Tower of the Sun (2018) - full transcript

The future that fascinated me

has become a ruin.

People believed in the beauty
of technological progress.

It carried the expectations of
the era, the nation and so on.

It represented
primitive human nature.

The tower was right in the center of
the huge Expo site,

Like a god of the festival.

It was made in 1970
when Expo "70-Osaka was held.

. There you saw
things you had never seen before,

Taro Okamoto Museum of ART
Curator

Taro Okamoto Museum of
ART Curator going on and on.



Taro Okamoto Museum of ART
Curator

Taro Okamoto Museum of ART Curator
It was like a futuristic city with many pavilions.

Taro Okamoto Museum of ART
Curator

That image struck me vividly.

People in Japan were blown away.

Kids were still playing with tops.

Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum Director
Kids were still playing with tops.

Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum
Director

Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum
Director We poor kids suddenly saw

Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum
Director

spaceships, robots, computers,
laser beams, moving sidewalks,

and dome screen movies,
with their own eyes.

Those things belonged to
the TV world. It was Sci-Fi.

In the 21st century,
technology would progress,



Art Critic In the 21st century,
technology would progress,

Art Critic

Art Critic and all problems of the
20th century, like poverty and wars,

and all problems of the 20th century,
like poverty and wars,

would be perfectly solved by technology.

People said that
the entrance to this new century

would be Expo “To.

I was a kid, purely and
innocently astonished, but

I'm sure that even adults were
quite amazed.

An adult man asked a foreigner
who just happened to walk by

for an autograph.

Foreign countries existed only on TV.

That's why 64 million Japanese
visited the event.

Japan held the Expo
to jump ahead of the world.

The time of technology and
space was coming.

In other words,
old was bad and new was good.

To represent the concept,
they needed not “established art',

but "never-seen art”.

You had to show art that
didn't exist in Europe.

The only choice was avant-garde.

For example, Tadanori Yokoo
produced the Textiles Pavilion

and Katsuhiro Yamaguchi
produced the Mitsui Group Pavilion.

All the pavilions were so extraordinary
that they didn't look like buildings.

It was still the Cold War era.

The USSR made the tallest pavilion,
at 109 meters.

On the contrary, the USA made

a very flat pavilion
with an air-inflated structure.

The theme of both was space development.

The USA focused on the Apollo Program,
exhibiting a moon rock.

That was an icon of the Expo.

The USSR showed a bunch of
spaceships hung in a huge room.

The fight for dominance
between the two countries

took the form of Expo exhibitions.

Expo was a place to show
how modern civilization had

Anthropologist Expo was a place
to show how modern civilization had

Anthropologist

invented wonderful things
one after another.

It was like a trade show
for industrial technology,

but the visitors were
the general public.

Previous Expos made villages and
put indigenous people there.

Visitors watched them
Like a safari tour.

People also saw
educated indigenous people,

wearing uniforms and working.

They were showcased next to
naked people with spears.

As a result of modern education,

savage people became semi-civilized.
Before and after.

Industrialization and
technical progress were

the best way for human beings
to be happy.

To make the general public
understand this

was the big hidden purpose of Expo.

So "Progress and evolution
are virtue and justice

was the concept.

New development will start
in the 21st century.

We must build our high-standard
culture and ideal lifestyle.

In the urban areas,
Skyscrapers will rise up,

and completely overwhelm
the old century's cityscape.

. The theme of Expo '70 was
Progress and Harmony for Mankind.

It suggested that we think about
the subject together.

Art Historian

Art Historian Taro
Okamoto rebelled against it.

Art Historian

Progress functions backwards.
We are losing our real lives,

the integrity of our lives,
our bodies and physicality.

I myself have deep doubts
about progress.

You say Apollo ls progress.
Progress to what?

- There are many bad effects,
Like pollution, caused by progress,

but Taro thought
the theme ignored them.

They said “harmony” but ignored
civil wars and ethnic conflicts.

Harmony in Japan had also been
made with compromises.

Everyone compromised
for superficial harmony.

Taro didn't reject the theme,
but used it ironically.

Mankind hadn't achieved
progress or harmony -

Taro used that as his theme.

There was no harmony at that time.

Values were overturned in the midst
of turbulent times.

Many things in society were upset.

Scholar of Japanese Fine Arts

Optimistic futurism.

The cult of technology.

The only thing that completely opposed

those ideas in the history of Expo
was the Tower of the Sun.

The only one.

The incongruity of the Tower of the Sun

is overwhelming.
It's still standing out there,

Social Designer

Social Designer and families have
picnics around that strange tower.

Social Designer

I first thought
"What the heck is it?”

Indescribable.

I couldn't tell if it was
sculpture, architecture or art.

A strange mixture, like
future and ancient times colliding.

Absolutely useless.

It's not symmetrical,
it's kind of twisted.

Explorer

Explorer

Explorer
Somehow it looks joyful.

Explorer

The arms are like this,
welcoming something.

Dancer The arms are like
this, welcoming something.

Dancer

Dancer
The arms go...

Dancer

Dancer , Upward. That's
why it gives a good aura.

, Upward.
That's why it gives a good aura.

If they were I inward,
the aura would be negative.

Like this, you know.

It's alright!

It stands majestically.

It's always looking at me.

Some kids are scared to go in.

A mom? A dad?
Maybe I'm thinking too much.

The curved lips are a bit funny.

It looks like it's sulking.

Maybe because it's alone now.

The Tower of the Sun was the pavilion

which hosted
the main exhibition of Expo '70.

Taro was appointed to create

Taro Okamoto Museum of ART
Curator Taro was appointed to create

Taro Okamoto Museum of ART
Curator

Taro Okamoto Museum of ART Curator
the facility for the theme exhibition.

Taro Okamoto Museum of ART
Curator

I read a book about how Taro
was appointed for the role.

Design Engineer for the Tower of the Sun I read a book about how Taro was appointed for the role.

Design Engineer for
the Tower of the Sun

The Ministries didn't avoid
choosing him,

daring to take a risk.

Maybe, society itself was
young and vital in a way.

Ordinary ways wouldn't catch the West.

They chose Taro,
not based on solid reasoning,

but more like a gamble, I guess.

What Taro actually did was

Professor of French Philosophy
What Taro actually did was

Professor of
French Philosophy

Professor of French Philosophy far
beyond the bureaucrats' intentions.

Far beyond the bureaucrats' intentions.

As an avant-garde artist,
he had stood against

, power and authority. so
I'm sure he felt conflicted to work

for the state.

Everyone around him
tried to dissuade him.

I assume he thought it over and over,

and decided to go one step further.

He thought he could make
a myth strong enough

to control scientific/technological
civilization.

That was his aim, I think.

To surpass the progress
of science and technology,

imagination or vision

can be created only by artists.

