Despite all the interest in Japanese music lately, big chunks of the 80s haven't resurfaced as much as other scenes and eras. Bands like Juicy Fruits, The Business, Rosa Luxembourg and others just don't have the current degree of exposure that their initial success should warrant. These bands weren't obscurities: they were successful, influential, major label artists, the kind current musicians have been talking about in interviews when we ask about their roots. Likewise, you can walk into any decent record store in Tokyo, and they'll know who these acts are right away...just don't expect to find any albums for sale.

As a side effect of this mysterious gap, information on the web has been scarce, so you can imagine our delight when we tracked down Yukiko Ishijima, founder and only remaining original member of 80s New Wave group Papaya Paranoia. Papaya Paranoia were, and still are, strikingly different: bouncy cute and deadly serious, rebellious with strong traditionalist tendencies, the group has taken these paradoxes and run with them for nearly 25 years.

Recently, Jrawk contacted Ishijima-san at her current home in Prague, via conference call. In 90 minutes, we discussed the band's tumultuous past, it's ever shifting present, and virtues of restraint...

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JR: So, to start...why did you move to Prague?

YI: Well, in 1999, I got a request from the Japanese embassy in Prague to play some shows. I played there for a week, I loved the place, especially the music. I decided to come back, but just to visit, not to live! I ended up visiting every year, except for one year when they had a flood.

The first time was a week, then the next time was 10 days, then longer...I started traveling around, seeing new places in the city and in Poland, England and Austria, etc. I made some friends, so I decided to start looking for a way to make enough money to stay there. I moved here about five years ago. I work in both Tokyo in Prague...the vast majority of my time is in Prague, about 95%. My parents live in Tokyo, so I still have roots there.

JR: Ah, thanks! OK, to start back at the beginning...you started with a band called Neko Orodi?

YI: Ah! That was in the early 80s. Actually, you probably know better than I do! (laughs)

JR: When you were growing up, did you listen to much Japanese music, or was it mostly Western music?

YI: Actually, I grew up on classical music. My Father was very heavily into classical music, and I started playing piano at the age of 2...I started composing pretty early as well. I never heard anything except classical music until I was 15. My Dad was kind of strict...we didn't watch much TV. I was also doing some minyo (traditional Japanese folk songs.)

I had a friend at the age of 14 or so who was into rock, and I got into New York punk...stuff like The Ramones, The Velvet Underground. I started a band after a little while.

もはやこれまで (Mohaya Kore Made, 1985)

JR: After that classical upbringing, was there some rebellion getting into punk?

YI: Of course! I was 15, 16. That was the age.

JR: So was Neko Orodi a punk band?

YI: We were more visual, artistic. Kind of performance art along with the music. I wanted to do something that didn't fall into categories...when you go to a record store, they have everything in genres. I wanted something that didn't fit into any of them, but included a little bit of everything. African music especially, i wanted to put some of that into the music.

JR: Did Papaya Paranoia grow from that band?

YI: It was the same core members, yeah.

JR: Papaya Paranoia's debut album (Mohaya Kore Made) reminds me a little of the late 70s UK New Wave.

YI: Hmm...maybe that influence came from another member. I hadn't heard any of that stuff at that time.

JR: Ah, so Papaya Paranoia was a democracy?

YI: I was the leader, but I tried to incorporate everyone equally.

JR: How serious were you originally? Did you have any idea you'd turn professional?

YI: We didn't have any professional ambitions. I'd actually get members from the band by going to shows and trying to get backstage to ask people to join. It was a little like musician nanpa! (laughs)

JR: Heh...anyway. what clubs did you play when you started out?

YI: Well, The Loft...actually, I've forgotten most of them! I do remember that we played Yaneura.

JR: Papaya Paranoia appeared in the film Tokyo Pop...that was a big step. How did that come about?

YI: It was pretty straightforward...our promotional company started growing considerably, and Tokyo Pop's director asked about us.

Vanilla Moon, the band's 1997 return

JR: The band split pretty soon afterwards. What happened there?

YI: We didn't split! But...everybody besides me quit! (laughs) But Papaya Paranoia has always been a going concern.

JR: Hmm...why did everyone leave?

YI: I think the prospect of a big, major label contract intimidated them. We were four women, pretty young, and the responsibilities of a major label contract was more than they were willing to get into. It's a lot more than being a secretary! I was willing to make the leap, but the others were more reserved.

JR: Your solo album came out after that...was that from the major contract?

YI: Yeah, I had taken on that responsibility.

JR: Papaya Paranoia started up again in 1997. Was it difficult to get the band going again?

