Kenshi Yonezu/Hachi - 1991

Natalie.mu, October 13th, 2025 (Original Article)

"1991, I Was Born" - The Theme Song for "5 Centimeters Per Second" Overlapping With My Own Life

Kenshi Yonezu has released his new song "1991" for streaming October 13th.

"1991" was written by Yonezu as the theme song for the live-action film 5 Centimeters Per Second, directed by Yoshiyuki Okuyama and released nationwide on October 10th. This film is based upon the original animated movie released in 2007 directed by Makoto Shinkai. Okuyama, who directed the live-action version, was born in 1991, as was Yonezu. The two have established a deep mutual trust through their prior works, such as the music videos for Shock and KICK BACK.

While "1991" is the theme song for a movie, it also seems to overlap with Yonezu's own life thus far. The line "1991, I was born; I lived life only looking at my shoes" leaves a particularly deep impression. Yonezu states that "it became an important song to me," and that it's "a unique song."

In this Natalie.mu interview to commemorate the release, we asked Yonezu about his thoughts on the origins and creation of the song.

— First, let's hear about the impetus for writing the song. I suppose you began after receiving an offer to make the theme from Director Yoshiyuki Okuyama?

That's right. I was selected by Okuyama-san and started on it. I watched the animated 5 Centimeters Per Second back in high school when it was released, and it really stuck in my memory. It was my first time seeing a film directed by Makoto Shinkai, and I found it somehow struck a chord with me at the time. The beautiful background art also gave me the feeling that I'd seen something incredible. I liked the novelization, too. I remember bringing it on a field trip, and reading it by myself in the corner of a big room. So that's another way in which 5 Centimeters Per Second is a work I have a deep attachment to. I met Director Okuyama a few years ago, and as a music video director, he made me go "this person's truly amazing" - someone I could put all my trust in. Okuyama-san then went on to become a film director, and 5 Centimeters Per Second was his first long-form commercial work, so he sent me an offer to do the theme song. I thought, there could be no better opportunity for me. So I replied, "absolutely, let me do it."

— Your first time working with Director Okuyama was the Shock music video. You said before that you two were on the same wavelength soon after meeting, and came to understand each other deeply. What sorts of things fostered that trust?

First of all, he has an exceptional passion for the medium of video. He has so much focus, and it never runs out for the whole length of the production - he pours his enthusiasm into each and every scene, and the view seen through the lens. At the same time, he has a firm authorship, a sort of filter or lens through which he passes the world. While this was true of Shock as well, it struck me all the moreso with KICK BACK. In response to my request of "I want to film a video like this," the proposal he wrote up started on the first page with "your muscles won't betray you." I hadn't said anything of the sort in previous meetings, but it was so amusing, I was like "let's go with that." He has a firm will and desire to do what he wants. Even if the form of what we make differs, I feel like I can more deeply trust people who create if they have those aspects, so indeed, I think he's something special.

— What impact did Makoto Shinkai's 5 Centimeters Per Second have for you?

I feel like before Shinkai-san, background art with that level of coloring and intricate detail didn't exist. The impact of that was immense. Even just clips from the previews had me feeling "what in the world is this?" Of course the story is fantastic, yet when I think back on it now, it's a film where the beauty of the background art comes to mind first for me. Even as a child, I felt the impact from it. On top of that, I felt captivated by the lingering loneliness and sentimental feelings.

— Earlier, you said it "struck a chord" with you. It sounds like rather than just the simple beauty of the art, you felt as if it "called you out" somehow - can you elaborate on that?

If we're talking about it striking a chord, I actually felt that even more strongly with the live-action 5 Centimeters Per Second filmed by Okuyama-san. At times, I even thought, looking at the main character Takaki (Tono), "Is this not just me?" I saw that in the distance he keeps from those around him, and I felt as if the hurtful remarks people flung at him were falling upon me as well. I sometimes even wondered if this had been made for me. He engages in a self-isolation of sorts; he has a real unwillingness to hurt others. Because he so strongly doesn't want to hurt anyone, he becomes especially sensitive to the potential for it, and so keeps his distance in advance. He develops this behavior above all else, and his life is made difficult because of it. I felt the nature of that sort of hesitant person was depicted even more strongly in the live-action 5 Centimeters Per Second.

— Did Director Okuyama talk about wanting a particular sort of song, or wanting it to fill a particular role?

He did. We had a meeting once, and he talked with me passionately about the intentions and details of the film. I remember hearing that and becoming aware that I couldn't make something half-hearted. Before, I had been asking Okuyama-san to make videos for me, but now the positions were swapped. I thought that was a truly joyous turn of events. Okuyama-san is the same age as me, so we have something in common there too. We've lived through the same eras, and though our means of expression differ, we think similar things at similar times, and live contemporaneously. I remember devoting myself to make the song with greater sincerity because of that.

