[PHOTO] TSUGUNI TWITTER - APR 18 2021

Tsuguni Twitter new photo with GACKT. Translation below:

And here's a big announcement!
There is actually a TPC pre-exhibition match that we have been filming.
We'll be uploading it on YouTube soon for 3 weeks straight, so please subscribe to our YouTube channel [Tsugu-chan]!

Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team

Translation © GACKT ITALIA

by Erika

R25: "Do you think ‘being tired’ = ‘having worked hard’?" GACKT teaches the "essence of hard work" and opens eyes

Interview duration, ‘More than 3 hours’.

The other day, we published a casual conversation with GACKT-san about ‘The Thought Process of Those who Achieve Results’. While we managed to speak to him about the planned topic for about an hour and a half… Just as the interview was about to come to a close, he said something unexpected:

“If there's still anything else you want to ask, let’s just get through it all now.”

W-what a surprising turn of events…! Is this what the generosity of a top-class celebrity looks like? He's on a whole other level.

And so, this time, we have added a last-minute interview about ‘the difference between the right and wrong efforts’. In the book, “GACKT: The Art of Super Thought” which is packed with GACKT-san’s way of thinking, there is a section which reads, ‘Doing your best alone is pointless. Don’t be mistaken about how you apply your efforts.’

So, what is ‘the right way to make an effort’ as told by GACKT-san…?

Thus, this heated lecture that ended up spanning over 3-hours begins!

※As in the previous interview, this is conducted remotely from Malta.

〈Interviewer ＝ Sano Tomoki〉

【GACKT】Actor, singer-songwriter born in Okinawa prefecture in 1973. Presently living in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Aside from being the first Japanese national to be awarded “Best Asian Rock Artist”, he is also an entrepreneur and businessman in a wide range of industries like real estate for the affluent, food and beverage, and others

The misconception that ‘I’m the one working the hardest’. GACKT’s “days as a part-time mover”

Sano (S):
Today, I’d like for you to teach me about ‘the right way to make an effort’.
Recently, this particular thought has been coming to mind a lot when I’m at work; the question of, ‘Why aren’t I getting anywhere even though I’m working so hard’…

GACKT-san (G):
I actually understand how you feel.
Because when I was in my teens, I also kept wondering, ‘Why is this person enjoying themselves so much more than me,’ and thinking, ‘Although I’m working so hard, [nothing’s coming of this]’.

S:
Really!?

G:
When I was 17, I had a part-time job as a mover.
Two of us would get in a truck and go to various houses, move the parts of a study desk into the kids’ room and then put it together. That sorta work.

S:
(I can’t imagine GACKT-san as a part-time mover at all)

G:
So, we’re moving big boxes into the rooms, but… whenever we go up the stairs, I’m always the one supporting the weight from below.
Those things are super heavy, and I’d always look at my partner and wonder, “Why’s this old geezer putting me in the more arduous position every time?”
Like, “Why? Why am I always below??”

I could finally imagine it and he must’ve been quite adorable

G:
So, at the 7th house or so, I said, “I’ll go in front.”
When I said that, the uncle asked… “Are you sure?”

S:
Huh…!?

G:
While wondering what he meant by that, I went up to give it a go and… it was completely impossible for me to lift.
The truth is, it was far more strenuous for the uncle who was carrying it up front.
It felt like he was doing everything. No matter what the job, he would just pick the more difficult end of things without saying a world and simply let me follow.

S:
Ah… that does happen…

G:
In the bottom of my heart, I thought, “I was a fool.” Whenever someone thinks, ‘I’m the one working the hardest’, most of the time, it’s a misconception.
There are tons of people in Japan who live with the constant thought of, ‘Why am I the only one’ but it’s better to throw that belief away right now at this moment.
As long as you’re holding on to that ‘non-existent persecution complex’, no matter how hard you work, you’ll never be happy.

Do you think ‘being tired’ = ‘having worked hard’?

