maya: I'm maya.
Aiji: I'm Aiji.
MC: The European tour is right ahead and "STRONG POP" has already been released, so this is the program right before the tour. Let's make this a good program for fans inside and outside of Japan.
Aiji: After the last program, there have been great reactions from the fans overseas as well. There have been a lot of tweets from overseas fans.
MC: The expectations concerning this tour are certainly high, aren't they? So let's start right away with the Q&A corner.
Aiji: Starting right into it. (laughs)
MC: So I am going to read out the questions for you to answer this time.
-- Q: Who is singing the chorus this time?
maya: It's about the album, right? This time there are a lot of different approaches. We do it ourselves, the support members do it, Nomura-kun or Makkatsu-kun. Also, the people from our agency also helped us with it. We did it with everyone together having fun like that. It's really been done by a lot of people, even our sound engineer and the director.
MC: That's probably something the fans would also like to take part in, right?
maya: Yes.
Aiji, in the past we have also done that, taking applications from fans as well. maya had set up an account and we received the voices from the fans directly, which we then put into the recording.
-- Q: The question is to the both of you. In the past, what was your impression of each other and what is it like now?
maya: The first impression is from the time, when I saw Aiji play live in Nagano, which is my hometown. I had already seen a lot of his pictures and videos as well, however, seeing this live created struck me a lot. (laughs) I think it comes down to the same feelings as the fans, where the impression gradually changes when watching lives and watch interviews and listening to various stories. The person gradually changes and unexpectedly he was not as "rigid" (as imagined at first)
Aiji: When it comes to my impression, it comes down to the fact that, unlike now he wasn't talking as much. He was a rather quiet person. Before he had been in a band with five people and he would be the one most in the back, so you wouldn't really know if he was actually there or not.
MC: From my impression he would seem like the most flashy one.
Aiji: No, he was really not standing out at all. I thought he wouldn't talk much at all. Actually that hasn't really changed a lot even now. He is not gloomy or anything like that.
-- Q: maya, you seemed to have hurt your forehead recently, are you OK? Also, Aiji-san usually talks a lot about everyday happenings, but maya doesn't. Please tell us something about recent happenings.
maya: I actually didn't hurt myself. At home I have this shelf at home in the kitchen, which I usually leave open, and I just hit that with my head.
Aiji: I did that, too.
maya: You did, didn't you?! I totally didn't pay attention to it, but after about three days later I had a big swelling on my head, which hurt quite a bit. And after a few days it became just like a line across the head and that's what it's like now. It's OK now, but at that time it wasn't really OK.
MC: Well it's probably because you are really tall.
Aiji: He should just close that shelf door.
maya: Maybe I should. But once I hit my head on it, I started paying more attention to it.
-- Q: You both are really cool, however, have you ever been dumped by a girl? Have you ever suffered from unrequited love? I would like to hear more about your love-life.
Aiji: I have, naturally I have this experience, too.
maya: I have too.
Aiji: There was one time, when my life changed drastically and when I started thinking about things differently, was when I was 18 years old. At that time, the break-up had been pretty bad and I have become a lot stronger at that time. It was in high school around the time of my graduation and I learned a lot at that time.
maya: There has been almost none...but then, I am usually not the person to dump others, so I guess I have been dumped by most girls then.
Aiji: eh?
maya: Most of the time it had been very an specific for a period of time.
Aiji: Wouldn't it be better to fix it then?
maya: But it weren't that many. It happened maybe three times.
MC: That's pretty specific though isn't it?
Aiji: But recently there aren't too many chances to get romantically involved these days anyway.
maya: There are a few, still.
Aiji: Are you sure you want to explain this? It's a live program after all.
maya: Oh right. Hmm, well, I have probably been dumped, but for me this is rather the feeling of confessing your feelings and then being rejected. That seem to be something you (Aiji) don't seem to have experienced.
Aiji: I did though.
maya: Really?
Aiji: Well, when still in high school that's quite a usual pattern. That naturally happened, after all I am only human as well.
MC: Let's not go to deep into that, because the joy of this might get missing. Even though we would like to hear more of that, let's move on with the next question.
