X JAPAN: Transcript Of Tour Postponement Press Conference Available

According to Japan Zone, the three "healthy" members of rock band X JAPAN held a brief press conference in Tokyo on Tuesday (June 17) to formally announce the postponement of their world tour. Vocalist Toshi, guitarist Pata and bass player Heath talked to the press at the Park Hyatt hotel in Shinjuku, Tokyo, acknowledging that drummer and band leader Yoshiki is currently undergoing medical treatment at his home in Los Angeles to address his chronic disc herniation (also known as a "slipped disc") and tendinitis. His doctors have forbidden him from performing or traveling long distances. This means that planned shows in Paris (July 5),Taiwan (August 2),and New York (September 13) have been postponed and also that Yoshiki is unlikely to be able to fulfill his wish to visit the Japan Expo in Paris in early July. Toshi said, "I spoke to him on the phone and the regret was clear in his voice and words." But, he added, "Once everything is ready to go, we're going to start the musical assault again."

An English-language transcript of the press conference can be found at Jrock Revolution.

Japanese TV footage covering the press conference can be viewed below.

According to Tokyograph, Yoshiki has been advised for several years by his doctors to wear a corset during live performances to help address the problem, though he disregarded that advice for X JAPAN's reunion concerts at the Tokyo Dome in March. Despite suffering a separate injury during the first of those shows, he continued his energetic performances, and at the 10th-anniversary edition of the annual Hide Memorial Summit (a two-day tribute festival to the band's late guitarist Hideto "Hide" Matsumoto, who committed suicide in May 1998),he re-triggered the herniated disc.

Yoshiki has previously had to take extended time off due to his condition, spending half a year in recovery in 1990 and nine months in 1996.

A herniated disc is a spine condition that occurs when the gel-like center of a disc ruptures through a weak area in the tough outer wall, similar to the filling being squeezed out of a jelly doughnut. Neck or arm pain may result when the disc material touches or compresses a nearby spinal nerve. Conservative nonsurgical treatment is the first step to recovery. With a team approach to treatment, over 90% of people improve in about six weeks and return to normal activity.

Japanese TV reports on the X JAPAN press conference announcing the tour postponement: