1. The Earth is one organism, one body, just like the human body. And both were born from the universe and have similar structures. Therefore, the Earth is an extension of the human body, in other words, a part of the human body. For this reason, each member of SHS aims to achieve the well-being (physical, mental, and social health) of both their own body and the Earth, considering the Earth as an extension of their own body, that is, a part of their own body. This is what I talked about at the end of “Road to D (8).” Art is crucial in thinking and acting in this way. The importance of art for SHS is well-known through calligraphy and Takehiko Inoue’s manga, ”Vagabond.” To this, we add Ryuichi Sakamoto’s music and comprehensive art. Lynn Margulis’s “endosymbiotic theory” connects Sakamoto and SHS’ “Mr. Ochi’s History of the Universe” (a required subject, “Science and Human Life”). Margulis’s theory, the former wife of Carl Sagan, the author of “Cosmos” which sparked my childhood fascination with the universe, connects SHS’ science subjects (physics, chemistry, biology, earth science), with “Mr. Ochi’s History of the Universe” as its “nucleus,” and further connects the entire STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, liberal Arts, Mathematics) co-education. Sakamoto says: “I was quite inspired by the research of biologist Lynn Margulis, and I referred to it extensively when creating the opera ‘LIFE’ (1999)” (Ryuichi Sakamoto, Shin’ichi Nakazawa, “Jomon Sacred Site Pilgrimage,” p. 105). I went to see the NYC performance of the opera “LIFE.” Mr. Karatani (the honorary head of “Cowa”), who was invited by Mr. Sakamoto himself , took me to the concert with him (Mr. Sakamoto deeply respects Mr. Karatani). The performance took place at the now-gone World Trade Center. Below are excerpts from the opera “LIFE”: youtube.com/watch?v=HD4oby youtube.com/watch?v=MNn6r9 youtube.com/watch?v=jWsOcR youtube.com/watch?v=LpUP0I youtube.com/watch?v=RqlItq youtube.com/watch?v=aIDztc Regarding the exchange between Mr. Karatani and Mr. Sakamoto in NYC, please see here: book.asahi.com/jinbun/article (In this article, one of the students Mr. Karatani mentions attending his Columbia University class is me.) I believe that the opera “LIFE” can be seen as a 20th-century world history based on music as its motif. One Saturday in June 2023, while strolling alone on Ninoshima Island, the idea suddenly came to me that the opera “LIFE” is the ultimate artistic expression of the “Road to D.” Therefore, I conceived the ultimate goal of SHS to be “the cultivation of individuals who contribute to the construction of D,” and I planned to construct its curriculum as a “remix” of the opera “LIFE,” which is the ultimate artistic expression of the “Road to D” (see “Deconstruction of Justice,” “The Road to D (5)”). 2. The stage art (especially the video) production for the opera “LIFE” was handled by Shiro Takatani, a core member of the art group “Dumb Type.” After the opera “LIFE,” Sakamoto and Takatani together created a work that I consider a “remix” of the opera “LIFE.” “Tangent,” produced after Sakamoto’s death and featuring his music prominently (February 9th (Friday) – 12th (Monday), 2024, ROHM Theatre Kyoto), is one such representative work. For more information about “Tangent,” please see here: rohmtheatrekyoto.jp/repertory/taka bijutsutecho.com/magazine/news/ youtube.com/watch?v=___wMf I attended all four performances of “Tangent” in Kyoto. During each viewing, I took notes furiously in the darkness, and immediately after returning to the hotel, I created detailed records based on my notes and memory. Looking back at these records while writing this, I realized that “Tangent” has surprisingly overlapping aspects with “Mr. Ochi’s History of the Universe.” The following record of the second act (out of four acts) is particularly so (black bold text: the “Monolith” in the text refers to the mysterious object that appears in the movie “2001: A Space Odyssey”): (February 14th, 2024) “Tangent” Notes (8) Last time, it was up to the point where the “Monolith” appeared at the beginning of the second act. At the premiere on Friday the 9th, when this “Monolith”-like