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[Serial] I want to ride Jane Inamura (3) - In search of Keisuke Kuwata's "summer" -

【連載】稲村ジェーンに乗りたくて(3)-桑田佳祐の「夏」を求めて-
The work directed by Keisuke Kuwata, which I thought I would never see again, is back!
This series is a celebration of that, and a challenge to pursue "the original landscape of Shonan as seen by Mr. Kuwata."
Was your summer hot? Was it short? (author)

"Autumn has awakened"
Every time I think of these lyrics, I feel like our summer starts in September. Come to think of it, Jane Inamura was also released on September 8, 1990. How many times since that day...
But why does summer in Chigasaki look so good in autumn?
Already in the Sui and Tang dynasties, a high-ranking monk, Zen Master Doke, answered the question, ``Why is Amida Buddha's Pure Land in the west?'' He said that the west is the direction where the sun sets, and the place where it sets is called death. He preaches the view that the place of origin is the Pure Land. Coinciding with the end of summer and the end of life is probably a trick of human emotion.
Our summer of searching for "Jane", which began on June 25, 2021, is coming to an end.


(Inamuragasaki around the time of the movie era, Kasamatsu Shiran "Kamakura Inamura Gasaki", 1955, "Kasamatsu Shiran - The last new print", Geisodo collection)

①As a theory of others
Oz: Sensei, it’s been a while! eh…
Ami: Eh, teacher! ? Why are you wearing white tights and looking like a swan? ?
Professor: Yes, I'm thinking about my next job. I want to be a ``comedian who likes to stand out.''
Ami: Oh no, teacher, you're so emotional...
Oz: (I've heard that line somewhere before.)
Professor: Come on, you guys. Let's check the answers this summer. Why do you think so many funny things happen in comedians' daily lives? Interesting things happen on a daily basis, things that we see and hear on TV, things that would never happen to us.
Oz: After all, if you live like a comedian, interesting things tend to happen, don't you think?
Ami: I guess you could say they live in a different world than us...
Professor: Is that really the case? Teacher, I think they just keep their ``comedy antennas up'' and are professionals at catching the ``funny things'' in everyday life in the same world as us.

[Research Note 1]
This research (serialization) began with the purpose of thinking about this wave, which was not specifically shown in the movie ``Jane,'' and searching for the ``summer'' within Keisuke Kuwata.
At first glance, this work may be seen as just a movie review, but it is not. This is a practical study to get closer to the name of the land/area that does not appear in the address ``Shonan,'' and to get closer to the true image of ``that summer'' that springs from that ``Shonan'' in everyone's hearts.
Kuwata states. ``There's a scene where she (Namiko, the author) scolds Hiroshi, a stray surfer, saying, ``There's no point in floating in the calm sea, keeping everyone else away.'' The heroine's position is, "Rather than trying to keep your balance while riding, you have to be aware of the risks and catch big waves." ("With," October 1990), the heroine's position.
In the movie, the main character, Hiroshi, says, ``Because we're strangers.'' Yes, the key to this film is the relationship with "others."
When we try to find ourselves, we cannot confirm ourselves unless there is an ``other.'' Even if I were the only person in this world, would I be able to recognize "me"? (no).
And when we reflect on ourselves, we become pseudo-others. When I think, ``Oh, I want to sleep right now,'' it's as if there is a certain distance between the person I'm thinking about and the person I'm thinking about.

Ami: Do you mean looking at it from a bird's-eye view?
Professor: Well, if we assume that the comedian I mentioned earlier also has a self, I think he looks at the world from a ``fun perspective'' that is a little distanced from that.
Oz: So...is it okay to say that Jane is an "other"? ?
Professor: Yeah, that's the first thing I would like to think about. Mr. Kuwata mentions several films when talking about ``Jane Inamura'', including Jim Jarmusch's ``Stranger Than Paradise'' (1984, USA) and ``Baghdad Cafe'' ( You can clearly see this by watching the film (1987, West Germany). It seemed to me that 90% of the work was about relationships with "others." but…
Ami: But?
Professor: There was one other film that he mentioned by name, although he didn't actively say so. That's something that's stuck with me.
Oz: What do you mean?
Professor: It's the 1987 French-West German co-produced film ``Berlin: Angels.''


