2000 Late Spring

The Photo Book With His Passion for China

A year and a half passed and there had been no progress made with regards to Leslie’s project of directing his movie. Consequently the plan for his movie-making book made no headway either. Unexpectedly in the fall of 2000, I received a phone call from Leslie.

In the year 2000 Leslie was touring nonstop around the world performing his Passion Tour concerts. I sometimes saw images of him performing wearing a skirt with his streaming hair extensions flying about and half-grown beard in the newspapers or magazines. Honestly speaking I felt that it was a provocative performance. Maybe I don’t have a good sense for such a performance. As an objective onlooker, I thought he would look a lot better without his beard. Then I received his unexpected call. He said he would be coming to Tokyo to attend the Tokyo International Movie Festival as a guest. He asked me if I had time to meet him.

I visited him in his hotel room at the Park Hyatt. The door was ajar but I could not find anyone inside so I remained standing there and wondering; then all of a sudden Leslie jumped out from behind the door yelling, “Whoa!!” I shouted, “Oh my god!” and Leslie began laughing his head off at me. With his hair clipped short, he was like a young boy laughing so innocently. I could not believe this was the same man who wore a skirt in the Passion Tour concert. Above all, I was worried about him because he was much thinner and slighter than the last time we met. So I said “You’ve lost too much weight, haven’t you?” Leslie answered “Whenever I have the concert tour, I try to lose weight like this. Don’t worry! I will be what I was after the tour is finished.”
The reason he invited me was the planning of the second photo book. As we discussed before, this would be an intermediate level book. At that time Leslie said it would be a book with a theme such as a trip, hobby or something like that but the plan had not taken shape since then. As for me, I had expected his movie-making book would come first; however we would have to put this plan on ice for a while as Leslie’s movie project had not been decided yet. In the meantime Leslie’s Passion Tour held in Mainland China gave him the inspiration for his second photo book. He entrusted his friend, Wing Shya, who was working as a photographer for the concert shots, to take photos of him both at work and in private time while he was in China.

Leslie showed me some of the photos that had been blown up into big sizes saying “They are like these, what do you think?” The setting and scene had a very Chinese atmosphere. They were very beautiful pictures with delicate colors and sophisticated light and shade effect. So I answered, “They are very beautiful pictures.” I believed this photo book would be a very nice one. Leslie said, “I would like to give the title for the book.” The word represented his deep affection and hope for China. At first I thought perhaps the Japanese may not understand his intention from the title. Then on second thought I agreed it would be nice to make a book that has totally Chinese sentiments because the theme of the book was on China and Leslie had placed his passion for China in this book.

There were still a lot of things we had to talk about, but Leslie was very busy because he was the midst of his world concert tour so he had to rush back to Hong Kong on that night. We decided we would keep in contact by e-mail regarding the schedule of the book.

In the days that followed, the Passion Tour was performed all over the world. Every time when Leslie returned to Hong Kong after the concert, he would send mail to me. Every mail from Leslie would start with a report of his concert. It went like this, “I just came back from China. I was very satisfied with the concert last night. The audience was very enthusiastic. It was so exciting! The atmosphere was a bit different from that of Hong Kong. It is hard to explain, so I really want you to come and see the excitement!” His mail was so honest and frank, like a student’s description of his impression, that I could not help smiling while reading it. Leslie would always start his mail with the words, ‘Dear Mis.Shima’; he wrote in a colloquial style so to speak. His mail was very friendly and easy to read. If the saying, ‘Style is the man’, is correct, there is no doubt then that Leslie was an honest and sincere person.

Leslie held his concerts in Japan from the end of November to the early December. I went to the Tokyo International Forum to see his performance. It was my first time attending his concert. I don’t like loud noises so I seldom go to see a live concert. I was asked by Leslie before “Did you see my concert three years ago?” and I answered, “I am sorry, I did not but I saw it on video tape later.” Then he knitted his brows, pouted his lips and said, “Oh video? No, no! You should have seen the live concert. Seeing the live concert was much more brilliant than watching it on video!” So I promised him that I would see his concert next time. Before I went to the concert, I was a bit wary and hesitant to see Leslie with long hair, a beard and wearing a skirt, but as it turned out I did not feel out of place at his concert. Only the powerful amplified music at the concert was too loud for me.

