Italiano
GACKT OFFICIAL BLOG: The aesthetic of being【particular about things】and【ephemerality】
GACKT Official blog update. Translation below:
Well,
it resonates heavily in the title but
while I wrote this, I figured that this was what it ended up as
so it felt appropriate to me to use this as a title..
Firstly,
I'd like to say that
【A man is one precisely because he sticks to his particularities】.
A man will always be a child.
That's why,
we have the habit of doing what we like to the extreme.
This may also be because of the immaturity found in men.
Often, children are able to get absorbed in doing one thing.
Their ability to focus is also impressive.
When they enter their own world, they won't be able to come out of it.
Voices around them wouldn't reach them either.
They're even able to play in their own minds
while drawing on their imagination to it's fullest.
However,
as we grow older, we gradually lose the ability to do that.
Maybe it has something to do with the brain stem but
in the past, when I looked into this,
I found that this the impact of the growth process on the brain stem
and this ability to focus are largely linked but who knows how true it is...
Right,
I really hate men who are unable to be【particular about things】.
Basically,
men who aren't particular about anything
are most likely unable to work.
If I were to make it very clear, it makes me disgusted but
in the end, this is my opinion,
and you don't have to take my explanation as truth.
However,
thus far,
I've been through many experiences that led me to this conclusion.
This is one of the reasons.
Most of the people who don't have opinions about things
don't really do things thoroughly.
Somewhat shallow,
just by possessing somewhat general knowledge,
at a glance, they appear to join in any and every conversation
but often, when you try talking to them, you'll find that they only have extremely shallow knowledge and only have secondhand information.
And many times, their information is wrong or misunderstood.
Because they're not particular about things to begin with,
they don't care at all, about whether that information is correct or not.
And,
even when it gets pointed out to them by others,
they can only recognise it at the level of
「Hmmm, I see...」.
This isn't to say that people who are particular about things are correct.
Particular people are those who have the habit of delving into things deeply and thoroughly,
and if their obsession over things is strong too,
the amount of time spent on it will be long to start with,
and when that happens,
when they look back on the lives they've lived,
there are many cases when they find
that their memories are closely linked to their particularities.
Through their own opinions,
they'll even be able to talk about a number of their own dramas.
And,
between people with particularities and those who don't,
the way they spend money with regards to that is fundamentally different.
People with particularities
will be forced to spend in no small way.
And while those who don't have particularities will ridicule them,
saying things like "What's the point of spending that much money?"
they will still end up going through with their particularities.
It can also be said that one of the factors that is tied to that
skewed attachment is a deep love for it.
「Since I've already spent this much time and money on it...」
That thought definitely exists somewhere in their heart.
This will also become pride later on.
Sometimes, there are even those who possess a warped sense of pride.
Others would say that
『That guy is such a maniac, it's disgusting...』.
Now, they can even be described as Otaku,
and they've been established as a cultural status but
until a mere decade ago, it was simply a discriminatory term.
Of course, there are quite a few strongly opinionated people
who sometimes look like they're twisted.
However,
it's extremely interesting when you talk to these people.
For example,
even if the other party has no interest,
people who are particular about things
are rather skilled at
bringing people into their own world.
That is
not that they intended to pull people in but
when you listen to their enthusiastic love-filled spiel,
they have a childlike likeability
that makes you think, 『This is a great person...』.
In the past,
when I went to Roppongi with Yamada Takayuki for a meal together,
there was an interesting story about the restaurant master's special kitchen knives.
No,
instead of the story, it was the master who was interesting.
When he opens his mouth, he talks about cooking.
About tools.
About the market.
He gets absorbed in talking without end.
Because he's particular about the taste,
he's also particular about the ingredients.
Then he'll be particular about the freshness,
and naturally, by insistence, he's also particular about his tools.
One by one, he gently touches and praises
each of the kitchen knives lined up like they were his girlfriend.
「Well this one,
this ductility is over the top!」
As he held the kitchen knife and he spoke, he looked like a joyful child.
I can understand this feeling very well.
I really love knives too.
Although I prefer smaller knives,
I also have an exceptional number of knives at home.
In other words, I guess you can say that's like a collector's level.
Even after moving overseas, this hobby hasn't changed.
