Journeys Guided by Sound

#Amami #DJ #JAKAM #journeys guided by sound #JUZUakaMOOCHY 2022.02.25

Amami

Total Solar Eclipse and the Spirit of Independence 3

Total Solar Eclipse and the Spirit of Independence 1

Total Solar Eclipse and the Spirit of Independence 2

It has been 46 years since the last total solar eclipse in Japan. The next total solar eclipse will be observable in Japan in 2035, 26 years after this time, which means it will be the biggest astronomical show in my life. One person had a great influence on the outcome of this major event.
That person is Kohei Kitayama.

I always read the magazine “Takarajima” when I was in junior high school, and I was influenced in some way by Mr. Kitayama, who was the editor-in-chief of the magazine when it was first published. It may be that I was somehow potentially influenced by him, but But it wasn’t until a friend gave me a copy of “The Rainbow Warrior” that I properly recognized him.
Immediately after that, I saw the movie “Hopi no yogen (The Prophecy of Hopi)” at Hobitto Mura in Nishi-ogikubo.

These are a complete set in my own mind.
I learned many of the spiritual aspects and social situational facts and realities of Native Americans from Mr. Kitayama.

First.
I’d like to start with his writing, “The Complete Book on Eradicating Discrimination,” written in 1999.

The people who will play a very important role in the future of the earth
may be those who have abandoned this country, restored their ties with the earth, become “true human beings,”
and have returned to the Japanese archipelago, but are still living in the same place with an unsuspecting face.
These people celebrate wholeness. They see themselves as whole.
In other words, physically, emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually.
For them, life is a never-ending learning experience.
Over the past 20 years or so, the number of such people has increased enormously.
At some point, when the number of such people exceeds a breaking point, there will be a major evolution in the consciousness of society.
Another world that has long since disappeared will materialize in a form that everyone can see.
They are the ones who can truly eliminate “borders” and “discrimination.
Naturally, they are the ones who can build a society without discrimination against nature or between people.
The prerequisite for this is, above all, that the discrimination within the individual must disappear.
Any movement for the liberation of discrimination is powerless and worthless if it does not come spontaneously from within the individual.
But now, people who have been asleep for more than 2000 years are waking up.
The time will surely come when these people will take control of society.
They may not even be aware of it, but I am eager to see more and more of these “ninja” types.
Our mission as adults is not to make money, but to make efforts to increase the number of such young people for free.
I would like those who are in a position to raise young people to be sure of this point.
Don’t raise “useful” young people just to maintain your own system.
This system, if left unchecked, will sooner or later decay.
We need to create people who can survive at that time.
Believing in our own potential, we must first set out to find a place where we can connect with the earth.
Above all, we must continue to imagine with our minds a peaceful earth, without discrimination, without borders, and without war.
Let us not be afraid to enter the next world from the current one.
I dedicate this to you as a guideline for living in the new world.

The following is a passage from a Native American language translated by Mr. Kitayama.

Every morning when you wake up, and every night when you fall asleep.
For the life within you and all living things
For all the good things that the Creator has given you
For the opportunity to grow up little by little every day
First, give heartfelt thanks.
Reflect on the thoughts and actions of days gone by
Seek the courage and strength to be a good person.
Seek only what is good for all people.

Vision Quest by Red Cloud

Everything in the world will be new.
A new country is coming.
A new country is coming.
The eagle brings news to the clan.
Everything on earth will be new.
The buffalo will come back.
The buffalo will come back.
The raven has brought news to the clans.
That’s what the gods say.
That’s what the gods say.
(Ghost Dance Song of the Sioux Tribe)

I was born and raised in Tokyo, a city in Japan where people rarely feel nobility, so I felt a difference that made me think that I was talking to people from a different world, or even a different planet. But at the same time, I felt a sense of closeness to my grandparents, who were only in my faint memory, but somehow reminded me of my ancestors.

Then I found out that the so-called Indians of South America, Indians, Native Americans. They are said to be of Mongoloid descent, and have Mongolian spots, which are also found in Asian descent, and they are originally quite close to us.
In other words, my senses were getting closer to that fact before I did.

The intuitive ability to perceive good and bad, such as beautiful, scary, dangerous, etc., is very important, and sharpening it is very important for creation and creativity.
That is why you should always sharpen your senses and believe in the latent intuition that lies within you…
I think I have learned a lot from Kitayama’s book.

And I actually got the impression that he was my ‘relative’s uncle’

Yes, this is the year I met Mr. Kitayama.

It all started with Mr. Tora, a.k.a. the owner of ManaBurger, a veggie burger shop in the center of Fukuoka. He invited me to a lecture he was planning and introduced me to Mr. Kitayama, who told me he was going to stay in Fukuoka for a couple of days. So I agreed to take him to the place where he could see the most beautiful scenery in Kyushu.

Mr. Kitayama liked it and said it was just like Arizona. We returned to downtown Fukuoka late at night, and since there were few places to eat, we went to an izakaya.

Then, I told him that I was actually going to Amami to DJ again this year, and that I would be watching the total solar eclipse.

And he said, “Don’t watch it.” (For detail here (only in Japanese)

I was surprised to hear him say, “Don’t look at it.” But to be honest, I didn’t have any personal feelings about the total solar eclipse, and I felt somewhat uncomfortable about it, so I agreed with Mr. Kitayama on the spot.
When I balanced the two, I intuitively felt that it was more beautiful and right.

However, my family, my wife at the time, was negative and insisted, “I want to see it!” Anyway, I wanted my family to feel the climate of Amami, so I drove to Kagoshima and took a ferry to Amami. (Before that, I had been traveling alone, so I flew back and forth.)

