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A few reasons. I ended up buying a recording studio there. Also at that time it was hard for us to be in Japan, we couldn't go anywhere.
Just too recognizable?
Yeah, so I decided to move. I mean I still love to be in Tokyo, I still go back and forth, but that's why I moved here.
Do you feel comfortable here now? Does it feel like home?
Yeah. But at the same time I just feel like I'm living in the world, because I'm traveling, and the world is getting smaller and smaller.
When you and Toshi started the band in high school would you ever have imagined that you'd be sitting here in America having this conversation?
I know! (laughs) Actually I was thinking that when we were playing today.
I don't know when the last time was that I saw a band look so happy.
I know, exactly! Everyone was like, can you imagine? Even when we were back in elementary school we were dreaming of America.
After all the years that you guys were apart, obviously it has to be sad that you don't have Hide with you while you're doing this. Is it sweet or is it bittersweet? I mean at least you still have your friend from school, but at the same time it's not the same band that it was.
Yeah, but you have to move on. I mean, his spirit lives in our hearts. I try to be positive, I try not to cry.
I saw some pictures where for a while you had a mic stand set up for him.
Yeah. Today people started chanting 'Hide, Hide" for him, and actually I cried a little bit. But, you know, we are playing together and I still feel him on the stage, so... Last month, in Tokyo, I went to the cemetery and brought champagne. I was drinking with him. Of course I ended up drinking by myself and got drunk in the cemetery, crazy guy drinking and talking to a gravestone. I told him, OK; let's go do this American tour together.
Finally, what do you want to say to your fans?
Well, we might be doing something very challenging, being a Japanese band trying to pursue an American dream, but let's rock America and the world together.
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