Hikaru Utadaとの出会い
Lilico
Hi everyone! Welcome to Japanese Point of View. Japanese Point of View is a podcast that
shares topics related to Japan. We are your hosts, Lilico and Maikou. Okay. So this month,
we want to talk about Hikaru Utada, a Japanese artist. We actually went to her tour last month
in July. Yeah. And so we want to talk a little bit about our experience there
and our love to Utada. Hikaru. Hikaru Utada. Hikaru Utada. Which one should be the right way to say actually? Hikaru Utada or Utada Hikaru? I'm really not sure.
Maikou
The album artwork says Hikaru Utada Science Fiction.
Right. So we should say it that way. Yeah. Or just Utada. Maybe. I don't know.
Lilico
Utada is a little different. It's her name. Family name. Yeah. No, it's her family name,
but it's also her artist name overseas, like in the US, in Europe as well. I don't know. I see.
So she released a few English albums. I see. Under Utada. So that's her name,
but it's not in Japanese. So it's basically different. So we should just say Hikaru Utada.
Maikou
Maybe. Yes. Let's go with that. Okay. So you are a big fan of Hikaru Utada, right?
And you invited, not invited, but you asked me to go to the tour with you. Then I went together.
Lilico
Yeah, actually. I'm not sure if I could say I'm a big fan, but yeah, I love her.
I've been a fan of her since, I don't know, I was in elementary school, maybe.
The first time when I listened to her song was when I was around like 10. A few years later,
her debut. So the first album that I heard of her was her second album that was released, I guess.
Distance. Yeah. So I didn't know her very first debut song, Automatic, and the very popular song,
First Love, wasn't my favorite at first. Because I didn't know.
Yeah. But since then, I've been listening to her song occasionally. Her songs are in my life.
Maikou
Yeah. What about you? For my side, she was like naturally in our lives when I noticed.
So yeah, I think her first song, Automatic, it says it was released in 1998, which when I was
living in the UK at that time, in Wales, and I came back after that year, then everyone was like
into Hikaru Utada. Her song was like, at that time, the ones you said, Automatic and First Love.
At that time, she was already like a huge star singer. She was only like 15 or 16. But yeah,
everyone liked her song because she was so talented. And her songs were featured in
many, many TV ads or TV shows. In Japan, we have like the ending theme song on TV shows.
Her songs were featured as the ending songs of the TV shows. So I knew her songs while I was
watching TV. I got to remember her songs. I liked it. So I'm not really a big fan of, I don't know
how to say, I didn't know much information about her, but I knew almost all of her songs because
it was so popular. And the science fiction tour we went in July, the tour was on her best album.
So I knew all of the songs she sang that day. So as a Japanese person, I wish to see her someday
once. So that dream came true last month when we went to the tour together.
ライブ体験の感想
Lilico
Yeah, it was actually the first time for me as well to see her in my life.
Maikou
Mm hmm. She was like, so sophisticated. She was a very sophisticated person. She was cute,
but she was like, also, her song was gentle, but strong. And I really became her fan that day
when I saw her for the first time.
Lilico
We were actually really lucky to see her really close.
Maikou
Yeah, we were like in the third row from the front. Yeah, so thanks to your luck,
we got to see her in the third row. She came just nearby.
Lilico
It was really close and we can see her really on a large scale is not the right word to say.
Maikou
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Lilico
Really close by.
Maikou
Yeah, but it was like, we can even maybe touch her or go to her.
Lilico
I wish.
Maikou
It was that close. And yes, she was so like, I don't know the word, but she was so friendly to
her fans. She was like waving and singing, smiling to the audience. And it was really
great to see her with our eyes, actually, in front of ourselves. She was singing.
Lilico
Yeah, the day when we went to her tour was on 25th of July. The venue was really huge.
Saitama Super Arena.
Maikou
Yeah.
Lilico
That can contain like 30,000 people maximum.
Maikou
Yes, I think so.
Lilico
So yeah, there were a lot of people.
Maikou
Yeah, and we did not know where to sit until we entered.
Lilico
Yeah, we didn't know our location from which point we can see her. So it was really random.
But then when we arrived at the venue and then it turns out where we can see was really close
by. So we were so excited.
