NEWS

GACKT OFFICIAL X - MAY 10 2026

GACKT Official X Update. Translation below

What I imagined 20 years ago is finally becoming a reality.

The town once known as the "largest housing complex in the Orient" is quietly coming to an end.

Matsudo City, Chiba Prefecture.
In this city with a population exceeding 500,000, a certain elementary school is facing closure.

This year's new students are only one.

Tokiwadaira First Elementary School.

Built in 1960, this school was created alongside a massive housing complex, a symbol of Japan's rapid economic growth.

At its peak, approximately 17,000 people lived in the complex, and this school had over 1,600 children.

It must have been incredible back then.

Children running around.
Voices echoing until evening.
In a small country like Japan, it felt like the future stretched infinitely.

Everyone truly believed that "tomorrow will be better than today."

But times have completely changed.

The housing complex is aging,
the residents are decreasing,
and there are no children left.

This year, the entire school has only 30 students.

There's only one new student.

The schoolyard is too big.

The corridors are eerily quiet.

The classrooms are unused.

Just looking at the pictures makes me uneasy.

However,
this isn't just a story about depopulation in rural areas.

You understand, right?

Even cities with populations exceeding 500,000 can no longer escape this reality.

In other words,
the whole of Japan is heading in the same direction.

Japan has always been built on the premise that
the population will continue to grow.

More convenient.

Bigger.

More prosperous.

Cities, housing complexes, schools, and the economy have all been built upon that ideology.

But now, that premise itself is collapsing.

What we need to consider isn't
"how to increase the population."

How can we live beautifully in an era of declining population?

We can no longer survive by clinging to the same values ​​as before.

This school scene is not just news.

It's a "preview" of Japan's future.

This trend can no longer be stopped by anyone.

The term "measures to combat the declining birthrate" is frequently used, but is it truly functioning?

The same goes for the issue of accepting immigrants; doubts only grow.

However, in a sense, the future of Japan is extremely interesting.

After all, it's extremely rare in the world for a country to experience such rapid population decline and super-aging simultaneously.

20年前に思ってたことが、
いよいよ現実となって表に出てきた。

【東洋一のマンモス団地】
そう呼ばれた街が静かに終わろうとしている。

千葉県松戸市。
人口50万人を超えるこの街で、
ある小学校が廃校危機にある。

今年の新入生は、
たった【1人】。

常盤平第一小学校。

1960年、…
— GACKT (@GACKT) May 10, 2026

Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team

Translation © GACKT ITALIA

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by Erika

GACKT OFFICIAL X - MAY 07 2026

GACKT Official X Update. Translation below

A junior colleague of mine confided in me this:

"It's hard to live in today's society.
There are so many things I'm not understood,
and I can't express my own thoughts."

⸻
There are a certain number of people in the world who can't conform to what's considered "normal."

That's not abnormal or a defect.
It's simply that their "thought structure is different."

That's not the real issue.

The question is, "How do you live as you are?"

⸻

If you feel you're different,
first, accept that.

And then, never abandon the attitude of trying to understand society.

There's no need to conform.
However, an attitude of not trying to understand will only lead to isolation.

⸻

"It's okay to be yourself."

This phrase is half true and half dangerous.

If you wield it without thinking,
it becomes an abandonment of growth.

What's truly needed is this.

[Understanding the Structure of Others While Maintaining Your Own Core]

⸻
Don't reject those around you just because you feel rejected.

The moment you do that, all your connections with the world will be severed.

Those who are misunderstood will only become even more misunderstood.

⸻
There's no need to fear being a minority.

But don't use being a minority as a shield.

That's not strength.
It's just an escape.

⸻
Cultivate an attitude of trying to understand.

That alone will change how you communicate.

The precision of your words will improve.

The view you see will change.

⸻
The conclusion is simple.

You're fine just the way you are.

However—
[Don't cut yourself off from the world]

That's the advice I can give you as someone on the same side.

後輩の一人から、こんな相談を受けた。

「今の社会で生きづらい。
理解されないことが多すぎて、
自分の考えを言えない」

⸻

世の中には、
いわゆる【普通】に染まれない人間が一定数いる。

それは異常でも欠陥でもない。
ただ【思考構造が違う】だけ。

問題はそこじゃない。…
— GACKT (@GACKT) May 7, 2026

Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team

Translation © GACKT ITALIA

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by Erika