Itoi

No matter how much effort you put into your work, I think it’s difficult to create something that will last through generations. Nowadays everything is exchanged and consumed as information, and I think there’s a certain kind of fear in creating things in an era like this.

Hanyu

I think at the very core of what I want to express is something that remains untouched by time, so as long as I don’t waver on that, I should be okay. I don’t think I’d be able to convey the core of my message if I was afraid of getting engulfed by a wave of information.

Itoi

That’s true. If you’re scared or hesitant, the parts that were good could end up going bad from underneath you.

Hanyu

Yeah. As long as I portray the core message. Even with music, you’ve got sources of sound that provide an even better sound than CDs, and you’ve got access to the entire collection with subscription services. Even so, there are more and more people who want that analog sound and prefer to listen to a vinyl record. They probably appreciate whatever sound that can only come from a vinyl record. So even with the amount of information we have access to today, vinyls have a freshness that you can only find in them. Time marches on, but I can see that not everything fades away.

Itoi

Yeah.

Hanyu

So it seems more important to make sure we aren’t afraid when producing our work. If, for example, I was figure skating in the 1960’s, I don’t think there would be any evidence of my performances left behind. But if I continue to leave behind images of my performances and stories I’ve told through my ice shows, there will come a time when someone watches that video. I want to be confident that I’m making something that ten, twenty, fifty, even a hundred years from now, whoever watches it really likes it.

Itoi

It’s nice that you’re recording these videos of your ice shows while also having an audience watching in person. Not only will the audience be able to say “I was there for that,” those who they tell it to will say “You’re so lucky!”

Hanyu

Ah, yeah.

Itoi

So there’s a positive aspect to that permanence, and a positive aspect to that transience. During a fireworks show, for example, a brilliant flash of fireworks will fade away, but you’ll remember it. There’s only so much you can do to photograph it. Sure, there are ways to capture the image of the fireworks brilliantly nowadays, but it doesn’t compare to being there in person. So each side of it has its merits.

Hanyu

That’s true. There are still people to this day who tell me that they feel blessed to have had the opportunity to be in this arena back in 2015.

Itoi

Oh, I’m sure of it. That’ll stay with them forever.

Hanyu

And on that note, MOTHER 2 came out in 1994, right?

Itoi

Ah, right. (Laughs)

Hanyu

I was born in December 1994, so when MOTHER 2 came out in August that year, I wasn’t born yet. So that game really did cross over time and stay in my heart.

Itoi

Oh, I see. (Laughs)

Hanyu

It has been 30 years, but it’s still there. The Super Nintendo was just so alluring with its pixel graphics and the roughness of its sounds that included all kinds of sampling. There’s a gentleness and nostalgia to it that goes even beyond whether the game itself is good or not, but has more to do with being an irreplaceable presence in my life with so many memories piled up in it. Surely it’s in part because the game itself still exists.

Itoi

Yeah. If no one could play the game anymore, all we’d be able to do is talk about the memories of it.

Hanyu

Truly. So it really is important to have copies of something. I’ve got those videos and things saving copies of all the things I wanted to express over the years.

Itoi

It’s nice having our own means of saving an archive of people’s lives at Hobonichi, whether that be through Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun or the recorded videos of our Hobonichi School. For example, if someone has gone down in history, sure they’ll show up on a chronological table, but the details—what were they eating back then, and what topics of conversation did they turn to when passing the time—all disappear.

Hanyu

Yeah.

Itoi

So that’s why I mentioned that our interviews are probably the most laid back interview you’ve been in, because that ease is one of the most important parts for me. In standard interviews, that light banter tends to be edited out in the end.

Hanyu

Yeah.

Itoi

But we don’t edit it out. We see that as an opportunity to faithfully portray what was there at the time. I feel like that’s kind of the approach I’ve taken since the very beginning, too. And it actually seems the same way with MOTHER. The kind of nonsense that was in the game is just as nonsensical when looking at it today.

Hanyu

That’s what’s so good about it. Take that one pop quiz that one of the NPC’s brought up in the game: “A Beatles song, ’XXXterday’. Yes or no?”

Itoi

That one will definitely not make it to any chronological table.

Hanyu

(Laughs)

Itoi

But it will remain as a memory for someone.

Hanyu

Yeah.

Itoi

Talking to you today, though, I feel like you’ve taught me all kinds of new things about MOTHER.

Hanyu

No, no. (Laughs)

OK, pop quiz! “A Beatles song, XXXterday.” / Can you fill in the blanks? / Yes - No