-- Q: Today (04/14) is my birthday, therefore I would like to ask a question related to birthdays. Until now we have been able to celebrate Aiji's birthday at a live performance. Last year there had been "maya no Oosama Night 2011", which was a bigger event like that. As a fan, celebrating performances and events like that is a lot of fun. Hence, for this year are the two of you thinking about any sort of happening like that?
Aiji: We were thinking about doing something like that, however, making music is work for us, so we have to see and match it with the schedule and other things we need to think about. I have the feeling that it really is the best if we were able to do something with the fans, something like a live performance. We are thinking about it...
maya: My Birthday is in July, so we had been talking about it just recently with the manager.
Aiji: Let's stop it.
maya: Anything is final really. Last year we have been doing a live performance in Shibuya and after that, it was kind of lonesome. We also did a number of lives overseas at that time.
MC: Well, how about saying a greeting for her, since it's her Birthday. As a little present.
maya: That's awesome, isn't it? So, Makiko-san, happy birthday! There are a number of lives coming up, even overseas, so if you can come...
Aiji: That seems to be difficult... There are still a few in the coming days, so if you have time, make sure to come see us. But first of all, may this be a happy year for you to pass.
maya: Congratulations!
-- Q: I've been curious about this, but who of the two of you is stronger in arm wrestling?
maya: We haven't done it before and we would really like to do it, however, there is a live performance tomorrow...
Aiji: I really think that maya is actually pretty strong. His arms are pretty long so I might not be able to reach him. Even if it wasn't for strength and the power behind it, with my reach being bad to his arms, I think that's were he is the strongest then.
maya: You really know that well.
Aiji: I was really into it in High School.
MC: If you had been in the same class at that time, you might have gotten into a battle before.
Aiji: At that time I have been pretty strong as well.
MC: You look like you are strong.
Aiji: Really? So I have this aura of being powerful?
MC: Well, we shall look forward to see you two arm wrestling in the future then.
Aiji: Well, we sometimes do it for the fan club, so if you join, you might be able to see it.
-- Q: Good evening. I love listening for "STRONG POP". My question for you is, is there anything that you can't stand with in each other?
maya: Nothing really. We are doing very good together. We're happy partners.
Aiji: Happy partners? Doesn't that sound strange?
maya: Aiji has a lot though...
Aiji: But it's nothing much recently, since we are already together for such a long time. Back in the days, maya would not get things done until right around the deadline. He wouldn't contact anyone even if a week or ten days passed after the deadline. And when you called him, he'd be like "Oops, sorry 'bout that." He is the type to spend time doing stuff like that.
As for myself, if I don't make it to the deadline, I will explain the reason why I didn't make it. maya wouldn't though, even if everyone was waiting for it.
MC: Why don't you do that?
maya: That's something you really can't ask me. (laughs)
-- Q: Are your, the two of LM.C currently in love? Moreover, do you have the wish to get married.
maya: I'm usually in love, but that's basically work. But you usually are in love, right? He...maybe he isn't ...
Aiji: I don't usually fall in love. However, recently I do have the wish to get married. After the Tohoku disaster, I started thinking about that, thinking about having a partner and such. But I'm not really in love. That's a bit different, too.
maya: But usually everyone falls in love, right?! That's something you can't help...
-- Q: What do you want most right now?
maya: Right now in this moment? What could it be? I really can't think of anything right away...
Aiji: Can I say it first then? Right now I would like to have one of those winning lottery tickets. Don't you think that would be nice?
maya: You mean you by one for the future of actually winning with it, right? And that eventually then turns into money. That would be a lucky strike.
Aiji: And then the reaction to that would be the best thing of it.
maya: I see. S we'd have to install a camera and film Aiji's reaction to winning the lottery. (laughs)
Aiji: But I guess the reaction would be different. I would look at it, look around for cameras, then not touch it for a while and look again after five minutes, if it was real.
maya: When talking about myself, I would like to have a new game console. Even though I am really not playing much...
Aiji: Didn't you get one? You're not really the type to, though. In the past he had been playing games, but it depends in the genre, too. Puzzles would be good for him, since he tried those on the iPad, too.
maya: Ah, I see. That's about it.
