Now that we've heard the opinions of the other band members, let's hear about blogging from the man himself! Why did Imai decide to start a blog, and is he enjoying the blogging experience? Of course the Fish Tank staff had to ask him.
FT: You were saying you wanted to for a while, but then you finally started a blog. How have your friends reacted to it?
Imai: Oh, it's been good, the people who have been reading it seem to like it. You know, like Yoko-chan. And Kanemitsu, who does our interviews a lot. So, I wrote about the Hall Tour on my blog, and then after that I met Kanemitsu for an interview but since I'd already written all that stuff on the blog, it was like "well, there's no point in asking about it again, is there?"
FT: Hahaha!
Imai: Yeah! Lately while I'm getting interviewed I just keep thinking "I've already said all this stuff on my blog..." So, pretty much, yeah.
FT: This is the first time we've heard you speak for yourself directly, isn't it?
Imai: Yeah, it is.
FT: Well, this is true of the Fish Tank Newsletter too of course, but before you were always being interviewed and then it was getting printed in a magazine or posted on the web so it took time for us to be able to read your words...
Imai: Yeah. That's why I decided I wanted to do a blog. But when I say blog...I mean, I'm not doing something like a diary, where I have to write every day...sometimes I'll post stories of stuff that happened years and years ago. When I realized it was a type of media that would let me do exactly what I wanted I decided I had to try it out, so that's why I started. I mean that's still how I feel about it but then when I got interviewed about the tour I thought, "wait a sec..."
FT: Yeah.
Imai: But on a blog, when the live is over and I think "I should say something about this," I can say it right away, so it's really convenient. Really, that's the biggest thing. I could just wait faithfully for months for an interview and not voice all my opinions, but these days, all the fans are all writing blogs like crazy.
FT: But before you said that you weren't writing your blog as a drinking diary or anything.
Imai: Yeah.
FT: Well isn't that a little contrived? Are you just writing whatever you feel like writing even if it's not a drinking diary?
Imai: Yeah, yeah, exactly. I just write whatever I feel like, and I mean, sometimes I take time with it, but basically I try not to worry too much about it and just write whatever I want to at the time.
FT: So, have you heard from any of the band members about it?
Imai: No...wait, Yuta said he bookmarked it!
FT: That's wonderful! Also you know Hide said he bookmarked it, too. When I interviewed him yesterday he said he was reading it.
Imai: Wait, I wrote something on there about Hide, didn't I? Damn, what was it...?
FT: ....Uh, I think it was that when you were checking your schedule before going to see Hotei's concert, Hide said, "that's my birthday, so of course I'm off that day..."
Imai: Yeah, yeah, that was it, that was it!!
FT: So I think Hide probably read that.
Imai: Hyahyahyahya~~