(Pamphlet and movie advance tickets. Shonan Rock and Roll Center AGAIN collection)

② Gaze from another world
[Research Note 2]
What kind of trend do you want the movie to have? In response to this question, Kuwata replied, ``I like things that are lazy and plain.
It's a black-and-white movie with not a lot of dialogue, and it's a refracted movie. It's the ultimate surf movie with a different perspective. ” (FM fan, April 1989).
At first, I was really aiming for a plain movie like ``Stranger than Paradise.'' Back alleys, back streets...'' (same as above) and ``At first, I was aiming for a plain movie like ``The Stranger.'' The main characters share each other's names. "It's a daily life movie that just continues with one scene or one cut." (Weekly Playboy, August 1990), the initial plan was expected to be quite artistic. It seems that
And what I would like to draw your attention to is the use of monochrome colors: ``Nowadays, office ladies and students go on dates to see something like ``Berlin: Angel's Poem.'' However, the antennae of the viewers have become sharper.'' (Can Can, June 1989).
Isn't it okay for Southern to do something more maniacal? Although this is a remark about ``An Omega to the Goddesses (Beyond the Y-Type (Kei) that is not reported),'' I would like to draw attention to its connection to the film production that was already underway.
The movie ``Berlin: Angel Poems'' is a worldwide hit that depicts the perspective of angels invisible to humans in black and white, and the human perspective and world (visible) in color.
In Japan, the idea of ``underworld'' became clear from the Middle Ages. We humans can normally only see the visible part of the world. However, the worldview is that there is actually a nether world, and that the gods, Buddhas, dead people, etc. that live there have an influence on the physical world.

Professor: Actually, a certain professor in Kobe pointed this out to me this summer.
Oz: Oh, did you get yelled at for getting too carried away?
Ami: (Oz-kun, you can't do that, the teacher is naive...)
Professor: Well, it was an eye-opener. When I said that the movie didn't even show waves, let alone surfing scenes.
( *Series 1 ) There is one place.
Ami: Huh, did you see a big wave? ?
Professor: I hurriedly checked the ``Document of Jane Inamura'' again, and there was indeed Jane in it. It is a picture of Mr. Kuwata himself riding a swinging crane from the sea side and photographing the shore side with a camera. Yes, in other words, we were shown the state of the shore (this world) from Jane's perspective.
Oz: I see! Although it wasn't a wave painting called Jane, Jane did appear.
Professor: Hmm, that's what I noticed. I see, Jane was looking at me from another world!
Ami: What does it mean to be in another world?
Professor: The word "other" came up earlier, but "other" is not just other people. Although we may not be able to see it, gods, Buddha, and the dead are also "others."
Oz: So you mean someone other than yourself?
Professor: Yes, the movie ``Berlin Angel Poems'' is important here. In this movie, angels (dead) who continue to live as eternal life stand beside the living and look at the world with a melancholy expression. Angels live in eternity, so they cannot enjoy the moment of ``now'' or ``here.'' The joys and pains of love that were buried and I didn't notice when I was alive. Through the eyes of the dead, we can learn about the rarity of each moment, the wonders of this world, and the precious extraordinaryness. I think it is this look from another world that Mr. Kuwata wanted to show us through Jane.


(Theatrical still photos and actual script. Shonan Rock and Roll Center AGAIN collection)

③The “ambience” between young people and adults, life and death
[Research Note 3]
Kuwata said the following in an interview. "However, young people are always waiting for something after all. Young people are not the ones who have the wisdom to start something on their own." (Josei Seven, September 1990) and.
When we want to ride a wave, we have no choice but to notice and ride the waves that naturally arise, or to create waves ourselves. If I were to interpret Kuwata's earlier words, an adult would mean someone who can make waves with their own power.
As mentioned in series 2 , big waves rarely come in life. And when you're young, you can't even notice the ripples of everyday life. Producer Shigeaki Mori quotes Kuwata as saying, ``'Youth is whether or not you can feel the waves in your body when you encounter your own waves.''' (Ibid.)
In other words, we live in the confines of youth and adulthood in our boring daily lives. And as long as you feel the waves, you can stay young forever. Even though our daily lives are 99% boring, we can still look for something interesting and keep dreaming.
Jane also tells us more. The coincidence of this moment, the beauty of life. ``The ocean is trying to tell me something, right? Give me the answer. But there's no way I can figure that out (lol)'' (Heisei NG Diary, June 1992), Kuwata tells the ocean (waves) the answer. I'm leaving it to you... By encountering these irreplaceable, moment-by-moment answers (waves), the boring, eternal days of youth are affirmed.