Maikou
Yeah, we were like, what? Is this real?
We were so surprised. And I was so surprised that we can film or take photos of the show
anytime because that's not really normal in live tours of Japanese artists. So I was really like,
what? We can see Hikaru Tada in front of us and also take photos and take movies if we want.
Lilico
I actually didn't know about that fact. I usually don't see Japanese artists that much.
I've seen quite a few artists from overseas. It was always so common to film.
Maikou
Yeah, it was like just usual thing. We can see like movies of Taylor Swift on X and everything.
But I really envy that because for Japanese artists, it's usually like strictly prohibited
to take photos of movies during the show.
Lilico
I personally feel like it would be better to just let the audience take videos so that it can spread
through social media.
Maikou
Yeah, it's kind of a C to C advertisement, maybe. So I wish we can see that for the Japanese
artists as well, because I wish many people to know my favorite artists, their performances.
So I thought it was great. We can see Hikaru Tada and also spread what we saw through social media.
ツアーの現状
Lilico
And then the tour that we joined was called Science Fiction Tour, and it's still ongoing
when we're recording, at least. It's the end of August 2024. The final day of the tour will be
first of September, and it's going to be held in K Arena, Yokohama.
Maikou
Yeah.
We actually applied to as many venues as possible.
Maikou
Yeah.
Lilico
So we have to be chosen in order to go to the tour, right?
Maikou
Yeah.
Lilico
Yeah, I don't know the right expression, but we have to apply first.
Maikou
We need to apply for tickets.
Lilico
Win the lot.
Maikou
Win the lot, yeah.
Lilico
Yeah, we need to win the lot by applying to the tour. It's really competitive, I guess.
Maikou
Yeah.
Lilico
So I've read somewhere that the number of people who applied to the tour was around a million
in total, and only 10% of them won the lot.
Maikou
Yeah, so we were kind of so lucky because I mentioned on X that I went to the Hikaru Tada
tour, but some people said they didn't get to actually go to the tour because they didn't get
the ticket.
Lilico
So, yeah, we were lucky enough to win that ticket.
共通点と感情
Maikou
Yeah, in the first place.
Lilico
Yeah, in the first place.
Yeah.
And then we were super, super lucky enough to see her really close by.
Maikou
Yes.
I really did not expect to see that close.
Lilico
Yeah, me neither.
Maikou
I was so surprised and excited.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Lilico
So yeah, that day was like the best day ever of my life, to be honest.
It's kind of exaggerating, but I wanted to see her so badly.
Because, you know, I've been feeling really sympathetic to her.
Her personality is somewhat feels close to mine.
So yeah, that's one of the things that I felt really familiar to her.
And also like her birthday is same as mine.
Maikou
Oh, really?
Was it?
Lilico
Yeah, I should say the other way.
My birthday is same as hers.
Maikou
So you were born on the same day as Hikaru Tada.
Lilico
Yeah, we were born on the same day.
Well, the year is different, but we were born on the same day.
And then she was born in New York as a Japanese person.
And I was born in the UK as a Japanese person.
So that's kind of feels familiar to me.
Maikou
Oh, so that's what you had in common.
Lilico
Kind of, yeah.
And then her upbringing is a lot more towards American side, I guess.
She has grown up in the US until like she was 15.
But my upbringing is a little more towards Japanese side.
So I was partially grown up in the UK.
But the way we grew up was a little different.
Her English is way, I don't know if this is the right word, but better.
I've seen her speaking in English many times.
And she's basically native in English, I guess.
Maikou
Yeah, she's really fluent.
Lilico
This is not the main point, but I've seen her speaking in English.
And what she was saying was about her identity, that she's neither American or Japanese.
She feels like she's always an outsider wherever she is.
And she was saying that she thinks a lot of bicultural people have that feeling.
And I totally can relate to this.
Yeah, when I was in Australia, I kind of always felt like I'm an outsider.
But at the same time, when I'm in Japan, I don't feel like I am 100% Japanese.
Because of the way I grew up.
I am bicultural in a sense.
But I describe myself sometimes as like 70% Japanese and like 30% something different.
So I'm not like half-half picky.
Hikaru Utada's ratio is a little different.