After the concert I wondered if I should go to his dressing room, but I thought that he must be too busy answering media interviews and entertaining his many visitors backstage to have time to talk to me. So I went home without seeing him. A few days later, after he went back to Hong Kong, Leslie sent me a mail in which he complained about me, “Did you come and see my concert? If so, why didn’t you visit me? I made phone calls twice while I was staying in Tokyo, but there was no answer!” I promptly wrote back and apologized to him, I informed him that I had seen his concert and it was quite a nice one.

After that we constantly exchanged mail regarding the book . With this book, Leslie was very particular about the binding and design. He often asked me or made suggestions regarding the size and the shape of the book or the material of the book cover. At first he wanted to make it a bigger size book, such as B4 size, but later he said it should be a little smaller and square shape. Perhaps he had seen many different photo books during his concert tour for he seemed to be wondering which format would be the best for his book. As for the material for the book cover, he wanted it to be made of thick velvet. When I said we could not print the title on it, he changed it into some other material that the title could be printed on. Then he suggested that the book should not be packaged ordinarily but to place the book into a bag so that people could not see the contents inside. We had no time to see each other so we relied on exchanging mail to keep in touch but all this while we never discussed about the details of the book. A year after, in the middle of January, at the start of the new year we finally began to talk about the contents of the book such as which pictures or what kind of design that we should use. Leslie and I wanted the book to have a Chinese theme, so we thought it would be fitting that the designer of this book should be from Hong Kong; Leslie suggested some names of companies and finally we decided on a design company named Shya La La workshop run by Wing Shya. We thought there would be a feeling of uniformity if we let the photographer to be involved in the design of the book. Later I discovered that between the three of us, Shya La La comprising a team of artists with distinct individualities, Leslie, a shining star pursuing artistic excellence in his performances and I, from the point of view of a publisher, there existed a vast difference in our way of thinking.

Looking for artistic value or the effect of a star in the book?

At the end of February, I received mail saying that the rough lay-out had arrived so I flew to Hong Kong to have a meeting with Leslie. As for my memories of the meeting, the place I met Leslie was one of the meeting rooms on the top floor of Island Shangri-La Hotel in Hong Kong Island, but I cannot remember much of the details. I was expected to see Mr. Wing Shya but he could not come because of his urgent work abroad. So Leslie and I discussed about the book while looking through the rough draft. It was also the first time for Leslie to see the rough draft, as he had only received it on that day. Honestly speaking I could not help feeling puzzled while I was looking through those pages. The book included the photos Leslie had showed me before, but all the other pictures were not portraits but only candid documentary pictures.

We could guess the person was Leslie but his face could not be seen because the photos were taken from behind or against the light. These photos were interesting as art pictures but I wondered what his fans’ reaction would be to these pictures. Above all my concern for the book was the fact that “Leslie seldom appears in the book.” Leslie’s pictures formed only about 30 % of all the pictures in the book. I felt that the book was in some way not a true reflection of a Leslie Cheung’s photo book, but I have to admit Wing Shya’s photographic skills were truly very good and his photos were extremely artistic. Leslie looked at these drafts silently. I did not know what he was thinking, as there was no expression on his face nor did he say anything. I guessed that he must be having some conflicting thoughts in his mind and wondering what to say.

Actually in our exchange of mail, he had said, “I don’t want to commercialize the book by filling all pages of the book with my portraits only. I want it to be more artistic and sophisticated!” I totally agreed with him on this. Of course it is not wrong to be artistic. Well, I feel to be a fan of Leslie Cheung, is in itself a crazy pursuit of the arts. So I thought it would be nice to make the second book with a rather advent-garde feeling. Perhaps Wing Shya tried to make a very high standard art photo book taking into account Leslie’s idea but though I understood their concept, I felt the book would be completely different from the photo book of a star if we were to produce the book according to these rough drafts. I wondered what to say for a while, and I decided that it would be better to comment candidly than to beat around the bush. So I said, “I do admit these photos are wonderful, but… this book will be purchased by your fans and I think other people will probably not buy it. Almost all your fans want to see the book with your pictures in it and not to have a book on Wing Shya’s photography. So I think this book cannot sell a lot if your pictures appear so sparingly in this book.” I was afraid my opinion tended towards commercialism which would directly contradict Leslie and Wing Shya’s idea of ‘an artistic work’. However from the standpoint of the readers and taking into consideration the feeling of the fans, I believed I had to be the one who had to say this. Leslie did not say anything nor show any reaction at all to my comments at that time. He was only nodding his head while listening to me. I wonder if he was hurt because I had put a damper on the book that he liked or perhaps deep down he too shared the same feeling in spite of not saying a word. He was rather reticent and immediately changed the subject so I could not perceive what he was really thinking. I wonder why he did not express his opinion at that time yet he had been so particular about the binding of the book in his mail.

