The art of “touch” connecting eyes, ears and hands.
The Story of Mimi-Nashi-Hoichi “Hoichi-the-Earless” 21st century version.
A picture book to illustrate “invisibles”.
At this moment, I am working on a picture book. Precisely speaking, it’s better to say I am going to work on it. Until now it has been my own writings and compilations from the vantage point of a researcher of Anthropology or a person with visual impediment that I have published. It is another issue wether their sales are successful or not, but I think I have learned enough to enjoy publishing books of both academic and non academic. Then, the the question is why I am going to work on a picture book. It is relevant with the current social climate which coronavirus crisis has triggered.
The theme I adopted is The Story Of Mimi-Nashi-Hoichi (Hoichi-the-Earless). It was one of the stories collected and compiled in Kwaidan by Lafcadio Hearn (aka Yakumo Koizumi), and found many readers over a century since its publication. Most of those readers may well have the impression of being a cruel story that concludes Hoichi as a blind teared off his ears by vengeful ghosts of Heike. But the true story is that Hoichi after losing his ears made a fortune as a prominent player of the biwa (=Japanese lute) in the end. Simple judgement of “wealth = happiness” is not the issue here, but there is no doubt that Hoichi had grown to be a prominent Biwa Player backed by public demand. It is a pity to see so many people still unrevealed to (or forgotten) his happy latter days by violent image of cutting his ears off.
In the year of 2020, the pandemic of COVID-19 has affected human activities in every way. Recent lifting a state of emergency finds our gradual recovery to normal life. However, we are still required to keep avoiding 3Cs (=closed spaces, crowded places, close-contact settings) in every place and time. “New Normal” seems to me that it implies “Anti physical contact syndrome”. I consider this spread of “Anti physical contact syndrome” more fatal than the pandemic of COVID-19.
Why is the mankind fearful of new coronavirus so much? Not to mention, it is because the virus is invisible. After the modern times, mankind has believed that the progress is to make invisible visible. The clue word for modernization is “visualization”. Maybe, it is true that the desire to visualize wide variety of things has prospered the mankind on the one hand. On the other hand, in the course of pushing forward the “modernization = visualization”, the human race has missed and abandoned so many possibilities. At the beginning of 20th century, Hearn’s emphasis on the value of invisibles in his Kwaidan is quite significant. “Don’t you overlook anything important in the process of visualization?” This was the challenge to modern Japan during the period of thrusting into the Russo-Japanese War from the Sino-Japanese War, by Hearn.
“Only things in sight are truthful.” “Invisible psychic phenomenon are impossible.” To the people of modern society who exclude the other alternatives, invisible coronavirus is a subject to be feared. They do not touch an elevator button or doorknobs. They do not take opposite seats of their family and friends in the restaurant. They sit side by side... Current infiltration of “Anti physical contact syndrome” disrespecting for humanity nourished through the physical contact (mutual contact / intercourse) with things is clearly overreaction. How long will excessive fear over the coronavirus sustain?
Hoichi could have talked freely with vengeful ghosts of Heike, i.e. “invisibles”. Then, what would Hoichi talk to us, if he were to time-travel into 21st century? Hoichi must be capable of enjoying symbiotic life with anything invisible and any person unseen without a fear of coronavirus, for sure. “Human, restore something of Hoichi!” I hear such a message coming up inside of my body. Following this voice, I make up my mind to produce a picture book. I admire the books expressing my own inner world by accumulating letters and words, but for this project, I dare to be particular about curated idioms and disciplined simple sentences. The challenges are how and how close I can touch invisibles by way of visible illustrations. And it is also challenging that the writer of the book, I myself, is completely blind. With this kind of passion, I enjoy making a picture book without seeing its goal.
“Hoichi-the-Biwaless” is coming!
How did loss of his ears bring him success as a professional biwahoshi? There had been holes to perceive the sound after ears were gone. I think Hoichi had learned to listen to the sound through not ears but pores in the skin. The sense of sight is limited to eyes, and that of hearing is to ears, but the tactile sensation spreads all over the body. The vengeful ghosts may well be said to give Hoichi a chance to become aware of the sense “touching sound”. The following shows the summary of Hoichi’s growth process to the master.