Most of the time, when I say that I like knives in a public space,
I'll be seen as a weird person so this topic is rarely brought up but
in any case, knives are profound...
While possessing a ephemeral virtue,
beauty and danger also coexists in it, and I absolutely love that balance.
Whenever I look at knives, I think, how ephemerally beautiful...
In the past,
I'd have a knife in one hand
and stare at it while drinking alone in my room.
I remember when the band mates I was living with came home
and saw me staring at the knife while sitting in the dark, they said
『Gaku, what the hell are you doing!!!』
and were completely put-off.
I was probably grinning quite a lot,
but I guess I looked like a rather dangerous guy...
It's the same when it comes to wine.
In the past, I had around 1500 bottles of wine stocked at home.
These days, it's become a lot less but
even so, my favourite wines are still crowdedly kept together.
This is also ephemeral.
No matter how wonderful the wine,
there's no point in just displaying it.
Wine is meant to be drunk.
However,
once you open it,
it has to be drunk within a limited period of time too.
After removing the cork, check the flavour,
and while confirming it's splendour,
enjoy the taste that changes bit by bit as time passes.
If it's a wine from 20 years ago,
the moment you open it, it's as if
suddenly it starts to run to regain those 20 years
In the past
there was a Mel Gibson film.
What was the title...
His wife gets into an accident and he freezes his own body,
and after sleeping for a few decades,
he was awoken by a chance accident,
and then,
when I watched the main character rapidly ageing in the middle of the movie,
I thought, 『This is the ephemerality of wine!』,
building on the true nature of wine.
Wine is something that struggles desperately as it rapidly takes back
the amount of time it was dormant for within a short period of time,
That is what ephemerality is.
Mmm... Ephemeral...
And,
speaking of what I'm particular with recently, it's this.
Texas Hold'em poker.
In the past, it became a hot topic on AbemaTV too but
when I started liking poker,
I studied like hell about how I can get better at it,
and how to gain the ability to read the opponent's cards.
Even now, I'm still learning.
As a result of that,
I have now become friend
with many of the world's top professionals,
and I'm also grateful that there exists something
that I can be this hooked on even at this age.
Poker has led me to
many encounters around the world.
Of course,
not only am I particular about playing poker,
I'm also particular about the tools.
I had the table custom made,
and also modified it so that you can see your cards with LED.
This table is beautiful too.
Poker's ephemerality comes when you least expect it.
For poker hands, the strongest one
is called the royal straight flush,
and it requires all the suits of the cards to be the same,
as well as the cards 10, J, Q, K, and A to be present.
52C5 = 2598960
This formula is the number of patterns
that can be formed at random from a deck of 52 cards.
The probability of this royal straight flush appearing
is a only roughly one in 650000.
One game takes between 3 to 6 minutes to play.
Assuming that you can play 20 games in an hour,
even if you play for 10 hours straight, that'll only be 200 games.
Even if you play everyday, it'll take 3250 days.
In other words, for this hand to appear,
even if you play everyday, continuously,
it'll only appear once in 10 years.
This is the probability if you play for 10 hours everyday.
Of course,
I don't play everyday.
So if you take that into consideration,
I suppose the probability is that it'll appear once in 40 to 60 years.
Coming this far,
it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that a royal flush
is almost like Haley's comet to normal players.
However,
in my 6 years of play, I've already
seen a royal flush appear before my eyes 4 times.
Once was for myself.
Once was TAKUMI's.
And the other day,
when practising at home,
one of my friends got it.
Even for TAKUMI's,
it appeared when it was just the two of us practising.
I remember an intense excitement when it appeared but,
『Why here...
Why at such a meaningless timing...
did you appear?』
I thought,
and as tears like Amuro Ray's welled up,
I could not help but remember that moment.
This is the ephemerality of poker...
【It doesn't appear when you want it to】
Too transient...
As to what I wanted to say,
it is that ephemerality will definitely exist together with
whatever you've done thoroughly,
and whatever you're particular about.
In other words,
Men often have their hearts moved
by 【ephemeral】 things.
Girls who are reading this,
recommend something that is ephemeral to your boyfriend
or subjects of【ephemerality】 to him.
Because this 【ephemerality】
is the weakest part of a man!
