people happy at the time. My true nature is, ``Because I just want to sing.''
However, this is just a sensual thing, but I feel like during the Nogitsune Zen era, that was the other way around. I mean, I wanted to sing first.
(Mukai)
Ah, yes, yes, yes.
(Mr. Takehara)
This is what I want to convey. So I go on stage. By the way, I've always loved getting on stage and singing, so I think there was a time when the order of things was a little reversed, Nogitsune Zen.
Since then, many years have passed and I have experienced and thought about various things, and now I am back to where I am today.
(Mukai)
To the essence of who I originally thought I was.
(Mr. Takehara)
That's right. That's why I go on stage because I want to sing, and because I want to sing in front of everyone. It could be anything, but right now I'm playing something like this song.
This year, the Noto Peninsula earthquake hit Japan starting on New Year's Day.
After seeing the damage, Takehara streamed a live performance of his singing and playing for five consecutive days online. Mr. Takehara's unchanging attitude was that he wanted to sing songs that would make people happy in front of everyone.
(Mukai)
What kind of things are you thinking about during the recent Noto Peninsula earthquake and what you want to convey to the people there?
(Mr. Takehara)
Hmm, that's what I want to convey...
But, for example, when we want to collect and send relief money together, it would be great if we could convey to the people in the disaster area that we're rooting for them, and please do your best. That's what I'm thinking. They probably don't have the luxury of doing that right now, but I think it would be great if they could watch it to kill time and think, ``Oh, he's doing something like that,'' when he has time to rest his mind and body.
Sometimes, there are customers who say things like, ``Takehara Pistol's song gave me courage'' or ``I was saved.'' He is a person who has the strength to encourage and save people.'' That's why I think that person would have been okay with it even if it wasn't my song, without giving it such a harsh nuance. I think, ``You have the strength to save yourself, so go ahead with confidence!''
Yeah, so I don't feel like I'm helping anyone. do not have!
(Mukai)
No!?
(Takehara)
Yeah, I'm worried though. ``Please! Do your best! Everyone, since we met like this, let's survive somehow!'' I have a feeling of attachment, but I never do anything because I think it's supposed to be someone's strength. I'm repeating myself, but I feel like it would be great if I could convey something like, ``I'm a person who really enjoys singing in front of you.''
What Takehara Pistol is aiming for from here on
Despite singing a passionate message, Takehara says, ``I just love singing in front of people.'' What is he aiming for from here?
(Mr. Takehara)
We're finally going to have something like this live. I'm trying to do as much as I can right now. Someday, when I can't do it anymore, I'll come. It's not even an auspicious story.
(Mukai)
Is there something about the Takehara Pistol that sings that says, ``If it doesn't maintain this, it's not a Takehara Pistol''?
(Mr. Takehara)
I don't think so. As long as I'm thinking, "Oh, that was a great live today," I think I should do it. I don't know the specific criteria for scoring or anything, so it's just a matter of feeling, but as long as I can put on a live that makes me think, ``Today was a good live,'' I'll do it. If you can't think of anything, you'll have to think about it, yeah.
(Mukai)
Are you still feeling fulfilled both physically and mentally?
(Mr. Takehara)
It's fulfilling. I think we're at our peak now, all the time. I've always been thinking, ``This is my heyday.'' I think he's a happy bastard.
(Mukai)
Since when?
(Mr. Takehara)
Ever since I started playing music. Ever since I started Nogitsune Zen. It's auspicious, isn't it? Wahahaha. I've always wanted to say, ``One day I'll definitely become a champion.'' In the end, I want to die without being able to get used to it, wahahaha.
“Interview starts here” missed broadcast
*Missed broadcast will be available until 7:53 a.m. on Monday, February 19th.