http://www.tanakayuji.com/cn3/pg20.html

Notes:

1. Please visit the above link for the original Japanese text. Please refer to the original source web page for accuracy.

2. Not sure if this interview was conducted on 6 Nov 2005 or is that the date the web text version first uploaded. The timeline here stopped at recalling the time when Anzenchitai 安全地帯 released their first album, but it’s indicated with a “To be continued”. Well, I do hope there’d be more coming up.

3. For easy reading (and also for the translator's convenience), this English translation is written in the third person narration. Please note this is not a word by word translation, any inaccuracy found is fault of the translator. Suggestions for corrections are welcome. 

4. I'll try write a Chinese version when I find the energy. Anyone volunteer doing it is most welcome!

5. Original posts of this text and subsequent sections draft can be found on Discussion Board of the 安全地帶 Anzenchitai Facebook Fan Page Come join the fun! All languages are welcome! 

(http://www.facebook.com/Anzenchitai)

Tanaka Yuji talks about the early days of Anzenchitai by Just Drop By (translator) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.tanakayuji.com

Enough delay, here comes the first part!

ドラムとの出逢い　～　最初に手に入れたドラムはヤマハ製、兄貴が買ってくれた

Encounter with Drumming – My first drum set, a Yamaha one, was bought by my elder brother

Tanaka Yuji 田中裕二 was born on 29 May 1957 in Asahikawa 旭川, Hokkaido 北海道, the third child of the four siblings. When asked why he started playing the drum, Yuji recalls that during junior high school he listened to music introduced by his classmate Ueda 上田, such as “Let it be” by the Beatles, “It don’t come easy” (by Ringo Starr). Back then the Beatles has already disbanded but their singles records were still available in shops, so he brought several of them. The very first one he bought should be “Let it be” which was a second hand item.

Later on his classmate invited him to come along for a local amateur band’s performance, one that strangely touched him. So after that concert, they become friends that talks nothing besides music, like his friend would say “I’d like to play the guitar”. It was from then Yuji started thinking of playing the drums.

As a junior high student, he was not able to afford buying the instrument, so he grabbed things could find at home like trays, pots, and floor cushions, and from friends also, and play along with recordings of acoustic guitar; such was the way junior high students could think of doing.

Eventually he got his first drum set, one with tiger straps pattern made by Yamaha. It cost about forty-five thousand yen back then and it was a gift from his elder brother, which made Yuji very happy.

He started by practicing songs from the Rolling Stones like “Jumpin' Jack Flash”, and also music introduced by Yahagi Wataru 矢萩渉.

矢萩渉との出逢い　～　小・中が一緒でね

Acquaintance with Yahagi Wataru: Together through Primary and High School

Yes, the same Yahagi Wataru of Anzenchitai. The two studied at the same primary and high school.

At first, Yuji and his classmate Ueda had their own band during second and third year of junior high school, but he had a car accident in his first year of high school. That was during a trip back from the seaside and he ended up staying in the hospital for about half a year. So naturally he would not be able to join the band’s activity, and the band found a replacing drummer. And afterwards he joined up with Yahagi Wataru.

At that time Yahagi Wataru is already playing the electric guitar and his elder brother is also a guitarist. Wataru played songs by a British band, Led Zepplin, following style of the band’s guitarist, Jimmy Page. Jimmy Page along with Jeff Beck and Erin Clapton are considered to be the three most famous rock guitarists.

Later on came the influence from Southern Rock, like The Allman Brothers Band. Then was the time Southern Rock got very popular. Other favorites include: Cream (Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker’s band); Beck, Bogert & Appice; and Carmine Appice. At a later stage came The Doobie Brothers and they completely adopt their style.

While Yuji had his leg broken and the time having the metallic support inside, he still attempted the band activities with Yahagi Wataru, Rokudo Haruyoshi 六土開正, and also one other band member.

六土開正との出逢い

Get to know Rokudo Haruyoshi

Music instruments stores are the usual hang out place, so many bands have their members started knowing each other there. So did Yuji met Rokudo Haruyoshi.

There were two music instruments stores in Asahikawa which they frequently visited, Machii (町井楽器店) and Kunihara (ミュージックショップ国原?). Besides there were activities like performance contests, where people would recognize familiar faces, started chatting. People, even competitors, gathered together exchanging techniques and other things.

At that time Roku chan (nickname of Rokudo Haruyoshi) had started playing Bass Guitar, his techniques were better than the his similar age group and he played along with slightly older teenagers. But it was a pity that the band didn’t turned out well, and so came the opportunity the three got to familiar with each other.

Roku chan also visited Yuji at the hospital during the time he broke his leg, they chatted a lot and also about try forming a band when Yuji recovered. And so the three started their own band, as Yuji completed his hospitalization, mainly covering other band’s songs but also did a few songs of their own.

玉置浩二、武沢豊、「安全地帯」との出逢い

Tamaki Koji, Takezawa Yutaka, and then came “Anzenchitai”

While the three organized a band of their own, they were also aware of Takami Koji 玉置浩二 and his band Anzenchitai through music contests. Back then Anzenchitai also included Koji’s elder brother (Tamaki Kazuyoshi 玉置一芳), Takezawa Yutaka 武沢豊 and his elder brother Toshiya 俊也, and later on, Miyashita Takahiro 宮下隆宏, but Yuji was not sure about what Anzenchitai’s composition like before that.

The interviewer then mentioned once reading Takezawa Yutaka’s column articles saying there was fierce competition between the Machii Music Store Group and Kunihara Music Store Group, where Takezawa refer to as "armed up". Yuji laughed out saying he didn’t recalled such episode, yet perhaps only when the bands start getting on stage during music contests.

Besides participating in music contests, bands also organized their own independent concerts. Venues would include live house like Kusoryoko Kan (空想旅行館), also citizen halls and civic halls. Anzenchitai and Rokudo’s band were among those who taking turns to organize their own independent concerts, making their own flyers and selling tickets, etc.

Later, when Koji’s elder brother Kazuyoshi left the band with the drummer’s vacancy, Yuji started participating in the form of rental hire.

「安全地帯」への初参加

First time joining Anzenchitai

There wasn’t enough drummers around at that time, so many would play for more than one band as they became more skillful; and that was Yuji’s first collaboration with Anzenchitai.

Since their style for drums are quite different, Yuji played along for awhile but left later, and eventually Ohira Ichiji 大平市治 taken up the drummer’s position. Comparing a five-member band, Yuji felt a three-member band was more cozy.

When Yuji first joined in, Anzenchitai was already making their original songs, whereas 80 percent of the songs that Rokudo’s band played were covered versions.

If one listens to the demo tapes recorded then, one could find that most of songs are of West Coast Rock influence. Although the general public would think Anzenchitai are represented by songs like Wine Red Heart (Wainreddo no Kokoro / ワインレッドの心) or say, songs similar to Japanese Lyrics Singing Songs (Kayokyoku /歌謡曲); but there was a very strong Rock Music roots in Anzenchitai’s amateur works.

The two bands started to merge at around the end of their high school days, when one has to think about one’s future path. Several band members chosen quitting school to concentrate on making music, and Yuji was also assisting his own family’s business on automobile repair.