She is leaning a bit more towards like 50-50 non-Japanese culture, maybe.
But yeah, I could relate to what she was saying.
She was saying like, I'm both American and Japanese.
But when I'm in America, people look at me as a Japanese person
because I don't have the Asian American look.
I look Japanese, so people tell me, oh, your English is so good.
And I'm like, well, yours is pretty good too.
I totally can relate to this as well.
Because when I was in Australia, when people hear me speaking in English,
I tend to be told as your English is good.
And I was glad to hear that.
But at the same time, I kind of felt I'm regarded as an outsider.
And that feeling wasn't the most comfortable feeling, to be honest.
Do you relate to this, Michael?
Maikou
From my point of view, I'm like 98% Japanese.
I have only been in Wales for like a short term, which is like two years and seven months.
So basically, I feel I'm Japanese.
But maybe that short term stay of two years and seven months made me have different thoughts,
which I think I didn't get to know when I was living in Japan the whole time.
So in that sense, I feel like I'm like 98% Japanese.
But I can imagine that you have been in many countries and I did.
And also, your stay was longer than mine.
So I can imagine that you can have something familiar with how Hikki grew up and you grew up
and how you feel about your nationality.
Lilico
Yeah.
So that's one of the things that I really relate to her.
Like, you know, upbringings, our birthdays, our personality.
I'm into music as well.
And then I like singing, too.
The way her express through her music is just really touching.
Maikou
Yeah.
Lilico
Yeah.
I really love everything about her.
Maikou
Yeah.
パフォーマンスの印象
Maikou
And one thing I really liked about when I saw her actually in the Saitama Super Arena,
her voice sounded even more gentle than we hear through her song.
I don't know how to say, data.
Her real voice, actual voice, Namauta was so gentle and it was so soft.
I have seen some other singers sound in the same way.
So when we listen to their songs via data, it sounds more solid.
But when we hear the actual voice, it sounds so gentle.
So her voice was that type of voice.
So I was really happy to know about that because I have never known about this
if I didn't get to go to the tour.
So I really liked how she sang her songs.
And also her voice.
I liked very much.
And her performance and her dresses.
They were so beautiful.
Everything was really like greatly organized.
The movies, the structures and everything.
Hikaru Utadaのパフォーマンス
Maikou
Everything was so well made.
And I enjoyed everything about the show.
Lilico
Seeing her alive for the first time might sound a bit odd.
Maikou
She actually existed.
Lilico
Seeing her in real life was just really a pleasant experience.
She's ethereal.
Maikou
When she spoke in English to her band, she was like a sophisticated artist.
But when she spoke in Japanese, she had some kind of charming aspect.
She was so cute and charming.
And she has been an artist for more than half of her life.
But at the same time, she made us feel really familiar about her.
So the way she talks and the way she expresses how she cares about her songs
and her colleagues and about her fans.
It was really gentle.
And she was really a great singer and performer.
Lilico
Also, I liked how she talked in her language.
Yeah, her MC, her speaking between songs was really good too.
Lilico
What I felt was that Hikki was so humble and really kind to all the staff
that are involved in the tour.
She was really caring.
Maikou
Yeah, she was really caring and modest and showing respect to everyone.
Lilico
Yeah, and Hikki was also caring about the audience as well, her fans.
On the day that we joined the tour, it was a little rainy and the weather wasn't great.
So some of the fans brought umbrellas,
but she was worrying that her fans' umbrellas were confiscated.
Maikou
Yeah, we were not allowed to bring in large umbrellas inside.
Lilico
Yeah, she was saying like, are you guys all right?
Was the weather okay?
Maikou
Yeah, she was so kind and caring.
Lilico
Yeah, I kind of felt about her personality that she's just really nice.
Maikou
Yeah, it's a weird thing to say, but if she is that popular,
then she can be bossy, maybe.
Okay, but we didn't feel anything like that when we were watching Hikki's show.
She was like, just came out to the music industry.
And I really liked that she showed respect to people who were not there.
So she was thanking to the band, the audience,
and also she was showing gratitude to people who made the movies, the sets,
the stuff selling towels and t-shirts and everything.
So I really liked that part as well.
Lilico
That's why I respect her.
