Did the “Heisei system “make the Japanese happy?
I’m a Japanese artist and I collaborate with friends who are talented artists from overseas. I am making stories for songs, so I would like to introduce the concept and story of the song I made with them. The album is based on the theme of “waves”. These “waves” refer to waves in society; namely “waves of the era”, “radio waves”, and “clothing trends”. Using these sub-themes, I combined what is actually happening in Japan with what I felt while using my imagination, and created a story.
The title of the song is “Centuries” and the keyword of this song is “waves of the era”. What I want to express in this song is that the “Heisei” era in Japan(1989-2019) seemed a “calm” era on the surface, but under the surface, the system’s new “consumption tax” and “National Center Test for University”, produced issues for the Japanese. These policies, made in the Heisei era, included a tax burden, unchanging wages, a declining GDP growth rate and the escalating collapse of highly educated societies were progressing in Japan.
<Concept>
A keyword of “Centuries” is “calm”(a sea without waves). I wrote about a system created in the “Heisei” era in Japan and the hidden thoughts of people living in that era. Due to national policies, the burden on average people living in Japan is difficult to see but has definitely increased. Paradoxically, in an era when there are few difficulties in daily life, there also seems to be no great hope for the future. I lived in the “Heisei” era and felt this way and I made this story based on shortcomings.
<Story>
I am now at the end of the “Heisei” era. “A sea without waves” is the word for this era. It’s like an era when I’m floating on the surface of the ocean, without the violence of a typhoon or by being dragged to the ocean floor. This is a calm era, until I realised that the sea temperature is slowly rising and quietly threatening our lives…
2019 had finally come and it was the end of the “Heisei era. As with everyone, I took the “National Center Test for University” entered university and I got a job after graduation. I am one of many standard working people. In the same workplace, there are seniors who have graduated from universities which were much better than mine and are said to be safe in the future. I thought that such excellent seniors would have a happy life. However, they don’t feel happy at the workplace and lament their situation. Why did this happen?
The consumption tax introduced from 1989 was increased from 3% to 10% by the end of the era. But our wages haven’t changed much, so we can’t afford to live. I had no doubt that I could face tomorrow, but when I realized I had lost my money and time to dream about my future, I suddenly felt something like a ghost in my shadow.
I fall into the illusion that I am alive and dead at the same time. I feel despair, so I have given up and accepted that this situation will continue. Will the next era be an era of hope?
<Direct translation of Lyrics>
A person who passed the National Center Test*1 and entered an excellent university is depressed.
The heavy tax*2 gradually rises secretly, and gradually tightens your neck.
Ah, bright despair. Ah, calm (at sea) of giving up
Dancing ”Futari shizuka*3”
The dream of “Heisei” is quiet.
Through the light
Every night
When the darkness comes
You can’t escape
The current state
(Now) It’s too late to run
From this haunted place
Where your dreams must wait
Is it cruel fate？
To sleep for centuries
Heisei…Yume…Slips apart
Heisei…Yume…Shizuka
<Note>
“Center test*1” ：it is a Japanese examination National Center Test for University, which is the test necessary for entering a university. Since the teat was scheduled to be abolished in the year after 1992 (Heisei 2), it is the test symbolizing “Heisei”. The center test was retired in January 2020（Reiwa 1).
Heavy tax*2: It refers to consumption tax. Introduced in Heisei, it was 3% at first (Heisei 1), but the tax gradually increased to 10% in the next era (Reiwa 1).
Futarisizuka*3: A story of “Noh”, a woman who tells the story of the dead and a ghost that appears in the same costume and dances in the same way as the shadow follows the shape.
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