— The ways in which Director Okuyama interpreted 5 Centimeters Per Second and Makoto Shinkai-san's authorial style is a major pillar of the live-action version. Did he share anything about that as well?

I remember we talked about the original film. I said something like, I think it's a work where the beauty of the background art is really important, so I wonder how that's going to be handled. Though of course, it's not my place to speak about production for a film, so I was basically only saying it as idle chatter. Watching the new version gave me a real sense of satisfaction, like "if you shot this live-action, this is how it'd look, yeah." Seeing it in a preview screening, I could sense the incredible passion and tenacity in it. Of course there are many parts that differ from the original, and there's no question it's a separate work, but the essential parts of the 5 Centimeters Per Second that Makoto Shinkai-san made are indeed carried forth. And also, as a movie, it's just something so powerful and wonderful, I remember thinking excitedly "this is incredible."

— To give some impressions of my own, I think of Director Shinkai as an author who represents light through animation. So watching Director Okuyama's live-action version, I was paying close attention to how he portrayed light through film. And I felt this was a movie in which every scene carried that awareness. I felt it had a strong sort of pressure, like it was made up of 2 straight hours of moments that could be photos. How about you, Yonezu-san?

That's true. The intense feelings put into this work gush out in each and every scene. It was awe-inspiring in that way. It left me with the simple-minded opinion of "Okuyama-san is amazing."

— Director Shinkai's 5 Centimeters Per Second already had a theme song: Masayoshi Yamazaki-san's "One more time, One more chance." It's already a song with a strong connection to the work, so I feel it must have made a high hurdle for writing a new theme song. How did you feel about it?

It's no exaggeration to say that song is what people think of when you bring up 5 Centimeters Per Second, so I did feel strongly that if I was going to do this, I would be facing a pretty high wall. I imagine I could have declined "in deference," but my desire to do it was greater. So I thought to myself, this absolutely can't end up like a generic-brand "One more time, One more chance." That's of no interest to anyone, so I had to do my best to make something independent from that immense presence. That's the feeling I made "1991" with.

— The line from the lyrics "1991, I was born; I lived life only looking at my shoes" is very striking; I think of this as you talking in first-person. It feels rule-breaking for a theme song, but given the circumstances of the impact Makoto Shinkai's works had on you, you and Director Okuyama both being born in 1991 and thus the same age, and there already being a theme song for the anime version - taking all that into account, I think there was a necessity for the song to be like this.

That's true. Having many years of experience creating both theme songs for stories and songs played during them, I think this was my first time making such an impertinent song. Granted, I can take pride in getting to write a song for 5 Centimeters Per Second, but I needed to look back at my own life just as much. That's the sort of song it was. I personally felt that I couldn't defy that urge, or rather, if I didn't do that, it would end up distorted somehow. I imagine there will be many people who can't agree with this song of mine being the theme song, rather than that song by Masayoshi Yamazaki-san. However, being fully aware that it's impertinent, my feeling is like "I very much understand not accepting it. Still, won't you go along with me too for a bit?" That notion is particularly present in this work.

— In the original film and novelization, the story was established as starting in the early 90's. However, the story in the live-action version makes it "Takaki and Akari meet in the spring of 1991." I strongly feel Director Okuyama's intentions there; considering that, how did you interpret and express the meaning and symbolism of the year 1991?

First off, this is something I take care to do always, not just in this instance, but I look for parts that overlap between the elements of the work's story and the things I've fostered in my own life, then make the song with that as my axis. This song also followed that approach, but regarding Takaki played by Hokuto Matsumura-san, it almost felt like I was looking at myself, for good or ill. Including how the year "1991" also appears in the film as an important keyword, part of me forcefully connects us two. The establishment of 1991 in the story itself is Director Okuyama's doing, and there's also the original film by Shinkai-san, yet no matter how many different places I look, I can't help but align the focus on myself. I felt myself unable to resist it. Only by doing that could I be sincere toward this work, it felt.

— Writing the theme song for the live-action 5 Centimeters Per Second means viewing the world through the eyes of the character Takaki. In which case, it felt like you had to overlap it with the way you've lived your own life.

That's right. It feels like there was no avoiding feeling that way when I watched this movie through my own filter.

— This is purely my own interpretation, but I think of 5 Centimeters Per Second as a story about a man simply dragging along his broken heart. In Director Makoto Shinkai's original film and novelization, there's a monologue about "touching an unfathomable secret of the world." It's not something as simple as a basic adolescent love story, but one about seeing something you shouldn't have, or perhaps becoming entranced by something you shouldn't have. I imagine something in both you and Director Okuyama aligned with the sensations Director Shinkai depicted, but what do you think? What did you feel overlapped between you and the character of Takaki?

