"It would definitely be amazing." When asked whether a solo live show by the sea in Taiwan could actually happen, jo0ji answered without hesitation. He's a fisherman's son from Tottori, and his music always carries a hint of sea breeze. This past March marked his first visit to Taiwan, and fittingly, he performed on a stage right by the ocean — at Kaohsiung's Megaport Festival. This time he's back for "CENTRAL MUSIC & ENTERTAINMENT FESTIVAL 2026 in TAIPEI," joining UVERworld and yama at Zepp New Taipei. Before the show, he picked up some Taiwanese Hokkien on the spot — "hài kì-lâi!" (get hyped!), "súi--lah" (looking good) — plus the slang phrase "yi-ji-bang" (top-notch), delivering them all with surprising flair.
The real highlight of this interview was talking about 〈I-BULL〉, the opening theme he wrote for the final arc of BLEACH. The inspiration came from a line by Kisuke Urahara about "courage" — jo0ji says that line hit him hard as a kid, and it's why Urahara became such a defining character for him. Taking on this song, he wanted to pour everything he'd absorbed from BLEACH directly into it, unfiltered. He also mentioned he'd actually loved Gin Ichimaru and Nnoitra even earlier, imitating their "bankai!" shouts as a kid — he'd even yell "Hadō #31: Shakkahō!" while shooting a soccer ball. This kind of love is muscle memory, not some nostalgia added on later.
Thanks to this song, he got the chance to sit down with Tite Kubo himself. Having been a fan since childhood, he admits he was nervous that day, but once they got talking, he found Kubo incredibly warm and kind — "I'd ask one question, and he'd enthusiastically give me back like ten answers!" That description alone says more about Kubo's character than any adjective could. Another coincidence: UVERworld had previously sung a BLEACH opening theme too. After receiving the invitation to share the stage this time, jo0ji made a point of relistening to all the past BLEACH theme songs, as well as UVERworld's catalog. As for yama, he still remembers the first time he heard 〈春を告げる〉 in high school and was struck by that voice — something he occasionally draws on in his own songwriting.
This year, at 26, has been full of "firsts" for him: getting his first passport, having liquids over 100ml confiscated at customs on his very first trip abroad, and saying "Hello" upon arriving in Paris only to be met with silence — he later learned you're supposed to say "Bonjour" first. These little clumsy moments echo the mix-ups he's had in Taiwan too. Last time, he bought a huge stash of instant noodles to bring back to Tottori and share with everyone — only this trip, after a reporter explained things to him, he realized he'd apparently been cooking "Science Noodles" (a dry snack brand) with hot water instead of eating them straight. He's decided to buy another batch this trip and properly practice eating them dry. In Kaohsiung, he also visited a tea shop where the owner spoke Japanese and personally taught him how to brew tea. He ended up buying a full tea set along with Dong Ding oolong leaves to bring home to Japan, and has since demonstrated the different flavors from multiple steepings to friends and family.
The interview happened to fall on Father's Day in Taiwan, so jo0ji naturally shared a funny story about his fisherman father: some musician friends he met in Tokyo once visited him in Tottori and had drinks with his dad. They tried greeting him the way musicians do — hand-clasping, hugging, back-slapping — but his father's grip was so strong that the friends kept yelping "Ouch, that hurts!" the whole time, while his dad just looked thoroughly delighted. Talking about his hometown of Tottori, he recommends Taiwanese fans check out the coastline and fishing ports, and for anime and manga fans, there's "Kitaro Airport" — just a 15-minute drive from Shigeru Mizuki's hometown and Mizuki Shigeru Road. The day before the interview, he'd gone to Jiufen and tried tofu pudding with taro balls, calling it delicious — and saying it only made him love Taiwan even more. He says he'll keep working hard for more chances to come back.
