Italiano
GACKT OFFICIAL BLOG: In prayer
GACKT Official blog update. Translation below:
The morning of a day that will be hotter than expected came.
It was so bright that
without sunglasses, I couldn't open my eyes.
I did my training and took a shower.
My body hurts all over.
It's good evidence that I've increased the load quite a bit.
I'll bear with it for a little longer.
I grew a size bigger.
I can build a body that feels a little better.
Preparations are being adjusted bit by bit.
In the afternoon, I searched for a house that a friend wanted
and went around to view a few properties.
There are quite a few nice properties in this area.
There were a few houses that I didn't like as well but
I found a few that made me think that
those were the types that women like.
I prefer more simple types though.
It's not that big in size but
I found a house where the whole inner courtyard was turned into a pool.
I was surprised that it was pretty nice.
On the whole, it's small, but I rarely find such an atmosphere.
This is the one that I would come to like the most among those I've found recently.
I think my friend will definitely be pleased.
While viewing the different houses, a few ideas came up.
『If it was this design it would be better though...
If this was here it would be better...
It'll be more user friendly if it was like this...』
A variety of these came up.
Home viewing is really fun.
It's one of my favourite hobbies.
After finishing up, I had tea then headed out for dinner.
It'll be the first time in awhile that I'm having dinner with my friend,
and while discussing about a new business plan,
I listened to each of his ideas.
Positive friends are a truly precious existence.
Now, the number of friends who teach me about things
that I don't know about have increased quite significantly.
The existence of people who are able to openly listen to others' advice like this,
and grow close while teaching me about all kinds of things is great.
Originally, I'm stubborn and I don't
listen to others' advice at all.
I don't have a listening ear at all.
At 19, I met someone and my perspective on life,
and my way of thinking about my way of life took a 180 degree turn.
Like how a dry sponge absorbs water,
I absorbed all kinds of things.
This was the starting point of my life.
Then,
the next starting point in my life
was when I met Ogata Ken-san on a historical drama.
I was worn out back then.
I was also about to be crushed by all kinds of pressure.
I also had a lot of antis and enemies.
In that situation, the strict teachings that he gave me
and his kind gaze gave me a lot of relief and self confidence.
From the bottom of my heart, I thought, I want to do my best for this man.
The present version of me exists
because of that meeting.
It's already been quite awhile since he passed but
to me, it still seems like something that happened only recently.
I pay my respects to this father of mine.
I'll drink today
while slowly recalling all kinds of things today.
I hope these thoughts reach you.
Source: GACKT Blog
Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team
Translation © GACKT ITALIA
GACKT OFFICIAL BLOG: The importance of approach
GACKT Official blog update. Translation below:
The squall is beautiful.
When I went up to the lobby halfway through training,
rain suddenly started pouring.
I think it'll probably stop in 30 minutes.
I finished my training and made myself comfortable in the lobby.
While I watched the rain, I enjoyed tea time in the afternoon.
I realised it's the first time that I met Angie in quite awhile.
Even so, she's cute.
Why is she so cute...
Maybe she seems this cute because she can't speak.
If
dogs can speak,
I wonder if they'll still be just as cute...
I spent the afternoon relaxing
while thinking about silly things like these.
I had to reorganise my documents a little
and in around 3 hours, I finished my work.
As evening came,
I went to the new Isetan area in KL for observation.
I want to find out how many people go in on a holiday,
how well their approach works, and other things like that.
A few Japanese companies
have received such questions too so I decided to have a look.
When I actually stepped in, I was honestly shocked.
Not only is Isetan's target audience
vastly different from the customer base that enters the building that they're in,
their approach is a complete failure too.
In addition to their approach being old fashioned,
I have absolutely no idea
what customer group they're trying to target.
I think it's already been open for a year...
Despite that it's a holiday,
it's a problem that there is so few people here
but basically, there's no cohesion among the products they're dealing in.
If their goal is to aim for a high-end customer base,
then they've picked the wrong building to begin with.
Customers like those are not here in the first place.
Both the price of their goods,
and the method of approach
don't fit the customer base at all.
If you get your target audience wrong,
that will pretty much be aligned with the location conditions.
It's directly connected to the monorail upstairs.
They've even built it in such a way that you'll directly enter the building from the station.
However,
what they've gotten completely wrong is
the kind of customer
that uses the monorail.
If they wanted to capture these people,.
or if these people were their subject audience,
then you might as well say that, in the first place,
the prices of the goods are completely mismatched.
I found the entrance into the corner where Gundam goods were sold but...
Exactly whose department is this.
You could say that I am completely unable to comprehend
what it is they want to sell
and what they're trying to set up.
Only a life-sized Gundam stood before me.
Instead,
it ends up looking cheap...
At the cafe that is directly connected to the monorail.