This incredible idea
came to Taro's mind.

The Tower of the Sun is
70 meters high,

so it's a huge structure,
not just an art piece.

The architect in charge was...

Sub-Producer for Expo 70 Theme
Exhibition The architect in charge was...

Sub-Producer for
Expo 70 Theme Exhibition

Sub-Producer for Expo 70 Theme
Exhibition a fairly meticulous person.

A fairly meticulous person.

I received, at the office,

Design Engineer for the Tower of
the Sun I received, at the office,

Design Engineer for
the Tower of the Sun

Design Engineer for the Tower of the
Sun a 1/100th scale model of the tower.

A 1/100th scale model of the tower.

How should I make blueprints?

Design Engineer for
the Tower of the Sun

Design Engineer for the Tower
of the Sun I made a replica,

Design Engineer for
the Tower of the Sun

Design Engineer for the Tower of the Sun and had a model maker slice It IN one—-centimeter Increments.

Design Engineer for
the Tower of the Sun

I made a cast of the shape,

to outline the tower.

This curve was different from
one familiar to the Japanese.

For example, the curve of temple roofs

is dynamically natural,
but the tower wasn't typical.

It wasn't structurally beautiful
at all in the drawing.

Design Engineer for the Tower of the Sun It wasn't structurally beautiful at all in the drawing.

Design Engineer for
the Tower of the Sun

I thought the form wasn't beautiful,

Shotcrete Engineer for the Tower of the
Sun I thought the form wasn't beautiful,

Shotcrete Engineer for
the Tower of the Sun

Shotcrete Engineer for the Tower
of the Sun but quite grotesque.

Shotcrete Engineer for
the Tower of the Sun

Back then, Kisho Kurokawa and
Arata Isozaki were in their 30s.

They were talented emerging architects.

Their assistants were mostly
mid and late 20s.

So, there was an energetic mood
among US.

A “we were selected” kind of atmosphere

filled the office at that time.

We were inspired by each other
and went full throttle.

The entire society was full of energy.

Taro wanted the surface bumpy.

Like you threw some mud balls
at the surface.

Not an industrial surface,
but a more natural texture

was what he pursued.

It was huge. Massive.

I realized that we were making
something extraordinary.

Even then, it was a special feeling.

When I looked up at it on the site,

the perspective was very close.

The 20-meter body and
the 12. 5-meter face looked

enormously huge, but the top

looked extremely small.

It was like an unknown monster.

Taro proposed the Tower of the Sun,

which punched a hole in
Kenzo Tange's Big Roof.

Big Roof was a prototype
of a mid-air city

Architect/ Expo " 70-Osaka General Producer
Big Roof was a prototype of a mid-air city

Architect/
Expo '70-Osaka General Producer

Architect/ Expo '70-Osaka General
Producer created by Tange's imagination.

Architect/
Expo '70-Osaka General Producer

It was made using a new structure
called “space frame.

With that technique,
you could extend the roof

as far as you wanted.

A new city could be born in mid-air.

The abstract urbanization idea
showcased at Expo 70 was

from the architectural movement
cal led Metabolism.

As Japan is an island nation,

unlike Europe, China and the USA,

it's impossible to develop a city
Just as you draw it up.

The architects thought of
making a space.

Making artificial flat land
in the air would

make pure urban planning possible.

Big Roof is the apotheosis of
the Metabolist movement,

and the Tower of the Sun
penetrated the roof.

It was like a
"polaristic" explosion.

It's very meaningful to make a hole.

Because a hole connects
the top and the bottom.

I think it means that
values are overturned.

Taro won when the hole was made,
because there was no top or bottom.

Three levels:
underground, surface and mid-air.

Underground was the past world.

Surface was the present.

Big Roof in the air was the future.

The theme zone was divided
into these three worlds.

First you went underground and
saw the birth of life.

The first one was life.
Substances making life.

Taro first showed
substances in blood, and

the moment when life is born.

He began the story of the theme
from there.

Next was...

the zone of humans.

Human beings lived their proud lives
in harmony with nature.

The exhibition captured a moment
of those lives in

the time of hunting and gathering.

The third area was about prayer.

Things Taro collected
from all over the world,

like masks and statues of gods,
were hanging

in the air.

The main mask in the center
was the Underground Sun,

but it had no nose or mouth, just eyes.

Passing it, you went into the tower.

There was the "Tree of Life”,
a 45-meter tree-shape object,

with creatures, from ameba to human,
describing the evolution of life.

292 creatures were attached to the tree.

Sub-Producer for
Expo 70 Theme Exhibition

Sub-Producer for Expo '7O Theme Exhibition Taro drew the I image of the "Tree of Life" on a big canvas,

Taro drew the image of
the "Tree of Life on a big canvas,

and told us to glue images of creatures.

So everyone cut images
from magazines or posters.

An elephant, or others.
And the entire work was made.

He often said,
like he was talking to himself:

"This is a tree, but the shape is
the same as blood vessels.'

I learned that
the entire tower was life.

The tree was veins, arteries
and lymph glands.

The red folds were like a brain,
called "intellectual folds”.

Artist/Fashion Designer

Artist/Fashion Designer
For Taro, red symbolized blood.

Artist/Fashion Designer

Especially, he meant bright red blood.

The impression from it is
like fresh blood, right?

The symbol of life.

You look down from the top,

and you see various creatures
memorized in your blood,

reaching to a single cell.
It's all one line.

All lives are connected,
deriving from one root.

All is one.

Actually the amebas were huge,
but human was like this.

- Human was the smallest,
which represented Taro's view.

He said, "Look at ameba".

"They stretch and shrink.”

“Unite and separate.
They can move so freely.

"Don't you envy them?”

Humans are unhappy, dirty and poor
because of self-consciousness.

If you reduce yourself to
a single-celled creature,

you'll feel that your life is fulfilled.

You up the escalator,
looking at the Tree of Life.

You go through the arms,
and get to Big Roof.

In Big Roof, there was a future city.

It was the future,
but had the “Wall of Contradiction”.

A collage of various contradictions,
ugliness like wars was displayed there.

A piece about a nuclear bomb, too.
After seeing those works,

a photo exhibition was on the ground.

It was titled "The Common Man -
Mainstay of Today's World”.

Nameless common citizens supported
society and the human world.

Taro said this, I heard.
What he created was

the complete opposite
of the idea and values of Expo.

"You have to expose
the desires and aesthetics...”

“That humans originally have
in themselves."

"Otherwise, there's no progress
or harmony, he often said.

Taro said,

"If we can't complete
the Tower of the Sun,”

"I will stand and open my arms
out there.'

He actually said that.

Scholar of Japanese Fine Arts

The Tower of the Sun is interesting.

