I Spent a Week with Japan's Biggest Rock Star

I spent an amazing week with Japanese rock legend Hyde (of L'arc en Ciel fame), getting to know the man behind the mask and helping my good friend Natsuki's dream come true.（日本語字幕はCCつけてね）

A huge thanks to Hyde for letting me run around with a camera all week and get behind the scenes. Hyde often performs outside of Japan so keep an eye out for when he's next in town.

NOW see my Week with Japan's BIGGEST Movie Star | Ken Watanabe

**FOLLOW THE ADVENTURE**
► Instagram: @abroadinjapan

**EQUIPMENT I USE**

[AbroadinJapan]

NOTIFICATION SQUAD: 7 years ago when I first arrived in Japan, amidst my frustrating attempts to learn Japanese I started watching an anime series after I got home from work. It was a hilarious show called GTO (Great Teacher Onizuka), and at the start of each episode it kicked off with an iconic theme tune called "Drivers High" by the band L'arc en Ciel.
If somebody had told me back then I'd be spending a week with the frontman, Hyde, all these years later, I would have laughed them out of my treacherously small apartment.
This was easily one of the most surreal experiences in my time in Japan so far, I had an absolute blast meeting a rock legend who means so much to so many people - and of course, teaching him some swear words along the way. Best of all, it felt great to take Natsuki along for the ride as well. His shocked expression said more than words ever could! I hope you enjoy getting into the Christmas spirit watching his dream come true!

[ruki]

Chris looks like a dad that won a VIP ticket by accident

[ayojo]

Thinking about how Natsuki got to meet HYDE because he decided to talk to a random foreigner years ago :')

[Alecsandor]

Chris, did you conduct a serious interview with an extremely famous musician while wearing....cargo shorts?

[catvibe]

People are commenting how Hyde has aged.. he’s 50, he’s allowed to look old.. I still think he looks great, so energetic and productive.. a whole new album (in english), new songs, a week long performances.. how many 50-year-old rockstar can achieve those?

[Kinochan]

Hyde: What´s your name?
I´m Natsuki
Hyde: Nacchan
Natsuki * *dies* *

[bakersarmy]

Hyde is lucky to get to pose with an international celebrity like Natsuki

[insanecamel]

Hyde, 50 years old: climbing speakers, baseball batting bottles
Me, 30: struggling to get out of bed everyday

[EscortaBayu]

And u didn't asked him the secret of immortality...

[cyqry]

Chris meets a real life rockstar in the flesh, and the first thing he does is talk about how much he loves fried chicken?

Gotta hand it to him, the man's got his priorities straight.

[sorathetroll]

Wow, hyde is literally the most popular singer in Japan I think and you met him!?!?!? I'm legit mind blown and this is just way beyond my expectation!!

[erikhendrickson]

One thing I've learned by reading LOTS of musician biographies is that many of these mega-famous music acts we see are actually extremely shy and introverted in their personal life, with their on-stage persona acting as a sort of release valve for all the things they're too shy to do in their normal life.

[fryh]

A man who dreamed about being a manga artist is now becoming the character from the manga itself. What a cool way of life.

[partysuvius]

Hyde’s makeup artist is insanely good. Makes him look like he’s still in his 20s when he performs.

[UnpossiblePOG]

Anybody noticed that Natsuki's hands were shaking when he was with Hyde? Also FYI, Hyde chose Chris as youtube documentry channel because he has more international audience and on it, he can use swear words unlike BBC and other news channels.

[JUPITER]

What made this so impressive is that Chris never put himself below Hyde during their interviews. They were equals in every way from beginning to end. It just goes to show that confidence earns respect, even from someone as famous and accomplished as Hyde. Definitely something for me to remember.

[herpderpington]

Natsuki fanboying was the most innocent thing I’ve seen all year

[oyano]

While traveling in Kyoto, I saw Hyde and his friends just walking around and I freaked out thinking whether I should walk up to him since everyone else seemed to respect his space. I decided to use the once in a lifetime opportunity to ask for pictures and an autograph. Amazingly nice guy really, and when I told him my name he heard "Akina" (it's Athena) and I rolled with it, because it's HYDE. So happy to see him still active and awesome!

[ericshun]

he looks like a DEVIL MAY CRY character.

[siwensui]

Just watched this video 2/10/2023 - a week after The Last Rockstars (Yoshiki, Hyde, Sugizo, Miyavi)'s show in NYC! Amazing show!!! So jealous of you spent a whole week with Hyde! He's such a kind person! also I want to show you - he has 2 Tshirt sells at the concert - both has "R U FXXKIN READY?!" on it hahahaha, so it was YOU gave him the idea! and he used it! such a fun story! :)