TOKYO - Hiroji Miyamoto, one of Japan’s leading rock singers, marked his 60th birthday with an appearance on News23, reflecting on a life spent in music and performing the program’s ending theme, "Close Your Eyes," in the studio.
Miyamoto, who turned 60 on June 12, appeared as a special guest on the news program and said it was likely his first time inside a television news studio. Asked whether he watches the news, Miyamoto said he watches News23.
The singer, a Gemini with blood type O, said reaching 60 had left him with a sense of wonder. "Before I knew it, I had become an adult," he said, adding that he still felt he wanted to continue living with a sense of youth.
Miyamoto said he once thought youth had ended long ago, but that staying healthy and alive had made him feel differently. Looking back on remarks he made in an interview two years ago, he said he had described the 40s as a difficult period and the 50s as "the youth of old age," a phrase he said he had borrowed secondhand from a comment attributed to Victor Hugo.
Miyamoto said his 40s had been a period of struggle, as he felt caught between adulthood and the image of himself as a youthful creator. During that time, he also suffered a hearing problem that left him unable to hear properly, though he said surgery later cured it.
By the time he entered his 50s, Miyamoto said he felt a sense of release. That experience made the phrase "the youth of old age" feel persuasive to him, he said.
Asked how he views his 60s, Miyamoto said age does not erase what a person has accumulated, but it can bring a different kind of freedom. "I think becoming an adult means becoming honest," he said. "It is not giving up. It means being able to live in a style that is honestly your own."
He said his recent 60th birthday concert was something he might once have found embarrassing, but he was able to accept the congratulations from fans more naturally. While acknowledging that continuing with full energy through one’s 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s would not be easy, he said age could also make it possible to become more open and direct.
Miyamoto, who began singing at the age of 10, has now spent about 50 years as a vocalist. The program also looked at how listeners now encounter music through short videos, social media recommendations and subscription services. Some people interviewed on the street said they often discover songs through dance clips, viral posts or recommendation algorithms.
Miyamoto said he also encounters music through platforms such as Instagram, even without actively searching for it. He cited Kraftwerk, the pioneering German electronic music group, saying he had come across promotional material and old footage online after the group came to Japan. Watching 1970s Kraftwerk performances now, he said, could still feel like being struck by music that sounds current.
He said the way people listen to music and encounter culture is changing rapidly, comparing the shift to how familiar digital technology has become since his own first experiences with Dragon Quest III. He also referred to conversations with generative AI, saying that even at his level of familiarity, such tools are already close at hand and can sometimes return surprisingly accurate answers to questions about the self.
Miyamoto recently released a new album that includes "Close Your Eyes," the ending theme he wrote for News23. He said the song was created with the idea of closing out the day after a stream of news, offering listeners a chance to feel calm before sleep and face the next day.
He said he initially wanted most of all to make something the News23 staff would be pleased with. Over time, however, the song became personally important to him. "It has become a dear and important song for me," he said, thanking the program for giving him the opportunity.
The studio performance of "Close Your Eyes" followed the interview, with Miyamoto singing the song live as smoke filled the set for the special appearance. The program closed by thanking Miyamoto after the performance.
Source: TBS
