Japanese women’s hidden love
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. This “Transformation album” is based on the theme of “Japanese traditional thought”. The keywords are “Waka”, “Impermanence”, and “Kunoichi “. Exploring these themes, I searched for the connection between old and modern Japan and expressed my feelings about these worlds. The title of this song is “Suzumushi” and the keyword is “Waka”. There is a bandcamp link at the bottom of this article, so please listen to it if you’d like.
<Concept>
I wrote a love story based on the world view of Waka (Japanese classical literature) in the Heian period.
During this period, it was not fashionable to say the word “I love you” directly. Instead, people would express their feelings of fiery passion poetically and compare it to the flow of a fierce river. Likewise, people would also share their feelings of being lonely and single by expressing themselves with short Japanese poetry.
I thought that the method of expressing oneself metaphorically was a very beautiful way to show deep thought about a lover. I used this device to compare the emotions of a woman to various things in the story.
Also, there were many rules in this era and she could not defy her superiors. So I imagined that she wanted to convey her convictions at times, such as her steadfast love for her lover. I imagined that she would convey this through actions, such as joining a nunnery. Love has always been an important theme, even if the times change.
＜Explanation>
The heroine gave her lover her last love letter. She loved her lover, but departed to join a nunnery; in penance for defying her parents’ alternate marital instructions. She had thus abandoned romance and condemned herself to a life of utter isolation from her family and true love.
At the beginning of the song, we can hear the ticking sound of Suzumishi and sutras. On arriving at the nunnery, she agonized over her feelings for her lover. On a cold autumn night, her memories of him overwhelmed her and hindered her attempt to join the nunnery. As she tried to override her feelings and join regardless, her lover suddenly arrived at the nunnery and hugged her from behind to whisper a “word of love” in Waka to her, and the two were united in a happy ending.
<Story>
The sutra of this temple continues to flow like my blood, and the timbre played by Suzumushi is ticking for you like my heartbeat. It feels like the temple itself is alive. In this place away from the world, the soul of love strays like Suzumushi; looking for a partner with a beautiful tone. It’s like you and me.
My only love is you. If my family and society do not allow us to be together, I will throw them all away and become a priestess, so I will never love someone again. Suzumushi is crying instead of me. The night road where the moon freezes, I remember his warm hand and I miss him. When I decided to knock on the door of the temple, I am wrapped in a nostalgic scent from behind. He hugged me and said, “My love, I’ll be with you forever, even if it turns everyone against us.”
The snow in my heart melted in his arms, and spring flowers bloomed in my heart.
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