Her music talent is just outstanding, it's obvious.
But I also really like her personality.
Maikou
Yeah, I really became a big fan of her on that day
I knew her songs were great, but her personality was just the same as well.
So I immediately became her fan that day.
Lilico
For me, on the day when I joined, that experience made me like Hikki a lot more than before.
Since that day, I've been listening to her songs more often than before.
Maikou
Yeah, I can imagine because that day on, I'm more and more interested in Hikki.
And I'm like searching for her information and looking at her past videos on social media.
福岡公演の特別な瞬間
Maikou
And I also found that when she visited my hometown, Fukuoka, in the science fiction tour,
there was an audio trouble during the show.
Then she sang the traditional song of Fukuoka, which she just remembered the day before that day.
And everyone was so surprised and happy because Fukuoka is kind of a
just a local city in Japan.
It's not like Tokyo or Osaka.
But she was trying to remember some kind of Fukuoka traditional Matsuri song.
And she sang it along with the audience.
So I was really, really impressed and really happy at the same time because that was my hometown.
I was really surprised that it was the timing of the festival called Yamakasa.
And Hikki arrived in Fukuoka and knew about the festival and remembered that song the day before.
So that was really surprising.
I was really surprised that Hikki was so considering about each city she went.
ツアーの全体体験
Lilico
Yeah, actually, for the day when we participated, the tour was in Saitama and was on Thursday.
So she was changing the lyric.
It was originally Friday, but she changed that to Thursday because the day was Thursday.
Maikou
Yeah, I think it was in traveling.
So yeah, being like Friday afternoon, Kinyou no Gogo.
She changed it to Thursday afternoon.
And she said Mokuyo no Gogo.
And I really regret that I should have filmed that scene because that was the arrangement.
Lilico
Probably I did.
I don't remember.
Maikou
Yeah, everyone was like, yeah.
It was so entertaining.
Lilico
What was the best song that you heard on the tour?
Maikou
I like Traveling because that was the most impressive song when I was in primary school
or junior high school.
And I remember about that song very much.
I like the music video of Traveling.
It's kind of vivid.
And also it's kind of some science fiction taste in the movie.
I liked it very much.
And also I like Distance remix version.
So I was happy to hear that, too.
And also I like Hanataba o Kimi ni.
So I was happy that I could listen to it in the tour.
Lilico
Right.
Maikou
How about you?
Which part did you like?
Lilico
I mean, I like everything, but maybe Hikari?
The re-recorded version was really beautiful.
That's one of my favorite songs.
Maikou
Yeah.
Lilico
And maybe First Love was really beautiful as well.
Maikou
Yeah.
Lilico
You know, it was really quiet when she started singing that song.
And it was just, I don't know.
It was really ethereal in a sense.
Maikou
Yeah.
Lilico
I love Kimi ni Muchuu.
That song is really beautiful.
Maikou
Yeah.
Yeah.
Lilico
It was really beautiful.
Maikou
It was really touching, Kimi ni Muchuu.
Lilico
Yeah, it was really touching.
I'm glad I took a video of the song, the entire song.
Maikou
Yeah.
I really liked the way she said about filming her through the show.
She said, you can film me anytime.
But if you film me too much, then I feel a bit anxious if everyone's enjoying the show.
So please film me.
If you want, then don't film me if you don't need to.
And that was kind of charming.
Hikaru Utadaのパフォーマンス
Maikou
And I liked it very much too.
Oh, yeah.
Lilico
It's good that you remember that.
Yeah, I remember that too.
Maikou
Yeah, I really liked that MC from her.
Lilico
When I heard that, I kind of felt like, yeah, I should not film too much.
Maikou
But then I was filming quite a lot of video of her.
Yeah, me too.
But it was good for her to say in a charming way.
Because like I mentioned in the earlier half,
it's really kind of a rare occasion for people who go see Japanese artists
that we can film everything whenever we like.
So there can be people filming all the time.
But it was in a really charming and not disappointing way
that she told us that you can film me anytime.
So I liked that too.
Lilico
This is my guess.
But I think she wanted her fans, her audience to be present.
Maikou
Yeah.
Lilico
Because, you know, that's not going to come back.
