Red like the spring water, From “aka” to “aka”. Or fire and water
Artist Kei Tsuji

It is said that the ancient Japanese people clapped their hands not only to summon their gods but also to summon people.

I was at home at Inamuragasaki in Kamakura on March 11th 2011, when the tremor hit Japan. I was gazing at the sea through the glass windows of my house, prostrating myself during the unusual quake. Watching the sea, I imagined a big bear nearing me with his mouth wide open in a forest. I thought I would be quite contempt to surrender, completely and immediately. The next day, I set off for Nara in order to participate in a ceremony at Omiwa shrine. The ceremony is held on U-no-Hi (the day of U), U- no-Tsuki(the month of U), U-no-Toshi(the year of U), the special day which comes every 12 years according to the Chinese zodiac. The day of San-u-sai (three U festival) was the 13th of March. My body was slightly trembling while climbing Miwayama. It was like a cold shivering with fear of the darkness in which you cannot see anything in this world.

On 20th April, I was sowing Safflower seeds with my students in the field of the university which has become a yearly event since 2008. This activity is meant for “the These of Life.” In the event of such an unprecedented catastrophe, I thought the meaning of the these shouldn’t be forgotten –in the event of such a tragedy, “sowing” must be done. Humans assume that such a great earthquake would occur every some hundred years, or a thousand years. We have forgotten, however, that the Earth is a gigantic organism itself, and as long as we live on it, we are committed to live along with it.

Having said all this, I was completely unable to get down to work after the March 11th. As a disaster artist, I became powerless and helpless. I was overwhelmed by the rush of the Japanese character for the word ”sen” folding from the media reporting the disaster.:hosyasen hibaku (radiation exposure), jikko senryo (effective dose), kukan hosyasen ryo (radiation dose in the air), teisenryo hibaku (small dose exposure), hosyasen (radiation), osensui (contaminated water), jyosen (decontamination), dojyo osen (land contamination), idenshi (gene), sensyokutai, (chromosome), senryo (dose), kansen (infection) etc. ”Sen” means “a line” in Japanese. I draw “sens” or marks, on my fabrics, and for me, they are supposed to depict happiness…

Our Safflower grew better than ever in the field by mid-July, and so were the harvested “seeds.” I couldn’t believe my eyes. They say plants are biologically resilient to survive under certain severe conditions. (During that period, Tohoku University of Art and Design measured the radiation level regularly. The level was said to be within a safe range).

Last year, I became Kanreki (the age of sixty). In the theory of Yin-Yang and the five elements, the combination of the twelve horary signs and the ten horary signs return to the beginning in every sixty-year cycle, and from where the word kanreki stemmed.

Last year, at the reconstructed Ise Jingu, the central figure of genius loci Okuninushino-okami, was reinstalled in the newly built Izumo Oyashiro for the first time in sixty years, which coincided with the reinstallation of Amaterasu-omikami, the primary goddess of amatukamis (the deities descended from heaven) I had the honor to pay a formal visit to both shrines. Clapping hands (kashiwade) demonstrates the feelings of joy and appreciation. At Izumo, you bow twice, clap hands four times and bow once again for worship. At Jingu, you clap hands eight times and make a last short clap (yahirate). The purpose of rebuilding shrines is to return to the starting point of their own. Celebration of gods has its ideal in origin, from which the energy of creation generates. Cleansing the space for the divinities can provide an essential opportunity to revitalize us for the future. Rebirth. Continuity of life. Clapping hands is the act of blessing: the sound livens up one’s soul and invites the gods, and it moves the prayer and the gods deeply (tamafuri).

Meanwhile, this year is the 60th anniversary of the hydrogen-bomb test in Bikini. Brava Test was said to be 1,000 times more destructive than the atomic bombing in Hiroshima. The H-bomb has made the entire Earth “a victim of radiation exposure.” Even after 60 years, we cannot retrieve the clean environment as it used to be. I wonder the remaining Brava Crater is the worst artificial creation, which is to say an art. Human beings have become somewhat unnatural even though we are part of nature.
My deep desire to know the archetype of our lost souls has turned into subtle vibrations. Each piece of memories has been patched together in my deep senses. I have come to think that I may be able to touch the core of the future. ＜March 2014＞