michi.: On Her Intensive Solo Activities in 2026, the Revival of ALICE IN MENSWEAR and MASCHERA, and the KOJI Memorial Event—"I Thought It Was Absolutely Impossible"
This interview was originally published in Japanese on barks.jp. Translated by VK Chronicle.
Interview: michi., Speaking on His Concentrated Solo Activities in 2026, the Revival of ALICE IN MENSWEAR and MASCHERA, and the KOJI Memorial Event — “I Thought It Was Absolutely Impossible”
In 2026, michi.’s activities are energetic and ambitious. Every performance currently announced carries profound and significant meaning. The revival of ALICE IN MENSWEAR and MASCHERA, joint events with La’cryma Christi and Alvino — it’s fair to say he’s venturing into territory beyond imagination.
First, on April 12th, KOJI’s birthday, a KOJI Memorial & Birthday Live 2026 〜Eternal Blue〜 will be held at Toyosu PIT in Tokyo, bringing together La’cryma Christi, Alvino, and ALICE IN MENSWEAR — all bands where KOJI was a member — for a joint event.
At michi.’s one-man live on April 25th at Akabane ReNY alpha in Tokyo, KAZUKI, KOJI’s son, will be welcomed as a guest guitarist, and it’s been revealed that new material under the ALICE IN MENSWEAR moniker will be performed.
Furthermore, on August 1st at the same venue, a two-band show featuring MASCHERA and ALICE IN MENSWEAR will take place. Additionally, the announcement of michi.’s first full-length album under his solo name within the year suggests he’s barreling forward with full throttle momentum.
Having lost his irreplaceable partner, guitarist KOJI, and while nearly overwhelmed by grief, michi. has continued his live activities with a single-minded determination to carry on singing the songs KOJI created for ALICE IN MENSWEAR. Supported by his fans, he released new material under his solo name in 2025. Looking back, michi. reflected, “When the energy to create music welled up from within me, various things began to move as if a fresh wind were blowing,” and in this interview, he speaks of wanting to “open new doors one after another.” BARKS delved into his torrential 2026, the genesis of new material, and his honest current state of mind.
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A Promise with KOJI He Couldn’t Keep — Fulfilled in His Solo Debut
Q: 2026 is shaping up to be an incredibly full year for you. But before we dive into that, I’d like to look back on last year. In 2025, you released your first song under the michi. solo name at a live performance. It was a year where you took a significant new step. Your debut live under the michi. name was in January 2023, and initially your setlists were composed of self-covers from MASCHERA, S.Q.F, and ALICE IN MENSWEAR. Did you want to take your time carefully crafting new material under the michi. name?
michi.: This is something I can only say now, but after KOJI passed away in April 2022, I went through a period where I was mentally weakened. I was actually under doctor’s orders not to perform. But I didn’t think I could stop my activities entirely. Still, my body and mind were struggling to move, and I didn’t have the creative energy welling up from within me to write new songs. Even so, I had the will to continue singing songs KOJI had written, so I began thinking not just about ALICE IN MENSWEAR’s material, but also about songs from the S.Q.F era and the MASCHERA era.
Q: You’ve mentioned that feeling of “continuing to sing songs KOJI created” in previous BARKS interviews as well.
michi.: Yes. There are artists who lock away songs from their past bands, and I had some of that tendency too. But when I thought, “I don’t want to stop my activities. I want to keep singing the songs KOJI created,” something like shackles fell away inside me. I thought, “Then I should also perform the songs written by TAKUYA, HIRO, and TOMO from MASCHERA, and the songs written by Daisuke Suga and other past members and support members from S.Q.F. By doing that, I could continue my activities with a kind of rehabilitation aspect.” I was definitely pushing myself hard in that regard.
