Note: This was translated from an hour-long NHK TV Documentary on Glay, "GLAY Kiseki to Eikou no Mukouni", aired on May 5, 1999.

(The intro is kinda sketchy but it gets more detailed after a while. ~aciel)

GLAY like to refer to their last live after their highschool graduation ceremony as the "Last concert in Hakodate." Of course Jiro wasn't a member of GLAY at the time, but when GLAY went back to Hakodate and did a concert with Pierrot, Takuro urged Jiro to go with them to Tokyo because Jiro liked Tokyo. But Jiro didn't like Tokyo after all; he could only afford to live there, not play for the band.

When GLAY moved to Tokyo, it was difficult. They became more occupied with trying to make a living. Where Teru lived, it was close to Disneyland [in Tokyo] and he wondered when he would make enough money to go there. Hisashi never worked before coming to Tokyo. He bought a huge refrigerator but he didn't know what to put in it. Jiro worked at a construction site. His father also worked in construction, so he was familiar with it. When he was a child, he helped his father at the construction site so that's why when he came to Tokyo, he chose to work in construction.
Jiro: "Normally, people think this job is heavy duty but I didn't think of it that way." Jiro helped to build the Longterm Capital Bank, which used to be a top bank in Japan. (Now it's kinda collapsing, hehe. ~aciel) "That's why I chose to be interviewed here." (In the background of the open auditorium where this interview took place, you can see the Bank on the left side.) "When I worked in that building (doing construction work, that is) one night, I heard the sound in the auditorium of a band practising and I thought that that's what I want to do."

Dome Tour event: Now they're in Fukuoka, after 4 days in Tokyo and 4 nights in Nagoya. They started a band from a tiny livehouse in Hakodate 10 years ago. Now they respond to the 40 000 audience members for an encore. Teru is crying (see LIVE IN BIG EGG video). He can't look up. The audience is calling "GLAY."

Teru: "After we went to Tokyo, there were times when we had only 1 audience member and I see our past and how far we've come. After I just arrived in Tokyo, I thought that we could attract 100 people, like in Hakodate. It was my optimistic belief but reality wasn't that simple. I wanted to make people listen to the music we believed in. I wanted people to hear us."

[Glorious] scored GLAY a top 10 hit for the first time. And their album, BEAT out! was number one in the charts.

Hisashi: "I thought that the members should enjoy themselves first before we entertained others and eventually, the audience became familiar with our sound and we became more popular."

Jiro: "After our debut, my grandfather always told me, 'Don't be too proud.' My grandfather is my mentor. After we made a few TV performances, he told me that 'I didn't look at your face.' Even though we had a number one hit. My grandfather must [have been] so strict (or disciplined). But after we appeared on Kouhaku, my grandfather began to acknowledge my work."

Dome Tour: GLAY are planning a 3-day Dome concert at the Tokyo Dome. They are the first Japanese artists to ever do that.

(Backstage, where the members are relaxing in their casual clothes.) This is how they make their songs: Takuro plays his guitar and Teru sings along with him (the song is [HEAVY GAUGE]). Teru says, "He's going to develop the images of the song." Takuro is the leader who is responsible for writing the songs. He always wants GLAY's songs to be original. Takuro sings and makes fun because he has no lyrics yet: "This year when I get a vacation, I'm going home to my mother..."

Takuro lost his father when he was only 3 years old and he was raised by his mother who is a "chanson" singer in Hakodate. His influence came mainly from his mother as a musician. When he was a child, his mother used to sing while crying. He didn't know what was wrong with her but he felt what she felt as she sang, and he listened to her. The tone of singing becomes stronger as one sings. He was impressed by how his mother sang. He felt the power of singing. Before he started thinking about her situation, he listened to her singing. She started softly but became stronger and he felt that the power of singing encourages people. He has believed in that power ever since.

When they were highschool students, they never imagined that they would have a concert at the Tokyo Dome, but now they have. "pure soul" comes into their program.