And,
to you who are reading this, when you get your hands on that【ephemerality】,
no matter what kind of man he is,
he will definitely fall head over heels in love.
They have no choice but to be infatuated.
Work hard.
Women who are dressed in ephemerality.
Men who are in love with ephemerality.
Mm, ephemeral...
Aren't men sad.
Source: GACKT Blog
Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team
Translation © GACKT ITALIA
GACKT OFFICIAL BLOG: Men love cars after all
GACKT Official blog update. Translation below:
I heard talk that men these days have no interest in cars.
If that's true then it's the end of the world.
I don't think so.
I really think, from the bottom of my heart,
that it's not possible for men to lose interest in cars.
It's like, are you gay?
It just simply,
could be that they don't know how to enjoy it
or are only using it as a means of transport,
and it's not like everyone naturally knows how to appreciate cars,
so maybe they've never been taught how to
or just they've never experienced it.
There are many moments where
you can be happy by just riding in it.
When remembering those joys, you'll think,
「Cars sure are great...」
and your interest will start to build bit by bit,
and then you'll start looking things up,
with the goal of riding this car or that car.
Then, while coming up with your ideal car,
the car you're aiming for,
and a realistic car,
it will lead to a purchase.
You'll also want to work harder at work because there's such an expensive toy for men.
Of course,
it's not cheap.
It costs money to maintain it too.
And that's why,
you'll want to do better,
and to save up even more money,
you'll find your skills at work going up too.
Once again, on this day, I went around looking at a variety of properties in my own car.
While doing that,
I happened to discover a man who stopped his car
in the middle of a road near one of the properties to take photos.
He shifts a little and took a photo.
He moves a little and took a photo.
Then,
while looking at the photos that he had taken,
he nodded in approval.
I'm pretty sure
that he had finally received the new car that he just bought.
The reason why he stopped the car with it's front wheels subtly turned
is so that his car looks cool.
「I understand those feelings!!」
I spontaneously clapped.
And after I went to look at the property, around 30 minutes had passed,
and I went by that road again but he was still at it.
「You're still doing it〜〜!!!」
I instinctively exclaimed.
I know that feeling so well it hurts.
This is someone who truly loves cars.
Actually, I, too,
have bought a Lamborghini again.
And this time, it's not only about the exterior,
but I've had it taken apart into pieces to change everything into what I like,
from inside out,
and I've been planning the interior modifications since half a year ago.
I bought it just before summer so
it's already been in the workshop
for over half a year.
This is the original colour but
everything's been removed for an original paint.
And I had everything, including the wiring, redone,
then got the rebuilding started.
I suppose you don't really get the chance
to see a Lamborghini in pieces but
a stripped down Lamborghini is cool after all.
This car is made up of all the latest technology available this year.
And,
putting the stripped-down Lamborghini outdoors makes it pretty cute.
I can't stand it...
Somehow, just looking at it makes me embarrassed.
To give it a two-toned colour, they covered up certain areas
and started painting it.
Just this job takes a hell lot of time.
Of course,
modifying it also takes a lot of time but
for a colour that the dealer doesn't produce,
I decided to get it painted to my preferences.
Well then,
how beautiful will this one and only such Lamborghini
in the world be reborn as after this...
The continuation of this story will come next time...
Look forward to it.
Source: GACKT Blog
Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team
Translation © GACKT ITALIA
GACKT OFFICIAL BLOG: From being 【successful in work】 to 【successful in happiness】
GACKT Official blog update. Translation below:
I woke up in the afternoon,
and had a short tea time before training.
Today's weather is good.
During this past week,
lots of friends from Japan came to visit me in KL.
Day after day,
while talking to each of my friends,
I once again realised a lot of precious things, making it a profound week.
A friend, who's like a younger brother to me, asked me this.
『What are big bro Gaku's reminiscences?』
I occasionally get asked this question,
but I always answer like this.
『I didn't have any so
to create some, I moved to KL』
And to this answer,
they'll definitely ask again.
『But haven't you been able to do a lot of things
that no one else has been able to experience?
Are those not reminiscences to you?』
Indeed, thus far, I've gone through a lot of
both good and bad things
among the experiences that people don't normally get.