I don't know...

What does the tower mean to us?

Giving up flesh and blood,
you are a slave to machines.

Harmony ls a collision. .
You need to throw in something opposite.

That's why I created it.
I don't mind if people hate it

If people are not happy with it.
That's fine.

His father, Ippei, was a cartoonist.

His mother, Kanoko, was
a poet and novelist.

Taro was born into an artistic family.

This is a well-known story:
When Kanoko did her work,

in order to focus,
she tied Taro to a pillar with her belt.

Of course, Taro cried.

No matter how much he cried,
Kanoko didn't look back.

And Taro, being left alone,

kept staring at his mother's back.

Later Taro said he understood
his mother even when he was little.

The way artists create their work,
and their devotion.

He learned this from his mother.

Toshiko, who was Taro's partner,
was my aunt.

So, I've known Taro and Toshiko
since I was little.

Toshiko often said that
Taro's parents did not

treat Taro as a small child.

They treated him as an individual.

Before Taro moved to Paris,
Ippei went to London for work.

Kanoko went with him.

Taro entered university
Just six months before,

but he left Japan with his parents,
but not for a trip.

He was going to live in Paris,
using that opportunity.

He decided that.

In Paris, he looked around museums
and studied painting.

He was shocked when he saw
Picasso's work.

He was shocked when he saw
Artist Picasso's work.

Artist

In abstract art, it doesn't matter
if you are from Japan,

or what style you have done previously.

Then, he was in.

Paris led the established
Western world,

Professor of French Philosophy Paris
led the established Western world,

Professor of
French Philosophy

which led the whole planet.

But the World War was about to begin,
and society was in chaos.

It was a time of extreme pressure
in society

when Taro joined
the edgiest group of artists,

avant-garde artists.

But he reached an impasse soon.

Finally, when he was 25,
he couldn't hold back from

painting "Wounded Arm”.

It wasn't categorized as
an abstract work.

But when Andre Breton looked at it,

he suggested Taro show it
at a Surrealist exhibition.

He suggested Taro show it
Poet/Author at a Surrealist exhibition.

Poet/Author

Breton was the leader of
Poet/Author the movement.

Poet/Author

The Surrealist artists

invited him to join them.

But he didn't join.

Abstraction and Surrealism,
both were fine,

but after all, they were in
a world of art and artists.

It was not important to pick
your group, left or right.

Meanwhile, he realized that

he had to study not only technique
but human existence.

He entered the University of Paris.

He happened to see
some old folkloric artifacts.

He was shocked.

It was not high art,
but used for daily life.

Something created not by artists,
but by people living there.

It caught his eye very strongly,

and he entered the Institute
of Ethnology in the university.

The famous professors included
Marcel Mauss.

Anthropologist The famous
professors included Marcel Mauss.

Anthropologist

Mauss is interesting because
he was good at discovering

Mauss is interesting because I I
he was good at discovering Sociologist

Sociologist

cultures and thoughts passed on from
ancient Celtic and Paleolithic Eras, Sociologist

cultures and thoughts passed on from
ancient Celtic and Paleolithic Eras,

in our modern lives.
They have survived and

appear in different shapes.

Ethnologist

Ethnologist Mauss is known
for his theory of "The Gift”.

Mauss is known for
his theory of "The Gift”.

A mask from an “uncivilized” society,
for example.

When you see it, the mask

reflects the maker's view of the world,

and his/her inner spirit.

Therefore, if you learn
the method of interpretation,

Ethnologist Therefore, if you
learn the method of interpretation,

Ethnologist

Ethnologist
you will be able to interpret it.

You will be able to interpret it.

Mauss first advocated this.

You have a goal you are aiming at,
and visvalize it,

and project it toward the future,
which is called “vision”.

Myths embrace the power of vision.

That is Marcel Mauss's theory.

Taro had a similar idea

to what Mauss said. I mean,

he also believed in the power of myths.

Being an artist is not just
being someone who paints.

Artists need to live as
integrated and free beings.

So, we must know everything
that happens in the world.

That is why Marcel Mauss's
ethnology fascinates me.

The person who influenced Taro
the most,

or for whom he had a sympathy
was Georges Bataille.

I think that's wild.

Bataille, at that time, said

Bataille, at that time, said Philosopher

Philosopher

we should destroy all systems
and established aesthetics, Philosopher

Philosopher

10 release our senses for new creation.

He said "Beauty is shit.”

“If you can't say shit is beautiful,
you are trapped by old aesthetics.

This is called "Base Materialism”.

Ideologies are useless.
Actual things.

Living things, which can rot.

And they are not sophisticated.
No theory.

"This stinky rotten thing”
IS what we need.

So, Bataille

horrified all his fellow philosophers.

Actually, they hated him.

But in fact, his idea can

go beyond the modern era.

The clue is that you shouldn't
have anthropocentric ideas.

Literary Critic The clue is that you
shouldn't have anthropocentric ideas.

Literary Critic

Literary Critic
Bataille obviously thought that

Literary Critic

Literary Critic the humans who made
cave paintings lived on in himself.

The humans who made cave paintings
lived on in himself.

The motifs were animals.

Mixtures of humans and animals
were also found.

It can be human and animal
at the same time.

In nature, humans are not
a special existence,

they are a part of nature.

Taro followed Bataille,

and he even joined a kind of
secret society.

It was like Taro's destiny, I guess.

From that point,
he was not a mere painter.

Not only as a painter, but

not ordinary as a person.

Taro was Japanese.

As the war escalated,
Taro returned to Japan.

He came back, but Japan still had
old rules from the 19th century,

Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum Director He came back,
but Japan still had old rules from the 19th century,

Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum
Director

Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum Director and
the art world carried this old mentality.

Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum
Director

If you turned away even a little,
you'd be ignored.

When Taro realized,

I'm sure it was a big shock for him.

“Is my country like this?”

After returning to Japan,

Taro Okamoto Museum of ART
Curator After returning to Japan,

Taro Okamoto Museum of ART
Curator

Taro Okamoto Museum of ART Curator Taro
wondered what real art Is. And he tried to

provoke that question in Japan.

What we had thought was art
might be not art.

Across the Japanese islands,

Taro visited many places.

He visited Tohoku in the north
and Okinawa in the south, where

they still have cultures
passed on from the Jomon era.

He encountered them, and explored where

he was standing.

In his words at that time,

"We must be covered
in the mud of Japan.”

“We Japanese can't go to the world
without the mud of Japan.

"Otherwise we can't face
the latest ideas and art.”

He strongly felt that.

So, my roots.

Where are they?
What is the origin of Japan?

Where Is the real Japan?
He began to look for it.

It was in 1952.

Archaeologist Taro saw Jomon
pottery at the National Museum in Ueno.

