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kimonobeat · 6 years

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aiko bon “Profile Interview” Chapter 1 (Part 2/3)

ーPersonality-wise, would you say you were a pretty lively little kid?

aiko: I’m an extremely positive kind of person. I was a real weirdo as a kid. Like, so weird you wouldn’t have been surprised to hear I’d accidentally eaten an eraser. (laughs) In the middle of winter I’d go out in short-sleeve shirts because that’s what I wanted to wear. My absolute favorite clothes were this floor tile beige shirt made out of something similar to gauze, and another shirt in the same color with sunflowers embroidered onto them. I’d pair them with a skirt that was a slightly darker beige, and yellow/white sandals. I went to a piano lesson dressed like that, shivering and sniveling, and my piano teacher told me to go home. I think that was in December or January? I was riding my red “Candy Candy” bicycle home from that and spotted my dad on the other side of the intersection, so I shouted, “Daddy! I went to the piano teacher’s house and she told me to go home!” real loud. But then my dad saw the way I was dressed and he said, “Very funny!” (laughs)

ーYou guys have a nice relationship. (laughs)

aiko: I did a lot of things that startled my parents. There was this lady in my neighborhood named Hama-chan. One time we were eating yakiniku with her when she started choking on a piece of meat. I saw her trying to cough it up and yelled really loudly that she had meat stuck in her ‘tailpipe’ instead of her ‘windpipe’. (laughs) Another thing that happened to me… I went to the hospital when I came down with chickenpox, and they quarantined me because it was contagious. I kept saying, “I didn’t do anything wrong, so do I gotta be here?” They made us wait for a really long time. As soon as my mom said, “It’s getting pretty late… Mom’s tired too,” I ran all the way up to the receptionist’s desk and said, “EXCUSE ME buuuuut is it Aiko’s turn yet? IS IT MY TURN YET???” two times really, really loudly. (laughs) We used to go to public baths every now and then. Anytime someone with tattoos was there, I’d say, “MISTER! LOOK! You missed a spot!” (laughs) All they could really do was laugh and say, “Listen kiddo, I got these ‘cause I’m bad. They’re drawn on.” Then I’d just keep asking more questions. “You mean you can’t take those OFF?!”

ーYou’ve got such a great personality. (laughs)

aiko: Do I? (laughs) Kids are really good at pointing out people who are different or weird when they see them, now that I think of it. I was too. When I was on the train, I’d say, “Mooom, look at that lady……” and she told me not to point. So then the next time I said, “Mooom, look at that lady. Mooom,” pointing with my whole fist instead of my finger. (laughs) She told me she wasn’t even mad, it just made her laugh.

ーYou can’t really be mad when something like that happens. (laughs)

aiko: Also, apparently my mom cried in front of the washing machine in the bathroom whenever she and my dad got into a fight. She told me anytime she ever did that, I’d come over and tug on her apron saying, “Mooom. Moooom, hang in there.” She told me I’d always do that to cheer her up.

ーThis might be rude of me, but you sound like you were a pretty funny kid. (laughs)

aiko: It’s fine, I think I was too. (laughs) But I did other things that’d make me wanna pull my hair out as an adult. When I was in like, elementary school, I’d draw pictures of naked girls. I’m not really sure why I drew pictures like that, other than because I’d seen them in movies…… I guess my bad daydreaming habit goes back pretty far, huh? I also liked bandages. I’d wrap my leg in bandages and pretend like I’d sprained it even though it didn’t hurt. I enjoyed the bandages but then I’d get my leg caught on my bike and actually hurt myself, stuff like that. I really did like bandages a lot. I guess I just liked things that looked ‘vulnerable’. Like, “Oh, dear me…”

ーIt made you feel like the heroine of something.

aiko: Yeah, that’s it. I’d say lines out loud to myself, like I was acting out a drama all on my own. I didn’t like getting attention though. I really hated it when people fussed over me. People would all touchy-feely with me because I was the only small child in my extended family at the time, asking me to sing them songs and stuff. They’d all start laughingーand I realize now that I just made them happyーbut I thought they were all ridiculing me. I got super embarrassed and really hated it.

ーSo you say, but you’re not really the shy type, are you?

aiko: Not at all. So I started doing it for money. (laughs) And not small change either. I’d tell them, “I’m not THAT cheap. 500 yen please.” (laughs)

ーYou already had the soul of an entertainer. (laughs)

aiko: Right? You know how there’s that game you play with babies where you hold out scissors, money and a pen, and whichever one they grab first is supposed to predict their future? I grabbed the money first. Maybe that’s why. (laughs) But I really hated like, New Year’s for that reason. I’ve got a lot of relatives so of course I got a lot of money on New Year’s, and I always held my tongue then, but other than that I absolutely hated getting so much attention.