-- Q: The question is to ChupaChups loving maya-san. I love them a lot too and am collecting all kinds. I am sure maya has been eating some overseas as well, but have you tried the two cocktail flavored ones "blue heaven" and "red hell"? I found those recently on the airport in Vietnam. I just bought it but haven't eaten it yet, so if you have an impression on it, please let me know.
maya: First of all, no, I haven't had that one yet. Vietnam is kinda dangerous isn't it? There are a lot of flavors I haven't tried yet, even though I get them as a present a lot. Especially the ones that only exist overseas, I haven't tried yet...
Aiji: This time we are not going to Vietnam, though.
MC: Well, if you get some from the fans overseas that would be nice, wouldn't it?
-- Q: Spring has come and a new season has started, but are you starting something new in your lives, too?
maya: Not because it has become spring...
Aiji: For me it is mainly that the pollen allergy has gotten really bad. That's how I feel spring has come. While others meet and part, this is how I feel the spring. Usually it starts at the end of January and gets worse from there on. The worst part has passed by now and it is declining, but it's still pretty bad.
MC: Haven't you gone to watch the Sakura?
maya: Well, I went to see them in Meguro and there were a lot of people, too.
MC: And the two of you are standing out quite a bit.
maya: We do, right?! But for me it was the first time to go and see the Sakura in Tokyo actually.
MC: Didn't you go as a student?
Aiji: As a student I really didn't go that much. In University I went for Hanami, though. maya is standing out quite a lot, however, I am mostly OK.
maya: Unless you get drunk and aggressive.
Aiji: I don't do that though. (laughs)
-- Q: maya's skin is so white an pretty, what are you using for that. Also, it seems you've bee stretching a lot before lives, so how flexible are you by now?
maya: I actually don't do anything with it. My skin is also rather white originally, so don't do anything with that either. Are you doing anything with it?
Aiji: No, I don't. Well, I use something to compensate for the make-up. If I don't do that my skip gets all rough.
maya: I don't usually do anything like that either. My skin isn't drying out lately. I use the kind of cleansing sheets everyone usually uses at home.
Aiji: I use that, too and a lot, because it's very cheap. Already for about 10 years, I think.
MC: You could do a commercial for that and get some for free.
Aiji: I would like that. (laughs)
-- Q: I think you are coming to Chile again this time, so with respect to that, if there is anything you hadn't been able to do last time and want to do this time, please tell us about it.
Aiji: In chile we actually did quite a few things, like going to the zoo and stuff like that. More than we usually do in Japan.
maya: In Japan I usually don't go to the zoo, but there is was a different experience. ()
Aiji: We really want to do a lot of things, but usually we don't have that much time. We just arrived and had some time then. However, the food is really good there.
-- Q: When you are on tour and far away from home, what are the things you most miss at that time?
maya: When I have to talk about touring over seas, especially for the first time, I missed Japan...and Japan...and well, Japanese food like rice dishes.
MC: Rice is something to miss, isn't it?
Aiji: I totally don't miss that.
MC: So what do you usually eat then?
Aiji: It's usually Pizza, pizza, pizza, pizza, hamburgers, pizza, pizza ...
maya: Usually there is catering at the venue and at night we'd eat pizza. One per person. Rather than anyone having decided that, we think about it like that already. Like "So what kind of pizza are we going to eat today?"
Aiji: So we have this continuous pizza eating throughout the tour, especially in Italy and Spain, but if possible, try to east local food as well. However, it's mostly impossible, time-wise, therefore it's pizza in general.
-- Q: Are you reading your fan mail? What do you feel when you read it?
Aiji: In general we read them all. Honestly, for me there are none I haven't read.
maya: Well, if there were like 200 letters a day, it would be hard, reading them properly, but as it is right now, it's just right.
Aiji: They do pile up, though.
maya: They do.
Aiji: So sometimes we read them in one go, many of them after each other.
MC: Aren't those letters also coming in different languages?
Aiji: There are some in English as well, coming from overseas. There are some we can't read and get us in trouble. Still we are grateful for them, since they are great motivation.