Archaeologist

When he saw it,
he shouted “What is it?”

What were the makers thinking?

What did they imply with it?

Taro was attracted by those ideas.

- The Jomon era was
a hunting and gathering society.

They didn't adopt mass agriculture.

It is clear if you compare
Jomon and Yayoi pottery.

Yayoi pottery has no features.

With no decoration,
it was purely practical.

Taro saw “Kaen-doki”,
the flame-rimmed earthen vessel.

It was a big extraordinary vessel.

Like “What is it?”

The spirit of the Jomon people
was reflected in it.

Especially, it expresses
their state of mind while hunting.

When hunting, you hide yourself,
holding a spear.

You jump out and Kill
when the opportunity comes.

The process, how they felt:
their excitement,

or their calmness. This was all
described in the Jomon curves.

Taro remembered what he learned
from Marcel Mauss.

Those various magical things
from an "uncivilized" world,

including masks and tools.
I'm sure he remembered it all.

"Wabi sabi” in Japan,

was characteristic in art
from the Yayoi era.

It was simple and functionally neat,

but it doesn't seem to have
an explosive power,

which may destroy even itself.

I think Japanese people have
the spirit of the primitive

somewhere deep within us.

Taro was aware of this.
He wanted to bring it out.

He wanted to disturb
the pre-established harmony

found in the quiet and motionless
Japanese culture.

I think he believed
that would be possible

if he awakened and brought out
our inner primitivity.

Archaeologist

Archaeologist Yayoi is the
culture of the Chinese continent.

Archaeologist

Archaeologist
The Japanized continental culture.

Archaeologist

When Yayoi came to Japan,
the Jomon culture was subdued.

Completely conquered, culturally.

The Yayoi culture brought
rice farming and iron.

These were new techniques.

Agrarian civilization
and techniques dominated

all of Japan, and
that made what we are now.

As Taro wrote in his thesis,

from the time humanity emerged,
cognition has been unchanged.

It's not true that primitives
or children are inferior.

It's a fantasy to think science helps
us understand the world better.

Even before physics or math was
established, human beings

recognized the world as we do.

From Yayoi, bureaucracy and
hierarchy were established.

People live routinely,

and hoard their gains.

In the pet it bourgeois society,
people lose the purpose of life,

and become like machines.

This has lasted for 2000 years.

The Jomon era lasted
over ten thousand years.

It was an alternative to
capitalist society.

A hunting society seems
competitive, but it is not.

Explorer A hunting society
seems competitive, but it is not.

Explorer

Explorer
They never brag when they kill.

They never brag when they kill.

It is an equal society.

Things are hand-made with natural
materials, all freely available.

No inequality on a material level.

If you are given something
from others, you owe them, right?

But a hunting society avoids this.

One binge eats
while the other goes hungry.

In their society,
even a child knows this is wrong.

They try to be equal
on both material and ethical levels.

The population of hunter-gatherers
is now almost zero.

In the world we are in,
there are eight rich people,

who have the same amount of money
that 3.8 billion people have.

This insane society is what we have got.

Farming has been industrialized.

The owners hire farmers,
and become rich.

Someone who has never touched soil

- hires many people to do
farming efficiently., which Is wrong.

People should own their land,

and grow what they eat themselves.

I believe that is an ideal society.

After the Jomon era ended,

People from the continent arrived
in the southwest, and moved north.

They pushed the Jomon people
to the north and south,

probably interacting, but forcefully,
to the outskirts.

That's why it's said
Ainu and Okinawans are alike.

On the periphery of Japan,
not the center,

Art Historian On the periphery
of Japan, not the center,

Art Historian

Art Historian Taro hoped to
find the remnants of Jomon culture.

Art Historian

Art Historian
So, he explored Tohoku and Okinawa.

So, he explored Tohoku and Okinawa.

Ainu Vocal Group

Jomon culture's front line
was east Japan,

although Taro didn't know.

Ancient Emishi or Ezo people,
and the Ainu,

those people might be connected with
the Jomon culture.

Taro was certain of this.

Iwate Traditional Dance
Deer Dance

Iwate Traditional Dance Deer Dance Taro began
photographing old people in rural Tohoku,

Taro began photographing
old people in rural Tohoku,

as well as the old rituals
and festivals.

What he felt about
modern Japanese society was...

economic development was
worshipped as an idol,

which destroyed old things,
made roads and buildings.

Taro was repulsed by that. So,

when he found Tohoku and Okinawa,

he was completely absorbed.

He wanted to look into
what remained there.

In contrast with a hot society
with energetic progress,

Taro tried to find what human beings
had thought, hoped and dreamed,

in a context of a cold static society.

Taro watched the traditional deer dance,

Ethnologist
Taro watched the traditional deer dance,

Ethnologist

Ethnologist
in Hanamaki, Iwate Prefecture.

Ethnologist

Local farmers were disguised as deer.

Taro joined them dancing,
and took great photos.

When the deer dance was born,

people faced animals one on one,

one kills and the other is killed -
they meet with their [lives.

That memory is included in the dance.

Taro always photographed
the dancers faces,

after taking off their masks.

The dancers showed their relaxed faces.

Human beings transform themselves
into animals,

and back to humans again.
He captured that moment.

This dynamism or transformation

is an indicator of shamanism.

I think Taro thought that way.

In relation to the deer dance,

Ainu in Hokkaido have a ritual
cal led lomante.

When they kill a bear which has a cub,

the women in the village raise
the cub for a year or two.

Then later, they sacrifice the cub.

Iomante literally means
"to send something off".

When Taro learned about
this lomante ritual, he saw

a similarity with the deer dance.

The direct relationships between
humans and animals or wildlife,

and their interactions.

Living with wild animals

right next to you,
you naturally have the skills

to kill bears or deer,
and to dismember them.

They are arts of living.

Killing, eating, skinning
and tanning animals are

just natural acts.

In western Japan, people who skin
dead horses or cows have been

historically discriminated against.

But it's not true in Tohoku.

The human-animal relationships based on
the hunting culture from Jomon

has affected this.

Ainu in Hokkaido have tattoos
on our hands and mouths.

MAREWREW Vocalist Ainu in Hokkaido
have tattoos on our hands and mouths.

MAREWREW Vocalist

MAREWREW Vocalist In Okinawa, they also
have the tattoo tradition called Hajichi,

In Okinawa, they also have
the tattoo tradition called Hajichi,

in which women's hands
are tattooed, like Ainu.

So that, at least,
can be said to be similar.

Many people have a fascination
for Jomon culture,

and they say it was passed on
to Ainu culture.

It's partly correct.
For example, the respect for animals.

They had rituals after they ate animals.

If you dig into it,
everything must be connected,

so I don't think
you should stick only to Jomon.

