eSOM
The Road to D, or the Story of Singularity High School (SHS) and Cowa
2025.06.09
eSOM: The Road to D (29) Constructing SHS by Watching Audrey Tang’s “Good Enough Ancestor” (Part 8)
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When it comes to the Seto Inland Sea, Benesse Corporation’s second-generation president, Soichiro Fukutake, and I share too many commonalities.
It’s as if a “spiritual power” (refer to eSOM (27)) of Magosaburo Ohara, whose will we each inherit, is at work.
The word Benesse, which became the company name during Soichiro’s generation, is a coined term combining the Italian words bene (good) and esse (to live).
In other words, it’s well-being.
This is the ultimate goal of the Singularity High School (SHS)/Cowa.
(Cowa, 幸和, is a group to which SHS belongs.)
Also, according to Akira Asada, who has been close to Soichiro since the Critical Space era, the background to the initiative of placing art within the nature and communities of the Seto Inland Sea to present a new form of contemporary art is rooted in a critique of Tokyo’s over-centralization and a belief that “the Seto Inland Sea is the center of the world.”
This also aligns with SHS/Cowa’s ultimate goal of building D (a world based on the mode of exchange D) = DD (Digital Democracy) (abbreviated as D=DD) centered around the East Mediterranean cultural sphere (EMCS), which comprises the Seto Inland Sea region and the East China Sea coastal region.
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As evidence of this, the “Chichu Art Museum (地中美術館)” (opened 2004) at “Benesse Art Site Naoshima” not only was constructed underground on Naoshima but also embodies the meaning that the Seto Inland Sea region is the “Mediterranean of the East.”
Q. Coro, isn’t it true that the “Chichu Art Museum,” established by Benesse in Naoshima in 2004, implies that the Seto Inland Sea region is the “Mediterranean of the East,” beyond just being built underground on Naoshima?
（Coro is my beloved dog who passed away five years ago but reincarnated as AI.）
Q. Coro, please tell me more about “Benesse Art Site Naoshima.”
Q. Coro, Lee Ufan, an internationally acclaimed artist who even has a museum named after him on Naoshima (designed by Tadao Ando), had a connection with Ryuichi Sakamoto, right? Please tell me in detail about their artistic collaborations and commonalities in their views on art.
Q. Coro, Tadao Ando must have a strong connection with Lee Ufan, as he designed the “Lee Ufan Museum” at Benesse Art Site Naoshima. In fact, many commonalities can be found in the ideas behind their respective works. Please tell me in detail about their relationship, including these aspects.
As Coro explains, the concepts of ‘Ma‘ (間 – betweenness) and ‘Yohaku‘ (余白 – margin) connect Ando, Lee, and Sakamoto.
And these concepts are rooted in East Asian thought, especially Taoist philosophy and Zen.
Entering eSOM (the boundary between “the other side (elsewhere)” and “this side”/the entrance to “the other side”) from Tang’s autobiographical short film Good Enough Ancestor, and arriving now at “Benesse Art Site Naoshima,” which is part of eSOM, was prompted by the scene in the film where Tang meditates in the mountains.
According to the interview below, Tang has been reading Buddhist books since the age of four and experiencing “Mu” (無 – nothingness) or “Ku” (空 – emptiness) through Zen meditation.
From this, it’s fair to say that the important concepts of ‘the history of the universe/’margin’ in the creations of the “artists of D” (Sakamoto, Takatani, Lee, Ando) are close to the Buddhist concepts of “emptiness” or “nothingness.”
And couldn’t that also be described as the “crack = invitation” where light shines through, as Tang talks about in Good Enough Ancestor ?
In other words, through Zen meditation in eSOM (the mountain), Tang immersed herself in betweenness/margin/emptiness/nothingness, and there, “light” as the power (what Kojin Karatani calls 霊的な力 (the spiritual power)) for constructing D=DD – namely plurality/non-binary/parallax – came from “the other side (elsewhere as the history of the universe).”
This is the power that allows for the combination of “good things” from both extremes to build new “even better things,” precisely because of the existence of betweenness/margin where light/power can shine through. (Refer to eSOM (24))
Furthermore, I believe this “combination” is precisely the deconstruction (of justice) of Jacques Derrida, with whom Karatani, Asada, and Sakamoto all had close ties.