But,
these are 『experiences』
and are a little different from 『reminiscences』.
One of my friends said this.
『In the past,
when I was talking to a friend about success, this came up.
There are many people around us who are 【successful】
but there aren't many who are 【successfully happy】.
There's a big difference between the two』
Indeed, there are many people who are successful at work
but there aren't many who are successful with happiness.
If you ask me whether being successful at work means that you won't be successful in happiness,
I'd say that that's not entirely true.
You'll gain a certain sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.
Of course,
this is also important.
However,
this is something that many businessmen and leaders experience,
where they define one goal for themselves and set off.
But
most of the friends who started off together with them
don't manager to stay until they arrive at their goal.
Many successful people experience this.
If,
their friends who started with them remain until the very end
when they achieve success,
this will become one of their successes in happiness.
And,
even if there was only one person left at the end,
that becomes a truly rare and happy event.
In most cases,
the holes that were left empty by the friends who left half way
will be filled up by finding and gathering capable individuals.
In other words,
they outsource in order to achieve success.
By doing that, they become desperate to reach the end goal,
and start to build a team of capable people.
For example,
it's similar to to setting off with your friends with the aim to reach the mountain peak.
Halfway, one after another, most will stop moving,
be it because they can't see the peak that the leader visualises,
or because they've been crushed by the anxiety of being unable to see something,
or because they feel that it's too tough even if they can see it,
they'll end up stopping.
Of course,
this also includes friends who you want to bring along even if you have to carry them.
However,
the number of people you can carry or hold onto
is only one at best,
and that burden can be immeasurable.
You can't drag people and walk.
As expected, if you let go, they'll end up stopping.
It really is tough
to continue walking to the peak with your own will.
When you arrive at the peak that you've set out for,
you'll gain a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.
That is truly immeasurable.
However,
at the same time, you'll be hit by a strong sense of loss.
To the extent where you'll cry.
While looking back at this,
you'll start to get unknowingly get used to solitude.
Then gather those who have succeeded at 【work】,
and next, set the next peak to scale
to succeed at 【happiness】.
This time, it's to get to the top with everyone.
However,
that's a mountain that's infinitely higher than any other thus far.
The number one basis of 【success】
in the world, is generally 【money】,
and also the acquisition of a certain kind of 【status】.
This is easy to understand.
It's true that without money, it' gets tough.
If you have no money, troubles, regardless of the type, will occur.
There will also be numerous trivial conflicts.
However,
notice that you'll also not necessarily become happy
just by getting money.
Although the definition of being 【successful in happiness】 is unclear,
it is tied to having enough money so that
you will not be bothered by problems that arise from a shortage of money.
This amount changes depending on the person.
If I were to put it in an extreme way, it means that you'll be fine as long as you have it.
Though you don't necessarily need that much.
Next, time.
This 'time' does not mean that it's good enough to just have time.
It's difficult to explain this though.
I suppose you can say that it's 'time' that you can feel satisfied with.
Then,
friends who can enjoy these two with you and achieve something with.
With those 3 things, I suppose you can say that that's the start of being 【successful in happiness】.
The size of the triangle for these 3 differs for each person.
The important point is not the size of it,
instead, I think, the most important thing is
in having that triangle
and how many people you can share that with.
While having coffee,
I orgainised and put these thoughts together
as I thought about yesterday's conversation.
And,
the times that I spent with those friends
became my first 【reminiscence】.
You should recognise that these things,
like the people who become your family,
and those who become your friends, are very rare things,
and you should be proud of being truly happy.
It is that wonderful a thing.
First, is to be able to consider all things as interesting.
Then, you take action.
Don't forget to be thankful.
And grow
to not want to desperately do everything yourself.
A variety of parts are required.
Life is profound.
Alright then,
shall you run again?
Source: GACKT Blog
Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team
Translation © GACKT ITALIA
GACKT OFFICIAL BLOG: It's not a big announcement, but...
GACKT Official blog update. Translation below:
I started training in the morning today.
After finishing that, I took a shower.
It's gradual, but my body has grown bigger.
I can feel the accumulated effects of what I do daily taking shape.
Results don't show immediately but being able to actually feel it build up
makes me happiest.
