Wasabi Stories vol.242: “Getting True Comfort is Not That Simple”


coffee breakToday’s story-teller is writer Minato Shukawa.

The story is about people he thought, “I am grateful to the person for being in this world.”

One of the people Shukawa feels that way is Japanese singer Sion.

He became a fan of Sion a few years ago.

He was just a new to be a fan of his, but he could say about him, “I don’t think I can talk frankly with people who feel nothing when they listen to his music.”

Then, what is the appealing part of his songs?

For Shukawa, the most appealing part of his songs is the natural and straightforward lyrics.

The description is abstract. So he describes more about the appealing part of his songs.

For example, imagine you are a kid and you are playing catch with an older boy in the neighborhood.

The boy is smiling and saying jokes while playing catch with you. But the ball is heavy and hard to catch, so you have to concentrate and get serious about catching the ball.

But sometimes he throws balls easy to catch and you feel his kindness.

It’s like he is teaching about life through playing catch with you.

Shukawa gets a similar feeling by listening to his music.

So, he introduces ‘Kagamiame’, one of his songs, as an example.

 

“Everyone is the same. That is ridiculous. Everyone is wriggling because everyone is different.”

 

And because everyone is different, we cry and we sometimes kill each other. And finally, the song ends saying that we try to understand each other because everyone is different.

Shukawa says, “Sion’s songs have power to win hearts and minds and at the same time, they give you power to fight against something and power to love someone. Needless to say, true comfort is something like that.”

Especially in such modern time that you feel a sense of stagnation, he wants people to listen to Sion’s music. These were the impressive words Shukawa said in the column.

 

The NIKKEI 10/28/2010 by Minato Shukawa (writer)

 

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