ーWhy is that?

aiko: I’ve always hated taking naps. I really hated having to open up to people too. But on New Year’s we’d go to a bunch of different people’s houses and stay up late at night, which meant I wanted to sleep, but I didn’t want to sleep at someone else’s house. I’d be so tired I couldn’t keep my eyes open and yet I still insisted that I didn’t want to sleep. I’d just wait until we were in the car and fall asleep on the way home. I even did that pretty recently! I went out for some drinks and couldn’t bring myself to say I was hammered in front of people. I hate letting people see me when I’m weak… I also really hated being the topic of discussion when I was little. I hated that… even though I was almost like, desperate to do things that people would end up talking about later. (laughs) Whenever people talked about something I did, I’d go hang out at the candy store and waste time until I thought they’d be done talking about me.

ーWere you a timid kid?

aiko: I don’t really think I was. When I got hurt I’d cry about it, go home, and that’d be it. One time my friend kicked a metal trash can at the park and it smacked me square in the face. I’d also pretended to be Ultraman and got dragged by a swing, all kinds of stuff. I’d just play and play like nothing even happened. Oh, speaking of which, one time I brought a dead cat home with me. I dragged this dead as a door nail cat I found floating in a ditch behind me like an umbrella, then I put it in a brand spanking new Hello Kitty toolbox I’d just bought and brought it home. I thought I needed to bury it because it was dead. When I got home I stood in the doorway and said, “Daaaad! It’s DEAD! WAHHH!”... he took one look at me, closed the door, and locked it. (laughs) You see, my dad got up for the day around the time I got home from school. He was so stunned that I showed him a dead cat as soon as he woke up, he must’ve thought I was crazy. (laughs) He wouldn’t let me back in the house, so I just went to the park and buried it instead.

ーNothing really scared you, did it?

aiko: Not really. I’m scared of them now, but as a kid I was totally fine with roller coasters and stuff like that. I used to get on rides meant for kids meant for elementary school kids when I was in kindergarten. The attendants would ask, “What grade are you in, miss?” and I’d say, “I’m in first grade!” They’d say, “Really? How old are you?” And I’d tell them I was 7. I’d always get busted when I’d lie about my age and they asked me what year I was born. My dad was so concerned that I’d get caught.

ーSo what DID scare you?

aiko: I was so scared of exploding noises, like party poppers and balloons popping. And clocks chiming on the hour. My mom and dad would fix the time on the clock by asking for the time over the phone, and it scared me out of my mind. For example, one time my dad had this clock, and my mom had the time-telling number on the phone saying countdown out loud: “3:30:25! 26! 27!” Seeing my dad fix the clock scared me more than anything. I was scared, terrified even, of the way it was robotically counting out the numbers. I didn’t like the lack of emotion in it I guess. Maybe it just scared me that it was saying it really loudly without any feeling in it. People are loud when they’re fighting because they’re full of emotions, right? That didn’t really scare me at all, I was just scared of how cool and disinterested it sounded. Oh, and also the opening theme song to “Mito Komon”. The “DUN, DUN DUN DUN” in the beginning made me cry every time.

ーWhat kind of TV shows did you like back then?

aiko: I used to watch stuff like The Drifters’ show “8-Ji Da yo! Zenin Shuugou (It’s 8’o’Clock! Everybody Gather ‘Round!)” a lot. I’d just laugh and laugh. But anytime I watched “Oretachi Hyoukin Zoku (We’re the Hyoukin Clan)”, my dad would be mad at me and tell me not to watch stuff like that… even though he was watching it and laughing too. (laughs) I also loved “Hirake! Ponkikki (Open Up, Ponkikki!)” and would watch that a lot too. My favorite cartoons were “Marvelous Melmo” and “Asari-chan”. Of course, I loved music shows since I loved singing so much though. I hear that I was telling people I was gonna be a singer as early as 3 years old. My mom mostly likes Japanese pop music like Southern All Stars, and my dad likes classical music, soul, The Beatles, that kind of thing. Seems like my dad wanted to be singer when he was young too. (laughs) My love of music is probably my parents’ doing.

