How and when did you first discover computers? After I entered Tokyo university of arts, I thought I needed to study the computer because I was already interested in the work of Ianis Xenakis and his concept of using the computer to compose. That was 1970.
Do you use a PC or an Apple Mac? I use a Mac for music and PCs for things other than music. I was using the Mac for 12 years but I met the chairman of Microsoft Japan, Mr Furukawa, who is an excellent man. He changed my image of Microsoft. Before I met him I thought Microsoft was an evil empire or something, ha, ha, ha.
How important are computers? Uuuuuuum, they seem important. But actually I can live without them. I just came back from Kashmir, I didn't take my laptop because I knew it would be hard to get online. It was hard to even get electricity.
Any particular favourite software you'd like but can't have yet? I like some AI software for composing which doesn't really exist yet. Max for the Mac and Koan might be the closest so far.
Any favourite websites? Just the usual ones like news sites www.wired.com/news/ , www.nikkei.co.jp/ and www.asahi.com/ I quite like to shop books and videos at www.amazon.com/ and for Japanese books at http://bookweb.kinokuniya.co.jp/ Oh yes, I take a look at my friend's diary site http://d.spanner.com/ and the new Nasa site, www.hubbleconstant.com/
Any favourite gadgets? I would like to get Sony's pet robot Aibo: <A HREF="'http://www.world.sony.com/robot/top.html"
' TARGET=_NEW>www.world.sony.com/robot/top.html
On a desert island, a human or a computer for company? A woman or child.
What about the future for computers? I want a computer with no crash.
What really irritates you about computers? New machines come up in every three months. New technology comes up every day on the Net - that irritates hunger of my soul. Ha,ha,ha.
The internet - a good or a bad thing? It's a good thing. But I can't get the same excitement as I could three years ago. Because of all the giant corporations entering into the business, it is making the internet similar to all the other media.
What are you working on at the moment? I'm writing an opera first time in my life. It's called LIFE and is going to be performed in September in Japan.