-- Q: Sending fan letters from overseas is pretty expensive. Also, when sending messages via Twitter space is very limited. Isn't there any kind of system from which we can send e-mail messages from overseas?
Aiji: Right now there isn't. Well, there are the comments for my blog, that would be one way.
-- Q: Please tell us about a perfume you like.
maya: I don't really have one.
Aiji: I have quite a few different ones. One that I have been recently using over a year already would be, Dolce & Gabbana's "the one" homme version.
-- Q: Good evening. I am going to travel overseas this year and since the two of you have already been overseas a lot, please tell me something that I absolutely need for that.
Aiji: Credit card and mobile phone.
maya: And don't lose your passport!
Aiji: Well it would be really good to have a phone, of course a smart phone would be better, because you could also look up translations in the streets. It's very practical.
maya: Well you have to get the setting for the charges right and you shouldn't be mailing the whole time. Pictures are expensive, too.
MC: Is there anything else that needs to be brought a long?
maya: You need an adapter plug for the different countries, because it's different everywhere. You can sometimes borrow those in hotels, but if you don't have it, it's really difficult.
Aiji: When going on a journey on your own, it's probably best to bring something you'd miss, like pre-cooked rise.
-- Q: What is Aiji calling his cat Sora-chan? What does maya say?
Aiji: Well, I say only "Sora", I don't say "Sora-chan".
maya: I sometimes say Sora-chan. You didn't bring it today, did you? On the countrary, what does it call you?
Aiji: Meeww, right? But it's not really mewing...somehow it's different, Maybe it has meaning.
maya: I don't call it anything actually.
Aiji: When we were working on the last album, there was this one person, who would come to my home for about three months straight and he would actually call her name eventually.
MC: We have gotten a lot of answers for a number of questions and there will be more from overseas as well. Time has been progressing quite a bit already, so lets move on to the next corner.
LM.C are right on their way to their next overseas tour, so we will have a drawing corner for that occasion as well!
In this corner we will have you draw something from the countries you will be visiting. Please choose the topic from the box.
Please look at it.
Aiji: It's "ENGLAND"
MC: For England the Beatles are legendarily famous. Please draw an image of the rock stars you have first admired together with LM.C on stage.
Aiji: If we have to draw someone we like, we also need to draw LM.C then.
maya: Should be split it and have a different theme. (draws new topic) It's "BRAZIL". It seems the hurdle has just gone up.
MC: When speaking of Brazil, it's carnival springing to ones mind. Please draw a girl in a carnival costume!
maya: You (Aiji) should draw that!
Aiji: We will fall silent if we draw this...sorry about that.
MC: Well LM.C are going to ten different places. Which ones are the places you will be visiting for the first time.
maya: Poland, Venezuela, Mexico, Caracas, Columbia. We are going to quite a few places. It's amazing that we can go to some of these countries for the very first time. I already think it's amazing that we will be able to go to South America a second time.
Aiji: When we went to Brazil last time, the excitement there was huge.
maya: The European tour is the third for us.
Aiji: I really also want to go to Australia and perform a live there. I used to go to Australia ... Sidney once a year. I did the production and recording for a mini-album there. Therefore I want to go there again.
maya: Africa would be hot, too.
Aiji: I am done now. I'm gonna show it! That's Brazil!
maya: So then I am going to show my English rock star as well.
Aiji: What's that?
maya: Isn't he (Doraemon) English?
Aiji: Look at this! It's quite normal.
MC: Are there any memories from touring in England?
Aiji: When it comes to the security people from that performance, we have been barked at quite bit. Like "Get on the bus! NOW!"
maya: It was quite strict. But unexpectedly, we laughed, too.
Aiji: I made sure to tell them the next time how to behave.
MC: How often have you been to Brazil?
Aiji: It will be the second time in Brazil. And this (picture) is all based on experience!
maya: The face is kind of Japanese, though. And then those wing-like things...
Aiji: There are many different ones, right? The outfits are depending on the groups in the carnival in Rio. In Asakusa they also celebrate the Brazilian carnival, right? That's the kind of tension they do it with.
maya: Also, is she barefoot?
