While I travel around the world I reflect on Japan as a country and one thing that I’ve come to notice is Japan’s “diversity.” Take anime for example: Japan and its creative ability for producing things in new and unique ways, took anime from being something “for children” – the common opinion of people in the 20th century – and filled it with elements of stories of just about any and every kind and realized animation’s potential as a form of picture expression. It’s because of this diversity that the rest of the world now differentiates Japanese anime from regular animation and the reason why it’s found such strong support.

Japan is a country serious about ‘monozukuri’ (lit: making things). This is also how young people often evaluate Japan. The global community holds Japan in high esteem for their creative spirit in taking something, even something that has been influenced by overseas, and making it their own. Japanese designers created lolita fashion because they were in love with the world of Marie Antoinette and now even French people recognize this style of fashion as “made in Japan.”

From the night I arrived in Amami, Kizuki Minami, who was on a visit home, and the people of Amami played “shima uta” (island songs) for me, and also created the chance for me to witness “utaashibi.” Utaashibi is basically “playing with song” and it refers to when people gather and sing along to a set melody, but the people are free to sing what they want, so the lyrics are all instantaneous.

We went to a restaurant serving local cuisine and held a banquet, mixing in with the other customers who also happened to be there at the time, and as I’m enjoying this amazing night I realized that Amami is island of song. It’s a song culture that has developed against a backdrop of overwhelming nature, countless precious flora and fauna and special natural monuments. The traditional shima uta (island songs) of Amami and the shima uta influenced style of music that Kizuki Minami is trying to create – this is another aspect of “made in Japan” that Japan should be proud of.

When I was a boy, I single-mindedly pursued American and British music. It was because of American guitarist, Ry Cooder, though, that I started to learn about all the various styles of music throughout the world. I can’t sing shima uta and I can’t exalt local music with my guitar like Ry Cooder. But as someone who has been captivated by the splendor of Amima, I want to find a way of sharing my experience of this place with the world. Kizuki Minami is a fan of Bjork and says that while she always keeps Amami close to her heart she also maintains a feeling of closeness with various other styles of music throughout the world. For example, she recently did a cover of a Korean song called “Cheonaejia,” and after hearing the sorrow-tinged tones created by the “Haegeum,” a traditional Korean musical instrument that features in the song, she said she felt a connection to the roots of music in Amami Oshima.

Japan is a diverse country. I speak about the originality and uniqueness of Japan in my latest book, “Sekai de Ichiban Unique na Kuni Nippon dakara Dekiru koto” (co-authored by Uesaka Sumire), and I will continue to expand on this topic further in my articles here too.

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