“Home is where the heart is”---it seems to me that language learners seek out where the home is, especially students who go and live outside in order to study the language [ryûgaku] and return to her/his country. In the 2002 French film L'Auberge Espagnole, written and directed by Cédric Klapisch, the lead character Xavier (Romain Duris) struggles between his home in France and in Spain, where he learns the language and eventually discovers his new self. I liked the film but this kind of story gives the post-ryûgaku self an aura of ultimate sophistication. What I really want to explore is, what else is gained along with a language? How can I, as a bilingual, really be at home in the world?

In Bilingual Japanese: Kikoku-shijo 100-nin no Kinou, Kyou, Ashita, a collection of interviews with ryûgakusei, students who have studied abroad, Machiko Sato pessimistically observes that “the influences that students gained outside Japan gradually fade as time passes” (Sato 100). As in L'Auberge Espagnole, the pre-ryûgaku self vanishes when the post-ryûgaku self appears but then, as Sato observes, time passes, and the post-ryûgaku self disappears and in the end, what is left? In-between the languages that express who I am, am I left searching for a tangible individuality? I would hope that the transformation of my interests, self and language, would be more convincing, more enduring.

For quite some time, I have been interested in the cultural and personal location of “in-between” described by Yoko Tawada, the bilingual Japanese and German novelist. Tawada locates herself “in-between” (31) languages and she declares that she is “not so interested in gaining skills in various languages since it takes much more energy to write a novel in a new language [than to try various countries’ teas as a step to cultural communication]” (ibid). Tawada is right. After all, Xavier in L'Auberge Espagnole chooses his future as a writer and in a scene of this film, Xavier feels lost between French and Spanish, his two languages. Literacy may directly show the self through language but I am interested in who I am “in-between” languages.

　　　　　　　　　　　 For a few years, I have been enchanted with a young lyricist, named zopp [always written in lower case], famous in Japan for his song “Seishun Amigo [Youthfulness Amigo],” which sold 1.6 million copies, and other hits including “Daite Senorita [Hold Me Senorita]” (2006) and “Kiss ~Kaerimichi no Love Song~ [Kiss ~Love Song of Way Home~]” (2007). Zopp spent his high school and college days in South Dakota and Boston, and his lyrics reflect a keen interest in the mixture of multi-languages. In this essay I would like to discuss some of the ideas about studying language and finding self that developed during a personal interview I had with him.

The Warm-Hearted Lyricist

　　　　　　　　　　　 Back in winter of 2005, a pop song “Seishun Amigo” became a big hit and The Asahi Shimbun identified the lyricist of this song as “a 25 year-old man called zopp.” A few months later on February 17, 2006, Music Station, one of the most popular television music programs on TV Asahi, did a feature on the lyricist. One of the interesting facts about him was that his song “Seishun Amigo” had been inspired by the French director Luc Besson’s film Le Grand Bleu (1988). The idea of zopp’s inspiration for his song coming from another creative genre like film seemed thrilling, cultural border crossing, along with his multilingual lyrics, which use Japanese and other languages.

Besides the television feature, several magazines published interview articles with zopp. What caught my attention in one of these interviews was that, when talking about his days in the United States, he said he reconsidered the love from his parents (Kamachi 24). Zopp focused on the most fundamental human elements, common in any language, and I was interested in his hearty perspective.

Zopp is not just a songwriter penning words for others to sing. He also has his own public/private identity, which can be found on his weblog (http://yaplog.jp/zopp/). He quite often uploads lengthy blog-entries and passionately reviews his works. He also reads and replies to thousands of fan e-mails. Encouraged by this frank passion, I decided to ask him for an interview and sent a five-page fax to zopp’s office. Within a week, zopp himself answered with a big yes for an interview.

　　　　　　　　　　　 In mid September, I interviewed with zopp in Roppongi, the sparkling area in Tokyo where many embassies are found.

