Shorts: That Time Makoto Kawamoto Was In The Philippines

This is going to be a bit of a mix between “More Than…” and my usual short blogs because, for one, we will be talking about Makoto Kawamoto and her discography besides the Rurouni Kenshin song “1/2” and at the same time we’ll be talking about one of those instances where foreigners used our country to shoot some visual media.

Here’s the video in question.

To give some more background into what the song is, DNA was Kawamoto’s second hit single released on September 2, 1996, four months after her debut. The song is basically about the phrase “I hate you but I love you”. Enough about the song though because the focus of this short post is the music video that came with it.

The music video was shot in Negros. It’s not indicated if it’s in Negros Oriental or Negros Occidental but it was surprising to see that it was shot in Negros nonetheless. Besides that, her playing the guitar in the middle of the basketball court with a Datsun t-shirt has been a lasting image in the lexicon of 1990s Japanese culture that it became her trademark.

Makoto Kawamoto by Takeshi Wakasa

Not much is known about the behind-the-scenes happenings of how this music video was made except for Kawamoto’s comment about the shoot:

“The shooting in Negros is an unforgettable experience with the breeze and sunset from the wilderness.”

Another thing to point out is that Kawamoto was known to be a frequent visitor to Southeast Asia, especially the Philippines, to absorb “fashionable atmospheres”.

I would suggest taking this tidbit with a grain of salt though because I can’t seem to find anything from Kawamoto herself or from any Japanese website about this fact.

That’s it for today’s post. See you around Cosplay Mania season!