eSOM
The Road to D, or the Story of Singularity High School (SHS) and Cowa
2025.05.09
The Road to D, or the Story of Cowa (10) : Kenji Nakagami as Giant Star, and We, “Ziggy Stardust”
1. SHS’ connection with Mr. Sakamoto and Mr. Takatani’s art finally leads us to Kenji Nakagami. For more details about Kenji Nakagami, please see here: x.com/shinkoukouwa/s Mr. Nakagami was a close friend of both Mr. Karatani, the honorary head of “Cowa,” and Mr. Sakamoto. In particular, the relationship between Mr. Nakagami and Mr. Karatani played a decisively important role in the establishment of SHS, as will be discussed later. About the relationship between Mr. Nakagami and Mr. Karatani, see below: book.asahi.com/jinbun/article book.asahi.com/jinbun/article The strong connection between Mr. Nakagami’s literature and Mr. Sakamoto & Mr. Takatani’s art was reaffirmed by the “Ryuichi Sakamoto Tribute Exhibition” at NTT InterCommunication Center (ICC) (December 16, 2023 – March 10, 2024); the work “async – immersion 2023” by Mr. Sakamoto and Mr. Takatani at “Ambient Kyoto 2023” (October 6 – December 31, 2023) held in Kyoto during the same period; and finally, Mr. Takatani’s “Tangent.” About “Ryuichi Sakamoto Tribute Exhibition”: ntticc.or.jp/ja/exhibitions About “Ambient Kyoto 2023”: ambientkyoto.com About “async – immersion 2023”: ambientkyoto.com/exhibition youtube.com/watch?v=tq_67N How the art of Mr. Sakamoto and Mr. Takatani that I saw there connects with Mr. Nakagami’s literature is recorded in detail in my “’Tangent’ Notes.” It will be long, but since it is the most important thing in the curriculum of SHS and the entire “Cowa,” I will post the entire text here (black bold text; the “our school (eSOM)” in the text refers to SHS and “Cowa”): (February 16-17, 2024, Friday-Saturday) “Tangent” Notes (9) ① Today (the 16th, Friday, 2024) marks exactly one week since the premiere of “Tangent.” In other words, apart from watching all four performances this week, I’ve been writing these notes almost non-stop (I was writing yesterday too). But thanks to that, I was able to write about what I had always wanted to write about but didn’t have time for – the “Ryuichi Sakamoto Tribute Exhibition” in December and “Ambient Kyoto async – immersion 2023” – in an ideal way, by relating it to “Tangent.” First, about the idea I got when I was writing about the point of contact between the “Monolith” and the pen (tip), and about the sparks when they touch. The idea was that “things come into contact and something is born… Isn’t a tangent (the point of contact between things) essentially ‘exchange’?” Exchange. In other words, the central concept of Karatani’s philosophy. By the way, the fire produced by the friction of things is an object of worship in Zoroastrianism (fire worship), one of the “spiritual powers” born from the mode of exchange D. For more information about Zoroastrianism (fire worship), please see here: ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%BE For us, Sakamoto & Takatani’s art and Nakagami’ literature is positioned as the artistic expression of Karatani’s philosophy. This means that we can teach Karatani’s philosophy through Sakamoto & Takatani’s art and Nakagami’s literature, and cultivate those who will bear the mode of exchange D. However, in order to properly evaluate Sakamoto & Takatani’s art and Nakagami’s literature, one might need training equivalent to, or even greater than, that required for Karatani’s philosophy. Of course, for us, their art is the very essence of the educational content, so regardless of which subject is taught, the teachers must first cultivate the ability and qualifications to properly evaluate it. However, we cannot suddenly demand this from 14- and 15-year-olds who are about to enter junior high school. I myself have only just begun to understand it at the age of 56. There may be some 14- and 15-year-olds who understand it, but at our school (eSOM), we want to provide education so that all students, by the time they graduate high school, will become people who can feel its goodness and importance, even if they cannot explain it well. On top of that, the important “entrance” to Karatani’s philosophy as well as Sakamoto & Takatani’s art and Nakagami’s literature will be entertainment (games, manga, anime, movies). Only education that has Karatani’s philosophy as well as Sakamoto & Takatani’s art and Nakagami’s literature on the one hand, and games, manga, anime, and movies on the other, can effectively provide meaningful education. ② Now, let’s summarize the position of the art of Sakamoto & Takatani’s art and Nakagami’s literature, which is the ultimate expression of Karatani’s philosophy (the ultimate goal of education), in eSOM, by approaching it with entertainment as the “entrance,” in the form of a general review of “Tangent.” The turn of the year 2023 and the beginning of the year 2024, from December to last week, were filled with Sakamoto & Takatani’s art. The “Ryuichi Sakamoto Tribute Exhibition” at ICC started it all. Among the works exhibited there, the following three works, also mentioned in this commentary, were particularly important for eSOM: 《Piano 20110311》 [2018/23] ntticc.or.jp/ja/archive/wor 《Sensing Streams 2023 – Invisible, Inaudible》 (ICC Version) [2023] ntticc.or.jp/ja/archive/wor 《After the Echo》 [2017] ntticc.or.jp/ja/archive/wor I saw 《After the Echo》 on Sunday, December 17, 2023. It was the second day of the “Tribute Exhibition.” As I have already written in some previous commentary, the nature in that video immediately reminded me of the fresh green mountains in the heart of Kumano on Sunday, August 5, 2012, when the 20th anniversary symposium of Nakagami’s death was held. Then, with “forest” as the trigger, I strongly felt the bond between Nakagami’s literature and Sakamoto & Takatani’s art, and I started listening to Nakagami’s novel “Hosenka (Impatiening to Nakagami’s novel “Hosenka (Impatiens)” on Audible on the Shinkansen heading to Hiroshima. Reading (listening to) it after a long time immediately made me feel the strong bond between Nakagami’s literature, Karatani’s philosophy of world history, and thus Sakamoto & Takatani’s art. It also clearly taught