Q070: First off, a friend of mine really wants to know about the band and the Moomin. What was the genesis of "The Hattifatteners Song?" Are there other cartoon characters or whimsical creatures that you are particularly fond of? Do you ever read children's books?
A070: In Japan the Moomins was shown on television between 1969 and 1972, and it was very popular. I grew up watching it and later I bought all the books and devoured them too. Hattifatteners is my favorite character, though the song title itself has no particular meaning. I guess that sense of movement just popped into my head.
It's funny that you should ask me about cartoon characters because when I was a child I had a conception of Christian, Buddhist and Hindu etc art as being like cartoons and I used to copy them. Even today I still collect popular religious artefacts. When I was a kid I was addicted to reading, and I used to love especially the Doctor Dolittle books by Hugh Lofting, the Caroline books by Pierre Probst, and collections of Japanese folk tales.