YI: I just wasn't meeting people that I thought would fit. It took that long just to get a band together that I felt suited the music.

JR: I've seen the "samurai spirit" mentioned in promo materials for the band (NOTE: Isagi Yoi, or samurai spirit, is the idea that someone follows their own path, regardless of what it means in terms of social interactions.) Is this something you think about a lot?

YI: Hmm...I'm quick to judge in terms of music...I can be pretty decisive. But when it comes to people, I'm a lot more sentimental. When I create music, I'll read the air, feel how things are, and pass judgement pretty quickly. If the atmosphere isn't right, I'll stop it and move on straight away.

JR: How about the different forms the band has taken on? When Papaya Paranoia started, it was a more traditional setup: guitar, bass, drums, keyboards. Now, it's an electronic duo.

YI: Initially, I was perfectly happy with the traditional band. But subconsciously, I was thinking about electronics...one day, I just decided: we're an electronic duo. It wasn't just a musical decision: I ended up changing the people I worked with as well. There wasn't any master plan, it just happened.

Ishijima on stage in 2009

JR: You have a lot of very theatrical, dramatic movement when you perform now. In the earlier days of Papaya Paranoia, you were playing bass, which naturally restricted your movement somewhat.  But now, as a vocalist only, you have a much more dramatic stage presence, almost like Kabuki.

YI: Well, even when I was playing bass, I wasn't exactly static. I was still pretty active. But...when I started living in a foreign country...maybe it's in my DNA, I started having those more theatrical movements. Maybe you're onto something there!

JR: Most of the bands I speak to don't put a lot of thought into the fact that they're Japanese...they just happen to be musicians who were born and live in Japan. But even with Papaya Paranoia's debut, you're wearing kimonos, and there seems to be a specifically Japanese identity in what you do.

YI: Japanese women live in a restricted environment...it's very conservative, women are still restrained in many ways. When I wear a kimono on stage, it limits my movements, but at the same time, the kimono has a very distinctive, beautiful artistic sensibility. I wanted to show how women were limited, but could find beauty within this limitation.

JR: There's obviously rebellion in rock music...but were you trying to break out of the tradition, or find freedom within the tradition?

YI: Freedom within the tradition. I want to show what can be done within this situation. It's a simple message...even though Japanese women live inside this situation, we can still enjoy an internal freedom.

JR: OK, back to the records. Tamayura came out in 2001. Was that the first album as a duo?

YI: Yes...I found someone who was as interested in a digital, electronic sound as I was.

JR: Is (keyboardist Michiko) Morinaga-san living in Prague as well?

YI: She's worked with me while I've lived here, but she's in Japan. She's married, and has a family there. We can't work together, or play out as much as we might if we lived in the same place, but she's an integral part of the band.

Rosepink (2002)

JR: So is this limitation why you have the other bands, Rooney Tunes and Autopilote?

YI: Yes, definitely. Working with Autopilote...I started working with Czech musicians. Everything is different, the process is different. The vocals and melody, I'll contribute, but beyond that, it's more independent. I like working that way, it's a change.

JR: The last Papaya Paranoia album, Rosepink...the video for the title track features you walking through a concentration camp.

YI: The concept behind the lyrics...there's a woman who is pregnant, and she's asking her child if it's OK for her to give birth to him or her. There's so much happening in the world, the song is asking permission to allow the child to enter this world.

JR: The chorus is you shouting "Watashi wa" ("I am.") What are you saying there?

YI: I'm saying that I'm going to continue to sing until I see a peaceful world. But it's very difficult to make that happen, and there's a lot of frustration and anxiety, since the world is, in many ways, the polar opposite of what I think it should be.

JR: This is a question for those whose understanding of Japanese isn't so strong: Papaya Paranoia has had album titles like War War War and Lunatic. Has that level of seriousness been typical of the band's lyrical themes?

YI: Yes. A lot of people write love songs...I'm not that type. My perspective drives me to more serious themes.

JR: So, where is the band now?

YI: Right now, I have ideas and a general feeling for something different. Before, the band was pretty upbeat and strong, but there was a gentle core. I want to try the opposite, very gentle sounds, soft, but with a more serious center.

I've been practicing yoga for quite a while, and some of the things that lie at the heart of yoga have found their way into the music. Yoga has a very static, contemplative external appearance, but the inside is very passionate. I want to make music like this, in more of an improvisational style.

JR: You're also an illustrator. Have any of the underlying ideas from that made their way into your music?

YI: Hmm...that's interesting! (laughs) I never thought about it, actually!  My manga artwork tends to be more happy or fun, and the music is more serious. Maybe I'll try that.

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