In July of this year, Otokogumi (lead guitarist Narita Shoji, bassist Takahashi Kazuya, side guitarist Okamoto Kenichi, keyboardist Maeda Koyo ) announced a limited-time reunion on a music program.
Since their hiatus in 1993, they reunited for the first time in 29 years. The fact that Johnny’s office approved the reunion also attracted a lot of attention.
Yahoo! News (interview and text by Ueda Keiko) asked member Narita Shoji about the process leading up to the revival, the truth behind the hiatus and more. [note: this is an excerpt from the interview]
When asked about the reunion of Otokogumi, Narita said, “It all started with an email from Okamoto Kenichi in 2019. In the spring of that year, there was a special screening for the 30th anniversary of the release of the 1988 movie ‘Rokku yo, shizuka ni nagareyo’, in which the Otokogumi appeared, and Kenichi, who had attended a talk event, contacted me. At the time, I was first asked, ‘What do you think of the reunion of the Otokogumi?’. I was surprised when the word ‘reunion’ came up. It’s been 10 years and have since lived in my hometown, Nagoya. I had almost no contact with the other members. I remember replying to Kenichi’s proposal, ‘Is it a bit difficult?’.
While continuing to exchange emails with Okamoto, Kitagawa Johnny , president of Johnny’s Office, passed away in July of the same year. At his farewell party held at Tokyo Dome in September, the two will meet again for the first time in 26 years.
“He found me right away and said ‘Shoji!’. In November of that year, Maeda Koyo visited Nagoya for stage work.
“I got a call, and we met for the first time in 26 years and had a meal. Then the next month, Kenichi came to Nagoya on business. ‘Last month, I went to karaoke with Koyo and sang a song of Otokogumi’. I said, ‘I want to go too!’. So, Kenichi and I got really excited with the Otokogumi song. Things progressed from there, Kenichi, Koyo, Takahashi and I created a group LINE, and it was decided that we would enter the studio in March 2020″.
Okamoto and Takahashi live in Tokyo, Maeda in Osaka, and Narita in Nagoya. The venue for the rehearsal was decided to be a studio in Nagoya between the four. However, it was around that time that the situation with the novel coronavirus became serious, and it wasn’t until August that they would actually got together.
On that day, Narita was so nervous that he arrived at the studio an hour earlier than the meeting time.
“I also met Kazuya for the first time in a long time. The moment I made a sound, it was like ‘Oh, it was like this’, and it was like magic. The place hasn’t changed at all.”
The next morning, the four of them reunited, saying, “Let’s go visit Mr. Johnny’s grave”. Even in the car, the three of them got excited, saying, “Let’s do Otokogumi again.
“It’s not like I’ve lost my passion for music. But I’m already over 50, and I have a place in Nagoya that I spent 10 years building. I couldn’t say, ‘I’m going to do music because I was invited.'”
In 2009, Narita, who was doing solo activities, was arrested and indicted for violating the Cannabis Control Law. After receiving a suspended sentence, he returned to his hometown of Nagoya. After that, he distanced himself from music and gave up the guitar.
“I used to think that quitting music was a way to draw a line between my actions. One big thing was the presence of my older brother, who was a year older than me and liked rockabilly and the Fifties. When I returned to Nagoya, I was prepared to be beaten by my brother. However, he passed away a month after I returned. I didn’t realize it because I didn’t show it. The shock was so great that it took me a long time to recover”.
“I decided not to go back to music anymore”. However, one day, Okamoto told him, “There is someone I want you to meet, so please come to Tokyo.” There, he was introduced to Tanigawa Hiroto, the president and producer of Liz Media, an entertainment agency to which MISIA belongs. “I met Hiroto-kun in September of 2020. Even though it was the first time we met, the three of us talked for nearly 10 hours”.
However, it is difficult to make a living from just one music all of a sudden. Narita moved to Tokyo and was assigned to work in the kitchen of a restaurant run by Liz Media. He has almost no cooking experience and can hardly use a kitchen knife. But since she decided to do it, he decided that he had to learn from scratch.
“Hiroto-kun tried to make me work at a restaurant and play music at the same time, and let me walk towards my dream. Thanks to that, I was able to improve my cooking skills, and I was able to cook meals for the staff and cook for my mother at home, and it was well received.
The reunion of the Otokogumi had a big problem. Of course, Johnny & Associates owns the rights to the group name. Only Okamoto, who has an agent contract, is currently registered at Johnny’s office. Still, Johnny’s office heard the thoughts of the members from Okamoto and permitted the use of the group name. It’s a rare decision. In this way, Otokogumi achieved a miraculous reunion.
On July 16, 2022, Otokogumi was revived for the first time in 29 years on TBS’s music program “Music Day 2022”. They performed “TIME ZONE”, “DAYBREAK”, and Shoji Narita’s solo song “Puzzle”.
“Even though I didn’t announce it until just before, I was surprised by the magnitude of the reaction”.
In October, they held their first live show after their resurrection, “Otokogumi 1988″, at the Tokyo Garden Theater in Ariake, Tokyo.
“When I looked around the venue, the scenery was amazing, and it felt like I had slipped back in time. Above all, knowing that so many people had been waiting for me for nearly 30 years… that was the most exciting thing for me. …I still cry when I think about it.I was so grateful, I was so happy, and I think the three of us other than myself were also proud”.
You can read more of the interview here
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