ーI bet you sang 24/7 at home, didn’t you?

aiko: I’d lock myself in my room and sing constantly like I was doing a one-person concert. I played music on my ladybug-shaped Columbia record player. Sometimes I’d get sent to my room whenever my parents got mad at me for doing something bad, but since I had my piano and my record player in there, I had a pretty good time anyway. (laughs)

ーWhat songs did you sing a lot?

aiko: They have an 8 mm video of me singing “High School Lullaby” (by The Imokin Trio) or something, where I’m just going, “But you’re so cold, so cold~” (laughs) I used to sing Pink Lady songs a lot too. Singing, “I lied~ to you~ And now I don’t know what to do~” and dancing. I also liked the song “Akai Hana Shiroi Hana (Red Flower White Flower)ーthe one that goes “I’m gonna pick~ a red flower and give it to him”ーwhich my mom used to sing for me. I really liked folk songs like that one. I also loved “Minna no Uta (Songs for Everyone)”. And Julie (Sawada Kenji) and Go Hiromi, I liked them a lot too. Oh yeah! I used to really love Akira’s voice, from Finger 5! I was so small back then that I didn’t understand what the name “Finger 5” even meant, but I absolutely loved his voice. Man did I love Shioni though.

ー’Shioni’?

aiko: I used to call Go Hiromi “Shioni” as a kid. I’d say “Shioni! Shioni!” and kiss the TV. (laughs) It felt so strange being on Music Station with ‘Shioni’ for the first time. He said, “Isn’t this awesome? Check out my belt!” and showed me the belt with a lion face he was wearing. It felt SO weird to me. I was like, “Shioni is really right here in front of me right now… ?”

ーWas there anyone else you admired at the time?

aiko: Matsuda Seiko and Matsumoto Iyo, I guess? I went to one of Seiko’s concerts and got to meet her up close and personal in her dressing room. I was SO thrilled. She was reaaaally pretty and cute! When I got to meet Kyonkyon (Koizumi Kyoko), I remember thinking to myself how cute she was too. One time I was filming a music video in the cameraman’s personal studio apartment, and he told me to come upstairs to the 2nd floor with him so he could introduce me to his wife… His wife was having wine with Kyonkyon! (laughs) I was so shocked when she was like, “Oh look, it’s aiko!” Idols from that time period don’t really feel like they ever existed in the same world as the rest of us, you know? They were felt imaginary almost, not human, so it’s always a huge surprise when I actually get to meet them.

ーYou said you made up your mind about being a singer when you were 3 years old. Did you ever think about switching paths along the way?

aiko: I wanted to be a veterinarian too, but my dad told me I wouldn’t be able to because I was a dingbat. So I didn’t. I gave up on that real quick, because I realized he was right. Then I was fixated on being a singer, which was just as unlikely. I was really serious about it though, so I made a promise to my mom and dad: “In the future when I’m a singer, you’ll get to go golfing every day, Dad. And Mom, I’m gonna buy you a big diamond ring.” I’d been telling them that ever since I was in kindergarten. They both said, “Wow, please do! Can’t wait!” But then I grew up, and when I debuted, my dad was so old that he couldn’t go golfing every day anymore. Or I guess I should say, he’d already graduated from golf by then. (laughs) My mom is, well, my mom, so my grandma and I had already bought her a diamond ring. It forced me to rethink it, you know?

ーBy the way, were there any other aiko baby talk words like you calling Go Hiromi ‘Shioni’?

aiko: There were! I used to say “chop it” instead of “stop it”, and “p’soon” instead of “spoon”. And “humby” instead of “yummy”. I feel like there were other ones but I just can’t remember them right now.

ーDid you look more like a tomboy up until you were in kindergarten, or really girly?

aiko: I think I was a lot more boyish, ‘cause I was one of those kids who only wore pants. I cried when they made me wear a kimono for Shichi Go San because it was so tight and uncomfortable.

ーWhat hairstyle did you have?

aiko: My hair was long. It was one length almost all the way down to my butt, with a slight wave to it. My dad Shigenobu really liked long hair, so he always grew his out to about his hips. Once when I was in 3rd grade, though, I secretly went to a hair salon and got a bowl cut. He got SO mad, so then I grew it out again. The shortest my hair’s ever been in my entire life was around the time I was singing “Rosie”, after I’d made my debut. Other than that, it’s been pretty long. My parents didn’t mind if I got it permed really, so a couple times when I was a little kid I basically had an afro… No, wait, those were wigs, they were wigs. (laughs) There are pictures of me when I was like, 2 or 3 years old wearing a wig and a black bikini, sitting in a chair and eating an apple like that one chick in the movie “Emanuelle”. (laughs)