G:
In the very first place, most Japanese people have got the meaning of ‘working hard (頑張る)’ wrong.

S:
What do you mean?

G:
Do you know about the ‘worker ant law’ ¹ ?
It’s the law that when ants are put together, they will definitely end up with a ratio of 8 to 2 in terms of the number of hard working ants to the number of ants which slack off.

S:
It’s the theory that if 20% of the ants are hard working, 80% will be slacking off, right?

G:
That’s right. The present state of the Japanese society is very close to that right now but…
The biggest problem about this is that it’s the “80% who are slackers” who believe that ‘I’m the one working the hardest’.
To those reading this article now, I’d like to ask one thing.
Do you think ‘being tired’ = ‘having worked hard’?

S:
‘Being tired’ = ‘having worked hard’…？

G:
Right now, most people in Japan are working in ‘salary-based’ jobs, right?
They’re being paid by the hour or the month for ‘the amount of time spent working’.

S:
Yes.

G:
In other words, money is generated simply by ‘being present’.
That’s why Japanese treat ‘being in the office for 9 hours’ as the purpose of work, and end up thinking ‘Ah, I’m tired out today too = I worked hard’ even if they didn’t achieve any results for the day.
Among them, there are also people who act like they’re tired to make others think that they’re ‘working hard’.

S:
I think I honestly might’ve gotten that feeling…

G:
On the other hand, the people who fight it out in the world of ‘incentive-based’ jobs and get paid based on their achievements are by far the most ‘results-driven’.
And that is only because they’ve been fighting in a world where ‘achieving results = having worked hard’.
They don’t ever give excuses like, ‘I couldn’t do it because of this reason.’ Because, you see, if they don’t produce any results, they won’t be able to feed themselves. The only option is, ‘I’ll figure it out.’

What do you think will happen if all the world’s businesses switched to an ‘incentive-based’ system?
Japanese society would crumble in an instant. It will be overflowing with people who can no longer make a living will because there are too many people who don’t have ‘the ability to achieve results’.

S:
But in actual fact, salary-based companies are still more common anyway…
And I think that… it’s not a problem for us to continue living like this…? (mumbling)

G:
It’s been fine so far. But the situation has drastically changed.
Everyone needs to be aware of the fact that in this COVID-19 pandemic, the “time when (you) have to improve the quality of your efforts in order to survive” has come for the people who have been surviving by ‘just being in the office’.
What I want to say is, ‘This is precisely the way it is now.’

The fork in the road for the people who look to be paid for simply ‘being in the office’ is now right before their eyes

G:
Many companies have fallen into financial difficulties this time around with the COVID-19 crisis.
What do you think is the ‘correct application of hard work’ needed in such a situation?

S:
T-the ‘correct application of hard work’ for the COVID-19 crisis…!? That’s a tough question…

G:
Try thinking about it from the management’s perspective because then you’ll get it in one go.
The head of the company isn’t a person who sits at the top of the pyramid and rests on their laurels. Instead, the CEO, the head of the company is the person who is right at the bottom of an inverted pyramid supporting the whole structure.
When it comes to the topic of hiring, they’re said to ‘think only about money’ or that they’re ‘cold blooded and unfeeling people’, but that’s not true. They have to pay attention to results and generate profits otherwise they won’t be able to feed their colleagues.

S:
That’s true.

G:
From this perspective, if the pyramid only grows bigger and bigger, there will come a time when they can no longer support it.
The decision to keep capable people who can produce ‘results’ and cut out the ineffectual ones is a natural choice to make in order to protect their colleagues.
Next, it’s a question of who are these ‘ineffectual people’.

We’re looking at each other through the screen but the tension in the interview room is rising

G:
You don’t even need to think hard to figure this out. It’s the people who look to be paid for ‘just being present’ and who have not developed the ability to produce results.
If they want to survive, their only option is to change ‘the way [they] work hard’. And this fork in the road which tests whether they’ve realised this or not is now right before their eyes.
… What is your next move?