me what the “spiritual power” unique to the mode of exchange D (which Karatani speaks of in “Power and Modes of Exchange”) is. Let’s once again review the educational goals of our eSOM. It is to “cultivate those who will bear the mode of exchange D in Karatani’s philosophy, through education centered on Sakamoto & Takatani’s art.” On the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Hiroshima on December 17th, it became clear that the art (literature) of Nakagami–Karatani’s one and only close friend and Sakamoto’s ally–is another pillar of our education, alongside Sakamoto & Takatani’s art. When I saw 《async – immersion 2023》 twice at “Ambient Kyoto” at the end of December, and also when I saw the video in “Tangent” where forests and trees became horizontal lines and then repeated the process of becoming forests and trees again, I immediately thought of 《After the Echo》, Nakagami, and Kumano. The reason I went to see 《async – immersion 2023》 twice, on the 27th and 29th, was that on the morning of the 28th, when I went to Honen-in Temple, where Sakamoto and Takatani had a live performance in 2005, the place overlapped with 《async – immersion 2023》 in the basement of the Kyoto Shimbun and the music I heard there. So, I thought, “I have to go again,” and visited the basement of the Kyoto Shinbun again, as I have already mentioned. Since 2008, for many years during the summer, I had stayed in Kyoto and walked with my beloved dog Coro every morning and evening from Shinran’s Okazaki Betsuin Temple to Honen-in Temple, just as Shinran did. For more information about Okazaki Betsuin Temple, please see here: shin.gr.jp/shinran/site/s For more information about the relationship between Shinran and Honen, please see here: shin.gr.jp/shinran/kyoto1 Shinran went to Honen-in Temple from Okazaki Betsuin Temple for 100 days to seek his teachings, and Coro and I must have walked that same route about that many times. And the fact that Shinran’s Jodo Shinshu (Pure Land Buddhism) was very important to Nakagami’s works and to him personally was reaffirmed while listening to “Hosenka” on the Shinkansen on the way back from the “Tribute Exhibition.” ③ And here it is, 10:40 PM on Saturday, February 17th, 2024. I just finished watching Ridley Scott’s “The Martian” (2015). I talked a lot about the visuals of this movie in my review of “Tangent,” but I had never seen the actual movie before, only the trailer (lol). It’s wonderful! That’s all I can say. Recently, around the time I wrote about the theory of the human machine, I finally watched the original “Blade Runner” (1982) by the same director and finally understood why Sakamoto and many others praised this movie so highly back then. And “The Martian.” What’s wonderful about it is, first of all, that no other movie makes planets other than Earth as well as the universe feel so close (lol). After all, it’s a “Mars version of Robinson Crusoe.” Other “space movies” inevitably have a strong sense of being “another world.” This movie also made me rediscover the wonder and greatness of science. It is the protagonist’s knowledge of science as a botanist that saves him from a desperate situation. And it is the amazing power of science and mathematics that rescues him from Mars. Now, I really need to finish writing this commentary quickly and rewatch Christopher Nolan’s “Interstellar” this weekend. No other movie makes me feel the greatness of physics and mathematics so directly as “Interstellar.” And I will be at the center of devising a curriculum that uses such movies and other materials to convey the wonders of these academic fields to students. While becoming a writer specializing in cutting-edge science and technology, especially AI. In other words, the novel I will write to recruit students will be the sequel to Nakagami’s “Kaijin (海神, meaning See God)” and at the same time, the sequel to Atsushi Mori’s “the Metamorphosis of Meaning.” And the ultimate touch is David Bowie’s “Starman” playing at the climax of the movie. There were many surprises in this song’s Wiki page. First and foremost,what Bowie says in an interview about this song is strikingly similar to the legend passed down by the Hopi tribe, which I consider the prototype of “A” alongside Jyomon society. Moreover, considering what I have said about Takatani’s “Tangent” so far, it is possible to think that the worldview of “Tangent” overlaps with that of “Startman” made by Bowie who is also deeply connected to Sakamoto. For more information about “Starman,” please see here: ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B9 For more information about the album “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars” which includes “Starman,” please see here: ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B8 “The story of a bisexual rock star ‘Ziggy Stardust’ who comes from an alien planet as a savior in response to the crisis of human extinction caused by resource depletion in five years.” This “savior” is Bowie as “Starman,” and the world of “Tangent,” colored by the music of Mr. Sakamoto, who had a “forbidden love” with Bowie in the film “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence,” can be regarded as “The Sequel to Ziggy Stardust.” From this standpoint, eSOM will make the works of these supremely “iki/cool” artists the pillars of its education. (The end of the excerpt from “Tangent” Notes (9)) Starting with “Mr. Ochi’s Cosmic History,” we journeyed through Lynn Margulis, the art of Ryuichi Sakamoto and Shiro Takatani, the literature of Kenji Nakagami, and then returned to space via cinema (‘The Martian,’ ‘Interstellar’) and music (David Bowie). This SHS version of “2001: A Space Odyssey” reveals the interconnectedness of all human wisdom—philosophy (originating from Karatani), art, literature, entertainment, science, mathematics, and more. Furthermore, it has become clear that the “Vagabond (inquiry-based learner)” who contributes to the construction of “D,” which all “Cowa” members aim for, is the “bisexual rock star ‘Ziggy Stardust’ who came from another planet as a savior,” and that the “Road to D” is her/his story. This is the entirety of the “skeleton” of SHS’ curriculum. (To be continued)
