I created my Twitter account on March 20, 2011, for the sole purpose of following Nishikawa Takanori's Twitter account. For those who don't know, Takanori records using the name T.M.Revolution. (The T.M. stand for Takanori Makes.) He is also the vocalist for abingdon boys school.
Note: Twitter Birth Certificate courtesy of twbirthday.com
I couldn't even begin to tell you how many tweets I've sent to Takanori. Thousands and thousands I'm sure. When I joined Twitter I never even dared to dream that maybe, just maybe, he might reply. Yet... HE HAS!
I feel very blessed that Takanori has replied to me! At the time of this writing he has replied to me 23 times.
Needless to say, I'm beyond thrilled.
Takanori has replied to me on a number of subjects ranging from his beloved dog, Wi, to the earthquakes in Japan, to health (both his and mine), and more.
I wanted to share some of these tweets. Obviously, every reply I receive from him is very special to me. I tried to pick just a few, and that wasn't easy.
Something I have a tendency of doing is telling Takanori good night. I'm not sure why I do this. It's just something I do. More than once he's wished me a good night and once he even wished me sweet dreams. This was particularly meaningful to me since I had said that I hoped to see him in my dreams.
On another night, I had mentioned loving Japan and how my dream was to visit (or move) there.
There was a time last year that his dog, Wi, had to have surgery for a mammary tumor. He tweeted about this quite a bit. And I often asked how she was doing. One morning (well, morning in Japan) I asked about her and got an amusing reply.
Now let me be clear, I am very proud of Takanori and his English skills. English is not an easy language to learn. Still, he does amuse his English-speaking fans. He's just so cute! Gotta love him!
The last reply I want to share is very special to me. There is a story behind it.
As quite a few people know, I had a heart attack in February of 2009. I had, and still have, a wonderful doctor and we have an excellent cardio team at the local hospital.
While I was in the hospital, extremely frightened as you can well imagine, I listened to Takanori's music over and over. Even though I don't know Japanese (yet) his beautiful, angelic voice gave me strength and hope. I credit him with helping me make it through.
Now... I would never advise anyone to get a tattoo of a particular band or person. Tastes change. Things happen. And you might end up regretting that tattoo.
Having said that, I KNOW my feelings for Takanori will never change. I will always love him. I will always support him. Always.
For a long time I'd felt the need to get a tattoo of Takanori's logo as T.M.Revolution. It would be like always having him with me. I could look at it when I needed that strength, that hope, that he'd given me in the hospital.
I finally got that tattoo and posted a picture of it on Twitter. Takanori saw it and replied.
I'm always excited, always thrilled when he replies to me... but this reply was special to me above and beyond the others. Yes, it was a short reply. That's not the point. It was the acknowledgement that he saw my tattoo. He knows he is always a part of me now. When I got his reply, quite honestly, I sat in my chair and cried.
Takanori means the world to me. He's so important to me. I can't even explain it. He's an inspiration to me and to so many others. Not just because he's a "rock star". It's more than that. He's such an amazing man off stage too. All of his accomplishments... they aren't just in music. He's helped so many people with the charity he founded after the 3/11 earthquake/tsunami. There's just so much I could say about him.
There are numerous celebrities on Twitter. Not all of them do their own tweeting. Their staff tweets for them. Not Takanori. He does his own tweeting. Some of it is promotional. Some of it is candid, about his personal life. Not all of these celebrities reply to their fans, especially not to fans who are tweeting to them in a foreign language to their own. Not Takanori. He replies to his fans. Not just in Japanese.
And I have been blessed. Takanori has replied to me. 23 times now. And I will never forget this.
西川さんはどうもありがとうございました。