Taro went

to Okinawa around 1960.

Professor of French Philosophy
to Okinawa around 1960.

Professor of
French Philosophy

Professor of French Philosophy There he
responded deeply 10 old folkways and such.

Professor of
French Philosophy

One island, or one human society

is woven into people's lives.
There was an actual example.

He intuitively sensed it.

Things, which for people
in Okinawa, Japan,

are not meant for show,
were interesting to Taro.

He dug up some old festivals
and other customs.

You're not supposed 10 take photos
of the rituals in Okinawa,

because they are solemn and ephemeral.

Photographing can be
a kind of violent act.

But Taro still decided to take photos.

The way of living itself is expression.

The appearances of old women,
and how they walked are

art, as we call it now.

When a group of people
performed something,

Taro found some fundamental
similarities of expression.

As found many times in his book,

what the occupation
by the US army meant.

Was a topic that he clearly understood.

I think it is very important.

What he wrote was not
how wonderful Okinawa is.

He didn't merely write about that.

He knew of
the situation in Okinawa,

and how severe it had been.

Understanding that,
he wrote about Okinawa.

Although we don't doubt
that Okinawa is part of Japan,

it's not true.

Taro had empathy for
people in Okinawa,

and embraced
their issues.

In the same way that
he felt for Okinawa,

Taro had a strong sympathy for

oppressed people. On the other hand,

he didn't like that
some oppressed people have

allowed themselves 10 be
spiritually castrated over time.

He strongly criticized that.

I think it was his love.
With his deep love and sympathy,

he didn't want to see
a castrated way of being.

In our times,

“voluntary servitude”
is becoming a key word.

And that's exactly
what Taro pointed out.

With anger,

he wanted to provoke the question.

I think Tohoku has been
a colony for 1000 years,

over these 1000 years,
people have been castrated and

have forgotten that
they are colonized. To them,

Taro didn't say .
Hey, it's voluntary servitude.

Without those words,
he just encouraged people.

“Create a more intense,
more lively culture.

"Now and here.”

"If you don't do that,
you will be fake.”

Incitingly but encouragingly.

. There is a phrase
voluntary servitude.

Taro had uncomfortable feelings
about Japanese society,

which I think were rooted in this idea.

In 16th-century France,
it was posited by Etienne de La Boetie.

Humanist In 16th-century France, it
was posited by Etienne de La Boetie.

Humanist

Humanist He died early. He
wrote this when he was still young.

Humanist

The ordinary idea is like this:
there is a tyrant.

He asserts power,
and his people have 10

obey in servitude.

So, there is power and
the oppressed people.

This was the basic structure
of society from the modern era.

But La Boetie said no.

A tyrant has great power.

Some people offer to serve him,
acting as his surrogates,

and use his power instead of him.

There are four or five people like that

around a tyrant.

When they function, they use his power.

And then, under those people,

four or five people
come to each one of them,

and they act as surrogates.

Many of these structures are connected

to form a large system.

La Boetie said this was the mechanism
of power and domination.

He revealed the secret of power,
different from previous ideas.

So, what if you want to escape from it?

Each person becomes free.

Like, "I don't want this anymore.”

As soon as someone says this,
it will end.

The system of power will collapse.

It is said that pressure for consensus
is strong in Japan,

and it is because people
themselves surrogate each other,

and can't move freely in this structure.

For example, after the Second World War,
there has been one system.

- Post-war Japan approached
America to act as surrogate for them,

because Japan lost the war.
The behavior of Japan was

voluntary servitude to America.
Because of that,

we want to say that Japan is
one of the most advanced nations.

These words are backed up by
the relationship.

This can be found in many
aspects of the Japanese society.

Probably, if Taro read

"Discourse on Voluntary Servitude”,

he would say “Wow!”

“This is what I think.”
I'm quite sure.

Control systems have become
much tighter than before.

They are reinforced
by "morality” and " justice”.

So, they can't be criticized.
One example is corporate compliance.

What is called justice

secretly connects with
current society's control systems.

The Japanese mentality -
why don't the Japanese argue?

Social Designer The Japanese
mentality - why don't the Japanese argue?

Social Designer

Social Designer Why do the
Japanese avoid arguments?

Why do the Japanese
avoid arguments?

After Japan lost the war,

Japan was supposed to reassess
the wartime experience,

and try to create a new identity
and philosophy for the future,

overcoming the wartime trauma.
It was supposed to be essential.

However, Japan had such a rapid
economic boom,

we didn't have to look back on
our miserable experiences.

But now, it has plateaued.
When we look back at our own path,

the reassessment is missing.

The nation has always shown
constant growth

of the economy for the people.

- But now, people, ,
especially the young generation,

don't want anything anymore.

I see this.

Every desire has been

popularized in a way.

If you go over there,
you will get better food,

cooler things, more fun
and more pleasure.

This kind of framework doesn't
work anymore in this society.

The social foundation
that has been built up,

some call it social common capital,

Is being destroyed now.
I have this feeling.

It's a dead end.

We should reassess
and reform society, focusing not on

economic growth, .
but try to create a mature society.

If we don't do that,
when young people like you

become old,

society will be a mess.

We must avoid this.

My grandchildren may say that

we messed up the entire society,
and made their lives harder.

I don't want them to say that.

I want to leave something solid
for them.

What can I do?

I think...

The Great East Japan Earthquake
occurred on March 11.

I experienced a deep helplessness
in a single moment.

The images showed that tsunami
was so powerful and massive.

Artist Group The images showed that
tsunami was so powerful and massive.

Artist Group

We saw it was really
destroying everything,

and we were just speechless.

It changed my sense of values.
Plus, we had Fukushima.

With the Hiroshima, Nagasaki and
Daigo Fukuryu Maru cases,

why did Japan have
this nuclear accident?

The atomic bombs traumatized
the Japanese people,

and we have a horrible fear
of nuclear power.

But we made nuclear power plants.

We haven't sincerely faced

this contradiction at all.

We have...

left things ambiguous.

We went to Fukushima
10 create some art pieces.

Back in Tokyo,
we talked about Fukushima.

It was in Shibuya, I remember.

While talking, Taro's mural in Shibuya
came to our minds.

Then, we went to see
the "Myth of Tomorrow”.

While I looked at the painting,

whose theme is nuclear power
and horrible disasters,

tens of thousands of people
passed by. but no one looked at it.

At that time,

the entire Shibuya area was dim
in order to save electricity.

The city looked different,
due to nuclear power,

but people just ignored it.
It seemed that way to us.

The "Myth of Tomorrow” was made

Taro Okamoto Museum of ART Curator
The "Myth of Tomorrow” was made

Taro Okamoto Museum of ART
Curator

Taro Okamoto Museum of ART Curator
for the lobby of the hotel e Mexico Olympics.

for the lobby of the hotel
built for the Mexico Olympics.

