ItalianoGACKT Official Blog update. Translation below:
I woke up normally today.
Since I got 3 hours of sleep, I woke up feeling sharp.
Then I did my training since morning.
No one’s around.
Quietly, on my own, I did my training alone.
Though I think that the balance between my chest and arms
have turned out pretty nicely.
After taking a shower, I went up to the lobby, and it’s raining heavily outside.
Because it’s so beautiful, I zoned out and
stared outside for around 2 hours while having tea.
Tonight, the departure flight time
for my Japanese partner is early.
We went into the city to get an early dinner but
since it’s Sunday, some places were booked out.
I had dinner with my staff and partner.
There’s no one at the terrace at all.
The atmosphere is great… but
unfortunately, the flavours are rough and it’s too unacceptable.
I suppose I won’t be coming here again…
While drinking wine on the terrace,
I had a detailed meeting with my partner until it’s time for him to go.
Before we were able to finish it thoroughly, the time for him to leave arrived.
After sending him off, I again had a meeting with my staff for quite awhile.
Without
a good atmosphere, we ended the meeting.
To send my staff,
I went out through a road called Changkat but
when I reached this place, I was honestly surprised.
Despite it being a Sunday, I was said
『What day is it today?』
because there were so many people,
and I kept asking and checking with the local staff.
For this road, it doesn’t matter whether it’s a weekday or a weekend.
That said,
on Fridays and Saturdays,
it would be overflowing with so many people that it would be impossible to walk.
And apparently it’s quite common that
if you end up entering this area with a car
you’ll get stuck and be unable to move for up to 40 minutes or more.
Despite that the distance isn’t long at all,
it feels like I can’t move at all.
In the past, when I was still working in the nightlife industry,
it feels exactly like this
when you go out by car into Kyoto’s Hanamikoji Dori
Despite that the distance isn’t great,
and even though it’s just between Shijo and Sanjo
the jam every night is so bad that you never know when you’ll be able to get out.
Now, the traffic back then seems like an exaggeration
considering that even on a Friday, Hanamikoji isn’t crowded.
It’s sad.
The vitality back then was beautiful.
Of course,
there are dangers that only occur at night but that was good.
The time when a city flourishes is
definitely when both danger and glamour come together.
That unique tension and smell of danger
attracts people to no end.
Driving down this road in car reminds me of the scenery back then
I wonder if the day when
Japan regains the vitality of those days will come…
It was just announced that by 2050,
the population will shrink down to 80 million people though
in the first place, the problem doesn’t lie with population numbers.
The present Japan is too rigid with everything.
The policies to improve the security of the city have become too excessive.
It’s the same in Roppongi.
Illegal parking has indeed been drastically reduced.
And security has become a lot better compared to the past.
However,
the vitality of the city is just declining year after year.
Vitality and development is accompanied by this danger.
However, beautifying the city too much
to prevent it from disappearing 100%,
is definitely not linked to the development of the city.
I suppose that this can be said to be so for
not only Roppongi, but all the other cities that have been cleaned up in Japan as well.
Is it really alright
for Japan to continue like this…
Source: GACKT Blog
Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team
Translation © GACKT ITALIA