I watched for an hour and a half
to see how many customers enter but
despite that it's in the evening,
there was almost no one walking into Isetan from here.
For crying out loud...
For this cafe too,
when I came in and when I left,
there were no customers at all...
I was appalled, to think that you'll stop attracting customers
to this extent just by getting the approach wrong.
I suppose there will be a need to start over from zero
if they want to fix this but that will be a pretty difficult task.
In the first place, I don't think this flow will change
just by playing around with the inside of the shop a little...
It's difficult to find a building with this few people
in a central area where lots of people gather.
The idea that 【this is saleable because it's a product from Japan】
is something from more than 10 years ago, and if you still believe in that even now,
that's simply nothing more than a Japanese's extravagance.
The streets are instead overflowing with products from Korea and other countries.
Now, finding a Japanese product itself
is really rare.
There are still many wonderful things in Japan but
that will not come through at all
unless you choose the person you want to execute your approach at.
For young people,
instead of bringing Japanese products to them,
it's most important to bring more of the culture to them first
and if you just bring products,
it will simply look like you're displaying obsolete products.
I was contacted by a staff, from another building's Dolce & Gabbana,
telling me that it was going to be closed,
so I went to visit.
It seems that when their contract is up, they too
will be moving within the same building belonging to the building owner
but because they could not get the location,
they will have to be closed for awhile
as they look for a good place.
This D&G is being run quite well but
nevertheless, they carry out their approach very thoroughly.
To them, I suppose it's a problem that they have to be very careful with.
At a glance, it makes me think that it's a waste but
looking at the case this time around, I once again recognise
that being particular about that is the most important.
Alright then,
how will Isetan get revived from this flow.
Hmm,
they'll probably need quite a lot of spirit to break out of this situation.
I suppose this can be said for any business but
it's really frightening what happens if you get the approach wrong...
It's often said that perfection is 90 percent preparation.
If you get it wrong here, something irrevocable can really happen.
Hmm,
what on earth will happen...
Source: GACKT Blog
Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team
Translation © GACKT ITALIA
GACKT OFFICIAL BLOG: Arrived safely in KL
GACKT Official blog update. Translation below:
Since I'm departing from Narita this time,
I stayed a night at Narita before my flight to KL though.
Hmm,
it's much easier in the afternoon than at night.
Taking a departing flight from Haneda at night is quite convenient.
That said,
while doing my work, I arrived at KL in the blink of an eye.
Since I didn't have baggage anyway, I thought I could quickly head home but
the immigration in the evening is even more crowded than I expected.
Even the priority line was crowded.
It feels like if I used the normal lane, it would even take up to an hour and a half.
There were especially many Japanese today.
Japanese were lined up both in front of and behind me.
Hmm,
night flights are definitely easier after all.
I'll stop flying in the day.
Alright then,
this is one of those things that I would say is unique to KL but
for some reason, the coffee is delicious.
Maybe it's because of influences from English culture,
I can't be sure about that but in any case, it's of high quality.
There are exceptionally many cafes too.
After taking a break in the airport's cafe,
I decided to go home and got into the car.
About 3 minutes after leaving,
I realised that
again, I forgot about my clutch bag and left it on the cart.
Really, no matter how many times I do it, I still forget.
This time,
maybe because I'm carrying both my clutch bag and backpack,
that I completely forgot about one side.
I rushed back to the airport but
because of a traffic jam, I couldn't get back quickly.
No matter which country you leave something behind in, once this much time has passed,
it's not unusual to find that it's gone.
About 40 minutes passed after U-turning,
and I finally arrived back at the area I was at earlier.
Luckily,
my bag was left where it was.
There's no other way to describe this other than to say that I'm lucky.
Even so, I'm stunned at my idiocy.
Mentally worn out, I felt tired in the car.
Maybe my stay in Japan was too hectic,
or maybe I got mentally exhausted from that bag incident,
but I was overwhelmed by fatigue.
This time, I was in Japan for a few days just for the press conference
of the new brand 【Margaret Nocturne】and the Nico Nico Live broadcast but
during my stay, I was busy with a variety of other smaller bits of work as well.
I noticed something upon coming back here.
The temperature here is warm but for some reason, it feels a little chilly.
Maybe it's a slight cold.
Or maybe it was cold in the plane...
I'll return to health through training.
My body is dull too.
I have to work hard.
Alright then,
I'm going to head out to eat.
Source: GACKT Blog
Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team
Translation © GACKT ITALIA
GACKT OFFICIAL BLOG: 【Margaret Nocturne】starts!
GACKT Official blog update. Translation below:
This time
I came back to Japan for a press conference.
The project that was planned around a year ago
can finally be shown.
Upon reaching back to Japan,
I quickly did my training.
The sensation of my abs that was trained from the hell ball has pretty much been regained too.
My body has become bigger.
I entered the venue before noon.
Immediately we started rehearsals.