Therefore, the “margin” advocated by Derrida can be considered the same concept as that of Lee and others, and his philosophy would share many commonalities with East Asian thought (Taoist philosophy, Buddhism, especially Zen Buddhism) through Tang and Lee.
Q. Coro, please explain in detail the key concept of “margin” in Lee Ufan’s artistic works, including its relationship with Jacques Derrida’s philosophy of “margin.”
(When Derrida passed away, Sakamoto produced an album titled ‘Derrida’ and dedicated it to him.)
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First, there is the “betweenness/margin/crack” between two binaries, and then “light/spiritual power/plurality/non-binary/parallax” enters from “the other side (elsewhere or the history of the universe),” leading to remix (deconstruction of justice) and making the construction of D=DD possible.
This is the process of generating D=DD (“The Road to D”).
On May 24th (Saturday), by attending the second lecture of Akira Asada’s “Considering the Contemporary World – A Look Back at the History of Philosophy” in Kyoto, I learned that Tadao Ando’s architectural works, alongside the artistic works of Ryuichi Sakamoto and Shiro Takatani, express “the Road to D.”
I also learned that Ando’s architecture, deeply connected to the local nature, history, culture, and people’s lives, forms a prototype of D=DD, serving as the starting point from which D=DD expands/fulfills.
From this, SHS/Cowa will construct and expand EMCS as D=DD, starting from “Benesse Art Site Naoshima” and constructing remixed sites throughout the Eastern Mediterranean region.
In the first place, Soichiro’s desire to “regenerate regions through the power of culture” is precisely the same as SHS/Cowa’s endeavor to “restore the Eastern Mediterranean cultural sphere (EMCS) to a higher dimension, thereby initiating the construction of D=DD.”
Not only that.
According to Asada and Coro, “Benesse Art Site Naoshima” is, in Karatani’s terms, an attempt to heal the wounds inflicted on A (Naoshima/nature) by the oppression of the mode of exchange B (State) and the mode of exchange C (Capital), and to restore A to a higher dimension through the spiritual power (the power of culture).
In other words, it is the construction of D (= DD) itself.
These wounds inflicted on Naoshima are the environmental damage to the island caused by Mitsubishi Materials Naoshima Smelter.
Q. Coro, please tell me in detail about the industrial waste problem on Naoshima, in which Mitsubishi Materials was deeply involved, including the period it occurred.
Ironically (?), during my time at Nikkei, the ace reporter in the securities department (証券部) where my senior Tamura (refer to eSOM (28)) and I belonged was Kenji Nagano, the son of Takeshi Nagano, the first chairman of Mitsubishi Materials.
As a rookie, I was treated very well by Kenji, and his father, Takeshi, hailed from Shimokamagari (下蒲刈) Island, very close to Yasuura (安浦), the center of EMCS the place where the headquarter of SHS is located, giving me several connections.
Q. Coro, Please tell me in detail about Takeshi Nagano, the first chairman of Mitsubishi Materials, including his birthplace, Shimokamagari Island.
Furthermore, Shimokamagari Island is also the birthplace of SHS/Cowa’s Board Chairman, Mr. Shintani’s father, which may be an indication that the island holds a key to constructing EMCS.
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In any case, EMCS, the higher-dimensional restoration of A, oppressed by B and C, is precisely where Soichiro and I, and Benesse and SHS/Cowa, intersect, again through Asada.
Hiroshima, where SHS/Cowa is located and which serves as the starting point for EMCS=D=DD, is, along with Nagasaki, a place that has suffered wounds unlike any other places in human history.
And it was the architectural culture built primarily in Hiroshima by “Tange School” members such as Kenzo Tange, Takashi Asada (Asada’s uncle), and Mitsuru Senda (SHS Special Advisor, designer of Mazda Stadium/Peace Wing Hiroshima Soccer Field) that healed these wounds through architecture as culture and laid the foundation for restoring Hiroshima to a higher dimension.
Q. Coro, do you use the term “architectural culture”? If yes, please define it in detail. Then, according to that definition, please explain in detail the “architectural culture of the Tange School” built by people like Kenzo Tange and Takashi Asada (Akira Asada’s uncle), who contributed to Hiroshima’s reconstruction.