object appeared on stage at the beginning of the second act, my understanding of “Tangent,” which I had been writing about since Note (1) as “depicting the cycle of life and death of ‘LIFE’ including Earth in the universe,” became firm. After all, as written in the Wikipedia excerpt I copy-pasted in the previous explanation, the “Monolith” in “2001: A Space Odyssey” is the “entrance” through which nothingness (the universe) gives birth to existence (life). In the darkness, a person on stage touches the “Monolith” with something like a pen with a glowing tip. Then, sparks fly from the point of contact into the darkness. Perhaps these sparks depict the birth of the sun. A new song (a song from “12”?) plays, and the metallic sound caused by the friction each time the pen (?) touches the “Monolith” overlaps with Mr. Sakamoto’s sound (the sound of Earth or the universe?). Gradually, the person draws lines on the “Monolith” (of course, while producing metallic sounds amplified by machinery). Then, lines of light are projected onto the screen at the back of the stage. The seemingly randomly drawn lines intersect with each other, and their afterimages take on shapes like cells seen under a microscope. I’m not entirely confident whether “cells seen under a microscope” is the optimal expression, but in any case, it evokes microscopic life forms. Fire, microscopic life forms… It seems to depict the birth of life on Earth (that is, in the universe). The screen, which was black with lines of light, gradually becomes colorless, and eventually becomes the familiar white wall. The surroundings become the “magic hour” before sunrise, and light and shadows are projected onto the screen. The shadows projected onto the screen, covered in gentle white light, form regular shapes like ladders or prison bars. It reminds me of the jungle gym in a kindergarten playground. White smoke slowly emerges from the right side of the stage. The atmosphere? The surroundings change to the ”magic hour” before sunset, and then to night. Thus ends the second act, which evokes the birth of Earth, life, and civilization (things with form). Let’s put aside for now what the “person” on stage represents (what do you think they represent?). The metallic sound and sparks that occur when something like a pen with a glowing tip touches the “Monolith” may represent nuclear fusion and the birth (synthesis) of elements through it. At the same time, the sound from Mr. Sakamoto’s album “12” that plays may be the sound of distant stars repeatedly being born and exploding? Furthermore, the fact that “gradually, the person draws lines on the ‘Monolith’ (of course, while producing metallic sounds amplified by machinery),” and “then, lines of light are projected onto the screen at the back of the stage,” and “the seemingly randomly drawn lines intersect with each other, and their afterimages take on shapes like cells seen under a microscope,” may represent the birth of “LIFE (Earth, humanity)” as a “dynamic system maintained by the complex intertwining and interaction of living and non-living elements,” as advocated by the “Gaia theory” and the “endosymbiotic theory.” 3. Being connected with Mr. Sakamoto and Mr. Takatani through “Mr. Ochi’s History of the Universe,” SHS’ STEAM (STEM + liberal Arts) co-education has exploded all at once, like the Big Bang. First, via the co-authored book by Mr. Sakamoto and Shin’ichi Nakazawa, “Jomon Sacred Site Pilgrimage,” SHS connects with the Jomon period. My hypothesis is that the lives and culture of the Jomon people are the “A” (representing Karatani’s mode of exchange A and the society dominated by it) that is Cowa’s immediate goal. According to Mr. Karatani’s theory of modes of exchange, “D (= the globalization of ‘A’)” is the return of “A” as “that which was suppressed” by “B” and “C.” Therefore, the “Yasuura Commons” (see “The Road to D (5)”), which will serve as a prototype for “D,” or as “A,” must be constructed by all “Cowa” members while greatly referencing “Jomon Sacred Site Pilgrimage,” in which Mr. Takatani also appears. This is because the construction of “D” is the ultimate goal for SHS, that is, for Cowa as a whole. (To be continued)
