Dear Yuko,
I was delighted to see your performance of Kagehime.
I am sending you my thoughts about the performance in this letter.
I was able to watch your show from the audience seat, after I saw Kentaro (the cellist) off to stage.
I did not know anything about the tragic romance of Kagehime portrayed in the Chronicals of Japan.
The story is quite simple – an authoritative prince falls in love at first sight with Kagehime, who already has a lover, Higure no Shibi, and the prince murders Shibi. Despite this, Kagehime rejects the prince, and continues to live as she mourns and loves her lost lover.
This story is universal. There are many stories that portray tragedies or loves stories of tyrants, but Kagehime is a very Japanese story. Since the story is from the Chronicals of Japan, it is a story that was written in Japan, and has its origins in Japan. Since I do not know a lot about Nihon Buyo, this is my honest impression as an amateur.
We hear Bach’s Cello Suites accompanying this story written in the 8th century. We are drawn into the stage from the first melody. In the Prelude we see Kagehime living her life as she overcomes the tragedy, and this is a prelude to the story that is about to begin.
Then in Allemande the love story of Kagehime and Shibi is told, and the Prince starts wooing Kagehime. This is followed by Sarabande where there is a poetry competition, but the Prince loses. Courante begins with the Prince’s furious yelling, “Kill Shibi!”. And finally from Menuetto to Gigue, we see Kagehime loving her dead lover, living fiercely. She is filled with strength and grace that allows no one to approach her.
I say that this story is Japanese, when I see how Kagehime lives her life. It might be because of my Japanese identity, but I was very drawn to how even though her lover was killed unreasonably, she doesn’t blame God, doesn’t condemn people, and lives with dignity. There is no curse, nor revenge, no giving up, nor losing hope. The word “living with dignity” sums up the story and the performance today.
I can also say that your dance and Kentaro’s cello showed no desire for fame nor acknowledgement, and just quietly offered their bodies with dignity to their own artistic world, and this was what made the performance so marvelous.
The Nishikawa School of Japanese Dance was born around the same time period 300 years ago, when Bach was also at the height of his career, so to be able to see this miraculous intersection of the two art forms is a genuine blessing.
The more words I try to use, the farther I get from what I exactly want to say…
Thank you very much.
Chapa (Keiji Imai)
Dear Chapa-san,
Thank you very much for your letter.
Thanks to your support in arranging the schedule and PR of Mr. Yoshii, we were able to have many people come to the performance despite this challenging theme of combining Bach with Japanese dance. I would like to express my sincere gratitude.
The theme of the recital was to create a piece that did not require any prior knowledge.
Upon reading your letter I felt a sense of relief, seeing that you understood the theme and enjoyed the show, and that the show has somehow been able to accomplish some results.
I am hoping that I can continue to create pieces that can be close to people’s lives, and transcend the walls of culture, region, and generations.
On a separate note, besides your work in music production as the director of Media Chapa, you are also the director of an NPO for intractable diseases. Medicine is very important in this coronavirus pandemic, but the arts is a culture that is non-essential.
How do you transcend the walls between these two opposing worlds in your work? I would love to ask what you think, as it may become a hint for my next piece
Yuko Nishikawa
Nishiko-san,
Thank you for your response.
Transcending walls…I take that you see there is a wall between the “healthcare frontline” and “non-essential arts”. They do indeed seem exactly opposite.
I’ve actually never thought about it, so after your message I thought about it.
I don’t know if this is the answer you are looking for, but I keep two things in mind.
Simply speaking, I perceive things in two layers – facts and values.
Facts exist objectively.
Values are what make that existence exist.
Take music, for example.
If you look at music from the factual side,
We can research the composer, performer, the pitch, volume, type, tempo, length etc.
We can also make it appear visually in the form of a music sheet.
When the sound disappears as time passes, the music ends.
But that doesn’t mean that the music disappeared.
When the performance is over, the sound has disappeared – but the music remains in people’s hearts. This is the key.
It’s not the memory of whose performance it was or what instruments they used that remains – it’s the sense that people have felt in the heart that remains.
Even after time passes this doesn’t fade, but rather becomes more vivid. I think many people have experienced this. This is the world of values.
Facts are supported by values, and values are reached through facts.
It’s when you try to separate the two worlds, that we reach a dead end, as we start comparing which is better or worse, and get confused about the size or height.
As we continue thinking, we realize that the height we are aiming for is actually all the same.
Even if we don’t go beyond the walls, we are already in the same world.
How do we measure wealth and poverty, happiness and unhappiness?
In an old film I once saw, a talented but poor artist is told “You can be richer”. He responds, “There is no such thing as a poor artist”.
I think that this is actually true for anyone.
Chapa (Keiji Imai)