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\n\tThe latest interview by the duo marks the occasion of the one-night-only special live event Women in Music \u2013 EQUAL STAGE, presented by Billboard Japan and Spotify on June 9. The band\u2019s lineup changed at the end of 2025, but Moeka Shiotsuka and Yurika Kasai haven\u2019t slowed down: 2025 brought their first two-night concerts at the historic Nippon Budokan and a seven-city European tour, and 2026 has already seen them release \u201cDogs,\u201d the theme song for the Netflix series Sins of Kujo<\/em>. Making their second appearance in this interview series, the two spoke about the essence of their new single and how their mind-set has shifted over the past three years.<\/p>\n\n\t\u201cDogs,\u201d the theme song for the Netflix series <\/strong>Sins of Kujo<\/em><\/strong>, has been generating a lot of buzz. It\u2019s a hard-edged rock track that feels different from what you\u2019ve done before. How did it come together?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\tSHIOTSUKA: I think Sins of Kujo<\/em> had a lot to do with it. That roughness in \u201cDogs\u201d is something we\u2019ve always had in us, but it\u2019s a sound we hadn\u2019t had the chance to express in a while.<\/p>\n\n\tHow did it feel to go there?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\tSHIOTSUKA: Really good. We\u2019ve performed it live and on TV a number of times now, and it feels right for who we are at this moment. There\u2019s no pretense in it. I never felt like I was being dishonest when we were doing more polished material, but there was a slight sense of disconnect between that and certain parts of my actual life and thinking. When you can put the darker parts of yourself out there too, the good parts come alive alongside them.<\/p>\n
\n\tKASAI: Playing this kind of music is when I\u2019ve always felt we can perform as our most unguarded selves.<\/p>\n
\n\tAs a theme song for a Netflix series, international reaction must be exciting to look forward to. The music video also marked your first collaboration with director Gakuryu Ishii.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\tSHIOTSUKA: At first I was imagining something rougher for the video too, but Mr. Ishii built the concept around us as these figures like \u201csorcerers from another universe.\u201d He also said, \u201cThere\u2019s prayer in this song,\u201d which wasn\u2019t something I\u2019d consciously put there, but when he said it I thought that\u2019s true. He was clearly having a blast on set, and the trust we had with his crew made it a really special team to be part of.<\/p>\n
\n\tKASAI: The flexibility of his thinking didn\u2019t just go beyond what I\u2019d imagined, it went so far past it there was no comparison. Here\u2019s this master filmmaker, and yet he has the heart of someone who just started creating. It was a learning experience for me, and I felt like I was seeing what it looks like to sustain a long career like that.<\/p>\n
\n\tIn our last interview you mentioned that switching to a pants-based stage look had made your expression as a band feel more like yourselves. Three years on, what else has changed?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\tSHIOTSUKA: The theme of our live shows has always been being our natural selves, and breathing deeply. That desire to feel relaxed has never gone away. This year we switched to denim as our stage wear, and that really freed something up too. I felt even more strongly that we don\u2019t need to dress things up so much. It came partly from a suggestion by HUG, the creative team we worked with on our SPRING TOUR, and with their help we found a denim style I\u2019d always wanted to try but couldn\u2019t quite picture.<\/p>\n
\n\tKASAI: It\u2019s more comfortable, isn\u2019t it? Rather than leaning on the costume to carry a strong message, we\u2019re letting the clothes just be us. Instead of using what we wear to make a statement, I think we\u2019ve found something simple that shows us most clearly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tDoes the return to a simpler style reflect a shift in how you feel internally?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\tSHIOTSUKA: The work we\u2019ve been doing has been building up, and I\u2019ve gotten older, so I think I\u2019ve gained a more solid footing than before. The desperation has faded in a good way, and I guess I\u2019ve gradually been able to enjoy each moment as it comes. My pilates instructor told me that being tense doesn\u2019t do any good and to try relaxing because I was carrying a lot of tension in my shoulders. It was about Pilates, but I realized it applies to a lot in general.<\/p>\n
\n\tSo taking care of your body is feeding into your mental state as well. Ms. Kasai, what\u2019s changed for you over these three years?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\tKASAI: When I encounter something for the first time now, I find myself focusing on the discovery. Instead of getting nervous, I can observe from a distance and think, \u201cSo this is how a stage like this comes together.\u201d I probably wasn\u2019t thinking that way at all three years ago. I\u2019ve also been waking up early lately, and when the start of the day is stable, I can approach everything that follows in a relaxed way. I\u2019ve come to feel that rhythm matters.<\/p>\n
\n\tSHIOTSUKA: Before, when a new opportunity came along, my body would tighten up because I felt like I had to make it work. Now my stance is more like, \u201cIf this doesn\u2019t go well, it\u2019s not the end of the world,\u201d and that looseness leads to better results. My approach to self-care hasn\u2019t changed much, but I think I\u2019ve found a way of living that doesn\u2019t deplete me as much. My own time is really important to me. And looking after my body matters too.<\/p>\n
\n\tIn our last interview you spoke candidly about what it\u2019s like to work as women in the music industry. Three years later, has your awareness of the gender gap shifted?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\tSHIOTSUKA: I used to think about it a lot, but now I feel like the only path forward is to just keep making music and performing every day, to be what people find cool beyond gender. If someone sees that and thinks, \u201cI want to do that too,\u201d that would make me the happiest. Maybe we\u2019ve finally become the musicians we always pictured ourselves being. We\u2019re older now, doing overseas tours, and are able to carry ourselves with confidence, as a result of what we\u2019ve accumulated.<\/p>\n
