Translated by Laura Batholomew
July 2010

“A tour undertaken as if it were the first”

— At the moment, you’re smack in the middle of your “PAST / FUTURE” tour. It lets the audience experience the world of your latest album, “PAST / FUTURE,” and there’s plenty worth seeing in the show.

Amuro: My last tour was for my best-of album (“BEST FICTION”), so this time, it feels like I’m starting all over again from a new beginning. At least, I hope that’s how it’s actually turning out. (laughs)

— One more thing you’ve completed is your new single, “Break It / Get Myself Back.” The music and lyrics for both songs were composed by Nao’ymt, who’s been indispensable to your music ever since your album “Queen of Hip-Pop.”

Amuro: Working with Nao always feels fresh, and really stimulates me; working together is really exciting. Nao kindly watched my last tour several times, and I feel like he must have felt something then. Especially with “Break It,” I think he must have written it while thinking, “This type of song would work great at her shows,” or at least that’s what I’m imagining was going on in Nao’s mind. (laughs)

— Maybe that’s why “Break It” has such a strong, cool sound, while the strongly worded lyrics sound like they’re linked up with your own personal enthusiasm and spirit.

Amuro: I always choose songs that make me think, “This is a cool type of woman.” Particularly when I’m on stage, I try to get as close as possible to that image.

“I wanted to do a song with a summer feeling.”

— Meanwhile, “Get Myself Back,” which was performed early during the tour, is a heart-warming middle-tempo tune with gentle lyrics and a positive message.

Amuro: It’s a song I’d like to sing on an outdoor stage in the summer. I can really sympathize with the lyrics, too. Like I think, “Oh, yeah; that’s right.” It’s straightforward, but also deep. Now that I think about it, there haven’t been many simple, human songs like this. When a straightforward song like this just falls smack in the middle of a bunch of songs with fancy lyrics and repeated hooks, it gives me a fresh feeling, too… But the starting point for “Get Myself Back” was that I wanted to do a song with a summer feeling. I’ve hardly released any songs in the summer before, so I feel like there isn’t much of a summer image about me. So I wanted to give a summer song a try.

— I see. When you think about it that way, you can see “Break It” as a summer song too, one that encourages you to enjoy the season aggressively.

Amuro: It depends on how summer feels to you. Enjoying the summer nightlife with “Break It,” or a youthful summer afternoon with “Get Myself Back.”

— By the way, what image does summer have to you?

Amuro: I haven’t been able to make the most of Japan’s summer much since I started working, but two years ago, during the “a-nation” tour, I stopped by the ocean to try to enjoy Japan’s summer. After all, the sea really is a great symbol of summer. So that’s the image I have. (laughs)

— Well, you’re touring this summer, too.

Amuro: But recently I’ve gotten pretty good at planning what I’d like to do next, and not just for work; I’m getting better at balancing all sorts of things, so even during this tour I’ve been able to go to a variety of different places in between shows. When I went to Hiroshima on the tour, I went to Miyajima’s Itsukushima Shrine. I’d visited there before, but this time I rode two ropeways, and then did a half-hour climb up Mount Misen. I’m hoping I can enjoy this summer doing things like that.