We did a dress rehearsal, grasped the overall flow,
then moved on to getting make up done.
While doing that,
I had meetings for other projects at the same time.
No matter what kind of work it is, progress in talks is enjoyable.
Having all my projects progressing smoothly
makes me happiest.
After getting my make up and hair done,
I went out and checked the models' make up.
The make up and hair image of the models
didn't reach my expectations,
so while redoing that, I explained the image to them.
I made a few orders about how the models wear the products
but it feels like I'm used to that after all.
We were busy until it was almost time but
the actual thing started pretty well.
Well, even so.
When I stood side by side with the models and was talking,
I kept thinking about this but,
their faces are just so small that it's honestly screwed up.
They don't look human.
I'm definitely not on the bigger side but,
those two standing next to me, especially, are unusually small,
to the point that I wondered if a brain is really in there.
The one next to me had the smallest face and head,
and it's so small that it's like my my palm can hide her face.
This is really screwed up.
It's to the point where I think that even mannequins
rarely have such proportions.
Even though we're all humans, can they really be this different? I thought, it makes me want to laugh.
Anyway,
the press conference went well,
and the moment pre-orders were available, there were a flood of orders,
and that's really happy news.
I'm thinking of creating even more intense dresses
than those of this time in future.
I hope you'll look forward to it.
Because I'm thinking of wonderful things,
like making the city overflow with women in casual dresses.
There will be nothing that makes me happier than
if this can be of even a little assistance
to make Japan's night streets gorgeous.
To make women look more beautiful.
I'll make good things.
No, it's great that I got this chance.
Alright then,
let's prepare to go back to KL.
Source: GACKT Blog
Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team
Translation © GACKT ITALIA
GACKT OFFICIAL BLOG: Cool men use GATSBY
GACKT Official blog update. Translation below:
Today, TAKUMI came over from Japan for this one day.
My friends' wedding is being held today.
They were friends who got to know each other 5 years ago when they came to KL
and have been going out together nicely for a long time
and now they're getting married.
It's a happy story.
Since it was only starting in the night,
I spent the afternoon relaxing and having tea.
We talked about work while having cocktails
at the poolside until the evening.
I started getting ready an hour before leaving.
Since it's rare that I have to set my hair myself,
at such times, I get pretty into it.
During my band era,
we normally did our own makeup and hair styling so
I know the ropes but
if I don't normally do it, I'll naturally lose touch of it after all.
I styled a sharp all back and headed out.
Upon arriving at the venue,
I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of people.
There aren't many weddings where this many people are gathered.
The cocktail party starts.
This lasted for 2 hours.
I exchanged greetings with a variety of people but
more and more people keep coming down from the escalator.
Just how many people will this swell to...
I took a quick peek at the list
and it was overflowing with people from the royal family
and high ranking Malaysian officials.
There were also quite a lot of foreign guests.
Even so, the jumble of races is interesting.
It was delayed by over an hour and a half.
I started to get a little sick from the people
so I took a break at the hotel's poolside.
When we heard that the ceremony was starting, we moved to the hall but
I was overwhelmed by the scale of the hall
Weddings overseas are really flashy.
Finally,
the bride and groom, who are my close friends, arrived and
the noise in the hall was staggering.
The music played, the doors opened, and despite that we inside the hall,
I could see that they came riding in a carriage.
The performance was so flashy that it blows me away.
More than anything, the two of them looked blissful
as they slowly walked in to the live music.
Even so...
Thus far, I've been to quite a number
of large scale weddings in Japan too though.
But until now, I've never seen another wedding
as big and as flashy as this.
In front, they had a curved LED screening, the type that would be used for concerts,
and at the back, there were two huge LED screens set up.
Is this a concert!!
It's like Makuhari.
With how big its' scale is,
the direction of the production was impressive,
and with the video that was streaming in the venue and such,
I kept calculating how much time it took
behind the scenes to get all of this done.
There are more than 1200 people gathered at this time's wedding.
And there's more to add.
In just this month alone, they've done 3 other
weddings of this scale.
So in other words.
Tonight, it'll be the 4th wedding.
I wonder just what the total number of guests is.
I have absolutely no idea.
I spoke to the Malaysian sitting next to me and
apparently they've held a wedding 7 times.
What does that mean??? I thought,
question marks ran around in my head.
The difference in culture is frightening.
After it ended, I went down to the lobby.
I was again surprised by the number of limousines I saw lined up in valet parking.
To think this country has such a number of limousines.
Just surprising.
Even so,
this hairstyle that didn't go out of place after such a long time
is quite a big deal.
As expected of GATSBY, I'm amazed.
I've been using it since the past but
cool men use GATSBY after all.
Not a single mess!
Alright then...
I'll go home and wash my hair.
Source: GACKT Blog
Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team
Translation © GACKT ITALIA