The following is a video of my sons, now 20 and 19 years old, participating in a big session on the ferry on the way there.

The frenzy of the space tribe, including the participating musicians, looking forward to the cosmic scale of the party, had already begun at sea.

It was a very large event and party, including many foreign artists, and the Noripy scandal, which became a hot topic afterwards, was a big deal lol

However, after meeting and talking with Mr. Kitayama, I think I was the only one in the hall who was sober.
Everyone except myself had come to see the total solar eclipse, and to be honest, I was in an awkward state of mind.

The family liked the annual guest house (Sato no Ie) located in front of a calm beach.
I let my two sons finish their homework there and then took them to the beach.
I was rather confident in my swimming ability, so I carried my eldest son on my back as we headed out to sea.
The eclipse was only an hour away, and I wanted to get away from the hustle and bustle around me.
When we got far enough away to see the guest house, and felt strangely cold, the signs of the total solar eclipse had already begun….
Definitely the temperature and sea temperature would begin to drop rapidly.
An indescribable sense of dread arose in me as I carried my eldest son on my back and headed for the beach.
The sea temperature was dropping by the minute. And for some reason, my son’s weight was getting heavier and heavier.
The sky was getting darker, and an unsettling atmosphere seemed to be filling the air.
I’ve never drowned in my life (although I heard it happened when I was three years old).
The fear of drowning, and carrying my son on my back, is heavy, both in responsibility and in reality!
It’s not like before! Unusual weight! It’s like a scene from the movie “The Omen”!
I can’t die here! I feel like I’m dying, but I finally reach the beach….
By the time I got there, I was really exhausted….

Soon the total solar eclipse was about to begin.
I took my son back to my room.
The apparent drop in temperature was strange.
The view from the window also seemed extraordinary.
Yes, a total “anomaly”.
Unfortunately? The clouds were so heavy that no one was able to see the black circle of a proper total solar eclipse this time. In a way, everyone was protected by not having to see what they didn’t have to see?

The following is a scene from the party.

奄美皆既日食音楽祭 Official Countdown Party for 2009

What were the experiences of the people in the audience?

For me, it wasn’t a tangible problem, but an experience that felt like a big black hole had popped open and was about to swallow me whole. I still have a complicated feeling about it.

Natural/cosmic phenomena and psychological phenomena can be synchronized.

The world is full of mysteries.

And maybe this opportunity shifted some trajectory, but I would be separated from my family for the next year.

Even so, like Isson Tanaka, I have no choice but to devote myself to my work alone.

In any case, the trip to Amami that this music led me on was also colored by various experiences and many encounters.

Once again, I would like to thank everyone involved in the Amami Total Solar Eclipse Music Festival.

And the journey continues!

＜To be continued＞

J.A.K.A.M. (JUZU a.k.a. MOOCHY / NXS /CROSSPOINT)
http://www.nxs.jp/
soundcloud / Bandcamp / Twitter / Facebook

Born in Tokyo, he started playing in bands and DJing at the same time when he was 15. As a DJ, his innovative and original style has taken the world by storm, and his activities have quickly expanded from huge festivals to underground parties both in Japan and abroad. In 2003, he went on a recording tour with local musicians in Cuba. In 2003, he went on a recording tour with local musicians in Cuba, and since then he has been recording all over the world, and started his own label, Crosspoint, as a new guideline for world music.
In addition to music production, he also produces video works, picture books and art books, and organized the outdoor festival “Jomon and Rebirth” in 2012. In 2017, he released HIGHTIME Inc. with DJ Tasaka, and in 2018, he released ZERO with MACKA-CHIN of NitroMicrophoneUnderground and MaL of PART2 STYLE. In 2018, he also started the unit ZEN RYDAZ with MACKA-CHIN of NitroMicrophoneUnderground and MaL of PART2STYLE.
In the same year, his music under the name of J.A.K.A.M. was released in analog form on the French label HardFist, which led to a live performance at the huge 30,000-person Nuits Sonores Festival, followed by a DJ tour of Europe and Israel. In 2019, the production of MYSTICS, a unit with Marcus Henriksson and Kuniyuki of the internationally popular Minilogue/Son Kite, began, and this year, 2021, the long-awaited album will be released. His original vision is spreading all over the world, crossing all genres.
He has been behind the decks at home and abroad with:
Acid Arab (FR) / Adam Ffreeland (UK) / Alex Patterson (The Orb, UK) Andy Baz (Background Records, Germany) / Asaf Sammuel (islael) / Dego (4Hero, UK) / Fabio (UK) / Francois K (NY) / Fred P(NY) / Foolish Felix (UK) / Grooverider (UK) / I.G.Culture (People, UK) / Jeff Mills (Chicago) / Joe Claussell (NY) Nick the Record (UK) / Moodyman (Detroit) / Panasea (Germany) PHOTEK (UK) / Storm(MetalHeadz, UK) / Suv (Fullcycle, UK) / Q-Bert & Inbisibl Skratch Piklz, Mix Master Mike with D-Styles, Yogafrog and Shortcut (US) / Theo Parrish(Detroit) / Terre Thaemlitz (US/JPN) / Tom Wieland (Vienna) /DJ KRUSH (JP) / Flying Lotus(US)/ / Boredoms (JP) / FAUST (Germany) / Dennis Bovell(UK) / Dillinger Escape Plan (NY) / Juno Reacter (UK) /Lee Perry (Jamaica) / LKJ (UK) / Lake Trout (US) / Mad Proffesor (UK) / Mala (UK) / Marcus Henriksson(SW) / Meat Beat Manifesto (UK) / Merzbow , MMW (US)/ Yakaza Ensemble(Turkey) etc. His style keeps evolving and defies categorization.