1) Hoichi of one dimension: Blind Hoichi devoted to meditate deeply, and pondered to himself repeatedly. I wonder if he asked such a question to himself as “Why can’t I see?” “Even though I am not able to use my eyes, I do use my ears”, ”To become a good biwa player can make my living by music”. Hoichi put every sensibility except his sight in effect, and applied himself to train his own.
2) Hoichi of two dimensions: Becoming a professional biwahoshi, Hoichi soon became aware of his listener. He could not attain mastery without good reputation of his skill in recitation and playing upon the biwa. Hoichi kept on training his skill to become a biwahoshi who could move hearts of the audiences. In Japanese, we write “Kando” ( = move one’s heart) as “feel (=Kan) and move (=Do)” The people who listened to his performance had never met the characters of Heike Monogatari (The Tale of the Heike) in reality and never witnessed real battle. But they visited, together with Hoichi, many sights in the story, and experienced every emotions of characters. People who sat tight and listened quietly to the biwa imagined that Tairano Kiyomori, Minamotono Yoshitsune and their beautiful wives lived in their minds. Hoichi right before his ears cut off, was the excellent narrative reciter to fascinate many listeners by the story of “felt and moved”.
3) Hoichi of three dimensions: Hoichi of two dimensions connected a person to a person, and a person with a thing one-on-one, like he did a reciter and a listener, the sound and ears. Then, Hoichi as three dimensions is the body of seeing with the whole body and listening. His recitation and performance bridged toward heaven and earth, and could be said to acquire successfully the space and the depth of three dimension. The body of Hoichi generated the sound and the resonation of voice embracing not only listeners but also nature and the universe. The portrait of Hoichi, Hearn wanted to pass on is not poor Hoichi who lost his ears. Renouncing his preference to ears had opened new dimension of the art.
I want to title the strength of the will, “turning misfortune into fortune”, as “Hoichi-ryoku (=power of Hoichi)”. To find the way out of “Anti physical contact syndrome” by coronavirus is necessary to retain “Hoichi-ryoku”. Following outstanding Hearn’s lead, my planned picture book will hopefully present Hoichi of 4 dimensions. Originally, mankind used to have something of “Hoichi-ryoku”. You could easily learn it by observing behaviors of children who reach everything and touch enthusiastically, or life styles of the “savages” in constant close contact.
The modernization has deprived mankind of “Hoichi-ryoku”. Paradoxically, I believe that every events of coronavirus crisis will bring opportunities to recognize and feel firmly the significance of “Hoichi-ryoku”. “No touching - tactile defensiveness”, the spread of these socially accepted ideas consequently got us back to fundamental question of original meaning of “touch”. For this reason, The Story Of Mimi-Nashi-Hoichi must be re-evaluated.
This time, my picture book is to have as many tactile graphics by embossing method of print as possible. Its goal is to realize the idea to be able to touch such invisibles as vengeful ghosts of Heike, stirs among trees, murmuring of a stream, chirping of birds and bugs. Hoichi appearing in 21st century abandons the biwa, and is liberated. He replaces biwa to a new instrument. That is our bodies. Yes, Hoichi stays inside us of now. He gently knocks our pores. I want to expect excitement of touches and contacts created by the entertainer of 4 dimensions “Hoichi-the-Biwaless”. Now, let’s finish “the picture book to touch”, a specific for “Anti physical contact syndrome” soon, through the discourse with Hoichi inside of me. I hear strong voice of Hoichi who turns “Tatari (=a curse)” to “Atari (=a hit)” saying “Don’t ask for a hit without touching God” (=“Sawara nu Kami ni atari nashi”).
P.S. by Translator: In Japan, we have a proverb that means “Don’t ask for a curse by touching God.” In English, which is “Sawarara nu kami ni tatari nashi” in original Japanese. And I referred to Kwaidan Hearn, Lafcadio from Delphi Complete Works of Lafcadio Hearn, Delphi Classics. Kindle Edition for original English titles and names.