Takuro: "In January of 1998, I called the members to have a meeting at my place and on that day, there was a blizzard, so Jiro couldn't come to my place. I was embarrassed to say the word "pure" so I wrote the word on a cardboard, showed it to the members and asked them what they thought of the title, and they said, 'It's good.' I don't know why they agreed so quickly-maybe they didn't have any reason to oppose. (Takuro was hesitant to use this title because it could have a cult or religious connotation. He doesn't mean that the person should be pure in soul, but he doesn't want to say that 'We are purely involved in music' either. ~aciel) How can a person be pure in this world full of devastating things? People can't be pure, but [I want to think of the way to be pure]. I became responsible with GLAY. I want to put myself in my music." pure soul is a song about wondering what to do.

See LIVE IN BIG EGG: Onstage, Takuro has tears in his eyes. "I want to be with you all!" he cries out. "We will come back [as a] much better GLAY the next time I see you! I'll definitely come back here!"

Next scene: They are on a plane to Hokkaido. Touring Hokkaido was realized because the the members strongly wanted to do that.

Teru: "When we were an Indies band, we tried to be acknowledged by other people so we were more eager to be understood by others. But now, [I think] we're so big. Who do I want to understand us [now]? I sang great when we were an Indies band. Now I think that to get more and more people [audience]... we wonder what we can do, what we can sing. Sometimes I wonder what I sing for. When I'm onstage, I sometimes wonder whether I sing for the fans or for myself. On the stage, I think about this question but I always come back to the idea that I sing for myself."

When GLAY started touring intensively in Hokkaido 5 years ago (in 1994) after their debut, they rode on a wagon and toured around Hokkaido. This is their first time to go to Wakkanai. In the background, you can see Russia. (Imagine this: a coast all covered with ice and snow. ~aciel) That is one of the disputed lands between Russia and Japan. GLAY have never seen such a snowy, vacant lot in a long time. Jiro sees a nice advertisement through his binoculars. The ad says "Welcome and Goodbye!"

Next scene: The Community Culture Center which is sometimes used for movie shows. Locals come from all over Hokkaido (not only Wakkanai). The last time this town had a rock concert was last year in July (1998.7).

Onstage: Teru is talking to the audience. "I'm happy to see a lot of snow. Did you guys think that Spring has already arrived? Well, it hasn't! (crowd laughs) I'm so happy to be in Wakkanai!"

Jiro's turn to talk to the audience: "Thank you very much for coming! In Wakkanai, you guys don't have rock concerts, do you? It's worse in Hakodate! (crowd laughs) For those of you who want to hear rock music, we're here!"

Wakkanai Airport. Crowds of girls gather to watch them leave the town outside. Inside, they are looking at some questionnaires that the audience members filled out at the concert. The band members read carefully.
Jiro: "One of the fans wrote that there was an hour long encore show that was great."
Takuro: "One of the fans wrote that 'My father wanted to come too.' Why does the father want to come? I grew up in a single mother family so I'm not good with father issues." (He's joking, I think. ~aciel)
Their manager calls the boy who wrote that message on his cell phone and gives it to Takuro.
Takuro: "I'm Takuro, guitarist of GLAY. I'm at the airport [getting ready to leave] to another place and I got your message. What do you mean by 'Your father wanted to come to the concert?' Did your father not come because he had work? [The boy says that the tickets were sold out.] Oh, sorry. Next time, we're coming back here. Please tell your father to come next time. Your whole family is welcome. I promise you that we'll come back here in Wakkanai. Please say hi to your father. [Click-closes the cell phone] The father wanted to buy a ticket and the boy is 16 years old."
(I think Takuro really likes to joke around. ~aciel)

Things happen during the tour in a diary format. [Picture this: Teru is sitting down in front of his Mac Powerbook, reading his BBS in HAPPY SWING SPACE SITE, GLAY's Official Homepage]. Teru gets 10 000 messages in a month. It's their routine to update their homepages and 10 000 people write in his BBS per month. Teru: "I like to communicate with the fans. I want to know how people like the music and if there 100 people, there must be 100 different responses to the music. I think I get influenced by or inspiration from people who write on the Web. My way of thinking might change. I sometimes notice my weak points."

