Category Archives: Interviews

KAN “Career Retrospective” Interview: Part Two (2020)

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This is the second part of a comprehensive, career-spanning interview with KAN. It comes from a book entitled KAN in the BOOK which was published in 2020.

Text: Morita Kyoko
English translation: Henkka
KAN: Website, Twitter, YouTube

Note: You can buy KAN’s physical releases on CDJapan.

2002–2004

— I’d like to ask you about your life in Paris.

KAN: I think it was around 1994 that I first started traveling to all sorts of different countries. Little by little, I began to feel like I wanted to try living abroad. And so, at the end of February 2002, I moved to France.

I started out by going to language school. In those early stages there were a few Japanese students, a Brazilian, a Nigerian, a Filipino, a Korean—our class of around ten people.

Japanese people are diligent when it comes to studying, but we tend to not really speak up, right? The teacher would ask the class a question and the students from all the other countries would be quick to respond, but of course all their answers would be wrong. Finally, they’d ask one of us Japanese, and we’d give the correct answer. In the beginning, that is.

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KAN “Career Retrospective” Interview: Part One (2020)

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KAN is and will surely always remain one of my personal favorite pop songwriters. Today, nearly 20 years since I first discovered him, I appreciate his music more than ever. This translation is my humble tribute to this funny, relatable, and really just immensely endearing man.

This is the first part of a comprehensive, career-spanning interview with KAN. It comes from a book fittingly entitled KAN in the BOOK which was published in 2020.

Text: Morita Kyoko
English translation: Henkka
KAN: Website, Twitter, YouTube

Note: You can buy KAN’s physical releases on CDJapan.

1987–2001

— To begin with, how did your debut come about?

KAN: I took part in Yamaha’s EastWest amateur band contest and Young Jump’s Sound Contest ’84, and I did okay—I won prizes in both, coming in 3rd place or so. I got like a “Merit Award” as well as a “Good Looks Award.” (laughs)

— Oh really? (laughs)

KAN: Back in those days, a lot of young sound directors at record labels were going around looking for promising musicians in hopes of discovering and developing them themselves, and they were attending all kinds of contests. That’s how I was approached by one Mr. Hirano from Polydor Records, and I went into the studio to record demos of six or so songs—some of them were programmed, and some I recorded with band members from my college days.

Then we started looking for a production company. But one of those candidates, that company said they wanted to work with a different label instead of Polydor. Hirano was all sullen, like, “I’m gonna be left out of this thing, huh…”

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Hinata Toshifumi “Tokyo Love Story” Interview (2026)

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Here is a delightfully in-depth interview with Hinata Toshifumi about the recent 35th Anniversary Edition re-release of his (quite fantastic) 1991 soundtrack album Tokyo Love Story. Additionally, there is a lot of interesting discussion about his early career in general. Enjoy!

Interview & text: Otani Takayuki (Japanese text: one, two, three, four)
English translation: Henkka
Hinata Toshifumi: Website, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook

Note: You can buy this album on CDJapan.

— Today, I’d like to ask you to look back on the days of Tokyo Love Story. But before you do, allow me to ask you about your most recent work from 2025. The Dark Night Rhapsodies is your first fully orchestral album. It’s a wonderful work; an exquisite combination of lush, beautiful melodies reminiscent of Italian opera of the yesteryear, along with concern—and prayer—for an increasingly troubled modern society. I’ve found myself listening to it whenever I possibly can.

Hinata Toshifumi: Ah. Thank you very much.

— But what really left an impression on me was when I interviewed you about that album and our conversation happened to turn to your TV drama soundtrack work of the ’90s, and you quietly remarked, “Those were truly difficult years for me.”

Hinata: Hahahaha. Did I really say that?

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MONO NO AWARE “The Buffet” Interview (2024)

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Here is an interview with MONO NO AWARE about their fifth album, The Buffet.

While it is unfortunately not discussed during the following interview, I do very much feel that the single “Kaze no Muki ga Kawatte” is another obvious career highlight for the group in its own solemn yet strangely easygoing way.

Interview & text: Tosa Ariake (Japanese text)
Photography: Masuda Renzo (source)
English translation: Henkka
MONO NO AWARE: Website, Instagram, Twitter

Note: You can buy this album on CDJapan.


MONO NO AWARE
Takeda Ayako, Tamaoki Shukei, Kato Seijun, Yanagisawa Yutaka

MONO NO AWARE—a four-piece band with catchy, hook-filled melodies and an all-original sound. Yamaguchi Ichiro (Sakanaction), Mukai Shutoku (ZAZEN BOYS), and Yonezu Kenshi are just some of the people who hold this group in high regard.

Arriving approximately three years after their previous release, Gyouretsu no Dekiru Hakobune (2021), their new album is titled The Buffet. According to vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter Tamaoki Shukei, the album’s title reflects certain feelings which were influenced by the post-COVID era. But beyond that, what really deserves one’s attention—astonishment, even—must be the album’s totally organic, three-dimensional band sound. The way all of the instruments intertwine to create a multi-layered ensemble, it is a clear testament to just how much all four members have grown and matured in terms of both their skills and their creative ideas.

We sat down to talk with Tamaoki Shukei, Kato Seijun (guitar, backing vocals), Takeda Ayako (bass, backing vocals), and Yanagisawa Yutaka (drums, backing vocals).

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Kitasono Minami “Meridian” Interview (2025)

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Here is a (painfully short) interview with Kitasono Minami about his (painfully short) debut LP Meridian. It was published in the July 2025 issue of Guitar Magazine.

Interview & text: Okuda Yuya
English translation: Henkka
Kitasono Minami: Website, Twitter, SoundCloud

Note: You can buy this album on CDJapan.

Kitasono Minami—composer, multi-instrumentalist, producer.

In 2012, he began uploading his music on SoundCloud, instantly attracting attention, and beginning in 2014, he released three EPs within a two-year span. Finally breaking the ten-year period of silence that followed, his new album Meridian has now been released.

This being the first full-length album which he has worked on as the overall producer, its meticulous sound and arrangements were crafted utilizing score-based compositions and remote home-recording techniques. Seldom appearing in the media—no one even knows what he looks like—he is a true talent shrouded in much mystery.

We conducted a face-to-face interview with Kitasono Minami to ask him about his creative vision for this album.

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