S:
… As someone living in these present times, this isn’t something I can ask anyone else about.

G:
Whenever I’m giving advice to those younger than me, I’d always say, ‘Step in the shoes of the employing end’.
Even if it’s just once in your life, even if it’s just for a short period of time, it doesn’t matter how small a job it is. Just look at things from the employer’s side.

S:
Why do you advise them so?

G:
Why don’t you try paying for this with your own money by starting a business and becoming the employer?
You’ll immediately understand exactly what ‘working hard’ means. You’ll understand how little people take initiative.
Only then will they truly realise for the first time exactly how worried they should be about their way of working hard, of ‘just being present’.

S:
So, it’s something that you’d understand once you’ve experienced being on the ‘result-seeking side’.
I guess this is something that can also be felt when you ‘have subordinates’ or ‘become a team leader’…

G:
Japan should, as much as possible, refrain from creating more ‘poor people’ or ‘rich people’, and increase the number of ‘middle-class people’ instead.
And politicians are saying, “Look. The unemployment rate in Japan is only ever falling. Don’t you think we’re a wonderful country?”
But are people truly happy living a life where they spend 9 hours everyday simply ‘being present’? How do you want to live your life? … Now is the time to think about it properly for once.

Luck is a bonus that only comes to those who work up to 90%.

S:
Lastly…
In your book, you wrote, ‘There are times when you can’t get all the pieces no matter how hard you work.’ Meaning that there also has to be an element of luck.
Is this to say that no matter how much you employ the ‘correct application of hard work’, there are still occasions when it doesn’t pay off after all…?

G:
Make no mistake that having or not having ‘good/bad luck’ is a thing. This is a fact.

S:
I thought so…

G:
But to me, having ‘good luck’ is when I get to 90% yet achieve 200% of the intended result in the end.
Conversely, ‘bad luck’ is when I get to 90% and can only achieve 95% of what I needed to when I run out of time.
This is the only difference. In other words, ‘up to 90% of everything is dependent on your own hard work’.

3 hours of this and he continues to dish out wise words…

G:
That is to say that no matter how bad your luck is, you’ll always be able to achieve 95%.
That’s all luck is. Something like a bonus.

S:
Like an add-on?

G:
That’s right. Strictly speaking, it’s an add-on which only happens to ‘people who have worked hard to reach 90%’.
There are far too many people in this world who expect to get that bonus without doing anything.

S:
Luck is the bonus of a huge opportunity that only comes to those who have made it to 90％.
Yeah, this, there’s no doubt about this…

At this point, the interview finally ended… The time was 12 midnight in Japan! It was so immensely condensed…

S:
GACKT-san, truly… thank you for these 3 hours today.

G:
One last thing… In this day and age, you can read as many ‘words of wisdom’ as you want.
But even if you read this article, nothing will change if you don’t do anything.
It depends on what you do. It all depends on yourself.

We’ve made it through the intense, tumultuous 3-hour-long interview.

In retrospect, GACKT's message was very simple.

‘Try.’

I think I’d just be adding unnecessary words if I continue rambling any more than this, so I’ll end it here gracefully.

I’ll work hard too. I will try.

〈Interview/Text ＝ Sano Tomoki (@mlby_sns) ／ Editing ＝ Amano Shunkichi (@amanop)〉
__________________________

¹ Looks like he’s referring to this article: https://www.sciencealert.com/many-worker-ants-are-actually-lazy-slackers-but-there-s-a-good-reason-for-that

Source: r25.jp

Translation: Yoshi @ GACKT ITALIA Team

Translation © GACKT ITALIA

by Erika

R25: "I mastered this mentality at 20, convinced that I've won" Straight from GACKT: “The Thought Process of Those who Achieve Results”

What is “Mr Perfect’s” success theory?

Musician, actor, entrepreneur… GACKT-san is the Mr Perfect who keeps producing the best results in whatever he does.

