\n\t\t\tTrending on Billboard\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
\n\tJapan\u2019s ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION dropped Fujieda EP<\/em> and new single \u201cSkins\u201d in back-to-back months. Recorded entirely at MUSIC inn Fujieda, a residential recording studio built inside a 130-year-old renovated storehouse, the four-track EP shifts texture from song to song while serving as a showcase for the quality of the Shizuoka facility.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tExplore\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n \t\t\t\t\tBillboard\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n See latest videos, charts and news<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \n\t\u201cSkins\u201d is the opening theme for the TV anime Dr. STONE: SCIENCE FUTURE<\/em> Season 3. The song reworks the feeling of an age of wavering values into a common sensibility that can be shared across conflict and division. Billboard Japan spoke with all four members about the making of Fujieda EP<\/em>, the perspective behind \u201cSkins,\u201d and their enthusiasm heading into their 30th anniversary overseas shows and Ariake Arena concert.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRelated\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n \t\t\t\t\tIsaiah Rashad on Choosing Radical Acceptance With New Album ‘It’s Been Awful’: ‘S–t Happens to Everybody’\u00a0\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \t\t\t\t\tStray Kids to Play Special Concert Series STRAYCITY in Latin America: Here Are the Dates\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \t\t\t\t\tSiriusXM’s ‘Billboard Top 500 Summer Hits Countdown Channel’ Returns\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Fujieda EP<\/em><\/strong> was recorded entirely at MUSIC inn Fujieda. How did this studio come to exist in the first place?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tMasafumi Gotoh (frontman, guitar): When young musicians are based in Tokyo, especially in the urban center, studio costs can be prohibitively high. Some places are expensive and cramped at the same time, which is a tough situation. I wanted to create a more accessible space where people could really take their time making music, and that\u2019s how MUSIC inn Fujieda came about. We used crowdfunding and a lot of people\u2019s support to get it finished, but once you\u2019re ready to actually run a studio, you need to do some test recordings. So I asked the other members of ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION to take on that role this time.<\/p>\n What was it like to actually use the studio?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tKensuke Kita (guitar, vocals): I\u2019d seen photos of it before, but when I saw the real thing, the first thing that struck me was how thoroughly it had come together as a proper studio, beyond anything I\u2019d imagined. It\u2019s not enormous, but the high ceilings make it feel bigger than it is. Since we did our pre-production at our own studio beforehand, we were able to record the same songs under the same conditions and compare, which was great. The drum sound in particular was fantastic. I was impressed because it was clear they built the space with that sound in mind. The care that went into it really does come through in the audio.<\/p>\n \n\tKiyoshi Ijichi (drums): It\u2019s also impressive that a storehouse like this still exists in Fujieda. Renovation must cost more than clearing the land and building from scratch. We once went to RAK Studios in London to record. It\u2019s a place that\u2019s been around for decades, and Europe has that culture of looking after old buildings. In some places, renovation rather than demolition is actually required by law. That\u2019s a wonderful thing, and it gives neighborhoods a cohesive beauty. I\u2019d always envied that. Japan has its share of earthquakes, which sometimes makes rebuilding unavoidable. So something like this is all the more remarkable and it moved me.<\/p>\n \n\tTakahiro Yamada (bass, vocals): The materials used were wonderful as well \u2014 reclaimed wood from disaster sites, and the original storehouse floorboards repurposed as wall paneling. (The floor uses Noto hiba cypress, and the walls incorporate salvaged timber rescued from areas affected by the Noto earthquake.) The staff were warm and full of character, and the whole environment was so comfortable. Honestly, the feeling I\u2019m left with is, thank you for letting us be the first ones to use it.<\/p>\n Your new single \u201cSkins\u201d was released in April as the opening theme for <\/strong>Dr. STONE: SCIENCE FUTURE<\/em><\/strong> Season 3. How did you go about reflecting the world of the series in the song?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tGotoh: This is actually a song I wrote quite a while ago. I believe it was after we put out \u201cLife is Beautiful,\u201d and I was in a headspace of feeling like the only thing worth writing was anti-war songs. I was asking myself how to write something that could push back against the way things were going. But simply shouting opposition to war doesn\u2019t accomplish much. As I kept thinking it through, I arrived at the idea that maybe we all have no choice but to shed the things we\u2019re carrying. What\u2019s left once each of us has stripped everything away is our naked bodies, bare skin \u2014 just \u201cskin.\u201d That\u2019s where the title \u201cSkins\u201d came from.<\/p>\n \n\tAnd Dr. STONE<\/em> is a story about humanity starting over after being petrified. It\u2019s an epic tale, but also carries something like a critique of the modern world. That\u2019s where I felt the two could resonate with each other. Rather than writing something from scratch, this was more about finding where an existing song and a work of fiction overlapped.<\/p>\n I get a sense that your recent lyrics convey strong messages about connecting through music across conflict and division. After the recent lower house election, you mentioned the studio and said something along the lines of \u201cit doesn\u2019t matter what party anyone supports.\u201d What are your thoughts on that now?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tGotoh: It\u2019s pretty clear that the world is full of people with different positions. Even when they speak the same language, people have divided over nothing more than believing in different gods. It\u2019s been like that throughout human history.<\/p>\n That\u2019s true.