Professor: At first, I didn't understand the meaning of the climax where Chimi Myou Ryou appears.
Ami: Oh, dance! is what I think.
Professor: But this summer, I finally came up with my own interpretation. There, including the drawings from Jane, there is a gaze from another world. This is very similar to Zeami's method. The phase shift in his Noh is ``Mai.'' The technical term is ``Rime no Mi,'' which is the part where you look at someone from another world.
Oz: Hiroshi no longer says, ``It's because I'm a stranger,'' but he is enjoying the joy of living with others.
Professor: By the way, the Noh stage has a white sand bar between it and the audience seats, and the board at the back (Kagami-ita) has a pine tree drawn on it. It's Shonan (lol). Regarding the climax, Mr. Kuwata said on a TV program, ``I'm interested in the madness that lies between life and death at the Rio Carnival in Japan.'' Since the story is set in Kamakura, he wanted to express ``the sense of distance that monsters sometimes have in real life'' (ibid.).
Ami: That scene is when the owner of the antique shop dies. I feel like the wave of masters over there has subsided after 20 years. And I guess you could say that there was a wave of Hiroshi's generation who said, ``It's the same as the big wave of masters.''
Professor: The waves that came and went over those two generations were Namiko, and they were Jane's true identity.
Oz: You did it, Professor! You got there! !
Ami: Thank you for your hard work!
Professor: Well, next summer has begun. I will announce the assignment.
Both: Eh, are you going to do something again? ?

※This story is a fiction.

Conclusion Like Jane, who approaches and returns
While I was writing this article, the new departure melody for Chigasaki Station on the JR Sagami Line, ``Umi Sono Ai,'' produced by Shonan Rock'n'Roll Center AGAIN, of which I am the representative, actually started playing on the station platform.
Although it is a song by Yuzo Kayama, thanks to this series, a new interpretation was born in me of Tokiko Iwatani's lyrics, which begin with ``Holded by the sea''.
If the other world is the ocean (waves), it is possible to think of it as "all life." Being ``embraced by the sea'' means being kept alive by being supported by ``all life'' that has existed and continues to exist. And the time will come when I, too, will return to that great ocean.
A story of life coming and going. I am grateful to be part of this continuous history. It's a miracle that Yuzo Kayama and Keisuke Kuwata are alive in 2021, when they released new songs! That's great.
Thank you, Kuwata-san, for showing us the Heisei generation the movie "Jane Inamura" and for making us say, "It was hot, but it was short, naa, summer." !

Written by: Junmasa Shaku (Chairman of Shonan Rock and Roll Center AGAIN, Buddhist scholar)

Born in 1989 at a temple in Chigasaki City. Specializes in Japanese Pure Land Buddhism and the history of Japanese thought. To commemorate the 40th anniversary of Southern All Stars, Shinko Music will be releasing a book titled ``Our Chigasaki Story: The Genesis of Japanese Pops - Chigasaki Sound History,'' which summarizes the Chigasaki sound culture of Keisuke Kuwata, Yuzo Kayama, Kunihiko Kase, Kiyohiko Ozaki, and others. Publication.
Currently, he is the main DJ of "Shonan Rock'n'Roll Center RADIO" on Kamakura FM every Monday from 22:10.
Official website: https://www.srcagain.com/

Editing cooperation:
Ami Tazaki
Daiki Ozawa
(Shonan Rock and Roll Center AGAIN Researcher)


I want to ride Jane Inamura (1) - In search of "Summer" by Keisuke Kuwata - Click here
I want to ride Jane Inamura (2) - In search of "Summer" by Keisuke Kuwata - Click here

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