5 QUESTIONS TO Shigeru Izumiya
"When you wear a hat, you become more than your natural self."
Tell me about the time when you first started wearing hats.
>I started wearing hats when I was around 22 or 23. When I debuted, I had really curly hair and dressed like a hippie, so if I walked outside, people would know I was Shigeru Izumiya in an instant, so I started wearing them to hide that. It was a disguise, you know. Looking back, it was just a celebrity-like self-consciousness. It's true that no one noticed, but I realized later that I wasn't that famous then (laughs). People around me told me that hats looked good on me, so I wore them happily, and then I started going bald. But thanks to that, hats started to look good on me, so maybe it was a good thing that I went bald.
Who would you like to wear a hat?
It was definitely (actor) Humphrey Bogart. I admired the detective Philip Marlowe he played. I was torn between becoming a detective or a musician (laughs). So the single I released in 1988, "At the Beginning of a Long Friend," was completely influenced by "The Long Goodbye." The detective in the film never has any luck, but he works tirelessly. All men have that side to them, so my songs are always about losers. A hat is like a "symbol of a fighting man." I wonder if I'll ever get the role of a detective as an actor (laughs).
Please tell me what you pay attention to when you wear a hat.
It's not very convincing if you say things like "I'm being careful" while wearing such a tattered hat, right? So there's nothing special about it. I don't know if it's a lot or not, but I have about 30 hats, and my criteria for choosing one is that it can withstand the rain and wind, and that it burns when I throw it! A hat that comes back to life even if you slam it down. I like something that looks cool and squishy.
Please tell me about the hat you are wearing today.
This hat I wear often is the one I used on the cover of "At the Beginning of a Long Friend." I didn't care about the manufacturer, it's an agnès b. one I chose myself. However, I lost it just as this hat was starting to become my public image. Then about a year later, I found it in a gap in the shutters of my house (laughs). Even though it's leather, it was completely worn out from the wind and rain, and I felt bad about what I'd done. But when I put it on, it just fit my head perfectly. It's been my partner ever since. It's gotten brittle from years of use, so now I only wear it on special occasions.
What does a hat mean to your life?
If I don't have a hat, I can't go out front. This is more of a "transformation" than a disguise. Because when you wear a hat, you become more than yourself. Human nature is boring. Isn't it fun to see people like that? I think so, really. For me, a hat is both a defense and a combat uniform. So when I can't find my hat, I'm really in trouble. I once stopped going out because I couldn't find my favorite hunting (lol). So if you see me and think, ``Izumiya, I don't feel well today,'' please think that it's because I couldn't find my hat.