\n\tAs your international presence grows, have there been any new discoveries?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\tSHIOTSUKA: When thinking about what to wear, in Japan there are all these things you have to think about like, \u201cWill this look a certain way\u201d and so on. But when I\u2019m thinking about what to wear in other countries, the range of expression feels so much wider. There\u2019s a feeling of being received simply as a person. Doing shows outside of Japan is a blank slate for us, so when drawing a new version of ourselves, I wanted to do it there. Beyond just the clothes, it freed us from feeling like we had to play up a certain cuteness or charm. Once we started stripping things back for overseas shows, it naturally carried over into Japan too, and it\u2019s been a really positive influence on the band.<\/p>\n
\n\tKASAI: Everything feels like a challenge when we\u2019re in another country. We can just put out everything we want to do first. That might be part of how we gained that solid footing, too.<\/p>\n
\n\tSHIOTSUKA: And the spaces there felt like they were welcoming what we were doing.<\/p>\n
\n\tIn our last interview you said, \u201cI want to value being a human being before being a musician.\u201d How do you relate to that now?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\tSHIOTSUKA: I\u2019ve come to feel that it\u2019s okay if the musician version of me and the personal version of me aren\u2019t one hundred percent the same. I\u2019m not putting on an act or being dishonest, but there was a time when I felt like I had to be a perfect version of myself that lived up to every ideal and expectation people placed on me. Now I\u2019m able to draw clearer boundaries around my own time and feel like I\u2019m becoming freer.<\/p>\n
\n\tKASAI: My sense of it is that I create my own ideal self and believe that\u2019s the best version.<\/p>\n
\n\tWhat matters most to you at this point in sustaining a long career?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\tSHIOTSUKA: I\u2019ve started thinking about the changes that come with different stages of life in a more concrete way. There are still things I want to do, and I want to age well. I want to reach a kind of expression that goes beyond just youth and energy, something with more depth. That\u2019s not about being a woman specifically, it\u2019s more thinking about growth as a musician and as an artist. The two of us talk about it a lot lately. What more can we do with music?<\/p>\n
\n\tKASAI: Balance with daily life is still the most important thing. When that balance tips, everything falls apart fast. With experience and age, I think I\u2019ve gotten better at managing that myself.<\/p>\n
\n\tOn June 9 at Women in Music \u2013 EQUAL STAGE, you\u2019ll be sharing the stage with ATARASHII GAKKO!, Awich, and LANA. What are you most looking forward to?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\tSHIOTSUKA: First of all, getting to watch the other three acts perform. I listen to all of them, and they\u2019re so powerful and cool. And as I was saying earlier, it\u2019s a cool that goes beyond gender. At rock festivals the majority of musicians tend to be men, so an event where a lot of cool women come together is rare. And it\u2019s genuinely cool in the right way \u2014 wholesome, even. I think that\u2019s really something.<\/p>\n
\n\tKASAI: I\u2019m also excited to share a stage with artists from such different genres. They all have this quality, a life force almost, like they were destined to become the presences they are. I\u2019m really looking forward to it.<\/p>\n
\n\tSHIOTSUKA: Awich is raising a daughter while making music, and I\u2019d love to hear about that side of things too.<\/p>\n
\n\tDo you have any advice for someone who wants to start making music?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\tSHIOTSUKA: i\u2019d like them to start a band. Looking out at festivals, there are more and more people doing incredible things, but bands made up of women are still rare. It\u2019s not without its challenges, but there\u2019s so much joy in it, and I\u2019d love to share a rock festival stage with more of them.<\/p>\n
\n\tKASAI: With a band you\u2019re playing live sound, and when you lock in with your bandmates there\u2019s this chemical reaction, and you receive sounds you never knew existed. That\u2019s still the best part.<\/p>\n
\n\tDoes music empower you personally?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\tSHIOTSUKA: Sometimes when I\u2019m walking and listening to music and it perfectly matches the scenery around me, I find it so beautiful. Those moments are healing for me. And when I go to a show and see someone doing something unexpected onstage, it reminds me of how much possibility there still is. Just seeing someone sing like they\u2019re completely in their element makes me feel energized.<\/p>\n
\n\tKASAI: When the atmosphere of a live venue and my own condition are completely in sync, it really feels like I\u2019m receiving energy. Like something in me is being released.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u2014This interview by Rio Hirai first appeared on Billboard Japan<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.billboard.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hitsujibungaku sat down with Billboard Japan for the latest installment of its Women in Music interview series. The initiative launched in 2022 to celebrate artists, producers and executives who have made significant contributions to music and entertainment and inspired other women through their work, following the footsteps of Billboard\u2019s annual Women in Music honors. This […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2010122,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[349508,42097,26630,21932],"class_list":["post-2446971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","tag-billboard-japan","tag-global","tag-japan","tag-music-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Melanie-Santiler-Cimafunks-Ese-Besito-Voted-Best-New-Latin-Music.gif","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2446971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2446971"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2446971\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2446972,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2446971\/revisions\/2446972"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2010122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2446971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2446971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2446971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}