00:05When I was born, I think there was already a piano in the house.
00:12Your voice is sounding bright. I feel a distance.
00:22My parents are both dentists, but they're both music lovers.
00:27So they were always playing music in the house.
00:30I was already into harmonies and melodies.
00:33So I'm sure that was a huge effect on my life.
00:37And I started to play piano when I was three or four.
00:45And my favorite songs were, we used to call it, Group Sounds.
00:51For you guys, it's the band.
00:55They were called the Tigers.
00:58It's like a sports team, but they had many, many hit songs.
01:02And I was in love with the singer.
01:05Yes, I love you. Don't ever let me go.
01:11Yes, I love you. If you really want to know.
01:17More than anything. More than anything.
01:25I had a piano teacher when I was, I think, four.
01:28I was kind of a, well, unusual or special child in school.
01:35Like you, I'm sure you had a girl in the classroom who can play piano and had a long hair.
01:41You know, I was one of those.
01:48I always thought I had to do music.
01:52Like there was some information in my brain or heart that I was going to be a musician.
02:02In school, if there are two choices that I can join the basketball club or music club, like some band,
02:10I always had to take the music.
02:12Like, I felt like that was the thing I had to follow.
02:31I started to write my own songs when I was a fifth grader.
02:36It was all about, like, everyday things.
02:39Like, I'm so glad the test is over.
02:42Or my dog is barking.
02:45Like that.
02:53But I was inspired by other singer-songwriters who were famous at that time.
02:58I was almost, like, wanting to be like them.
03:02So I was playing piano and singing and wrote some songs and lyrics.
03:06I was always studying the classical piano, but always writing songs as a hobby.
03:12When I saw some other singer-songwriters were doing the style of playing piano and singing and writing,
03:21it just felt like I could do it easily with something.
03:25I can do it.
03:26So, it just started.
03:41I started to write songs and started to record to the cassette tape recorder and doing some concerts for my
03:49family.
03:50I was always in the house.
03:53Also, I was a piano player for a lot of school events at school.
03:59So, I had kind of many chances that I could perform in front of people.
04:17When I graduated music high school, I was going to go to Kunitachi Music College.
04:23Then I was going to be a pianist.
04:24I know it's hard to be a classical pianist, but my teachers thought I could.
04:32They felt like I was chosen to be that.
04:36But I was so afraid to lose my hobby, writing songs and singing, because that was the fun part.
04:46Practicing piano was hard.
04:49You know, like, oh, I don't want to practice today, but I can write songs.
04:53So, I was talking to my teacher that, is it okay for me to continue, because I was going to
05:00go to a different country to study seriously my piano.
05:04So, and then the teacher asked me to sing in front of her, and I did that.
05:11And she thought I was expressing my feelings more freely than when I was playing piano.
05:19You know, my own music was freer than classical music.
05:23So, then I decided, okay, I'm going to go to my own college in Japan, and at the same time,
05:32I'm going to shop for a record deal.
05:34So, I made a few demo tapes, only a few, like four or five cassette tapes.
05:40And I sent to the places like, you know, when you open the magazines, you see, we want a keyboard
05:47player, or, you know, we are looking for a singer-songwriter.
05:49Like that I sent four tapes, four or five tapes.
05:53And then, suddenly, one guy maybe heard my tape and didn't like it, and he passed to somebody else, and
06:03it ended up at the JVC Big Star Japan.
06:07It's just kind of an amazing story.
06:10And then I got signed when I was 18.
06:16My parents saved some money for a kimono.
06:19Japanese girls always wear kimono when they become 20, and there's a huge kind of celebration ceremony.
06:25I gave up on that, and I bought a synthesizer instead of a kimono.
06:31And I used that, and used my piano, and made the demo.
06:36Yeah, it happened, like, in two or three months, maybe.
06:42When I first went to see my director at the record company, he was giving me, like, his impression about
06:52my music.
