Rockin' On Japan, Jan 2002 - YUKI interview
Interviewer - Shikano Atsushi

     It has been nine months since 'Judy and Mary' broke up, and YUKI now says she is having her solo debut. Nine months isn't very long, and yet finally, (that's the difference, depending on who you ask) I thought she would go for a solo debut a little later. She has to face a lot of new things -she has to make songs and she's on her own- there is a lot of that, I believe that she needed a lot of guts to over come the pressure as a solo artist fresh out of a monster band. Even during the interview YUKI claimed that she never thought ahead until she finished 'Judy and Mary'. Besides wondering what the other front men (members of JAM) are doing now, I was amazed with the speed she came to us and let us interview her. She is a "Hyper Artist" without being limited to a particular genre. Having no time for happiness, letting sorrow flow until it's spent, making a flower bloom with the strength of life, and YUKI's great efforts and thoughts; They all make me feel very overwhelmed.

YUKI: I listened to the music and was touched I cried, laughed... until now. I thought... that's all, yea, that's all I want to do. Because I'm alone.

Interviewer: It's been a while, but this is your first interview since you have gone solo, isn't it?

YUKI: Oh, yes. It would be, wouldn't it, since JAM broke up.

Interviewer: To me it feels like you became solo pretty early.

YUKI: Doesn't it? I even said that it's pretty early.

Interview: What?

YUKI: No, really really!! Who was it, I had a conversation about this just recently. Was it with my producer? "Yes, to Yuki-chan maybe, but other people won't think so, so it's fine!", I think he said. I was also told "If there was no Mean Machine, it would have been sooner!"

Interview: *laugh* Hahahaha. Was it natural for you?

YUKI: I guess so, you could say it was natural. In March, at Yellow there was a big party, the dome's. That day I couldn't drink at all. But everyone, one by one cried for some reason. I didn't understand at all. But afterward when the DVD came out, I watched it, this live would make you cry. *laugh* My friends, everyone... it was amazing, everyone crying and laughing, kinda. It was very strange to me. I arrived at one and left at two. Those last two days were fufilling, that's why. After I left, the other three were doing a session. It seems that they were playing because they wanted to do it for a little while longer. I thought to myself, I was glad I didn't go. *laugh*

Interviewer: Listening to your story, it sounds like you burned out.

YUKI: Oh, it was perfect. I felt very touched when I heard Ueno's beautiful live report. I thought to myself "Are you me!?"

Interviewer: Hahaha, well it seems like it was your best preformance, like you were on a natural high.

YUKI: It was the best wasn't it? I was laughing on stage. Anyway, in 'Pop Life' at the Tokyo Dome, I was such a bad girl. Kohta said to me on stage "sing properly to the end!!" and I was like "oh... but..." That day at the dome was a bad mistake I made. I was taking revenge on it at the last live.

Interviewer: I see, at Tokyo dome was a revenge match? *laugh*

YUKI: Yes! Then Takuya, Kohta-san, and On-chan were playing like "it's the end" and it was amazing watching them, I felt from them on stage. But on the real last day, the second day at the Tokyo dome, Takuya was messing up at the beginning a lot. I thought "What's wrong Takuya?" and then he looked at me and was like "I'm nervous" and then Kohta also "so am I." Then I though "what?" So I started leading them like "Come on, come on, it's okay."

Interviewer: Hahahaha, you were like a camp site mom huh?

YUKI: Yes. The ear monitor was working well, my voice came out smoothly, my body felt light. I guess there was this thing where it was like "Leave it to me!"

Interviewer: So you didn't have any sentimental feelings?

YUKI: No, none at all. *laugh* The encore ended, then when it really came to the point where I wouldn't be on stage anymore, I thought "It's really over"... then my face was a mess. But until then, there was no difference for me between the other lives we had done. It was rather mysterious.

Interviewer: Looking back, was it because you know that JAM was breaking up and you were ready for it, or you were already prepared for the future? It seems there was a reason for it.

YUKI: I think it was because my body didn't understand the meaning of breaking up really. Even though I was the one that brough up the break up. It was like I didn't know what I was saying, because I didn't understand it myself. It didn't really feel as if it was going to end as it did. *laugh* There was almost a feeling that it was going to go on.

Interviewer: I want to go back for a moment. You said that you brough up the break up of JAM, but basically it was because Onda had said he was leaving.

YUKI: That's true, yes.

Interviewer: Since then, you had to think about it a lot, and it brought you to that decision, right?

YUKI: Yes... yeah, he was in a state where he would like JAM to go on, and not. It was as if he didn't care. He did say something about how he want's it to end for his own reasons. Then we all had a talk about it. But the moment On-chan said what he said, the only thing that ran through my mind was "JAM is over."

[incomplete, to be finished at a later date]