Aiji: She's barefoot, but I can give her sandals if you want. I drew her sandals. I wonder if it's OK in a hot country like that to wear sandals.
MC: OK, let's do one more. One per person.
maya: I got Hungary.
Aiji: I got Russia.
MC: Let's start with Hungary. When speaking about Hungary, it is very famous for its hot springs. Please draw you and a hot spring in Hungary.
maya: OK, will do.
MC: What comes to your mind when you think of Russia. Please draw a picture freely and explain what it is afterwards.
Aiji: When speaking of Russia? I can't think of anything but Puchi...
MC: In Russia borscht, right?
Aiji: Yes, but I haven't eaten it until now. Have we?
maya: I think we did.
Aiji: In Finland there would be Saunas.
MC: Do you have any memories of Hungary?
Aiji: The live house was sort of in the forest. And the catering at that time was really delicious. That's about all I have as impressions. However, the pizza would be the best in Italy, though. Well, the one from the catering was pretty normal, however, when going downtown, the pizza there would be really good. Same with the pasta.
MC: By the way, are you two good at drawing?
maya: Well, just about as you have seen it before. (laughs)
MC: Are you designing your own things?
Aiji: We do designs, we just explain it to the person and get it realized.
maya: I am done. Here it is! Is that OK?
Aiji: Well, it's OK. I'm a little stuck here, though.
maya: I like this. Should I take another one....ah, but this one, I want the sempai to draw.
Aiji: And I drew this. It's a bit hard to understand, though. When speaking of Russian it would be this. It's a car, however, the dust in Russia is extreme. And when I asked the staff why that is the case, they kinda gave up on it. There is just so much ash and dust, the cars are really dirty. I didn't see a single clean car. That's the impression I got, as the streets were all gray.
MC: How were the fans in Russia?
maya: Well, we did do a hand shake event there, though.
Aiji: I do have to say that their boots in general were pretty dusty. And it was all on the floor of the live house after the performance was over.
maya: I think that the fans in Russia are pretty tall.
MC: But you here a lot that the people in Russia are very beautiful.
maya: They are pretty, that's true.
Aiji: Well for me the cars were impressive.
maya: So when we saw a clean one driving by, we always wondered if that person likes cars or had just washed it the day prior. (laughs) But usually, there weren't clean ones.
MC: So shall we do one more?
Aiji: Mine has written "FRANCE" on it.
MC: Please draw a portrait of the French prime minister.
maya: It's "GERMANY".
MC: Please draw a portrait of a famous person from Germany. There are numbe rof famous German people, like musicians, too.
maya: Really? Is that person German.....?
MC: Have you been sightseeing in Germany?
maya: A bit, but not in Germany. We have been sightseeing in Spain. However, I totally can't come up with anything regarding Germany. I really don't know and can't remember. Can I see it? ver Kahn...?
MC: So you don't really have time to go sightseeing, right? You're on the bus, right?
Aiji: Yes, mostly. I am done, now.
maya: For me, please still wait a little.
MC: This is also due to the time limit, so it will be the last piece of art.
Aiji: Really?
maya; So this is Oliver Kahn! Right? And this is a soccer ball. Though I think I failed this pretty much.
MC: How many places are you going to play this time in Germany.
Aiji: It should be three places. Berlin, Bochum and Cologne?
maya: Cologne, really. I'm not quite sure right now.
Aiji: In Germany and France we usually play three performances each.
MC: Before we reveal Aiji's portrait, here is a picture of French Prime Minister Sarkozy.
Aiji: Well, that's well done. So here is mine! Look at this carefully!
maya: LM.C loves Sarkozy. This is the third member on vocals.
MC: OK, so since it's right before the tour, please say something about that.
Aiji: We have been meeting a the people overseas before and there have been many calling for us again. So we wanted to return again soon.
MC: You will be going on tour in Japan and in Europe, so please send a message to the Japanese viewers as well.
maya: We hope that you are listening to "STRONG POP" and that the songs will be carried around the world. First we'll go overseas and then go various places in Japan as well. We hope you are all waiting for us then. In Europe, please be excited to see us. We look forward to meeting you.
MC: This was LM.C TV! Thanks for today.