06:53You know, I liked it.
06:55Somebody didn't like it, but I liked it.
06:56What do you think? Do you want to do this?
06:58Yes.
06:59And at the same time, a different division of JVC Victor was looking for somebody who could play minme.
07:09And, of course, the record company was a part of the group because they were going to release the soundtrack.
07:17So, of course, the production, Tatsunoko Production, and other production companies who were involved in the project, they were all
07:24looking for and auditioning for the minme part.
07:28A guy from the animation division came to me and asked,
07:34What do you think? Are you interested in it? Tomorrow is going to be the last audition. Do you want
07:38to try that?
07:39And, of course, I had no idea what macros was or minme was and how popular it was going to
07:44be.
07:45I just liked challenges. Like, I always liked it. So, I said, yeah, why not? I'm going to go for
07:50it.
07:51We already had a plan that we were going to record my first album, but the macros came first.
08:11My record company asked me, who do you want to work with?
08:16So, I said, I want to work with Ryuichi Sakamoto, who was, at that time, a very, very popular figure
08:22because of the YMO, Yellow Magic Orchestra, one of the very first techno bands.
08:29And, also, he was in Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, as an actor, and also he wrote the theme song.
08:39It was the beginning of his great time, of his career, too.
08:42Of course, I didn't know if he was going to say yes, but my staff sent a demo tape to
08:48his production company.
08:50And, he said, I want to meet Mari. So, we went to see him at his office.
08:56And, he said, yeah, I'm going to do it. It was kind of casual.
09:01I think that I was pretty calm about it, actually. Like, I was like, it's not like, hey, don't take
09:15me so lightly. Or, I wasn't throwing attitudes or anything.
09:20But, I was like, really sad that no one can make fun of me, kind of, kind of vibe.
09:27So, I almost said something back to him when he commented about music. I think, I don't think so. Or,
09:37something. I wasn't afraid of anything.
09:39I kind of freaked out more when Ryuichi came to the studio and rehearsed with me. He watched me play
09:48this song called Love Sick from my first album called Rose.
09:53I was pretty nervous. So, I was kind of rushing. You know, when you're young, you rush. Like, yesterday, I
10:01was watching the figure skate. Yep. And, then, young skaters were kind of rushing to the music.
10:07Anyway, I was rushing and he was like, he had a pencil and he was like, timing me with like
10:13hitting the piano. And, that kind of made me nervous.
10:19He was like, don't rush. You're a good piano player, but don't rush. And, actually, that was a good lesson.
10:28And, I don't rush now.
10:30I think, I consider myself as one of the musicians who don't rush. I can groove and stay into the
10:39groove. So, that was the first lesson for me from Ryuichi that, hey, get into the groove and stay in
10:46there.
10:50He hired all those really top Japanese studio musicians at that time. We recorded it together, the whole album. And,
11:00Ryuichi was, he just got a synthesizer named DX7.
11:07And, and it was like a brand new toy for him. So, he was having so much fun using that.
11:14And, because I was, you know, so young and I didn't, you know, have any fear.
11:22It was an instant hit. Already top 10 hit. And, I had a, on the debut day, I had a,
11:31like a half promotional, like a half, like a fun appreciation event at the, this beautiful building owned by a
11:44designer, Mori, Hanae Mori.
11:46She's a designer. And, she has a building in Harajuku. And, I did the party, live concert and the party
11:54later.
11:55And, um, then I felt like, wow, maybe they are taking me really serious. They wanted me to be a
12:03big star.
12:05And, I felt really good, you know. But, I didn't know any struggle before. So, at that time, I didn't
12:13know that I was going to, you know, feel the struggle later.
12:18Usually, people struggle at the beginning, right, to get a deal or to make the venue packed. But, I didn't
12:28have any problem doing that from the beginning. So, the challenge came later.
12:32The challenge came later.
12:34The challenge came later.
12:48The challenge came later.
12:48The challenge came later.
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