This January, the book, “GACKT: The Art of Super Thought” which is packed with his way of thinking was released. This time, the R25 generation who are “trying my best but can’t get results” will get to learn the “thought process of those who achieve results” from GACKT-san himself…!


【GACKT】Actor, singer-songwriter born in Okinawa prefecture in 1973. Presently living in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Aside from being the first Japanese national to be awarded “Best Asian Rock Artist”, he is also an entrepreneur and businessman in a wide range of industries like real estate for the affluent, food and beverage, and others

This time, we’re doing a remote interview from Malta.

It started out with me feeling nervous and worried about whether we will be able to conduct the interview smoothly, but the interview concluded with an unexpected end… I hope you enjoy this from start to end!

〈Interviewer ＝ Sano Tomoki〉

Getting straight to the heart of the matter… GACKT-san speaks of the ‘crucial difference between those who achieve results and those who don’t’

Sano (S):
GACKT-san, can you hear me…?
Good day to you!

GACKT-san (G):
… Helloo. Thank you, GACKT here.
My hair’s a bit of a mess, sorry about that.


Just to let you know, he was beyond cool

S:
Today, I’d like to ask GACKT-san about the ‘thought process of those who achieve results’.
Like, what’s the difference between those who achieve results and those who don’t.

G:
The difference between those who do and those who don’t, huh…
Actually, until my teens, I was also a very negative person who got discouraged and gave up halfway with everything.

S:
Huh…!

G:
But I met my mentor at 19 who hammered ‘the mentality to never give up until I win’ into me through this way of thought called ‘kingcraft’ ¹.
Throughout the subsequent one year, I put every single thing he taught me into practice and fully mastered that mentality when I was 20… I thought, ‘Ahh, I’ve won.’

S:
T-Twenty… Isn’t that too young???


At the age of 20, GACKT-san was convinced that he had ‘won’. I, on the other hand, skipped out on driving school so much that I had to be driven into a corner to attend

S:
The ‘mentality to never give up until I win’… What exactly did GACKT-san apply this to?

G:
Hitting on people.

S:
Huh…

G:
I decided that I would ‘call out to 50 people per day’, then went right ahead and did it.
Personally, I’m using this teaching method to teach this mentality to youngsters even now but…
Although this is an amazing training exercise, you’d get hurt a lot. Because people would keep laughing at you and keep treating you like you’re a freak.

S:
T-that’s… too terrifying…
I definitely don’t have the mental fortitude for that.

G:
But, you see, it doesn’t matter how many times you get rejected. Because ultimately, the goal is 'to call out to 50 people within the stipulated time'.
If you’re focused on clearing the mission within that time period, you won’t have time to feel hurt. You have to quickly move on to the next person.
And as you do that, the significance of 'getting rejected' will disappear with time. Because this failure will simply become 'a natural occurrence' in your journey to clearing the mission.

S:
In other words, is this a sort of psychological training to 'keep failing and grow stronger under the battering until you become numb'…?

G:
Wrong. This isn’t a question of whether someone grows tougher or not under that beating.
Failure is not about the 'result' but about 'the process you go through to get those results'. That’s why, in the first place, there’s no need to get hurt.
The purpose of this training is to help people understand this fact.

S:
No need to get hurt…

G:
As to the difference between those who achieve results and those who don’t, the answer is very simple.
'Whether you give up halfway or not'. That’s all.
For those who achieve results, no matter how many times they fail in the process, they would 'keep going until results are achieved'. These people won’t ever say the words, 'Nothing will come of this.' They will always say, 'I just haven’t seen results yet.'

S:
… Come to think of it, in our previous interview you did also say that, 'Things aren’t split into paths of either “success” or “failure”. It’s “failure”, “failure”, “failure”… “success”. The path simply continues until you succeed.'

G:
But that holds the nuance of getting through things with fighting spirit and perseverance. For people to stay strong without breaking down halfway, I think 'mental fortitude' is necessary, but not [fighting spirit or perseverance].
You just need to understand that the truth is 'failure = the process to achieving results'.
And to a certain extent, if you want to uncover this truth as soon as possible, you need to have racked up 'a certain number of mistakes' before it will happen.

