The boldness inherited from the poet.
PROFILE
Born in Tokyo in 1991, OKAMOTO'S drummer, DJ, model, and organizer of the "YAGI EXHIBITION," is active in a wide range of activities. OKAMOTO'S 15th Anniversary FORTY SEVEN LIVE TOUR -RETURNS-" is currently underway.
You were born in 1991. What do you remember when you hear about Harajuku in the 90s, which was the source of inspiration for Harajuku Pack?
To be honest, I am not as familiar with Harajuku and Urahara culture as you might think. My image of Harajuku in the 90s is "Cosmospace" (a specialty stone store) on Tonchan-dori. The only other places I remember are Condomania (now closed) and Kiddy Land.
How do you remember the fashion of the 90s? Recently, the fashion of the 90s and 00s, called Y2K, is also popular among young people.
I have the impression that my parents used to take me to the "Pink Dragon" a lot. I remember my parents used to take me to see the "Pink Dragon. And so on. I was still a child, so I was excited by such things. I started appearing on TV in 1996, so it was around that time that my memories became clearer. I felt like I was being taken around by adults from that time, and among them, Shigeo Hamada, Uotake III, was the 90s for me.
Did you have a friendship with the poet Shigeo Hamada, the third generation Uotake?
I met him when I was little and he treated me very well after we met again as adults. It all started when he was doing music. During the production of a single titled "Bouquet," he had added the chorus of a children's choir, but it didn't seem to fit, and since the editor in charge at the time was his mother, he called me into the studio and asked me to bring a rambunctious child. They put me in the recording booth and told me to make a big mess. I made a lot of jokes, and they thought it was great, so it was all included on the CD as an OK take. On the way home that day, Shigeo Hamada of Uotake III told me, "I'll buy you as many toys as you want," and he bought me about three cartloads of toys at "Kiddy Land.
Three carts for a child is a hell of a lot of money.
That was a very big deal for me. It would have been impossible under normal circumstances. Looking back, it may have been a purchase of several tens of thousands of yen, but that one shot instilled in me a kind of joy that I will never forget. I was so taken by it that I came to like doing things like that to others. When I went to a convenience store with my juniors, I would tell them they could buy whatever they wanted. It is not the amount of money, but the timing that makes me so happy. I learned from Mr. Hamada how to make the event memorable and how to make the audience feel like they are being treated. Everything from recording to post-recording behavior is part of the 90s for Okamoto Reiji.
No, it's exactly the kind of memory that no one else has.
Then, about 15 years passed, and I made my major debut with the band, and we met again for something like a "The Rolling Stones" special. He said, "Rage, remember me?" He said, "Of course I remember you! It's been a while!" We talked about something like that, and we agreed to go out for a leisurely dinner. Later that day, we met up at TOWER RECO in Shibuya, and this time he told me, "I'm so happy to see Rage as cool and mature as he is, so I'll buy as much as I want at TOWER RECO.
It's deja vu after 15 years. I feel the unchanged personality of Shigeo Hamada, the third generation Uotake.
That is also a very good memory. I still can't forget it. I was 19 years old, so I was a little hesitant, but they caught on and recommended me to buy a lot of CDs and DVDs. After that, I called him until morning on casual business, and we talked about many interesting things. I think it's a waste. I think it's a waste. If they dig deep into that era and get to that point, I think it's okay if some of them want to become poets too. I feel that this is the culture of the 90s. I hope many people will take this opportunity to check it out. They were the subculture icons of the time.
Incidentally, it seems that the birth of the "Harajuku Pack" was triggered by the popularity of iconic models such as the "Wallaby" in Harajuku during that era.
I own and love many pairs, such as the "Wallabee," a collaboration with Wu-Tang Clan, and the zebra print Halakob boots. To begin with, I became aware of "Clarks" shoes when I was allowed to DJ at a Clarks event in the past. I knew that there were shoes in this shape before that, but it was then that I became aware that they were "Clarks" shoes.
You chose "Desert Boots. I thought it was an unexpected choice, given that you also own a pair of wallabies.
I'm a rock 'n' roller (laughs). I don't have many shoes of this type, and since it was an opportunity, I wanted to give it a try. So this time, I decided to go a bit rugged with these "Desert Boots.
What is the point of styling?
Both the T-shirt and pants I am wearing today were made by a junior high school student who taught himself how to make these clothes. So the position of the pockets on the pants is too original, and the T-shirt is made of curtain fabric. The clothes were made by a skater named Taro, and we tried to match the "Desert Boots" with such clothes. Incidentally, Taro is also good at yo-yoing, which was popular in the 90s, and he is also my yo-yo master. I send him a lot of cardboard boxes of old clothes that I no longer wear, and I tell him that he can wear or remake them freely. So he gives me the clothes he wears today. Of course, we don't push garbage on them, but we give them good quality used clothes as well. This is the spirit that I learned from Shigeo Hamada, the third generation Uotake, of giving unbelievable things to young people, and it is still at the root of what I do today.
