From around the autumn of '81, we began to think about independently releasing an album just by Hijokaidan. I think that I (Jojo) was the one who came up with the idea. Financially it would be my responsibility. It would be issued by the only independent label in Osaka, Unbalance Records, but in actual fact all costs would be borne by the members of the group - an independent release in the true sense of the words. Over half the members of the group were fans of Hideshi Hino so we decided upon one of his illustrations for the cover, and it was I who negotiated directly with him. We decided to ask Yasui Yagi to design the jacket - he was a friend of Mamoru Ichiguchi who was a member of the group at this time.
Yagi had a column called "Pictox" in the monthly music magazine "Player", and he had intended to mention Hijokaidan, Yu Enta and Hoburakin in this column and as a result the column had been discontinued. It has been rumored that the reason for the discontinuation of this column was a picture of Hijokaidan (showing Semimaru urinating) he included with his text. Another rumour holds that the real reason was the text and photos by Yu Enta that showed him drinking out of a bucket into which several people had vomited. The real reason will probably never be known, but looking back now either seems equally likely. We decided to use this article on the back of the LP and note our opposition to "Player" magazine.
This LP is now known as "Zoroku no kibyo" but at the time it was released without a title, instead having several possible titles, such as "Zoroku no kibyo" and "2nd Damascus", here and there on the jacket. Incidentally, by using the title "2nd Damascus" we intended to make record collectors think that there had been a first album before this one. Our use of the word "Damascus" had further and deeper (?) implications - "damasu" means to trick, and "cus" equals "kasu" which means "scum". I'm not sure how many people actually understood this meaning though. The first pressing was of 444 copies, the second of 555 copies. With the first pressing we included free gifts such as a triangular lottery ticket, a sanitary napkin with a kiss mark and whatever else we could think of.
In November '81 Zuke and Semimaru who had played mostly a performing-art role decided to leave the group. Their reason was that there was no point in repeating the same performance twice. Mikawa-san recorded in the previous episode what happened at the gig at Doshisha University after they left the band - it was at this time that I had gone up to Tokyo to negotiate with Hideshi Hino.
There was also a difference of opinion between the members of what tracks we should include on the album, and in the end I think only Taniguchi and Oka participated in the editing process. At this stage in Hijokaidan's existence the members were serious about the band itself and there were fairly heavy spiritual confrontations. These experiences made us all the more determined to release the album and continue with the group.
At the start of '82 I moved by myself to Tokyo with only the finished copies of "Zoroku" to support me. I took them to Disk Union, Gobangai (Watanabe who now manages Fujiyama worked there) and Modern Music and started selling them, and I also began to bring Unbalance Records releases into Tokyo. On April 5th we played a gig at the Shinjuku Loft to celebrate the release of the LP. The line-up was Oka, Ishida, Woo, Jojo, Kami, Ichiguchi, Mikawa, Taniguchi, and Hikari Hayakawa as a guest. The LP had been released the day before. Also on the bill were Joki (Tamio Shiraishi), and Namida no Ramen Quartet. We bought some earthworms and lugworms at a fishing tackle shop and mixed these in buckets with eggs, milk, squid, salmon roe, raw fish and so on. During the performance we upended these buckets over our heads (in order not to damage the stage we had covered it with cardboard boxes we had found in the street. I remember fondly that Taniguchi and I had wandered around Shinjuku looking for these cardboard boxes and we sometimes came to blows with the homeless over them). It was too detailed a performance to be seen by the audience but I noticed that Oka carefully allowed the earthworms to hang from his mouth. The instruments we had brought along were soon unable to produce any proper sounds. In a gig like this where we were 200% hyped up we of course played our bodies and howled, resulting in a performance centred around badly connected noise. There was also an incident where Ebi-kun, a devoted follower of Hijokaidan and pyromaniac, got so turned on by the performance that he threw a firecracker on to the stage. The sight of him running around after the gig with a squid in one hand, a sea cucumber in the other and a big grin on his face, is one that has remained with me. I also remember that while we were washing up our filthy bodies out back of Loft, a police car appeared at the entrance for some reason. The female member of staff from Loft who had to clean up the stage complained that the worms had escaped into the cracks between the tiles. We had been sure that Loft would force us to pay some fine but they paid us all of our guarantee without a word (however it would be five years before we would again appear on stage there). A journalist from Marquee Moon came to this gig and an article appeared in number 9.
In order to support my life in Tokyo, around June '82 I compiled and released a cassette called "Hijokaidan / The Originals" of studio takes from the original '79 incarnation of the band. The A-side was a duo between myself and Nario Zushi, the B-side a jam between me and Yata from Jurajuum.
In June we played a gig not as Hijokaidan but as Shunokaidan (Summit Meeting) at Mantohihi in Osaka, with the hardcore band Memai. The line-up was Hayashi on drums, Oka and Jojo on guitar, Kami on sax, Woo on bass, and then Junko who is still a member of the band on vocals. The idea of this gig was to cover Hawkwind's "Silver Machine", but doubts remain as to just what extent we managed to cover the song. I especially remember that Junko appeared on stage wearing a helmet, looking exactly like a student demonstrator.
In September we were due to play at Jam Studio in Shinjuku with Gism and Trash, but Trash had to cancel because of membership problems. At the time the hardcore scene was at its peak and both Gism and Trash were popular because of their violent gigs - I imagine that the promoter had worked out this line-up in order to get the most extreme gig. The cramped hall was totally packed, and this gig set a new record for attendance at Jam Studio. The line-up was Jojo, Taniguchi, Mikawa, Woo, Ichiguchi, Oka, Kami, Junko and a guest appearance by Ruka Mikami who is now a porno actress. She put raw eggs into the wastepaper basket from the ladies lavatory and poured it over her head. She then twirled around egg noodles - it was an intense performance. I also remember that Akira Sakata was in the audience as he was a friend of Kami's.
In October we appeared at the school festival of Osaka's Momoyama University, along with The Stalin and Masturbation. At this gig there weren't enough guitar amps set up on stage so even though I had brought my guitar I was unable to play. I had no choice but to stand on stage and swing a baseball bat at an oil drum. The line-up was Jojo, Mikawa, Hayashi, Woo, Oka, Yuka and Kami. After the gig for some reason I was mistaken for Michiro from The Stalin - on a dark street a high-school kid on a bicycle pestered me for an autograph.