The first bible would be getting our hands on the LDH employee handbook translated. I will now attempt to beam this idea to Hiro from me, in hopes that it will happen. I digress though.
The international EXILE TRIBE fandom, we were absolutely a flutter in March 2018 with the quiet announcement. I mean, most of us didn’t find out until the end of the month, as we all quickly shared, pre-ordered and waited for the volume to arrive. It’s actually released in English, distributed from Barnes & Noble and on Amazon which is a surprising development.
And it’s worth the investment if you’re as big a fan as I am. It’s 272 pages of glossy full color images, not only of Hiro throughout his career but of the various artists under his label, the lives arenas, behind the scenes, and even into their clothing lines and resturants. (Yes, LDH has their own restaurants.)
It’s a big book, and I love it. I got is second-hand, still in plastic for under $50 on Amazon, what a life.
Content
The book is set up in 11 parts so it’s easy to pick out the sections to be reading. They’re titled as such in this order:
J-Soul Brother: A Conversation with Hiro and Verbal
The Dancer: A Photo Essay
Tribes
Live Tour
Fashion & Apparel
Film & Theater
High & Low
Music Videos
Dance Studios
Cuisine
Editorial
I won’t bore people with the details, since the section titles are pretty self explanatory. I won’t lie I’m a pretty big fan, to the point where I’ve spent money traveling to see their artists in person and on the big screen and more. There was still information I never had come across before, aside from the exclusive interview between Hiro and Verbal from M-flo. It’s stuff that even hard-core fans either hadn’t put together before, and just goes to show, for as much shit as we give ‘Uncle’ Hiro; he really cares. There’s so much more then just pretty talents on stage.
About the only fault was the color of the actual text. It’s a brown-gold and was incredibly hard to read. Other then that, it was amazing. Now, you can say this is just a fangirl’s ramble over a large one-time (for some) read, and you might be right. However, as a fan of EXILE, a fan of Hiro, and a once avid reader this was worth it to me. Plus, it gave me more aspirations to yes, continue spending money on the Love Dream Happiness Empire that Hiro has created. And personally, that’s not a bad deal to me.
Phoenix Talks Pop Culture Japan 