It could pass as a good analogy for the way Ryuichi sees the world; he describes artists as canaries in the coal mine, with the idea that they are highly attuned to the pertinent issues of our time. Ryuchi does this by speaking two languages. One through his powerfully sensitive music, and the other through using his voice to talk about humankind’s catastrophic influence on its environment. His rattled conscience is something you see a lot of in this film. If he is not surveying the damage from the Fukushima nuclear reactor then he’s heading on a ship to Antarctica to witness the fragility of its ecosystem firsthand. One of the most profound pioneers in music, he starts this discussion by lamenting the passing of one of his late contemporaries and at one point acting partners, David Bowie.
How do you feel about reverence? People like David Bowie or Lou Reed, many of these people get to a certain point where they feel the weight of their energy; they know they mean something. Do you also identify with this?
Well since my background is of a traditional Asian culture, I’m not like that. It also has to do with my interest in Buddhism. I have been thinking about nothingness for a long time. Nothingness is the key philosophy of Buddhism. Ego is nothing. Sight is nothing. I’m interested in indigenous cultures all around the world. Aboriginals, Native Americans, Ainu people in Japan. Their lifestyle is very familiar to me, so I’m not like a Westerner with a big ego.
About Nature
You know some people say, “at my funeral, I want this song played,” – is there a soundtrack that you go back to that you love and that somehow characterizes you as a person?
The first thing that comes to my mind is the music of Bach. St Matthew Passion. But maybe that’s too melancholy because I’m kind of a funny person. So maybe that’s too heavy.
I am a huge fan of Bach and back when he was making music the world was full of sadness and tragedy. People only lived to a maximum of 50 years old. At the time people expected God to save them but he didn’t, he never came. So that was a motivation for Bach to write such sad music and for me as well.
social and creative view
When you take your work to cities around the world, when you show who you are through your music and your art and your creativity, do you have a message you bring with you?
The message is something only the individual listener or viewer knows because I’m not giving a political or social message through my music.
Well, that’s related to the sadness we talked about. Honestly, I think my belief is that homo sapiens should be gone. We are destroying the world, not with nuclear bombs, but with our activities. We are like a cancer for this planet and for other species.