19 comments on “Morning Musume 20th Anniversary Official Book Interviews: Tsunku♂ (Part Three)

  1. Damn I was really gutted reading him talking about how he stepped down mainly because of the differences in what he wanted and what the office wanted, and how he doesn’t know how to write lyrics for them as much anymore cause he isn’t as close to them as the previous generations. I honestly hope he can somehow work with the girls more because you can tell how dedicated he is and how much he loves Morning Musume T____T thanks for the translation as always

  2. Thank you for the work you put in translating this interview. It really has been an insightful and surprising read throughout. I definitely feel I’ve gained some more perspective on how Tsunku has engaged with the group over the years.

    • Hey bakayoyo. I’m glad if the work paid off! You wouldn’t know it just from looking at the number of posts published, but I’m quite confident that I put more hours into this site in the last 30 days than I did in any other 30-day span of the site’s existence.

  3. Okay that’s it I’m in tears.

    Thank you Tsunku, for everything.

    And thank you Henkka for your translations!

  4. Reading this entire interview makes me appreciate Tsunku, Morning Musume and Hello!Project as a whole even more than I did before, thank you so much for translating! It also makes me happy that Fukumura was the Egg member he decided to push all those years ago, she’s come a long way

  5. It was a wonderful interview, I wish the interviewer asked a few more questions on the subject of Maachan.

  6. Thank you so much for your work on these translations, Henkka! Reading this seriously boosted my love for Momusu & Tsunku so much, seeing *the* insider’s point of view. Seeing how he’s kind of an outsider now is really sad.

  7. Tsunku just does not pull any punches. He’s so blunt about what’s personal and what’s just business. His interviews never fail to be my favorite thing.

    This translation was incredible. Every moment of it was so jam packed with top tier analysis and information. Thanks you so much for making this treasure trove available to us!

    Ironically, even though Tsunku is less connected with the members now, the members’ dynamic with Tsunku has kind gone through a cycle: members first auditioned for MM to meet Sharan Q, then they joined because they were fans of MM and didn’t know Sharan Q that well, but the current members are just as much Tsunku fangirls again, but more of his music writing prowess than being dazzled by celebrity. There have been not just a few radios where they talk about how much they’re in awe of Tsunku’s writing, and Sakura is covering obscure old H!P songs at every opportunity. And some of the new songwriters are clearly trying to do their best by Tsunku, as well. So his legacy is continuing.

    • I think that’s what draws me to Oda Sakura so much: she’s just as much of a Morning Musume otaku as the rest of us. Reading that Tsunku stepping down wasn’t directly related to his illness saddens me, but at the same time it’s crazy that the compositions have continuously amazing. I really hope the girls read this and keep him in the loop for future lyrical content.
      His writing style sounds similar to Komuro Tetsuya’s production of Amuro Namie pre-‘00s: one of their lengthier chats is what inspired him to write ‘SWEET 19 BLUES,’ and it sounds like Tsunku takes the same approach when writing his lyrics for them.
      His respect for the girls and their respect for him make me respect the entity of Morning Musume+Tsunku even more—there’s a symbiotic nature that sounds so uncommon and special that really can’t be replicated at this point…

  8. Superb interview with a truly great creative individual, and you’ve translated amazingly. Thank you!

  9. Damn it. This is really killing me. I can’t find the video where Yajima Maimi and Hagiwara Mai got gyaru makeup and had to go out and buy ketchup. Please, if anyone remember it, ease my suffering.

  10. >The first thing that I just found bewildering were the multiple versions of the CD’s. I could accept having a first-press limited edition and a regular edition, but suddenly you’d have five, six different versions. By the time it reached something like ten different versions, I was thinking “okay, that’s a little disgraceful.”

    I just read that Hello Project’s upcoming single in September will have 7 editions! :D

    On the plus side two of the songs were written by Tsunku. :)

  11. Pingback: Tsunku doesn’t know much about the newer Morning Musume 18′ members, hopes they become more unique | J-pop and Japanese Entertainment News

  12. “But girls like Suzuki or Iikubo, they were just hopeless.”

    I cri

    “Another important member was Ikuta — she just strongly believed without any hesitation that she was a good dancer as well.”

    Of course she does. I could just imagine Ikuta attempting a new dance for the first time, and making a total mess of it, but still walking away afterwards thinking “NAILED IT”

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