明けましておめでとうございます

Posted by gacktpause on 12/31/2009

Before I finish up for 2009….This is more of a Christmas story, I suppose, but somehow the story (and more importantly the video attached to it) seems fitting for both the final night of December, and the final night of 2009.

In Japan it is common to spend Christmas with your most-precious person. However, GACKT once remarked that he remembered many years ago when he was stranded on Christmas without a taisetsu-na hito to spend the evening with. He called YOU, who, even though he had a girlfriend at the time, opted to spend the evening with lonely GACKT instead. YOU brought his guitar, and they played ’80s rock-band T-Bolan‘s tear-jerker Hanashitaku-wa nai (’93, from the albumT-Bolan). Years later, to honor–and perhaps humor– this memory, the two members performed the painful, aching, traumatizingly beautiful piece on the excruciatingly romantic banks of Kyoto’s Kamogawa River, on a cold December night, before a group of sweetly swaying lovers holding candles.

In my opinion, no December night could be more perfect. x Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu!

T-Bolan‘s 離したくはない/ GACKT (vo.), YOU (gt.)

And performed again, on December 18th, 2009. Beautiful.

“Arigatou, ne”

Posted by gacktpause on 12/31/2009

Well, it’s New Year’s Eve. I don’t know what you lot are doing, but thisVisualist is sitting up to wait for dawn and my New Year’s wish!

The New Year is always a bit of a mixed time. On one hand, there is a depth of reflection and thinking back on the year we are now leaving behind. Hopefully you’re looking back and taking stock of your successes, achievements, and gained experiences. If there is anything you’re regretting, hopefully there’s a chance of making up for it, or achieving it, in the next year. On the other hand, there is a chance to look forward with positive expectation for everything that is to come in the new year. For example, a.b.s.’ Abingdon Road album. I hope your piggy-banks got fat this holiday season!

I, at least, feel like 2009 has been a fantastic year.

In April I spent one month in Kyoto, Japan, where I spent many hours at karaoke joints with some wonderful people; scoured used (and new) CD shops for just about anything and everything I could get my hands on (and stood for the first time in a real-live VISUAL KEI section); and brought back 60 CDs, including brand-new GACKT singles, and a stack of Visual Kei and Jrock magazines.

In November, I went to the UK to see one of my favorite bands, abingdon boys school, perform live. This was a monumental, life-changing experience worth all of the hard-work and effort I put in to achieving it. The live was unbelievable, as well as being my first ever Jrock concert. (And my first visit to London.)

Tower Bridge, London, UK

I was also able to complete some long-standing writing projects….One of the most fun out of these, however, which will probably never be “completed”, is the work I have put into SECRET GARDEN. I feel like I was really able to dive much deeper into Jrock and Visual Kei, and that has been a priceless experience.

On that note, I wanted to take a moment to say that it has almost been a year since I moved Secret Garden to WordPress. I would like to sincerely thank everyone who reads Secret Garden; everyone who left comments, emailed me, linked me, or shared and spread the word about this blog in any way! I am looking forward to another fun year full of Jrock, and I am very much looking forward to connecting with more of you in 2010. Arigatou ne…

I would also like to extend a Special Thanks to a few particular people:

Otousan, Roukku-Star, 日本におねいさんへどうもありがとう、スターさんへガクトのものをどうもありがとうございます、ブレイスレットさんやおじさんの社べたことありがとうございました；and everyone whose media appears on SG!