<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tGotoh: I don\u2019t think music exists to highlight those differences. What I\u2019ve come to believe is that music\u2019s potential lies in showing us that even people who have nothing in common can end up in the same place, moving to the same sound or beat, and share a feeling of, \u201cThis is good.\u201d That there\u2019s something like a common feeling, not just difference. Music shouldn\u2019t be a source of division.<\/p>\n \n\tOne of the reasons music saved me is that it never told me I wasn\u2019t allowed to listen. There might be communities where you feel out of place, but I have no real memory of being turned away. That\u2019s what expression is at its core, I think \u2014 open to anyone.<\/p>\n Absolutely.<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tGotoh: I want to keep making things like that, and keep writing down things we need to think about within them. But at the root of it is a feeling that music should be there so that everyone can confirm together that it\u2019s OK to be here.<\/p>\n I also wanted to ask about opening for Oasis. What was that experience like?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tGotoh: Tokyo Dome is massive. It was our first time playing a dome as ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION. Honestly, the last time I was there was 30 years ago when I went to watch a Nippon-Ham versus Orix game because I wanted to see Ichiro. So the idea of performing at Tokyo Dome wasn\u2019t something I\u2019d ever pictured. I went in half-expecting the sound to be bad, [Laughs<\/em>] but it was actually good. I noticed it again at the Oasis show \u2014 things have improved a lot lately. The speaker systems have really caught up with the venues.<\/p>\n \n\tI was genuinely nervous being on that stage. It all came together pretty quickly, too. But after 30 years as a band, I also felt like we couldn\u2019t afford not to play well. It would have been tough if we\u2019d been told to play for 50 minutes, but 30 minutes? We could handle that. Still, when it was over, my mouth was completely dry. Whether that was the air pressure, the nerves, the adrenaline \u2014 I\u2019d have to do it again to know. [Laughs<\/em>]<\/p>\n \n\tYamada: I was nervous, of course, but the crowd was warm, and I think we were able to get through it feeling good rather than stiff. The feedback was positive too, so hopefully some of the people who saw us there also came to the Ariake Arena show in April (the 30th Anniversary Special Concert \u201cThirty Revolutions\u201d). That would really mean a lot.<\/p>\n \n\tGotoh: The best beer I had all last year was the one I drank right after we came off, standing in front of the first-base dugout.<\/p>\n \n\tKita: You had such a great look on your face.<\/p>\n \n\tIjichi: Before we went out, Gotch (Gotoh) hugged all of us for the first time ever. I was a little moved by that. We\u2019d actually opened for Oasis once before, in Nagoya (SUMMER SONIC EVE in 2005 at the Nagoya Port Open-Air Park). That was a pretty rough crowd. [Laughs<\/em>] We could feel the energy of \u201cjust bring out Oasis already\u201d while we were playing, so I figured this one would be similarly unwelcoming and stepped onto the stage with that expectation.<\/p>\n \n\tThen the moment I hit the first beat of the drum intro, I thought, \u201cHuh?\u201d There was this huge cheer. And from there, people were singing along. I was like, \u201cThey actually know our songs!\u201d I don\u2019t know whether Oasis fans had come to know us over the years since Nagoya, or whether people who already knew us were just big Oasis fans too, but feeling like we were genuinely sharing a bill as equals made me really happy.<\/p>\n This year, you\u2019ll be celebrating your 30th anniversary in Indonesia, Mexico, Chile, and Peru, <\/strong>along <\/strong>with the upcoming arena concert in Japan. To close, could each of you share a thought about what\u2019s ahead and a message for readers?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tGotoh: The fans who listen to ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION in Japan are incredibly important to us, but there are also so many people listening to us all around the world. It\u2019s one of the things driving this band right now. If people are calling us there, I want to go everywhere we can while we still can. And I want to make music and put on shows that are worthy of that feeling.<\/p>\n \n\tKita: The fact that we\u2019ve been able to keep this band going for 30 years is because there are people who keep showing up, and I\u2019m truly grateful for that. I want to give them a show they\u2019ll be glad they came to.<\/p>\n \n\tIjichi: I want to play a range of songs, old and new, and really do them right. There will be people coming who are new to us, and people who have been with us for years, and I\u2019d love for both groups to leave happy. When you\u2019ve been at it for 30 years, you have an enormous number of songs, and narrowing it down to around 20-something is its own challenge. But I want to pick and play the ones that feel right for who we are now.<\/p>\n \n\tYamada: I\u2019m always aware that there are people out there waiting for us. Whether it\u2019s the overseas shows or anything else, I want to live up to that expectation, and I\u2019m going to think carefully about how to do that and play with everything I have.<\/p>\n \n\t\u2014This interview by Takanori Kuroda first appeared on Billboard Japan<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n [analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/music-news\/asian-kung-fu-generation-30-interview-fujieda-ep-skins-1236253583\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AKG-Photo-Yoshihiro-Mori.jpg?w=1024″] Trending on Billboard Japan\u2019s ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION dropped Fujieda EP and new single \u201cSkins\u201d in back-to-back months. Recorded entirely at MUSIC inn Fujieda, a residential recording studio built inside a 130-year-old renovated storehouse, the four-track EP shifts texture from song to song while serving as a showcase for the quality of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,226],"class_list":["post-1950531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-billboard-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1950531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1950531"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1950531\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1950531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1950531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1950531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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