Majority of the people in the world are disastrously bad at “hurdle setting”

S:
But, honestly, there are also people who get discouraged…
Do you have any tips for getting through this?

G:
Right, well… Firstly, what exactly is 'the difference between those who work hard until they achieve results and those who get discouraged halfway'. Let’s figure this out.
Think about it. When it comes to 'games', why do you think everyone keeps trying again no matter how many times they fail?

S:
Games… I wonder…

G:
The answer to this, is 'because they know the joy of reaching the goal'.

S:
The joy of reaching the goal, huh.

G:
Games are really well made in the sense that they would definitely set 'a hurdle so low that anyone can cross it' in the very first stage to teach players the 'sense of achievement when you clear a stage'.
After that, they’d raise that hurdle bit by bit, but… to the players who got this sort of 'masochistic joy' of 'breaking past hurdles to reach a goal' etched into them, the only thing they have in their sights is the goal.
That’s why, no matter how many times they fail, they will keep trying again until they clear the stage.

S:
Ah, I guess I understand that feeling.

G:
On the other hand, people who don’t know the joy that comes right after passing the hurdle will end up focusing on these immediate 'agonising' and 'bitter' feelings. And that’s why they will get discouraged.
In other words, to become 'a person who will not give up until results are achieved', you need to know 'the joy of breaking past hurdles and reaching the goal'.
You got that so far?

OK!

G:
However, unlike games, where developers exquisitely design set hurdles 'just high enough to make players work hard'… You have to set your own hurdles in life.
Majority of the people in the world are disastrously bad at this personal setting.

S:
D-disastrously, huh…

G:
Everyone suddenly sets this far-too-high hurdle for themselves and ends up frustrating themselves before they can even experience the joy of reaching a goal.
This isn’t the way. Every successful person starts out by 'becoming a person who can clear hurdles on a daily basis'.


Hurdles on a daily basis?

G:
And that’s why I started with the daily hurdle of 'calling out to 50 people per day' with all the picking up that I did too.
In the beginning, I was just barely able to meet this goal. But around my 3rd month of doing this daily, I easily managed this without any problems.
Then, I raised the hurdle to 'getting 50 people to say hello back to me per day', and after that, I further raised it to 'striking up a conversation with 50 people per day'.

S:
So, ultimately, it’s about keeping to that 'daily' thing while raising the bar.

G:
In one week, there are 7 ‘day’s. In a month, there are 30 ‘day’s. And in a year, 365 ‘day’s.
Life is a repeated routine of ‘day’s.
What’s important is how you improve the precision of spending your ‘1 day’. There is not one person who can achieve great results by neglecting this area.

S:
I see…

G:
Starting with a period of 1 month first is enough. Because the truth is, there are very few individuals who can keep doing any one thing consistently for a month.
If you improve your every ‘1 day’ like this, you can eventually increase the scale of your goals to ‘weekly goals’, and ‘monthly goals’.
When you repeat this process, by the time you become ‘a person who can clear a yearly goal’, there is no doubt that you’d have turned into ‘one of those who can achieve results’.

Until now, even I haven’t used words like ‘talent’ or ‘strategy’ [on myself]

S:
Although, there’s something I want to ask…
If you want to achieve results, not only do you have to rack up your number [of failures], you also need to put in ‘the effort to improve yourself’, right?
So, wouldn’t it be better to strategise properly before taking action…?

G:
Look…
This is going to sound rude but ‘strategise’ is a word that’s meant to be used by people of a much higher level.


He told it to me extremely directly

G:
At the very least, bluntly speaking, when it comes to people who say things like, ‘Work isn’t going well,’ and, ‘I tend to give up halfway,’ have absolutely nothing to do with ‘strategy’.
I’d even go further to say that this has absolutely nothing to do with ‘talent’ either.
People find it easy to say things like, ‘It’s because I have no talent,’ don’t they? But the fact is, ‘No, it’s because this has nothing to do with talent.’ The reason why things don’t go well is simply because ‘you’re not trying’.

