Koda Kumi
----With the use of 5 keywords, she talks about the last ten years
LOVE
My values have really changed in these last 4 years. In the past I thought love meant to ‘give and take’. But my thoughts have changed as I’ve grown older. I no longer think in terms of ‘give and take’; I no longer expect some kind of reward. It’s important not to expect a reward. That’s true love in my opinion. Loving someone can cause you pain, but the way to erase that pain is also by love, isn’t it? That’s how I feel now.
In the past I wanted to get married really badly, but because of my new way of looking at love, I no longer have that strong need. Marriage means that you want to marry someone. Getting married itself isn’t important; wanting to be with someone, that’s what’s most important. So if you’re attracted to each other and as a result you really want to be with each other, marriage is waiting for you. That’s how I feel now.
Also, up until now, I have constantly been saying ‘marriage, marriage’, but actually, if I am the only one who wants to get married, then there’s no way I can get married (laughter). My partner also has to think ‘she’s the one!’. I have to become a person who the one I love looks at in that light. Marriage is a happy something, but I think it also carries risks. Men have to take responsibility and that takes courage. And women have to change their last name which can be troubling, and there are also cases where she might have to quit her job. But if you still want to be together despite knowing these things, then I think that’s the moment to get married.
Moreover, even if I did get married, I always want to stay in love with my partner. My mother will be 50 next year but she still says that she loves my father. Because I have such wonderful parents, I want to have a relation that’s like theirs. That’s why I want to stay pretty even if I get married in order for my partner to stay in love with me. There are also people who say that doing so is too tiring and think it’s fine to be a couple that’s only friends. But I won’t become tired. Making an effort for the person I love brings me happiness. “I am doing my best for your sake!! Praise me, praise me!” I’m that type of person (laughter). And when I get praised, I can keep doing my best.
I want the person I love to be someone that I can respect. I want that person to always be higher than me. In my case, when I think that someone is really great, that’s already the first step towards love. And smiles are also beautiful. Those two aspects haven’t changed since the past. My father also has beautiful laugh lines. When I see those wrinkles, I think, ‘he laughed a lot in his life’. Also, when you’re in love, you’re only able to see a person’s good sides, but I also want to see and show the bad sides as much as possible. Because if you don’t like someone with those bad sides included, then the relationship won’t be able to survive if something happens.
Only when all those things come together, you can image ‘marriage’ concretely for the first time, right? So you shouldn’t say the word ‘marriage’ thoughtlessly. I wonder whether I now feel this way because I’ve grown older. Your way of thinking definitely changes as you grow older. You don’t age for nothing (laughter).
MUSIC
more to come soon~
T/N: It's still impossible in Japan to keep different surnames when you marry.