I started with questions about his ryûgaku days, and quite humorously, like the boy next door, zopp shared his opinions. My first impression was, absolutely, zopp has the hearty mind and strength, suggested by the lyrics in “Seishun Amigo.” His lyrics tell the listener about the value of chasing dreams and, without difficulty, the listener can understand the lyricist’s intention. Haruo Chikada, a famous music critic applauds “Seishun Amigo” as a masterpiece, “That this song appeals to our eye is obvious, we can see a visible picture [from the lyrics]” (The Shûkan Bunshun).

Quite frankly and methodically, zopp shared his stance on writing songs: “I write lyrics about what I really want to write about. I like to put my thoughts together. I write lyrics for the artists I truly like, with 150 percent of my energy.” Indeed, I was able to see a coherent and honest stance, which must have been at the center of his life from childhood.

　Zopp’s consistent stance blew off Sato’s pessimistic observation of a pre and regressive post ryûgaku self. Presuming that zopp’s extraordinary inner strength must have allowed him to survive any situation in his ryûgaku days, I asked if he has ever had any fears or worries. At this, the topic turned to his impressions of an American History class at high school in the United States, and his tone of voice changed somewhat:

When the topic in our class was World War II, the class’s atmosphere became, like, me versus the rest. In the class I mentioned the fact that in the whole world, Japan was the only one country that had had an atomic bomb dropped on it, and that still there were people continuing to suffer from that. I also mentioned that the American government has not made a statement on this issue for the Memorial Day in Japan. Contrary to the United States, Germany shows a different stance and admits what they did in the war. Therefore, personally, I sensed that there seemed to be ‘the supreme America’ image inside the school education system in the United States, and this part was the only thing I disagreed with in my high school days.

Indeed, everywhere in this world, everyone knows the value and the difficulty of maintaining peace, and in every country, the task is how the country responds to historical issues. For example, Japan was not only bombed but also invaded its neighbouring countries and needs to face its own history with honesty.

I should point out that zopp was in Boston on September 11 in 2001, and wrote a song entitled “Yume no Kazu dake Ai ga Umareru [Love is born as much as we dreamed].” The song is about peace and it is based on what he had felt in 2001. Coincidentally, this interview of mine took place six years later on this very date, September 11, 2007.

　“Yume no Kazu dake Ai ga Umareru” has a social message which anyone can understand. According to a magazine interview, zopp has been inspired by the famous Irish band U2 (The Présenter), and I thought that the strong political messages in U2’s lyrics were key to zopp’s own stance. However, as he explains, it was different:

There are various perspectives on the topic. For example, if the topic is war, there is hope and relief even inside its sadness, especially when someone finds the person whom s/he loves alive, or when someone who has been desperate to know if the person is alive or not, finally knows for sure, even though that certain fact is that the person is not actually alive. I would rather see the fundamental feelings of humans, even inside lyrics with social message.

Just as he focused on human relationships as a ryûgaku student, as a songwriter, zopp continues to prioritize fundamental emotional connections between human beings from a range of linguistic positions and varying situations.

Creativity Guides You to Where the Heart is

　When asked about the multilingual texture of his lyrics, such as the title of his hit song which links “seishun” (the Japanese word meaning ‘youthfulness’) and “amigo” (Italian/Spanish for ‘friend’), zopp passionately answered, “I want to break down the Japanese language. Each language has its own colour and multilingual texture colours my lyrics.”

This employment of macaronic text can be found in other Japanese transcultural productions, of course, such as Minae Mizumura’s novel Shi-Shôsetsu: from Left to Right [A Private Novel: from Left to Right] (1995). In the novel, the mixture of Japanese and English is everywhere: “Yes, I hear a siren——kikoeruwa, kikoeruwa, I hear a siren in the distance....” (5). This novel seeks out which the home is for her, Japan or the United States---as it turns out, it alternates. If the author were Yoko Tawada, home would not be a choice between here and there; we would also be able to choose “in-between.”

　The difference in the two texts might be based on the time difference between the two works---Mizumura’s novel was published in 1995, and Tawada’s appears in 2003. In contrast to Tawada, Mizumura’s novel has a more desperate tone of voice and the readers feel the character’s struggle with the bilingual texture. It is not always easy to feel at home in language, even in one’s native tongue.