Anyway my visit to Hong Kong was in a hurried manner that I did not have enough time to discuss with Leslie as I had to fly back to Japan promptly. I could not understand Leslie’s non-committal approach. I was greatly concerned with a heavy feeling in my chest since I came back to Japan. Then about a week later I received mail from Leslie. He wrote, “Dear Mis.Shima, I feel very sorry that I did not have enough time to discuss the book with you after you came all the way to Hong Kong. I was afraid that you were disappointed or hurt.” After reading these few sentences, I was taken aback, since Leslie had never begun his mail in such a formal style nor has he ever made such an honest apology before.

I was worried about him and thought, “What’s up? Could there be something wrong with his health?” But luckily the sentences that followed were in his usual style as before; the content of the mail was positive and enjoyable.

He said he already had a meeting with Wing Shya, who had returned to Hong Kong, and a designer. He informed them of my candid opinion about the rough draft and carefully advised them to make the appropriate amendments. He said, “What you said was very candid and accurate. Honestly speaking, I also did wonder myself. ‘I cannot be satisfied with this! He had taken so many pictures of me; don’t tell me he is only going to use so few of them?’ But on second thought I felt I had to be responsible for what he did. I should have discussed with him properly instead of just complaining about their job. I should have shown the draft to you after such a discussion. I am very sorry. I had all the photos taken by Wing Shya shown to me and I have chosen more pictures by myself. I looked handsome in those pictures and I think you will like them! Now more than half of the book’s pages have my photos.” I was a bit disappointed and thought … well, there are still the remaining pages of the other half of the book.

Anyway it was true that we had made some progress and above all I felt happy finally knowing what he was thinking when he was looking over the rough draft silently. It also made me happy that Leslie understood what I said and tried to make a compromise with me. Towards the end of his mail, he said “They will remake the rough draft and it will be finished early April. On April 16th, my final concert will be held at the Coliseum. I would like to invite you to the concert. Will you be able to come to Hong Kong before April 15th if possible? I will introduce you to the designers. Perhaps you could contact them directly after that? I am looking forward to your reply.”

For a while the plans of the book seemed to have gone onto the paths of a maze but I was relieved to know that now a bright future lay ahead for the book titled ‘’(Qing) ( we pronounce Kei in Japanese which means ‘felicity’).

The Passion Tour final concert and Leslie with a dumpling hairstyle

A month and a half after our last meeting, I visited Hong Kong again with my staff. The final concert of Passion Tour was going to be held the next day, so Leslie appeared very busy. The next day we arrived at Hung Hom Stadium (Hong Kong Coliseum) 1 hour before the concert opening. Mr. Tong gave us the tickets in the dressing room. He was easy-going as usual which helped to soften the hurry-scurry and tensed atmosphere in the dressing room with the final concert near at hand. The stage in Hung Hom Stadium is huge and three-dimensional, so the effect of the concert was totally different from the one I saw at the Tokyo Forum. Leslie was in his element when striding freely on the big stage. I should say Leslie looked the best on the stage of Hung Hom. My comment might be presumptuous as I seldom attend live concerts like this. At the Tokyo Forum, almost everyone in the audience was Leslie’s fan and they enjoyed the concert with Leslie at his best. But as for me, the heat and excitement of ecstatic love from the fans in the hall was a bit stifling. On the other hand, in Hung Hom stadium, his concert was regarded as a holiday event or something similar. The elderly, the young, his fans, also non-fans, anybody and everybody came here to enjoy the concert with their families. I was very impressed by the fact that Leslie was able to fill the hall with 40,000 to 50,000 full seats every night though the population of Hong Kong was only 6 million.

