INDEX
Performing at the halftime show at Madison Square Garden
Takano: How long did it take you to get to this point?
ZiNEZ: I started playing basketball when I was 13, but when I was 15, I went to Canada and got really into street basketball. That’s when I decided I wanted to play freestyle as well. I was impressed by the freedom of basketball, and it has been 18 years since then.
Takano: You are a master of the art. By the way, where are you from in Canada?
ZiNEZ: Victoria, about an hour by boat from Vancouver. Do you know where that is?
Takano: I understand. I used to live in Toronto.
ZiNEZ: My grandparents live there.
Takano: I worked at Tim Hortons.
ZiNEZ: Tim Ho? Tim Hortons is a donut shop that is open 24 hours a day. In Japan, it is called …….
Takano: It’s like Doutor x Mister Donut. They have a menu called Dabodabo …….
Celeina: Wow, what a Canadian talk (laughs).
ZiNEZ: Please visit Tim Hortons when you go to Canada. It’s delicious (laughs).
Celeina: I’ll go…can I hear your story, ZiNEZ-san (laughs). You mentioned earlier that you studied in Canada, but after you came back from your study abroad, you decided to become a professional freestyle basketball player, right?
ZiNEZ: Freestyle basketball can be played anywhere with just one ball, so I always thought it would be a great match with the Internet. I was in the countryside of Canada, so I didn’t have much to do. I enjoyed being able to take dance videos of my favorite scenery with my favorite music, and I uploaded them to the Internet, and all kinds of opportunities arose. At the time, I was asked to do a halftime show at Madison Square Garden in New York City for an NBA game. They would say, “I saw your video.
Takano: That was amazing.
ZiNEZ: I was very lucky. I was probably faster than others in uploading videos. Freestyle was started around 2000, so I think it was a relatively young culture, and I think that’s why people paid attention to me.
Takano: There are so many possibilities. I saw the video of Gojo Satoru’s “Jyutsu Kaisen” at …….
ZiNEZ: I think that was the only successful experience I had last year (laughs).
Takano: They do it blindfolded. It’s amazing, isn’t it? All kinds of collaborations are possible, if you think about it that way.
ZiNEZ: That’s right. If you put a ball in the hands of anything, it is freestyle basketball, and in that sense, there are infinite possibilities. That’s another fun thing about the ball, and I thought it could be combined with anything.
Takano: We were talking about how we wanted to use …… for both the animation and the music. So, I’d like to go on to the songs, but ZiNEZ, please introduce the song you would like to play.
ZiNEZ: I thought there would be a lot of songs that everyone knows. I am a member of a group called CONDENSE, which is like a dance vocal unit, and we are an expression group that explores the possibilities of dance by using rusher-like technology in our production. We have brought one of our songs, and I would like you all to listen to it. Please listen to “THAT’S MY ZONE” by CONDENSE.
Exploring possibilities through freestyle basketball
Celeina: ZiNEZ, you won consecutive freestyle basketball championships in 2008 and 2009, and are now considered one of the leading figures in the scene.
ZiNEZ: I think you mentioned earlier that I have a lot of potential, but I think the ball is often used in sports for winning and losing. But I think a ball is round and fair, and it could be used for self-expression. I think it has a lot of potential for music and art, and I hope that everyone can enjoy the exploration of these possibilities by using technology and other interesting things to express themselves.
Takano: I see. So, what Mr. Rusher said about “sphere” makes sense.
ZiNEZ: That’s right. I think about the ball more than anyone else (laughs).
Celeina: Can we see what ZiNEZ is doing on Instagram?
ZiNEZ: Yes, I’m in competitions and stuff under the name KAMIKAZE, but I’m on both Twitter and Instagram under “ZiNEZ KAMIKAZE,” so please take a look.
Celeina: Now, “FIST BUMP” is a circle of friends connected by goofy touch, so we are asking you to introduce us to your friends.
ZiNEZ: This is the model Mokhtar. Mr. Mokhtar is very funny. Please look forward to it.
Takano: Are you friends with him originally?
ZiNEZ: We are friends. We became friends by chance, maybe 3 or 4 years ago. In a word, he is like a “living power spot.
Celeina: Kind of! We need that right now.
ZiNEZ: I think she’s very energetic and funny, so please look forward to her.
Celeina: Thank you very much. Tomorrow we will be connecting with model Mokhtar. Thank you very much, ZiNEZ, freestyle basketball player.
ZiNEZ: Thank you very much.
GRAND MARQUEE
J-WAVE (81.3FM) Mon-Thu 16:00 – 18:50
Navigator: Shinya Takano, Celeina Ann