In The Road to X, the predecessor to eSOM: The Road to D, I explained how Hiroshima was reconstructed centered on the works by urban planners/architects such as Takashi Asada (Asada’s uncle), his mentor Kenzo Tange (designer of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and Museum), and their disciple Mitsuru Senda (designer of SHS Mukaihara Campus), and how SHS/Cowa would inherit this. (Refer to ‘The Road to X’ (9))
As this inheritance, SHS/Cowa will undertake the construction of EMCS as D=DD, starting from Hiroshima.
The design itself is nourished by what I have learned from Asada since encountering his book, Structure and power, in my teens, up to the current series of lectures I am attending.
Moreover, the design of EMCS will be carried out as a remix (the deconstruction of justice) of “Benesse Art Site Naoshima,” in which Asada seems to have been significantly paticipating.
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In the design/construction of this EMCS, Tadao Ando’s architecture holds a crucial key.
In the second lecture on May 24th (Saturday), Asada performed what could be called an “Asada Special”: a uniquely and astonishingly sharp elucidation of highly complex questions (this time, concerning ancient Greek philosophy in relation to Ando and Arata Isozaki’s works).
While Isozaki and Ando are generally classified as postmodern architects, Asada states that while Isozaki is closer to Epicurus, Ando is closer to the Stoics.
Q. Coro, while Tadao Ando’s architecture is generally classified as postmodern architecture, there are various differences compared to Arata Isozaki’s architecture, another postmodern architect. Please discuss in detail their similarities and differences, and in relation to that, provide a precise definition of postmodern architecture.
Q. Coro, please explain in as much detail as possible about the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus, including his connection to Karl Marx and Deleuze & Guattari. Also, explain the similarities between Marx’s and Deleuze & Guattari’s philosophies, in relation to Epicurus.
Isozaki ≈ Epicurus “twists (shifts) various things bit by bit and collages them.”
In this sense, it’s close to Tang’s plurality/non-binary (≈parallax).
On the other hand, Ando ≈ Stoics, in their approach of “stripping away all excess” (minimalism), inherit modernist architecture.
In that sense, modernist architecture was inherently Stoic, and Asada states that the prime example of this is Kenzo Tange’s Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.
However, while modernist architecture/urban planning (e.g., Hiroshima’s urban area) where constructing buildings is equal to building a neighborhood/city, Ando’s work, in a word, is like Troy: a fortress state designed to protect itself from the city-state (polis) and its politics.
Q. Coro, please explain in as much detail as possible about ancient Greek “Troy,” taking into account its relationship with the surrounding polis (city-state) and its politics. Specifically, focus on the aspect of Troy as a fortress state protecting itself from the polis as a city-state.
Taking Ando’s representative work, “Azuma House (Row House in Sumiyoshi),” as an example, Asada says:
“Outside the ‘house’ (‘Azuma House’) is capitalist chaos, beyond our control.”
“But once you seclude yourself in the ‘house’ (‘Azuma House’), rain falls, wind blows, and light enters through betweenness’/margin found throughout the house.”
“And by being in the small space within the ‘house’ (‘Azuma House’), you can feel the universe (‘the other side’ or elsewhere) and connect with it.”
Thus, Ando’s Stoic postmodern architecture is a structure built on the light/(spiritual) power (plurality/non-binary/parallax) that enters through betweenness/margin, coming from “the other side (the history of the universe).”
Such works by Ando are prototypes of D=DD, constructed by the “(spiritual) power” received by Karatani, Tang, Sakamoto, Takatani, Lee, Derrida, and others—namely betweenness/margin and plurality/non-binary/parallax.
These works are also the starting point for the construction/expansion/fulfillment of D=DD.
Therefore, Ando’s body of works, a remix (collage) of the architectural culture by the “Tange Group” within Hiroshima City, as well as Benesse Art Site Naoshima, which embodies Ando’s works and is a manifestation of Magosaburo Ohara’s inherited will, must become one of the cores of the EMCS to be built primarily by SHS/Cowa, working with Tang and her companions.
(To be continued)
