Gackt was born in Okinawa, Japan on 4 July. Although he claims to be born in the year 1540, it is thought that he was born in 1973. As the second of three children, with an older sister and a younger brother. His father and mother were music teachers who played various instruments with his father primarily playing the trumpet. According to his autobiography, he was a mischievous child and enjoyed taking risks; at age seven he nearly drowned while swimming off the coast of Okinawa. After this near death experience, he claimed to have the ability to see and speak with the deceased, a notion which was dismissed by his parents. At the age of ten, Gackt was hospitalized with a gastrointestinal tract and had to remain at the hospital for a prolonged time. He made the acquaintance of several terminally ill children, some of whom died during his stay.