S:
… I suppose it’s true that people often use ‘strategy’ and ‘talent’ as excuses to not do things.

G:
Until now, even I haven’t used words like ‘talent’ [on myself] before.
For most people, words like ‘talent’ and ‘strategy are completely unnecessary.
This might sound harsh, but it’s actually better if people thought of themselves as ‘being in a particular phase’. What they need is ‘a number of challenges and retries’. Just ‘try’.

S:
These words have a lot of weight to them when GACKT-san’s the one saying them…

G:
There will probably be people who read this article and still choose not to make a move because of reasons like ‘I don’t have the talent’ or ‘I’m working on my strategy now’ but…
Well, for people like you, things like ‘talent’ and ‘strategy’…
Don’t even start saying ‘t-’ or ‘st-’! (Lol)


I ended up laughing

G:
Don’t use talent or the lack of it as your reason to not try.
People who have done what they needed to do throughout their lives and yet could not arrive at a point that they can be satisfied with; these are the only people who are allowed to say it for the first time on their deathbeds.
That, “I didn’t have the talent for it.”

Even if you can’t achieve results now, “the ones who tried” will be the ones laughing at the end

S:
I’m sure there are those among the readers who ‘lose confidence due to the lack of results’ but…
You’re saying that there’s no need for pessimism?

G:
None at all. Because, you see, you’re on the way [to your goal], right?
Most people just stop walking out of frustration before they can even get to the actual battle itself. That’s no longer a matter of, ‘I can’t’. It’s just, ‘I won’t’.
We’re battling all our lives until we die.

S:
… I think there are a lot of people who will have been encouraged by the words you just shared with us.
Thank you so much for today. I’ll do my best to write a good article too!

G:
Yeah. I’m looking forward to it.
… Though, actually, if there's still anything else you want to ask, let’s just get through it all now. Since I have time today.

S:
What!????


So…

This time around, it will actually be a double feature!

It was early afternoon in Malta when the interview started, but thanks to GACKT-san saying, “Ask everything you want to ask now,” it was evening by the time we concluded the interview.

In the end, it turned out to be a 3-hour long interview. That was beyond extravagant.

The theme of the second half is ‘Don’t misunderstand the meaning of hard work’. It will be posted in the coming days, so stay tuned!

(Lastly. I'm really sorry that this is an article about GACKT-san, but all the photos are of the interviewer… Please forgive us, we will do our best for the second part…!)

〈Interview/Text ＝ Sano Tomoki (@mlby_sns) ／ Editing ＝ Amano Shunkichi (@amanop) ／ Interviewer Pics ＝ Hase Hidefumi (@hasehidephoto) ／ Interviewee Pics ＝ Ikeda Hiromi〉

______________________

¹ 帝王学 (teiougaku) is what they call the education that teaches a person how to govern as a monarch.

Source: r25.jp 

Translation: Yoshi @ GACKT ITALIA Team

Translation © GACKT ITALIA

by SaiKaiAngel

[PHOTO] TAKESHI TSURUNO INSTAGRAM - JAN 09 2021

Mon Ryo Instagram update, new photo with GACKT. Translation below:

Mr. GACKT is in my car.

#GACKT!
Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to visit me!
I'll train my mental strength to be able to tandem with Mr. GACKT😊.

#RidingTanoshi YouTube
#Gakuchan YouTube

Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team

Translation © GACKT ITALIA

by Erika

[PHOTO] TSUGUNI TWITTER - JAN 04 2021

Tsuguni Twitter new photo with GACKT. Translation below:

I had a toast with apricot wine together with my brother GACKT to congratulate him on passing the tax accountant exam, and then he cut me a cigar that he used to smoke. I laughed a lot

Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team

Translation © GACKT ITALIA

by Erika