Afterword
Honestly, the fact that I am writing an afterword from this book is amazing in itself.

The idea of this book was born around mid-July 1991. Both Yoshiki and I were fascinated by the idea of ​​collecting for the first time in the world interviews of different subpersonalities, naming this book by the name of a new work X and putting it on sale on the same day as the album was released. It was complete recklessness, which the world did not know yet. I wanted too much to understand Yoshiki as a person, and then the release of the book was postponed, and in the end it came out late for six months. Although I tried to fulfill my promise as soon as possible, I apologize. Although it’s not my fault.

However, I would like to explain in more detail why the creation of this book was fraught with such difficulties. Or simply, give your excuses.

At the very beginning, work progressed well. Three fifths of the scheduled interviews were completed very quickly, and work on the manuscript was easy. And then the day of publication was appointed in accordance with the release date of the album X, that is, in December 1991. But! Suddenly, a variety of circumstances came up - both the “Art of Life” itself, and the tour, and three days in Tokyo House, and V2, and the cancellation of the performance due to a crush, and the fact that Yoshiki lost consciousness at the concert. As a result, the release of the album was postponed for a long time. To top it off, bassist Taiji left the band. "What the hell is that!" And since the release was postponed indefinitely, I decided to release the book separately in March 1992.

But because of such a tight schedule, Yoshiki's interviews and filming were constantly postponed. So the interviews were completely completed only at the end of February 1992. It was already impossible to catch up to March. In the end, at the very end of March, I locked myself in a hotel room and worked on the manuscript for five days in a row and still managed to complete it.

Nevertheless, although I say this myself, I became convinced that the content of the book is really very interesting. In the past, Yoshiki unusually often appeared in various media, but it was not so easy to catch his real image and trace right up to the separation of personalities. And when you read this book, you will realize that each chapter contains contradictions. And if you try to understand Yoshiki, it may seem that this is a collection of interviews with conflicting personalities. And I was still glad I thought that this plan was not a mistake. But is it possible to understand this person, "the crucible of different characters", after reading this book - you decide, readers.

And in conclusion, I want to thank with all my heart those people to whom Yoshiki and I have caused so much concern and without whose help this book would not have been published.

I will never undertake to write a book about Yoshiki again.


Ichikawa Tetsushi,

March 1992, tomibiki (a day unfavorable at noon, but good morning and evening in the traditional six-day cycle - approx. Perev).