For people with unique natures like me, Shinkai-san's films sometimes make me feel like "you figured me out." It's all depicted sort of romantically, with beautiful backgrounds, yet I feel as if there's a painfully clear circuit running between Shinkai-san's movies and humans like me. As you say, with 5 Centimeters Per Second, part of me doesn't feel like I'm watching a love story. I really liked The Place Promised in Our Early Days as well. I very much connect with the sekai-kei style [a term for stories where the world practically revolves around the central characters' relationship] and the sense of isolation. The internal discord in people like Takaki and Akari, that self-isolating nature, their inner thoughts and imaginings - facing these things is the main axis. And yet at the same time, they eagerly try to connect to the world outside. There's a lonely person's earnestness to them. There are parts of my life that align with that. That's sort of how it feels.

— How about the sound? Considering what you've said so far about making a song that overlaps with the life you've lived, deciding what sort of tone and melody to go with seems awfully difficult. Ultimately, it became a song with a simple and beautiful piano melody. Why did you arrive at this choice?

Part of me doesn't think the sound of this song is necessarily the essence at my core. Since of course, it's unmistakably also a reflection of the nuances behind Director Shinkai's film, and of the live-action film shot by Okuyama-san. However, with the arrangement of the song, I did want to make it something personal. I thought about asking someone else to do the piano, but after considering this and that, I felt it was better to make it alone without introducing anyone else. To describe it in a visual way, I wanted to create the sort of situation where it's nothing but my own name in the credits. I thought there was an element that would only be present if I did it like that. It's irrelevant to 5 Centimeters Per Second, but Voices of a Distant Star was almost entirely made by Director Shinkai alone. Having an independent nature, he just shuts himself and creates things out of inward feelings. However, it's not like he's fully shut himself off; he's essentially watching his step, when suddenly, for an instant, he meets eyes with you. I wondered if I could create a song that's like that.

— So your intent was to make something only your hands could reach, that also wasn't light like Plazma or BOW AND ARROW but had a weight and a poppiness, all by yourself without getting anyone's help.

That's right. Of the songs I've made this year, JANE DOE alone has Yaffle (as a co-arranger), but they've almost entirely been made by my hand alone. In that sense, I think that's my current mode, which isn't limited to this song. But it's true that with this song, my awareness of my filter itself was strengthened.

— How about the lyrics? I'd say they're very much in line with what we've been talking about. If you had to name particular phrases that felt effective to you, words that you feel were able to express something well, what would they be?

If I had to say, this song is more about the synths than the words. In a way, I built the song around the synth that plays after the chorus's "I wonder if I'll be able to endure a life without you?" I decided I'd have the synths stand in for an internal stirring of emotion, a sort of wailing. To put them into words would just be too direct, would have felt overpowering compared to the tranquility of the movie. Once I made that synth part, I came to think that was the axis of the song.

— Viewing your career and discography as Kenshi Yonezu objectively, where do you expect the song "1991" is going to end up being positioned?

Hmm, I wonder. I don't know anything about what the future will bring, but there's no question it's an important song. Maybe it's because I wasn't conscious of my discography in an objective sense that it became this sort of song. I'm only sure of the fact that it's an incredibly important song to me, and don't feel I can say much else.

— I'd like to ask about the artwork and music video for the song as well. I haven't seen them at the time of this interview, but what are they going to be like?

I had Director Okuyama film the music video. I also decided I'd use a frame from Okuyama-san's video for the cover, too. Actually, I had no idea what I should draw for the cover. Drawing the cover is an obvious thing for me; no matter how exhausted the creation process leaves me, I've unfalteringly drawn them myself. Of course, there have been cases where there was someone more suitable, like Hayao Miyazaki-san and Daisuke Igarashi-san, and I decided it's better to leave it to them, but I generally operate on the premise that I absolutely want to draw them myself. However, with this song I felt unsure what I should even draw. I think it's a similar sensation to being unable to look at yourself objectively. In that sense, I decided to have Director Okuyama be my mirror.

— It's the first time in your discography that you've used a photo for the cover.

It's become the first of its kind. It's a unique song in that way, too. Though I'm not actually too sure yet what its "uniqueness" is, exactly. It's just, I'm jutting out past a number of lines that I absolutely wouldn't have dared cross before. As such, I have no idea if this was actually the right thing to do, or if it's proper as pop music from an objective point of view. That's the situation I'm in right now.

— To go back to our initial topic, it means you had enough faith in Director Okuyama to entrust him with that.

That's true. I think there's something special to me there. And not only that, at the same time, there are the qualities inherent to 5 Centimeters Per Second, and my viewpoint watching it as a child. This current situation of mine included, by facing them again here in the year 2025, I've directly connected them with a straight line. That's how it feels.

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