People from all over the world
would go there.

So, Taro decided to choose

a symbolic image of Japan for the motif.

What was it?

Taro had been exploring what Japan is,
and what the Japanese have

in the core of their minds.

Then, Taro, as a Japanese person,
came to the idea that

he must tackle the atomic issue.

Who else could?

One of the most important themes
of Taro's art, including

the Tower of the Sun, was nuclear power.

I felt that people didn't notice that.

So, in the chronicle of
nuclear disasters that Taro made,

adding the new incident
in Taro's style

seemed like a natural act for us.

A baton from Taro

is relayed to us.
We had that kind of feeling.

We thought "Myth of Tomorrow”
was still ongoing.

That's why we took action.

Nuclear image added”

Mural vandalized”

"Art group claims responsibility”

"Myth of Tomorrow”

Art Historian
had been long missing.

Art Historian

Art Historian Taro's long-time partner
Toshiko searched for it in Mexico.

Taro's long-time partner Toshiko
searched for it in Mexico.

Toshiko told me
the "Myth of Tomorrow” was in Mexico.

Copywriter Toshiko told me the
"Myth of Tomorrow” was in Mexico.

Copywriter

Copywriter
I said, "That's big news!”

Copywriter

She absorbed everything and
gained more and more energy.,

and worked faithfully
like a martyr.

Toshiko met Taro
at the beginning of his career,

and they started working together.

After that, she was his personal
and professional partner

Taro Okamoto Museum of ART Curator After that.
she was his personal and professional partner

Taro Okamoto Museum of ART
Curator

Taro Okamoto Museum of ART
Curator throughout her life.

Taro Okamoto Museum of ART
Curator

Then, finally the mural was found,

and when it was about to
be returned to Japan,

Toshiko passed away.
It was really meaningful timing.

My first time.

No one is looking.

I don't know...

It's dancing, really.

The "Myth of Tomorrow” and the “Tower
of the Sun” were concurrent works.

Art Critic The "Myth of Tomorrow” and the
“Tower of the Sun” were concurrent works.

Art Critic

In the mid-air exhibition at the tower,

There was a section of
mushroom cloud from the beginning.

So, the Tower of the Sun is
clearly related to the atomic cloud.

The "Tower of the Sun” and
the "Myth of Tomorrow” -

We can see them as a set.

The works themselves are
the questions given by Taro.

That's all I can say.

The tower has several faces,
including the front sun.

"The Black Sun” on the back is the sun,
scientifically analyzed by humans.

It symbolizes nuclear energy.

It's cool that he made the face
on the back.

We were told that

Nuclear power generation meant
that human beings

gained an artificial sun.
It was a man-made sun.

With this artificial sun,
we could freely modify nature.

We could make anything possible.

The scientists stated their dreams.

That was a human-made

artificial sun.

The power of nature can be

good or evil,
creation or destruction.

Literary Critic good or
evil, creation or destruction.

Literary Critic

Genuine artists have to
acknowledge and embrace dichotomy.

Probably Taro kept trying to
see the origin of life.

So he couldn't avoid dealing with
the issue of nuclear energy.

Taking his proposal positively
or negatively is a question

that he left to us.

Scholar of Japanese Fine Arts

Progress in science and technology
doesn't care about ideology.

Anthropologist Progress in science and
technology doesn't care about ideology.

Anthropologist

Anthropologist
Separate from values or ideology,

Separate from values or ideology,

It progresses and changes people.

In fact, miniaturized computers
have changed us

on every level of our lives,
communication and relationships.

Things are altered, impossible to undo.

Science and technology are
driven to progress by something

inherent in human brains,
so it just goes on.

But a bigger principle
which can enfold science

might be found in and taken from myth.

I think Taro envisioned that.

He wanted to settle the contradiction,

the contradiction that
he had wrestled with,

and created the Tower of the Sun
as the result.

The world and human beings
never progress.

Ethnologist The world and
human beings never progress.

Ethnologist

Ethnologist
I'm sure Taro sensed that.

Ethnologist

Ethnologist
So he was driven to express it.

So he was driven to express it.

I think people at that time
didn't understand what the tower meant.

And when it comes to us today,

I think we don't understand, either.

"Progress and Harmony of Mankind”

was the theme of Expo '70-Osaka.

The theme sounded mundane.

Artist Group
The theme sounded mundane.

Artist Group

Artist Group It sounded too
straight, almost like a joke.

Artist Group

Artist Group
But now,

Artist Group

the world situation has become
worse since then, so...

Progress and harmony?

Obviously, “harmony” sounds like...
you know.

It sounds like an easy excuse
that you shouldn't even use,

at least for me.

Nuclear Energy for a Bright Future”

The freedoms of speech and
expression have become more restricted.

Public I institutions require
us to not use certain terms:

Nuclear energy, radiation, Fukushima,

Korea, North Korea
and wartime comfort women.

They say that artwork using
those key words won't be subsidized.

I feel that mainstream
contemporary art in Japan

is facing a very serious situation.

The principles which
this society is based on

contain many contradictions,

but we are not allowed to
think about it.

That's what society demands.

So, media, education
and such things force us to

not think. If they see
people thinking, they give us

TV comedies, and we laugh.

Celebrity commentators who pretend
to think appear on TV,

and people just swallow
their “opinions”.

I don't reject our time now,
but I don't understand this...

this emptiness of reality.
And people like that.

I think it's weird.

For 3.11, however, it didn't work.
People couldn't escape from thinking.

About energy. About agriculture.

Also about human relationships.
Are these okay as they are?

But after a few years, we regress
We don't have to think critically.

The message that we can't live
without nuclear energy

is constantly delivered to us.

So we have stopped thinking again.

Somehow, we regressed and forgot.

Why we forgot is partly because
we were forced to do so.

The Fukushima nuclear plant was said

to be 200 percent safe.

We were persuaded so.

But the people in charge of
controlling the plants

did not take safety measures

to protect people.

They said it would cost
billions of yen for safety measures.

It's nothing, isn't it?

I think many things were
exposed at that time.

One of them is that

we Japanese are not qualified
10 possess nuclear power plants.

Morally, technically,

and on a societal level.

We are not qualified to
handle such huge things

that we can't even control.

They dropped water from
a helicopter like pissing.

We witnessed, with our own eyes

an unbelievable catastrophe.

But we are

not able to take responsibility.

We don't have the fortitude
to take responsibility.

So we want to pretend
as if it didn't happen.

To make that possible,
everybody tried to

hide, lie and cover up the facts.

I think a huge moral hazard
was created.

Difficult-to-return zone ahead.
Detour here.

