“Gift” MC #3 [revised to include unreleased portions]
I wonder what this [outfit] is? A jellyfish? Nomura’s jellyfish? (laugh) It kind of looks like I’ve put on a wedding dress to go get married.
(cheers)
Wearing the dress before you get married is supposed to be bad luck, right? (laugh) Well, it’s OK, I guess.
The following was not included in the DVD/Blu-ray release and was transcribed from a private recording:
Anyway, that was “Sea of Miracles”, and today, with this concert celebrating my 15th anniversary, we’ve picked out a lot of songs from a lot of different times in my career, but since it’s my 15th anniversary, I’m trying on these sorts of extravagant outfits that I would otherwise never wear…
(shouts of “Cute!”, cheers)
Really?
(cheers)
Well, I’m thinking that now I’m 30, I can have some fun with the outfits… (remainder lost in applause)
I’m really the type of person who can never remember anniversaries or special days, but when I ask myself why I’m doing this at 15 years when I didn’t do anything at ten, well, at my tenth anniversary, the timing just wasn’t right to look back at where I’d been. I still—how should I put it…. I didn’t have time to think about it. But now, after finishing my “Windreader” album and tour last year, in my heart I felt like I’ve passed some sort of marker or milestone, and it just felt like the time when I could look back had naturally arrived, and that time was my 15th anniversary.
So, I’ve been doing a lot of things that I wouldn’t do if it weren’t this anniversary—have you heard about the Tower Records store in Shibuya? If you go to the first floor of the Shibuya store, there’s a life-size stand-up of me in a Tower Records apron, like this. The display started yesterday, I think, and there are all kinds of other things on display, so I hope you’ll stop by the Shibuya Tower Records. It’s a life-size stand-up, seriously. I don’t even like having my picture taken, and there I am, turned into a life-size stand-up! And since everyone is encouraged to have their picture taken with it—they even made a “Sakamoto” nametag for me to wear, and since yesterday, my friends and my staff have all been going to get their picture taken… (remainder lost in applause, laughter)
Anyway, you’re all welcome to go see it, but after they take down that life-size stand-up, I wonder if they’ll give it to me. I hope they’ll return it. Except they can’t really “return” it…. I’d like to keep it where I can see it. Supposedly they’re going to give it away as a present to someone. Which makes me wonder, really? What’s the person who gets it going to do with it?
(laughter)
If it gets put in the entrance to someone’s home, that just sounds really embarrassing. But if it weren’t my 15th anniversary, I might never have done that, so I feel like now’s a good time, and I’m enjoying it. And really, when I was in high school—I started earlier, but my debut was when I was in high school, and since I had already started working back then, I never had a chance to have a part-time job. So putting on a store apron like that was a dream of mine, and now at 30 I’m so happy it finally came true.
(applause)
(one sentence lost in applause) So whoever wins the present, please give it to me.
(laughter)
I’ll trade you a signature or something for the life-size stand-up. (laugh)
(laughter)
Something like that. (one sentence unintelligible) You know, when I walk in this it’s really something, isn’t it?
(Maaya takes a drink of water)
(very loud male voice: “How does it taste?!”, followed by laughter)
Like water.
(laughter)
Come on, really, if this becomes a DVD, and you ask me every time I take a drink how it tastes, water is water, right?!
(laughter, applause)
That’s what I’d like ask you. (laugh) Hehe, sorry about that. Seeing as how I’m 30 now, I’d like to have a more grown-up, more elegant demeanor.
The DVD/Blu-ray release resumes at this point:
Anyway, now that I’ve changed into this somewhat elegant attire, the next several songs are on the mellow side, so please enjoy.