Q. What's Oresama?
A. The movie that Miyavi made about himself...sort of. He also calls himself this and tends to have a big attitude. "Ore" meaning "I", and "sama" being the honorific used to honor someone like royalty or like...really important together should give you an idea of how huge his ego is. The movie Oresama is somewhat about himself. He travels to 1984 and meets himself for some random reason and impacts the lives of his younger self and a struggling new rocker named Shinii. It's somewhat entertaining and more of a fanservice movie and the dates are actually fudged (a lot) between the age of his younger self and his actual age, but it's definitely worth watching if you're interested in him or a huge fan.
Q. Where can I buy stuff?
A. Check the links sticky. Starting May 22, you can also check on iTunes.com for Miyavi's major albums.
Q. I wanna join his official fan club! How do I do that?
A. You can't. The official fan club isn't open for overseas fans. I've heard of some sites that will sign you up through them as a third party with a "fake" address so that you can join, but I don't currently personally know of one.
Q. I wanna buy a Miyavi DVD (Oresama, Hitorigei, Hitorigei 2, Hitorigei 3, limited edition DVD, etc.). Will it play in my DVD player.
A. YES. It will. CDJapan and most shops often times don't change the region coding information when they add items to their catalogue, but rest assured all of Miyavi's DVDs are *ALWAYS* all region. When you get the DVD, if you just check on the back you'll notice that the shop didn't bother to change the info on their website as the logo there clearly says "ALL". Other artists though often have DVDs that "lie" in that it'll be marked 2, but it's actually all region, so for those instances you just have to do research on the DVD, but this is not so for Miyavi. His distributors seemed to have had the foresight to make them all "all region".
Q. Where else can I get stuff or even more information?
A. Google. The links section, and the rest of this guild provides MUCH information so you should not have much of a problem. If you're still feeling really helpless with it though, feel free to ask.
Q. I love Miyavi's piercings. Do you know where I can get them?
A. You can probably ask someone to stick the hole in you yourself, but the lipring and earring you can find at Jpophouse.
Q. Who's Noriko?
A. She's the hostess of a show where she interviews a lot of rock artists.
Q. Who's Megumi and why did Miyavi sing a song to her?
A. Megumi's the wife of the host of LFX. Apparently the host wrote lyrics and had Miyavi write a song and sing it.
Q. Isn't Miyavi hot? (Or some other statement or question similar to that)
A. Yes, he is quite attractive. As much as we like talking about how good looking he is and we're welcome to go into that convo again, it's highly recommended that when you post you post more than a one-liner that simply states so. That way we can have a fun discussion too.
Q. What's Miyavi's real name?
A. Miyavi doesn't want his real name spread around anymore, so it's best not to ask/find it.
Q. But didn't he use his real name in Oresama?
A. There were a lot of things that were fudged in Oresama. Just call it the magic of movie land.
Q. I read in an article on Night in Girl that he stated his real name though!
A. Actually if you read Meesh's FAQ, she states there as well that that entire interview/bio thing was fake cuz Miyavi's a joker and likes to lie about things like that sometimes.
Q. I read his last name in an issue of Fool's Mate though. What's he trying to do?
A. Yes, oddly enough Miyavi seems to be okay with people knowing his last name. I suppose the logic behind that is that his last name is fairly common and as long as you don't know his first name, it's alright.
Q. Birthplace/hometown? I thought it was all just Hyougo!
A. They're actually different as of the November 2005 edition of ROCK AND READ magazine. This is the same magazine where Miyavi admits his half Korean ancestry. He talks about how his grandparents lived in Tsuruhashi in Konohana Ward in Osaka City so he was born in another area in Osaka City known as Nishikujou which is also in Konohana Ward. Most other places with this information cite the locate as "Nishikujou, Japan", but this is actually an incorrect citation because Nishikujou isn't a prefecture or even a city or even a ward. It's a very specific area within one ward of the city (it actually could be a street now that I'm looking at addresses in Konohana). For hometown, it's still considered to be Kawanishi City, Hyougo as the place you most affiliate yourself with and consider your "hometown" can be different from your birthplace. These days after confronting his mixed ancestry and becoming a more worldly artist though, Miyavi seems to have departed from connections from any specific locality.
Q. Where is the info about his Korean last name?
A. It's actually also in the November 2005 edition of ROCK AND READ magazine. Miyavi mentions how his last name is Lee and how he thought it was cool when he was little because there was Bruce Lee who shared the name too. mad d
Q. What does PS Company stand for?
A. Two things actually. If you look at the logo it says both "Phalanx of Swashbucklers Company?" and "Phonetically Syndaclism Company". Personally, I think the former makes a lot more sense. sweatdrop
Q. Can I post pictures?
A. Sure you can. Just try to be considerate of others on dial-up though and don't post too many in one post. I'd say not more than 3 or 4 is a good number if they're huge. Remember though, there is a thread just for posting pictures so don't forget to post there!
Q. Can I still be random?
A. Of course! Just don't get WAY offtopic, because this IS a Miyavi guild. Just because this guild is a little tight, doesn't mean you still can't have fun! We just want people to have lots of information right at their fingertips. Litterly.
Q. Your discography says that track 4 of Miyavizm is "Pop 'n' Roll Koushien (Baseball)", but isn't it Dappunroru?
A. No, it isn't. Some site somewhere made a mistake in their katakana and a lot of people who can't read Japanese took that for truth and it spread like wildfire with people writing "Dappunroru" on their pages and mislabeling songs. The correct katakana for it is "Poppunroru" which basically turns into "Pop 'n' Roll". How someone can get a po (ポ) and a da (ダ) mixed up is beyond me though since they don't look alike. Is katakana really that hard?