"Local nuclear emergency response
headquarters, Futaba Town"

It reminds me that

the Soviet Union imploded six years
after the Chernobyl accident.

Chernobyl was one of the causes.

The nuclear power plant accidents

left a massive negative legacy for us.

It's impossible to run away,

but we are trying to run away
and to erase what happened.

When you see a building
knocked over by tsunami,

They are making a big coastal barrier.
It is really huge.

Stunningly huge. That thing

will really save
the coastal towns and villages?

When the next disaster happens,
that concrete wall will fall apart.

We don't have enough financial power

to maintain the wall.

It will not protect the future of
towns and villages in the region.

Everybody knows that.

I like Taro's saying
Art is an explosion!

Now, maybe our society is exploding.

Humankind hasn't progressed at all,
but is losing humanity.

There is no human who
lives like a human today.

With your entire body,
even shedding blood,.

Your life energy blasts off
into the world,

like a soundless explosion.
Grabbing the moment is

how you live as a human.
That's what I think.

A mountain of problems is
right in front of us.

Social Designer A mountain of
problems is right in front of us.

Social Designer

Social Designer We need to figure
out how our society will deal with it.

We need to figure out
how our society will deal with it.

Under these circumstances,
what art can do as a social message

is really significant. But,

so far,

historically, we haven't faced
our own problems.

We are not used to dealing with them.

Everyone restrained themselves
after the disaster.

They couldn't do
what they really want to do.

But we wanted to say,
even when times are like that,

you can create and do what you want.

Art has a kind of mysterious feeling,

TV Producer/Film Director
Art has a kind of mysterious feeling,

TV Producer/Film Director

TV Producer/Film Director
which allures people.

TV Producer/Film Director

TV Producer/Film Director The "Myth of
Tomorrow” inspired ChimlPom to take action.

The "Myth of Tomorrow” inspired
ChimlPom to take action.

I think it's because art is living.

The existence of the mural in that place

definitely stimulates us.

After 3.11, money was not
the standard of value.

That standard was pushed aside.

What people do in the situation is...

For example, a cardboard company
suddenly began cardboard art.

People do whatever they want to do.
Usually,

they get feedback like
it be profitable?”

That makes them hesitate immediately.

But at that time, everyone was like,
"Great!” "I like it!”

"Life is great!” Positive feedback
made everybody happy.

So, many people began
their own activities, which are

art activities, in a real sense.

I always say that you should do
something absolutely useless,

or something absolutely unimportant.

Whether it's useful or not,

just do what you really want to do.

I think art is something that

doesn't fill your stomach,
but fulfills your spirit.

Taro said that
art was determination.

Art Historian Taro said
that art was determination.

Art Historian

Art Historian When you
are determined, art is born.

Art Historian

Art Historian It may be embarrassing
to show your drawing to someone,

It may be embarrassing to show
your drawing to someone,

but the determination to show It
Is art, according to Taro.

You will change a bit
when you are determined.

As a performing artist,

Dancer
As a performing artist,

Dancer

Dancer
let's say in front of me

Dancer

IS a picture.

Thinking about it,

I express it as dance right here now.

That's art. That and this, both.

There is no correct answer
for “what is art?

But, something reaches me,

and I can convey it. Like...

I can have the same emotion
that the picture has.

Feeling the same as a performer,

and intercommunicating
is art, I think.

Artist/Fashion Designer

Artist/Fashion Designer Making
things for me IS communication.

Artist/Fashion Designer

Artist/Fashion Designer It
needs other people to receive it.

It needs other people
to receive it.

I, as a creator, need someone
who sees or has it.

Without those people,
even if I make something,

I can't call it my work.

Drawing a picture, or

Professor of French
Philosophy Drawing a picture, or

Professor of
French Philosophy

Professor of French Philosophy
making a sculpture or other thing.

Professor of
French Philosophy

Professor of French Philosophy Is
it really the creator's personal work?

Is it really the creator's
personal work?

Thinking more widely,

when did human beings
become human beings?

It is when human beings
began drawing.

You can't find any drawings
in monkey caves.

Human beings began with drawing.

Of course, they spoke. Words existed.

With words and images,

human beings built connections
with the world,

designed and realized their lives.

Humans, of course, exist plurally.

And humans sustain the species
by giving birth.

The process of sustaining the species
includes drawing.

So the whole act of drawing is

not a personal act at all.

Taro believed,

Like economics by Marx or
biology by Darwin,

art can have a strong
equivalent vision.

I think.

- We have this current
science and technology, and

we also need a myth to enfold it,

and to guide it to a vision
for the future.

Taro thought we needed
to create that myth.

Actually, computer engineers
and scientists

are well aware of this.

That's what we need for the future.

Quantum theory and
super string theory

Literary Critic Quantum
theory and super string theory

Literary Critic

Literary Critic are methods
for recognizing the world.

Literary Critic

Even before physics
or mathematics were developed,

I assume humans viewed the world
in such ways.

As Daisetsu Suzuki said,
people tend to think dualistically.

Buddhist Philosopher As Daisetsu Suzuki
said, people tend to think dualistically.

Buddhist Philosopher

Buddhist Philosopher Like mind and
material, because it's easier to understand.

Buddhist Philosopher

Buddhist Philosopher But it is very
different from what you experience

Buddhist Philosopher

in your real life.

Taro tried to not separate
mind from material,

and to manifest the idea
in a concrete form.

And that was the same with

Daisetsu Suzuki and
Kumagusu Minakata.

It's not easy to profile
Minakata briefly.

Naturalist/Biologist/Ethnologist It's
not easy to profile Minakata briefly.

Naturalist/Biologist/Ethnologist

Naturalist/Biologist/Ethnologist He was called
“the ultimate potential of the Japanese”.

Naturalist/Biologist/Ethnologist

Natural historian.
Ethnologist.

Buddhism Researcher Natural
historian. Ethnologist.

Buddhism Researcher

Buddhism Researcher
Also a slime mold expert.

Buddhism Researcher

I think he was an artist
in a way.

Taro and Kumagusu.

Scholar of Tibetan Buddhism
Taro and Kumagusu.

Scholar of Tibetan Buddhism

Scholar of Tibetan Buddhism When it comes to what
they found from their experiences in the West,

Scholar of Tibetan Buddhism

Scholar of Tibetan Buddhism
there might be some similarities.

Scholar of Tibetan Buddhism

They both went overseas from
their early 20s until their 30s.

Taro lived in Paris, and
Kumagusu in the US and Britain.

With the knowledge and
techniques they gained,

they looked into themselves
after they returned to Japan.

They found something missing.

They decided to restart from
their origins, their roots.

Maybe that's something in common
for them.

Slime mold for Kumagusu.