Instead,
if can understand that you'll get results for anything and everything quickly,
then you won't struggle no matter what it is.
It takes time for results to materialise.
And that's why,
it's difficult to continuously do one thing over and over.
Accumulation is part of life.
If you continue at it, results will definitely show.
Of course,
what's even more important is to always keep a clear image
of yourself with that realised results in your mind.
That's the most important of all.
And along with that, the ability to take action and to keep at it.
Alright,
today, I came to the federal territory called Putrajaya
to have a meeting with Malaysia government bodies.
When I was 20,
I could've never imagined myself doing something like this but
after I passed the age of 30, I was able to visualise a variety of things.
When a project gets moving,
the number and type of people involved will differ based on the scale of it,
and that happens a lot now.
Especially so,
since I started living overseas, I've made all kinds of personal connections all over the world,
and one by one, they've progressed forward
to realise what I've drawn up.
I can't reveal what it's about yet but
I'm happy that I have become capable of doing something for people
outside of music like this
and can feel the growth in myself.
Presenting all kinds of things in English
was honestly painful at the start but I've gradually gotten used to it.
Of course,
even now, there are many times when I get stuck with words.
Often,
there are people who say things like this.
『If I gain the ability to speak this language,
I'll do all kinds of things too』
If you gain the ability,
you'll take action...??
At this rate, no matter long much time has passed,
you won't take any action in your entire life, would you.
Whenever something's lacking, you can just compensate for it each time anyway,
and if you make a move, you'll be able to realise what you're lacking in.
That chagrin is linked to a stronger sense that you need to study more again.
It's alright to stumble a little.
It's alright to fail a little.
The first thing to do is to stand in the batter's box.
Then swing the bat with all you have
in a bid to just hit the ball in any case.
After that, think about why you couldn't hit it,
then derive what you need to do to become capable of hitting it,
and then practice repeatedly.
Then,
try it out for real, and find out what your current abilities are.
The vexation will add to the speed of your growth.
People grow by doing that.
If you can't even feel frustration, your growth stops.
Anyway, there's no way other than to do it.
I feel like I've been running thus far with those feelings.
The topic is turning to music though...
This time,
to work on the world stage,
I've decided to sign a new contract overseas.
It's not a big announcement to me but
more people than I expected started contacting me.
『I read the article! Do your best! I'm rooting for you!!』
I received lots of messages like these.
I'm really thankful for it.
Of course,
I was indeed able to make lots of connections by living overseas,
and not only in music and acting, but even business-wise, it's all developing quite a lot.
However,
I'm a musician after all,
and I'm fiercely proud of being an expressionist,
also, the intention of "giving someone the push they need..."
has not changed since I first thought of it when I was 20.
I think the same way when I'm working on other businesses as well.
Be it music, or acting,
or other business developments,
I'll do what I can do.
And if that can be tied to giving someone encouragement...
That's what I think.
I chatted with my friends about those topics while having dinner.
『Because I'll support big bro!』
There are juniors who say that to me too.
I'm really thankful.
I'm a fortunate person.
After I got home,
I took another look at the
rather late birthday present
that my friends gave me over dinner.
Tomorrow, I'll put on this watch
and head out.
Alright, I'll work hard!
Source: GACKT Blog
Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team
Translation © GACKT ITALIA
GACKT OFFICIAL BLOG: Becoming an adult＝becoming used to compromising
GACKT Official blog update. Translation below:
Today, I started training from noon.
During these few days, I've been studying English from scratch again in the morning.
I thought that I've made quite a bit of progress but
there are still far too many areas that I'm not good enough at.
When it comes to studying, no matter how much you do it, you will never be satisfied.
No matter how much you study, there will be lots of words that you'll forget,
and there are also many things that you can't recall.る。
I thought I got a lot better but
I suppose I should first get to a level that I can feel satisfied about.
At the very least, I should get to that level within two years.
I went up to the lobby and found a heavy squall.
Squalls are nice.
It washes and refreshes a tired spirit.
While staring at the sudden shower from the sky like this,
I was finally able to spend time comfortably.
I don't know if I was able to make space in my heart but
in the past, I was completely unable to do so.
I think that people who can calmly pass the time without any resistance
should be proud of having such a wonderful talent.
