![]() ![]() The four of us hung out a lot on a regular basis, so naturally we talked about our respective problems, and for example I’d say something like, “I have a complex about my single-fold eyelids.” When you have conversations like that, you realize that people each carry different physical and emotional issues. We already knew that we wanted music to be our livelihood at that point, but it wasn’t until we met Yuuki that the idea of “neo kawaii” became clearer to us. Mana: We started CHAI after graduating from high school, and all the members except Yuuki met in band at school. How were the members of CHAI able to connect through those “neo kawaii” values back in your early days as students? ![]() Your perspective of finding the good in everyone really links to the band’s concept of “neo kawaii.” Nowadays, diversity is considered important and values are gradually changing in Japan, but as Mana just said, even a short while ago the definition of “kawaii” was very limited and people were bound by that stereotypical view. And I find good things about people one after another at a fairly fast pace. ![]() When I notice something good about the people around me, I go, “That’s nice!” and I copy it and make it my own. As an adult, I don’t have any particular individuals that I like, but I kind of take the good parts from various people. Yuuki: When I was little, I didn’t really know what I wanted to be like or if I had anyone I looked up to, but I did like Tsuji-chan (Nozomi Tsuji) and Kago-chan (Ai Kago) of Morning Musume. Our message is that regardless of gender, “You definitely have good qualities from the moment you’re born.” We came up with it because I always hated that there were no words to praise myself or the girl sitting next to me even though we also definitely have good qualities. CHAI’s keyword “neo kawaii” is also an expression of resistance to only having two values to choose from, kawaii or “busu” (ugly). The girls in my class who were called kawaii usually had big eyes and a straight nose, the exact opposite of my own face. The word “kawaii” (cute) has always been a bane to me. So you already felt some discomfort from those days. The impact of their band name, which means “tired of being sexy” and the way they expressed other female dissatisfactions through rock music was huge. I was listening to various kinds of music and watching performances by artists while thinking about how I could best express myself, and Lovefoxxx’s stance as a vocalist and the way she performed clicked with me. Around when I grew up a bit and began aspiring to become a musician, the first woman I looked up to was Lovefoxxx of CSS. Other than those around me, the only people I knew were on TV, but I never had any ideals of the kind of person I wanted to be like. Mana: The only thing I liked when I was little was Pikachu. Noriko Ashizawa of Spotify Japan on the Past & Future of the Music Industry: Billboard Japan Women…ĭid you have any women you looked up to growing up or envision the kind of woman you wanted to be? ![]()
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