Hajime Tachibana, a pioneer of Tokyo street culture that began with the Plastics in the 1970s and later became a global phenomenon, and Jun Takahashi (Jonio), designer of UNDERCOVER, who assimilates street trends into fashion and develops collections for the world, talked about Tokyo, music, and fashion while reminiscing about each other's creations. Hajime Tachibana (H): When did you first meet Jonio? Jun Takahashi (J): It must have been around the time of the Tokyo Sex Pistols. H: When was that? J: It was when we walked in the Vivienne Westwood show (at Spiral in Aoyama), in 1989 or 1990. H: That's right, we all walked in it together. Along with Hiroshi Fujiwara, Masako Koda, and Kan Takagi.
J: I was wearing World's End and Seditionaries owned by a Japanese collector. Vivienne Westwood herself came to Japan. I was still a student, so I didn't have any authentic Vivienne Westwood items. Hiroshi invited me.
H: Jonio, were you still a student then? Was NIGO there too?
J: Yes, I was. I was in my second or third year at Bunka Fashion College. NIGO was a year younger than me. Hitomi (Okawa of MILK) spotted me at that show, and the next week she called me in because she thought I was interesting, and then she took me out to play all sorts of places.
H: It was Hitomi who introduced me to Hiroshi (Fujiwara). She loves beautiful, cool, and talented people, both boys and girls, and she always takes young people with her, taking them to Tsubaki House and other places to introduce them to all kinds of people.
J: Tsubaki House didn't exist when I was there, but I would go to about four clubs every night. Back then, I'd go to GOLD and Picasso in Shibaura.
H: What was it near Hanazono Shrine in Shinjuku?
J: Milos Garage, which used to be the site of Warehouse No. 3.
H: Yeah, they had a London Night.
J: At that London Night, I was a student and I used to carry records by Noriaki Onuki and get into clubs for free. That's when Hiroshi came up to me and said, "You're so stylish."
H: Wow. Really? (laughs)
J: I was dressed like Johnny Rotten. Of course, I knew Hiroshi from magazines and stuff. We became friends and ended up walking in Vivienne Westwood's show. That show was the first time I met Hajime in person. I'd been into punk since middle school, so I wasn't into Plastics in real time, but I listened to their records, so I knew of Hajime Tachibana.

H: I didn't go to clubs much myself, so we weren't really close friends.

J: I was also good friends with Fumiya Fujii, so I went to see his solo exhibition.

H: About 10 years after Plastics stopped, I released "BAMBI" in 1992, and I think I met Jonio around the time I was producing it. In the 1990s, I started having more solo exhibitions. My first solo exhibition was a typography exhibition in 1992, followed by a DEPT exhibition in 1993, an application tour in 1995, and a lithograph exhibition in 1997, and I asked Jonio to design the costumes for the band "LOW POWERS," which was released that same year.

J: Was that that long ago?
H: Yeah, whenever I start a new band or DJ, I always ask Jonio to design T-shirts or something. He's really helpful (laughs). Let's go back to the original topic. That's right, the Tokyo Sex Pistols! Who were the members of that band again? Was NIGO there?
J: The bass was Hikaru (Iwanaga from BOUNTY×HUNTER) and the guitar was Katsumi (Katcin') Katagiri (from DOGDAY AFTERNOON). NIGO would sometimes play drums when our regular drummer suddenly couldn't show up for a show. NIGO can play drums, so we've had help from Toshimi (Watanabe) from Tokyo No. 1 Soul Set.
H: But we've never performed together at a show or anything.
J: Well, we were a cover band (laughs).

Continued on 2/6.