A few hours before Hitsujibungaku’s sold-out London headline show, Moeka Shiotsuka and Yurika Kasai returned from the cold and stepped into their tour bus behind O2 Academy Islington, still bundled in coats as they settled in to talk.
The band were closing the final night of their debut European tour, a seven-city stretch that began in Paris and unfolded just days after the release of their fifth album, ‘D o n’ t L a u g h I t O f f’, a record built from old demos, new sessions, and a rare block of uninterrupted studio time. It was only their second visit to London after appearing at HYPER JAPAN in July, but this time they would be seeing how their music carried in a venue filled entirely with Hitsujibungaku fans.
Speaking quietly amid the pre-show rush, Shiotsuka and Kasai reflected on the warmth of audiences across Europe, the unexpected sense of ease they’ve felt in the UK and the “tunnel” they feel they’ve stepped out of as a band.
You’ve said before that people told you Hitsujibungaku would suit the UK. After finishing your European tour and coming back here, does the UK feel like it fits you as artists?
We haven’t done another live show here yet, but yesterday we went to a record store and walked around the city a bit. It’s our second time here, and it does feel quite calming and comfortable.
How was the signing event?
It was really fun. It was such a lovely record shop, and we even bought some records ourselves.
What did you buy?
A Christmas Snoopy record. (Laughs)
During the U.S. West Coast tour, you mentioned that you stopped caring about restrictions and just let go. Did you feel a similar freedom in Europe?
What context did I say that in again? Maybe I meant that the sense of freedom felt really good. The freedom felt nice.
I think America and Europe feel quite different. In Europe, it really depends on the country, but a lot of people who came to see us expressed a strong love for Japan. In the US, everyone welcomed us warmly, too, but here I felt like the welcome was even warmer somehow.
I heard that the title of your latest album, ‘D o n’ t L a u g h I t O f f’, came from the idea of adding “lol” to soften your true feelings. By becoming aware of that habit, did it change not only your songwriting but also how you communicate with each other or your fans?
I might not have fixed that habit yet, but the change… It’s not so much about fixing how I communicate with others, but more about how I talk to myself. I wanted to acknowledge my emotions as they are, instead of cutting them off. In that sense, I think I’ve grown a bit personally.
You’ve said this album didn’t start with a fixed theme, and came together by connecting past demos and fragments. Did that process make it feel emotionally cohesive, or more like a collage of feelings from different times?
Right. The process was all over the place, and so were the time periods, so it might look like a collage-type work. But when I listen closely, I feel there’s a common thread — an energy of facing life head-on.
You’ve mentioned before that Japan’s tie-in–driven industry can make it hard to find time for purely personal songs. This time, did you actually have more space to focus solely on the album?
There might’ve been about two or three months when we only thought about the album. Usually, we’re juggling live shows and rehearsals while writing songs, which can be really chaotic. In the past, that sometimes left me frustrated because I couldn’t reach the quality I wanted. But this time, we had a period dedicated just to the album, maybe for the first time. So yes, that was new.
RELATED: Hitsujibungaku live in London: A sold-out finale shows a band finding their footing in the UK
The final track feels handmade and DTM-like, unlike anything you’ve done before. Why did you decide to end the album with such a lo-fi song?
When we were arranging the track order, at first we thought of ending with ‘cure’, which is also on the album, but it didn’t feel like the right ending for us. So we made a song that could let us truly close the album.
You once said that after finishing ’12 hugs’, you felt so fulfilled you could almost die. How did you feel when you completed ‘D o n’ t L a u g h I t O f f’ compared to back then?
I think that feeling back then was like, “Maybe I’ve already done everything I wanted to do with this band”. But this time, since we had done what we wanted last time, I felt free to try sounds that I once thought didn’t need to be played by a band. It was interesting that even when we tried that, it still sounded like us.
Back in 2017, you said ‘Through the Tunnel’ was about emerging from darkness and beginning again. Looking back at ‘D o n’ t L a u g h I t O f f’, what kind of tunnel do you think you’ve come through this time?
Maybe satisfaction. Before, as a three-piece — guitar, bass, drums — we felt like we had to only make sounds we could play live ourselves. But now, we have realised it doesn’t have to be that way. So maybe that’s the tunnel we got through, breaking free from that musical self-restraint.
The “slightly deluxe” version released today includes a remix by London-based Japanese artist Miso Extra, giving ‘D o n’ t L a u g h I t O f f’ a smooth house-like continuation. How did that collaboration come about?
Some people introduced us. We listened to Miso’s own music and found it incredibly beautiful. We let her handle the sound entirely, and seeing how our band’s track turned into something so cool — in a completely different genre — was really exciting. We’re actually meeting her before the live show today.
At HYPER JAPAN you mentioned that the Japanese and UK music industries feel unique in different ways. Now that you’ve seen a bit more of both, is there anything you think artists could learn from each other?
Yeah, I still don’t really know. I don’t quite understand how the UK scene works yet, and in Japan, too, our experiences are more with the indie rock side. It feels like we’re just now seeing our music reach the people we hoped it would, so maybe it’s still too soon to say.
Recently, Moeka said that “there’s always a price to pay to exist wherever you are”. That’s a striking statement. What kind of sacrifice do you think you’ve paid to keep Hitsujibungaku going?
Simply put, sometimes it means missing important moments with family or loved ones. Like if your child became a painter and you couldn’t attend their first exhibition. Or in the future, if you have kids, maybe missing their sports day because of your schedule.
Also, in Japan, sometimes people just come up and talk to you. Like, even if I’m walking and crying, someone might ask for a photo — that can be tough. But overseas, that doesn’t happen at all, so I feel really happy about that. Here, I feel free. That’s why being in London, being able to do things unnoticed, feels liberating.
On December 5th, Hitsujibungaku released ‘D o n’ t L a u g h I t O f f (T r u l y D e l u x e)’, expanding the record with three remixes from Squid, yunè pink, and Miso Extra, three artists whose work spans UK post-punk, club-leaning electronics, and bilingual alt-pop.
Hitsujibungaku
D o n’ t L a u g h I t O f f (T r u l y D e l u x e)
Release Date: 05/12/2025
Label: F.C.L.S.
Stream: Links
