History of Butoh in Hokkaido
Hokkaido Butoh Festival Artistic Director Hal Tanaka’s Memories
The 3rd episode
その後、北方舞踏派は東京に拠点を移すことになり、偶然にも時を同じくしてバンドをするために上京した自分は、ある日竹之内淳志からの電話を受け取る。
Later, The Hoppou Butoh ha moved to Tokyo.
I happened to have moved to Tokyo at the same time to be in a band.
One day I receive a phone call from Atsushi Takenouchi.
「ハルが東京にいるのを知った。俺らも今東京におる。ついては全国ツアーに行くのでお前も踊れ」と言われ、気づいたら頭を坊主にして裸になって全国を回って踊っていたと言う経緯がある。18の秋。
He said, “I found out that Hal is in Tokyo. We are in Tokyo too. We are going on a national tour, so you should dance with us.”
I found myself shaving my head, putting on a loincloth, and dancing all over Japan.
In the fall of my 18th year.
新しいパンクバンドをやるために上京をしたはずであったが、いつしか舞踏手となってしまい、資金稼ぎのためにタコ部屋の飯場や建築現場に入り、毎日毎日深夜から朝までの稽古、男女の共同生活、理不尽な禅問答の日々などなど当時のエピソードは枚挙にいとまがなく、たまに先輩がヤキが入って殴られている現場を見るたびに、自分はそれを回避する方法を逡巡した。
I was supposed to have moved to Tokyo to start my own new punk band, but I somehow ended up becoming a Butoh dancer.
There are many episodes from those days: to earn money for the Butoh company, we did physical labor such as civil engineering work, rehearsing from midnight to morning every day after work, living in a cramped community of men and women, and being unreasonably zen by our seniors.
Whenever I saw a senior member being beaten up by another member, I desperately thought of ways to avoid it.
あまりに激しく移り変わる日常に付いていくのが精一杯で、当時ビショップ山田さんの久我山の家に居候していた自分と同じような若手男子たちの中には、ある日突然飛んでしまった者もいたくらい。
組の「部屋住み」に近いものだったかもしれない。
It was all I could do to keep up with the fast-paced, ever-changing daily life.
Some of the younger boys who were staying at Bishop Yamada’s Kugayama house at the time would suddenly disappear one day.
(Bishop Yamada is the Leader of The Hoppou Butoh ha)
息が詰まるような集団生活の中では、ストレスも溜まり同じ年頃の男たちはみんなイラつく。ヤレお前の足は臭いだの些細な理由で本気で喧嘩になる。
ここは刑務所だと思うようにした。
The stress of living in a stifling group was building up, and all the members were getting on edge.
They would get into serious fights over petty reasons such as, “Hey you, your feet stink”.
I began to think of this place as a prison.
The Hoppou Butoh ha
photo Masamichi Shisa / 志佐 公道