I think now,
what the modern society lacks is
is the space in their hearts to enjoy emotions.
Until awhile back,
it feels like there were many people who were naturally able to do this but
as convenience increases,
the modern man has become used to easily getting or
receiving anything they want,
that they are now missing the most human emotion of freedom.
Similarly, I could not do this at all.
After a time, I couldn't do it.
I became completely unable to simply
stare at the natural scenery, that only exists in that moment
and will never be replicated again,
for an hour or two and just enjoy the feeling.
Even the longest I could do it for was around 5 to 10 minutes,
and even if I could make myself say 『How beautiful』,
it simply keeps sending the information that it's beautiful to my brain,
and after a few minutes, it'll simply use the words 【tired of it】
and I'll end up moving to the next place.
Ever since I came to KL, I'm finally, gradually,
becoming able to do what I could in the past.
I was also shocked at how incapable I was at doing something I originally could,
and maybe I took it lightly because of how easily I could do it,
that unexpectedly,
it's taking time
for me to get back that freedom in my heart.
In the evening, I finished up some work and then headed out to eat.
The sunset is beautiful.
Next time, I'll look for a place where the sunset looks beautiful.
Tonight, I visited the newly relocated 【Marble8】.
The food here is quite delicious,
and the services is rather good,
at the same time, I'm always moved by the staff's attention to detail.
Such a high standard of service
is all built on strict education.
Moreover, if the store does not have a well-organised system
I don't think this is possible.
In this group,
the other affiliated establishments that they have
similarly have the same standards, and on the whole are of a high level.
Even when I spoke a little to Marini, the owner,
his gentlemanliness and unique aura
also suggests something like this.
There's also quite an abundance of wine.
It is well understood that they're particular down to the smallest details.
It might be good to empty a bottle of wine
if you come here with at least 3 people.
As it's located on the 56th floor,
both the scenery and the atmosphere is great.
Honestly,
I don't really have much interest in the night scenery that you see from buildings but
the place's relaxed ambience is really wonderful.
More than half of the customers are Europeans too.
I noticed Chinese customers as well but
there's also plenty of whiskey.
I suppose I should really be proud
that Japan's famous whiskey is being displayed like that.
Even for Japan, there're still lot of wonderful culture
and world leading products.
I'm suddenly changing the topic but
the new bed I bought, I wonder if I should say that in terms of comfort of sleeping,
or comfort of being in, or comfort for sitting in...
No matter which it is, this bed isn't suitable.
It's not that I hate beds that are elevated but
whatever it is, maybe I should say it's the discomfort of the elevation,
but my bed seems to float in the centre of my room.
I can't get myself to like it because of that feeling of bad balance.
Maybe I have to buy another bed...
Hmm,
I wanted to use it immediately too,
and I decided to not go looking for a bed I liked
and picked one that could be delivered the fastest but...
As expected,
even if it takes time to get
something that I like the most, it's important to do that.
I can't compromise.
In the end, it ultimately costs money too.
In the end, being unable to satisfy my heart
is the biggest problem.
I should go and buy
something that I like after all.
That's good.
When I saw a spirited Bentley
that was parked outside the shop, I thought the same thing too.
Making it such a bright colour
will make it difficult to sell even if you wanted to.
When buying cars, there are many people
who think about the selling at the same time
and in other words, choose safe colours.
They choose colours that are easy to sell.
There are many people like that around me too.
This won't do.
When you're already thinking about selling and changing it when you're driving it,
I feel that the feeling of pure enjoyment has already been halved.
As you grow older,
if you think about the unnecessary too much you'll find yourself losing a lot of precious things,
and even though you should originally be living life your way more,
you'll end up living with compromises.
【Becoming an adult＝becoming used to compromising】
As this accumulates, you'll end up becoming unable to see
exactly what is causing this discomfort in you.
If you already no longer feel what I've spoken about
then I suppose your senses are already dulled.
This isn't about which is good or bad,
instead it's about how you be yourself,
and for me, I want to live by pursuing what I feel strongly about after all.
I want to live with love for each respective one.
Alright,
I guess I'll go and buy a bed again tomorrow.
I'll do that.
Source: GACKT Blog
Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team
Translation © GACKT ITALIA