Image of Hokkaido landscape from the tour bus window as it moves along the road.
Teru: "This is the typical image I have of Hokkaido."
(Picture flat land and farms. Not a typical Japanese countryside. ~aciel)

Jiro: "I love Spring the most, especially the period when the snow is melting, and the asphalt appears, in Hokkaido. During the Winter, elementary school students are banned from riding bicycles [for safety purposes]. There is a day when the school allows students to ride their bicycles. This is also the period when it stops snowing. It's chilly!" Jiro walks off.

In Kitami, the snow is piled high. Takuro tries to walk towards a vending machine and his feet sink into the snow easily when he is in front of it. However, he has difficulty going back to the other members because the snow is so high. He stumbles.
ONION STUDIO: This is the livehouse which GLAY visited 5 years ago on a Tour. [They are looking at an old GLAY live poster which has their signatures on the wall.] This is a memorable place for them. They were not really famous at the time. The audience was mainly comprised of elementary and junior highschool students and there were only 70 people in the audience. After 5 years passed, the same children are coming to see them.
Teru: "Kitami Citizen Hall. We're back after 5 years."

Although the temperature outside is 25 degrees, there are a few girls who are pressing their ears on the glass doors just to listen to the concert.

[pure soul lyrics are read out loud by the narrator while the GLAY members are standing outside their tour bus, preparing to leave.]

Hakodate-April 6, 1999. Concert at Hakodate Citizen's Hall. Not only people from that region but also people from other places come.
Teru: "Today is the last day of "pure soul." We have gone on this tour for a long time."
Their old friends and their relatives are in the audience.

Teru talks to the audience: "We are so excited and we feel like talking to you. Let Hisashi talk first."
Hisashi addresses the crowd: "Woo! Yesterday I went to Asahiya, a store I used to go to when I was an elementary school student, and when I got there, the store had become a flower shop! It was a surprise!"
Teru: "That's Hisashi."
Jiro: "Yesterday, I climbed up Hakodate mountain. It was so chilly, I mixed up the dialects."
Teru: "That's Jiro. Takuro now."
Takuro: "Yesterday, I drank with old friends and the child I sang about in a song called [Glorious] has now become an elementary school student. I saw the child [who is only 6 years old]. The child's father is my friend. This father once played a Buddhist monk in a classroom play and [he] had such dignity in his appearance." Takuro was surprised to see that the child had grown up and become a school kid, and even though the child is only 6 years old, he looks as dignified as his father did in that classroom play.

Teru: "I feel free from hiding my dialect. Sometimes people tell me, 'You have an accent.' You guys have a stronger accent than me!"

Teru: "This is the final [live] and we're finished. Thank you very much. See you in March! Thank you!"

Their concert is at an end. 14 000 (?) people came to see them during the year.

Final comments from the members:
Hisashi: "To begin with, the members are friends. They are irreplaceable."

Jiro: "Last time we had a Dome appearance, I felt that that was the end and I thought that I didn't have anything more to do but I have to keep my feet on the ground. I realize that performing in lives and touring Hokkaido is the most important thing for us to continue doing."

Takuro: "Before thinking about being pure or what pureness mean in general, the song should be more popular. The things I talked about...pure is spiritual thinking but I have something else that I should think about (which is) more direct. Directness is the opposite from being spiritual. There must be a need for that directness."
(I don't know what he's talking about. ~aciel)

Teru: "We never know what changes our lives and even if the person's life is pre-destined and the person just goes (and) keeps the track...(?) But I want to think that I can change my life on my own. Even if a person's life is pre-destined, I want to take my chances. Choose what I want to do."

This documentary ends with GLAY performing the song, [pure soul].

Story · Documentary

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