Q. Your discography lists Aho Matsuri with only that as the title, but doesn't the title have two parts to it in both kanji and katakana? And some places list the title as "Ahou Sai -Aho Matsuri-"
A. Yes, but BOTH still just say "Aho Matsuri". Technically, the kanji should be correctly romanized as "Ahou Matsuri", but the subtitle in katakana "Aho Matsuri" acts like furigana for the kanji in that it *TELLS* you how to read the song title and what the title is. Writing the title doubly or even rewriting "matsuri" to its other kanji reading "sai" is actually an incorrect reading and redundant.
Q. I was reading the bio of Miyavi you have up and who the flip is Muddy Waters?
A. Muddy Waters is an American artist from the Chicago Blues scene during the 1960s when a lot of African Americans moved into urban areas for work. The Chicago Blues scene is regarded as the roots of Rock 'n' Roll as when bands such as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones came out, they were trying to make music that was reminiscent of Muddy Waters and other artists related to Chicago Blues. If Miyavi looks up to this man, then he sure knows his rock history and seems to be trying to get back to the roots of the music he loves. 3nodding
Q. Can I post about Due le Quartz?
A. Well, you kind of can at least if what you're trying to say pertains more to Miyavi as Miyabi at that time. Pumpkin and Yilei are actually quite reluctant to let there be a full on Due le Quartz discussion just because if someone happens to like another band member more, then it would take away from the fact that the guild itself is supposed to be more "Miyavi-centric". It's a lot more of a preventative measure to discourage bashing of Miyavi. Of course you can state, if you like, that you may happen to prefer music from Due le Quartz over the overall songs Miyavi's put out, but bear in mind that since you are here and you do like *something* of his solo work to be in the guild, that that should take more "priority" in the content of your posts. Bear in mind though that music from his time in Due le Quartz was a collaboration with the other three band members whereas his work as Miyavi is him in his entirety. Just be aware of the fact that it might be that you just prefer the influence another band member had over the songs rather than any "change" between the music that was put out from when he was Miyabi to when he became Miyavi.
Q. Can I post about SKIN?
A. Similar to the Due le Quartz question, this means yes you can. While Yoshiki, Gackt, and Sugizo are also part of the band, I would like to make sure that we keep discussion *RELATED* to Miyavi in some way. Discussion of the other three as well is unavoidable, but discussion about a specific member that isn't Miyavi *SHOULD* be avoided. This is the Miyavi guild afterall. Gackt has his own guild(s) and so does Sugizo and X-Japan and Jrock Revolution for Yoshiki. I'm okay with there being more general discussion about the band, but when an official SKIN guild finally gets created, I'd appreciate it if people utilize that as well.
Q. Why is Miyavi so mainstream now? I wish he was still Indies.
A. Well, actually he's not really. It's not actually that Miyavi's mainstream because he actually isn't *that* big of a popular culture icon, so let's get that terminology straight first. "Mainstream" implies that Miyavi would be getting a rather large "media blitz" and that he's "everywhere" and part of the fads and such of popular culture that everyone gathers around. While it may *seem* like that sometimes just from the Miyavi fans you may meet from here and there, it isn't actually that he's "mainstream" because he isn't that big of a media influence to warrant that label so much as it's that his fanbase has grown because he's reached more people.
The only thing that's really happened is that he's on a major recording label, which is a world in which chart rankings and hits matter a lot so he has to write songs that appeal to a larger audience and that explains the discrepency between his major career and when he was Indies. He's definitely pretty popular, but he's nowhere near as influential as other artists like say Gackt, Ayumi, Crystal Kay, or CHEMISTRY.
For a "fun" way to try to get some insight into this, I actually recommend the anime, movie, and manga "NANA" originally written by Yazawa Ai. While not directly Miyavi related, it can kind of give you an idea of the world that Miyavi's operating in although probably not a complete understanding.
Q. I really dislike all the music that Miyavi's putting out right now. Why is he changing? Is he pop now?
A. Well, he's not really "pop" now so much that he's experimenting. Miyavi's a more well-rounded type of artist, so he doesn't really like to stick to one thing too much. That can be a good thing in a bad thing in the outcome of his music because inevitably some people won't like it. However, I think it's important to note that by experimenting, he can probably "open doors" to do something that's unique by incorporating ideas from different aspects of music rather than focusing on what's been "traditionally" so in established music genres. More than just being one thing or another, you can look at the situation as that he's trying to "grow" and the end result may very well be something wonderful that we'll love and deserve that he wouldn't have been able to get to by playing and making the same kinds of things all the time. If people didn't experiment, revolution or even evolution wouldn't occur, so I think it's enough to appreciate the fact that he's trying to take his work seriously and trying to just expand himself as an artist and test some stuff out.
Q. I want to send Miyavi mail/packages! Where do I send it to?
A. Send it to his management company's office. This is the address and all you need to do is just address it to Miyavi.
〒168-0064 東京都杉並区永福3-49-11 メゾンデュソレイ101
有限会社PS COMPANY
JAPAN
Romanized form:
〒168-0064
Tokyo-to Suginami-ku
Eifuku 3-49-11
Maison du Soleil 101
Yuugen Kaisha PS COMPANY
JAPAN
If you're really nervous about it getting there, just copy and paste the Japanese address and tape it to your mail. The post office actually doesn't care which form you use just as long as "Japan" is clearly marked on it somewhere. They'll get it where it needs to go after that. You should note that you probably shouldn't expect a reply back because Miyavi is a busy man, but if you send him like clothes or something it's been reported that there's a chance you might see him wearing it or something one day.
Credit for the questions and answers goes to Yilei. I just changed some little stuff around.