Q: You needed to rally yourself.
michi.: That’s right. Still, I didn’t know if people would accept a style of performing self-covers of past material until I actually tried it, and there was anxiety — not quite fear, but still — about whether fans would stick with me. But once I got on stage, those worries proved unfounded. Everyone accepted it, and my mental state became more stable. Feeling like I had a place to belong was really healing for me. From there, my creative drive gradually returned, and when I hit the milestone of turning 50, I decided — not exactly a sudden resolution, but — to try writing new songs.
Q: When did you feel mentally stable yourself?
michi.: Gradually, but it was around the time of wrapping up my 50th birthday memorial live in 2024.
Q: After entering 2025, you released new material that’s currently posted on your official YouTube channel as live footage with lyric subtitles. Could you share episodes about each song?
michi.: Of course.
Q: First, “Dance in the rabbit hole,” which was unveiled at the Tokyo Akabane ReNY alpha performance in April 2025 — it connects to ALICE IN MENSWEAR’s aesthetic.
michi.: I’d been thinking of it as the first song to unveil under the michi. solo name. When KOJI was alive, we talked about wanting “a shuffle song, you know?” That never happened before KOJI passed away, so for my solo debut, I decided to fulfill that unfulfilled promise with a shuffle song.
Q: The title has “rabbit hole” in it too.
michi.: Right. I wanted to include not just the musical style, but also steampunk and ALICE IN MENSWEAR elements in the lyrics, so it could become a kind of bridge between ALICE IN MENSWEAR and my solo work.
Q: That day you also performed “INCUBUS,” which really showcases your darker side.
michi.: This song connects to early S.Q.F’s alternative rock and sensibilities influenced by Western music. That said, it’s not nostalgia — I wanted it to be new material that evolved further as michi. solo. It’s a song born from the desire to purely create music in a genre I love.
Q: The gothic, alternative chorus is really satisfying.
michi.: If “Dance in the rabbit hole” is a work created by seriously facing what it carries, then “INCUBUS” is about impulsively throwing out what I want to do. I think that explosive energy came through well in the chorus.
Q: And then “バイナリ・ラブ” (Binary Love), which opened the first song at the August 2025 live 〈A Midsummer Night Reign〉 — I was struck by the techno-pop influenced styling.
michi.: Right (laughs). Before I became a musician, I listened to all kinds of music, so of course I love alternative and metal, but it might be surprising — I also love techno and Eurobeat as genres.
Q: Your musical roots are quite broad.
michi.: I love 1980s songs like Duran Duran and Culture Club, so I wanted to create a song with new wave and Eurobeat elements. I wanted to open with “Binary Love,” which fuses rock and dance, as a statement of intent. I had confidence that even people seeing it for the first time would get into it.
Q: The fans were actually dancing (laughs). That same day you also performed the dramatic “Deeper than Darkness -漆黒の瞳-“ (Deeper than Darkness - Eyes of Jet Black).
michi.: This song was created by Daisuke Suga, the main composer for S.Q.F who also participates in my solo work. The demo was much more straightforward rock, but when I first heard it, I felt the melody had ALICE IN MENSWEAR’s dark-side flavor to it. So I made a request to the arranger, and it became what it is now.
Q: That’s where the industrial rock elements came in. What about “CYBER RAIN,” which was inspired by Ridley Scott’s sci-fi film ‘Blade Runner’ (released 1982) and the anime ‘Ghost in the Shell’ (1995 theatrical anime film)?
michi.: Besides music, I’m influenced by films, anime, and that kind of subculture, so “CYBER RAIN” takes hints from those works you mentioned. ‘Ghost in the Shell’ has a hardboiled world, but ‘Blade Runner’ has romantic elements too, so it’s closer to the latter.
Q: ‘Blade Runner’ has that striking image of constant rain. Is that why the title is “CYBER RAIN”?
michi.: Yes. I’m imagining the acid rain continuously falling in the film. This song is also influenced by ‘The Matrix’ (1999 sci-fi action film). ‘Blade Runner’ has a lot of orchestration in its score, but ‘The Matrix’ uses digital rock, and I wanted to create something that wouldn’t feel out of place alongside those visuals. That’s the direction I was going for.