And if you keep filming, we won't be present.
So that's what she wanted to say, maybe.
Maikou
It's like kind of watching TV or something in a way.
Lilico
Yeah.
And her performance in Automatic, the very last song, was nice too.
It was imitating her music video of Autobot.
Maikou
Yeah, she was sitting in a couch and she started singing.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Lilico
Yeah.
You know what I mean, if you watch the music video.
Maikou
Yeah, it was a homage.
Is homage in the English word?
I don't know.
But it was like...
Lilico
Like just imitation.
Maikou
Yeah, imitation of her music video when she was 15.
Lilico
Yeah, homage is right, I guess.
So yeah, we enjoyed the whole two hours of the tour.
It was worth the expensive price of the ticket.
Maikou
Yeah, it was close to almost 20,000 yen, which is...
Lilico
Yes.
Maikou
Kind of more than, I don't know, 100 pounds or 150 dollars, maybe more.
Lilico
Yeah, it's fairly expensive.
Maikou
Yeah, but I felt that, okay, I will pay 20,000 yen to see Hikki,
but it was like worth it and even more entertaining.
Lilico
It was definitely worth it.
Maikou
Yeah.
Lilico
It included our luck as well.
Maikou
Yes, yeah.
Yeah, to see in the third row.
Lilico
I'm not sure if I would feel the same if our position was a bit far away from her.
Maikou
Yes.
If we were seeing from the third floor or something, then it was so like...
Lilico
Yeah.
I wasn't expecting, to be honest, because Saitama Super Arena is so huge that...
Maikou
Yeah.
Lilico
I was just expecting to see her just as size of an ant or something.
Yeah.
Maikou
The last time when I went to Saitama Super Arena, I was on third or fourth floor,
so the artists were like ants.
Lilico
Right, so tiny.
Maikou
I was just enjoying the atmosphere at that show, but for this time,
it was like kind of seeing her in a small live house or something like that.
Lilico
Yeah, I could feel her atmosphere directly.
Yeah, yeah.
So yeah, we were just lucky, but we wanted to share this excitement through podcast too.
音楽の思い出
Lilico
So yeah, if you know her, you could have enjoyed our conversation.
If you're not, I don't know, you should see the songs.
Maikou
Maybe.
Lilico
We highly recommend to listen to one of her songs at least.
Which song do you recommend?
Maikou
That's a difficult question.
There are many good songs.
Which one do you think would be good?
Lilico
It's not that popular among all of her songs, but I personally really like Stay Gold.
Maikou
Yeah, I remember you saying that.
Lilico
So yeah, I would like to recommend that song, Stay Gold.
Maikou
Yeah, I like her iconic songs like Automatic or Travelling.
So to see her in her youth, I wish everyone could see that as well.
Lilico
So you recommend those songs?
Maikou
Yeah.
Lilico
Okay.
Maikou
It was kind of a shocking experience to see a young singer come out and sing those songs.
So that's why.
Lilico
You knew her from the very start?
From her debut?
Maikou
Yeah.
At the time when I was like 10 or 11 years old, and Hikki was 15 or 16.
So I was like, what?
I thought she was at least around 20 or something.
Lilico
Yeah, so young.
Maikou
That was really surprising.
Lilico
Well, I can't do anything, but it's such a shame that I didn't know her from her debut.
Maikou
I was only like five, six.
Yeah.
Lilico
I wish I could knew her from the beginning.
Anyway, I will keep following her.
Maikou
Yeah, me too.
Lilico
Because I really like her personality and her musical outcome.
Yeah.
I hope you like Hikki as well.
Maikou
Yeah, definitely.
Lilico
And I hope the tour goes well till the end.
Maikou
Yeah.
Lilico
Thanks for letting us join your tour, Hikki.
I love you.
Maikou
Yes.
Lilico
We love you.
Maikou
I love you too.
We love you.
We really enjoyed your show.
Lilico
That's it for today.
If you have any topic requests, please reach us out via Twitter slash X.
Our account name is
JPoV_ Podcast.
Thanks for listening till the end, and have a nice day.
Maikou
Thank you.
Lilico
See you in the next episode.
Maikou
See you again.
Lilico
Bye.
Maikou
Bye.
