Insights From Sakurai Atsushi

Excerpted from the band member psychology section of FT 054. In this section, the members are presented with fake psychoanalysis tests sent in by the fans. This time, the normally closed-mouthed Sakurai was very free with his opinions. Let's see what he had to say.

And for the record, this interview occurred during the after-party at the final show of the Memento Mori Rebirth tour, on Halloween in Okinawa. Though of course, no ethanol-containing beverages were present at this party, since that's illegal in Japan.

Question 1. You're wandering aimlessly through a department store. In the stationery section, you notice that a small item has fallen off the shelf and landed at your feet. What do you do?

A. Pretend you didn't see it and walk away.

B. Put it willy-nilly on the shelf nearest you.

C. Find out where it fell from and put it back in its proper place.

Sakurai: I'd kick it!

FT: Please choose from the answers provided!

Sakurai: Fine, I pick C.

When one item falls from many, it represents failure at finding a job in society. How you respond to the fallen item situation indicates your relationship towards society, your attitude towards your job, and your motivation.

Sakurai: I'd kick it! (laughs) I was right on! Only a weakling would leave it alone! (laughs)

If you put the item back in its proper place, it means you believe your job can improve you as a person. You're the ant-type* who works hard and tries desperately to find a unique job only you can do.

*Ant type, from the fable of the grasshopper and the ants. The grasshopper was lazy, and the ants were hard-working.

Sakurai: I'd pick the thing up, but I'm a lazy bastard, I'd like to just swing from a tree all day!

Imai: God, this discussion got so heavy all of a sudden. It was just about picking up an eraser, okay?

Question 2. You're out to dinner with a group of friends, and the room has only one long table in it. Where at the table do you choose to sit?

Sakurai: Does it matter where the doors and windows are?

FT: No.

Sakurai: Then I pick the corner.

(All the members pick the corner.)

Your appetite for food is strongly correlated with your appetite for sex. What position you would choose to sit in at a group meal indicates how you behave sexually with your partner.

Sakurai: Sexual appetite! There it is again! (Sexual appetite is a common subject of the band member psychology section.)

The people who sit in the middle of the table are the types who will make out with their partner excessively in public, without regard for the people around them. The people who sit quietly in the corner are the types who won't touch their partners in public very often.

Sakurai: Well, I'm a Westerner, so I'll just suck face wherever, whenever. (laughs) Okay fine, I'll just eat naked, right in the middle of the table! How about that? (laughs)

Question 3. Write an E on your forehead.

(All the members write the E correctly, except for Sakurai, who writes it backwards.)

Sakurai: Oh, I wrote it backwards.

How do you write a letter on a part of your body you can't see? From this test, we can separate people into two groups. If you're the type of person who writes the letter so that it's backwards when other people look at you, you're the type who doesn't care at all what other people think of you. We could say you're self-centered.

Sakurai: Hahahahaha! There are nights when I worry so much about what other people think of me that I can't sleep. But if I did that every day, I wouldn't be able to do my job. Fiiiine, I'm self-centered! (laughs)