How does zopp bridge the identity challenge? Zopp’s lyrics have a base in home and family love. However, this does not mean that the audience hears about nostalgic feelings for home, such as Mizumura describes in her novel. Rather, like Tawada, zopp sounds like he enjoys each language’s colours, fearlessly building his own linguistic constructions and showing his own creativity in the mixture of languages in his lyrics. Zopp makes a connection between his multilingual textual method and his desire to be original: “If I do not try something different from other people, I would just end up being the same as artists in the past.” This is what the word, “originality” means.

I suppose my interview was also a quest to uncover his originality, seeking out the elements in his personal life that inspired zopp or how he built up his writing style. In the interview, I did not ask, but zopp confessed that he always answers “No” to the question about influences; that is, whether or not a particular lyricist inspired zopp to become a lyricist. Zopp also added, “Quite recently, lyricists gradually started to show up in front of the audience and share what is on our minds.” Nowadays, creative artists cultivate and follow her/his own path, and they are not restrained.

　Zopp’s stance is consistent. He expresses love and a hearty bond among human beings, and sees various individualities in each of us, which cannot be domesticated or categorized as merely female, male, multilingual or monolingual.

“Self and language”---it does not occur only in intercultural linguistic encounters; it happens in all our daily lives. As Miho Matsunaga, a translator of German literature says in her essay:

Humans translate in various scenes of life; translate the classic into modern languages, translate local dialects into the standard national language [...] Additionally, the paintings at the museums inspire us and we translate the inspiration into music, also we translate music into the motion picture or dance. Translation is a way of communication that links to interpretation and understanding.

“Understanding” from the ‘various perspectives’ that zopp suggests, brings me a solution to my quest for a tangible self that negotiates in between languages. Love, connecting bonds, and understanding of human beings---I could visually see in my personal interview with zopp that those do not fade away even when time flies fast; these are the fundamental things that illuminate our lives. Zopp’s songs remind us of this and make us believe that life has a bright side, absolutely. Again, I would like to promise myself that I will keep on fearlessly to cultivate my path with my own words and lean further towards the light.

***

I wish to express my gratitude to zopp, for his beautiful translation of titles of his lyrics into English.

References:

蒲地雄史「高校留学した先輩にインタビュー　『青春アミーゴ』を生み出した作詞家、zoppさん」雑誌『中学・高校留学事典 2007』アルク、2006年。

佐藤真知子『バイリンガル・ジャパニーズ 帰国子女100人の昨日・今日・明日』人文書院、1999年。

多和田葉子『エクソフォニー 母語の外へ出る旅』岩波書店、2003年。

近田春夫「考えるヒット　第435回」雑誌『週刊文春』2005年12月1日号、文藝春秋社。

藤崎昭子「青春アミーゴ　売れた背景は...」朝日新聞2005年12月7日付朝刊25(文化総合)面。

松永美穂「卵を抱きながら。もしくは、くせになる翻訳。」『翻訳者の仕事』岩波新書、2006年。

水村美苗『私小説　from left to right』新潮文庫、1998年(単行本は新潮社より1995年に刊行)。

渡辺史「特集　音楽マーケットの厳しい現実　Chapter 4. 25歳のミリオン作詞家zopp」雑誌『プレザンテvol.2』株式会社アートコミュニケーション、2006年2月26日発行。

[Audio Sources]

NEWS『夢の数だけ愛が生まれる』(2005) 作詞：zopp　作曲：Larry Forsberg, Sven-Inge Sjoberg, Lennart Wastesson 編曲：高橋哲也、安部潤

*アルバム『touch』(April 2005)、シングル『TEPPEN』(July 2005) に収録。

修二と彰『青春アミーゴ』(2005) 作詞：zopp 作曲・編曲：Shusui, Fredrik Hult, Jonas Engstrand, Ola Larsson

山下智久『抱いてセニョリータ』(2006) 作詞：zopp 作曲：渡辺未来、真崎修　編曲：前嶋康明

テゴマス『キッス ～帰り道のラブソング～』(2007) 作詞：zopp 作曲：森元康介　編曲：h-wonder

*すべて、ジャニーズ・エンタテイメントより発売。

[Personal Interview]

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