The next day of the concert, I went to see Leslie. He was still wearing his hair extension. He bound and rolled up the hair into the shape of a dumpling, then pinned it up to the back of his head. When I saw the same hairstyle on stage, I did not feel it was out of place, but I felt the hairstyle was a bit mismatched on him in ordinary clothes. I took a close look at the hair extension for the first time and I was very surprised at the faultless perfection, as I could not tell the extension hair from his natural hair. I was also surprised to hear that he even washed his hair, extension and all. The beard he wore on his face when he was on stage the previous day had disappeared. He was slim and slender like a young boy when I met him in February, but this time he looked brawny and bigger; perhaps he had gained weight or he had developed his muscles by doing a lot of exercises. He looked different in physique and I should say that every time I met him the impression he gave me was never the same.

On that day Leslie introduced me to Mr. Wing Shya and 2 designers from Shya la la workshop. Mr. Wing was much more gentle and friendly than I had expected. The rough draft of the book ‘’ was yet to be completed but the whole framework had been finalized. They had added more pictures of Leslie to it which made the book more acceptable for me as a publisher. Leslie chose the pictures for the front page and the pictures for advertisements on the spot while Shya La La and I were supposed to do the rest of the work together. We decided that we would meet together at Shya La La’s office the next day. Then Mr. Wing and his staff took their leave. Meanwhile Leslie and I still had a lot to discuss concerning the work that still had to be done following the completion of the book.

To tell the truth, my staff and I did not want to have another book signing event of Leslie any more as we had a very tough experience physically and mentally at the first autograph event. The movie ‘Moonlight Express’ had been released at that time and the frenzy of his fans in Japan would be much more intense than before. The last time we did it, we had not known anything about the difficulties, but this time, it was completely different. Now that we knew how difficult it could be, we were reluctant to hold the event. We were afraid of what could happen but Leslie had a totally different idea.

In fact, ‘’ (Qing) was the book in which Leslie expressed his delight that he was able to hold the concert in Mainland China for the first time. The snapshots in the book revealed a very happy and relaxed Leslie as if the boundless acceptance of Mainland China has given him the ultimate and tolerant power. I guess he might be anxious about publishing this book in Japan that was full of his yearning for China. He was worried of being questioned with “Why do you publish a book with your love for China in Japan? Why not a love for Japan?” by Japanese fans. (To tell you the truth, many readers did send us this kind of questions on the card afterwards. Many of them commented, “We would like to have a book with love for Japan if Leslie publishes a book in Japan. Please take photos in Japan for the next book!!”)

Moreover, this book seemed to have its own individuality and would be different from the previous book, so perhaps he did not have the confidence that many fans would understand his intention and he wondered how many of them would purchase the book. Therefore Leslie presumed there would be a book signing as a promotional event and started to talk about his plan. Leslie with the dumpling hairstyle gave the sweetest smile of an idol. He said, “But no more book signing in Hong Kong. Instead I will go to Osaka as well as Tokyo. And well, maybe other places too!” I told him that many fans from all over Japan came to Tokyo to see him on the previous events, so he kindly said “I will go to other districts if needed. We could hold smaller events in many parts of Japan!” I said, “It would be impossible as even the event in Tokyo fills me with apprehension. I should say it would be possible only in Tokyo and Osaka at the most”. We discussed about the event for a while and finally it was settled that we would hold the event in Tokyo and Osaka but the book signing would be limited to only 1000 signatures in each city.
For Leslie, the previous experience of being totally worn out after signing 1000 signatures was not a good lesson but he took it in his stride as a hardship that he had overcome and he wanted to move ahead.

On the other hand there were still many worrying concerns for me such as what kind of photo book it would turn out be and will the fans like it enough to want to buy the book? Where should we have the book signing events in Tokyo and Osaka? How would I cope with handling all of these difficulties? Then on second thoughts, and only this fact comforted me at that time: it was the knowledge that the fans of Leslie would surely be very happy to see him again.