The more you look into
primitive life forms,

the more you'll find something new.

Maybe both Kumagusu and Taro
knew it.

How you view the world,

and the universe.

They tried to see them
in an Asian way, I think.

Kumagusu, a scientist, took
a scientific approach.

He said that he can see beyond
the macrocosm with a microscope.

Buddhism Researcher He said that he can
see beyond the macrocosm with a microscope.

Buddhism Researcher

Buddhism Researcher He saw
the macrocosm in slime mold.

Buddhism Researcher

Buddhism Researcher He was
able to find macro in micro.

He was able to find
macro in micro.

Time, for instance.

It's said that there are
past, present and future,

but Kumagusu thought
everything is in the present.

This interpretation can never be
possible in three dimensions.

He thought the world must be
higher-dimensional.

Three dimensions and the Arrow of Time.

Kumagusu always tried to see the world
as a higher-dimensional time-space.

His perspective went further.

Scholar of Tibetan Buddhism
His perspective went further.

Scholar of
Tibetan Buddhism

Scholar of Tibetan Buddhism He had great
expectations for Buddnism, and believed

He had great expectations
for Buddhism, and believed

it was capable of developing
a larger academic system,

more inclusive than the Western one.
He saw the potential in Buddhism,

and tried to dig it out.

His idea was expressed in
the Minakata Mandala.

Mandala is sort of
a description of the universe.

Scholar of Tibetan Philology Mandala is
sort of a description of the universe.

Scholar of
Tibetan Philology

Scholar of Tibetan Philology
The universe in three dimensions.

The universe in three dimensions.

That is mandala.
When you look at it from the top,

and draw it on the flat surface,
that is the mandala chart.

It's an expression of the world,

or a view of the universe.
That is mandala.

Minakata Mandala expresses
everything connecting,

and interweaving in the world.

Not merely in a linear manner,
but flexibly and freely,

things interfuse with each other
in Minakata Mandala.

Taro often wrote that
the Tower of the Sun was a mandala,

at the beginning of the project.

Taro's view of the universe
was expressed in the tower.

Past, present and future.

The tower embraces them all.

He saw a mandala while writing
Mysterious Japan,

and said that the concept of
mandala was important.

It's the idea of
dependent origination.

Scholar of Tibetan Buddhism
lt's the idea of dependent origination.

Scholar of
Tibetan Buddhism

Scholar of Tibetan Buddhism
Nothing exists independently.

Scholar of
Tibetan Buddhism

Scholar of Tibetan Buddhism
Everything exists in dependence on others.

Scholar of
Tibetan Buddhism

Scholar of Tibetan Buddhism This,
basically, is dependent origination.

Scholar of
Tibetan Buddhism

All nature is mutually related,

Things are different,
but that makes them the same.

The simplest idea may be
"Muge" in Japanese,

meaning "freedom".

It means "no obstacles”,
no barrier.

Everything interfuses
and connects freely.

Breaking a wall, or

- removing a wall
is probably the key for

Eastern philosophy, I believe.

It is important to make walls
to categorize and analyze things,

but that idea is facing a dead end.

Breaking those walls,

making them permeable,

and connecting things freely
are truly Eastern ways of thinking.

It can be said to be
the Kumagusu-ish way.

When you make the walls permeable,

you'll have a different
a speculative system.

You can obtain a new view
of the world.

Kumagusu and Taro were
sending a message

to us living today.

The concept of mandala is

closely related to the view of
the Avatamsaka Sutra.

The Avatamsaka Sutra has its core idea,
which was born in India.

Buddha is ubiquitous across
the whole universe.

Scholar of Tibetan Buddhism
Buddha is ubiquitous across the whole universe.

Scholar of
Tibetan Buddhism

Scholar of Tibetan Buddhism It
exists in everything in the universe.

Scholar of
Tibetan Buddhism

At the same time,
the universe

exists in Buddha.
Even each pore embraces

the whole universe.

This grand ontology was developed
in the Avatamsaka Sutra.

Where was the Avatamsaka Sutra
developed?

A place where various ethnicities,
languages, and

people interacted,
to the west of China,

so it probably developed
in Central Asia.

People in Tibet didn't think
about farming,

People in Tibet didn't
think about farming,

Scholar of
Tibetan Philology

Scholar of Tibetan Philology
incereasing harvests and selling The extra produce to earn money.

Scholar of
Tibetan Philology

The fundamental conditions
of feudalism didn't exist.

They lived well enough
by hunting and gathering.

Uneven distribution of wealth

seldom happened there.

In an area like that,
people had to think about how to coexist

with other people.

That led to the birth of
the idea of mandala.

The mandala-esque way of thinking
was a view of the universe,

born in Asia
where various cultures mingled.

Kumagusu Minakata found mandala,

a living mandala, in slime mold.

Taro displayed ameba-shaped objects
at the base of the Tower of the Sun,

which made me think that
Taro had the same vision as Kumagusu.

The Tower of the Sun had to be
a tower, a tree of life,

and a mandala all in one.

All nature Is blended Into one.

A human becomes
an animal, plant or mineral.

A human can be a sacred tree itself,

to connect heaven and earth.

I think Taro lived with

this sense in himself.

"Torma" is an offering to the Gods.

The Tower of the Sun has
a torma shape.

The concept of Torma
isn't from Buddhism.

It originated in the Neolithic Age
or earlier.

It was originally an offering
to the God of the Sun.

There are various stories.
Originally they offered lives,

sacrificing humans or living animals.

In northern Tibet, for instance,
sacrificing animals

was quite common.
They still do this at times.

Was quite common. They
still do this at times.

Scholar of
Tibetan Philology

When Buddhism came in,
unnecessary killings were banned,

including sacrifice.

When they stopped sacrificing,

they used barley flour to make
conical cakes,

and offered them to the gods
instead of sacrifices.

It's like "Yorishiro",
a residence for spirits.

It is said that mandala is a sanctuary
and torma is a god.

Bon Monk It is said that mandala
is a sanctuary and torma is a god.

Bon Monk

Taro wanted to make a mandala and
made the tower with that in mind.

Tibetan Buddhist Monk Taro wanted to make a
mandala and made the tower with that in mind.

Tibetan Buddhist Monk

Tibetan Buddhist Monk
It's very interesting.

Tibetan Buddhist Monk

If he created the tower like that
without a knowledge of torma,

we can say he was
an excellent craftsman.

It's incredible.

He created the torma-like tower
unintentionally, I assume,

because the archetype was deep
in his consciousness.

Torma is an offering for Buddhas.

Scholar of Tibetan Buddhism
Torma is an offering for Buddhas.

Scholar of
Tibetan Buddhism

Scholar of Tibetan Buddhism
If the Tower of the Sun has
the same purpose, It's very interesting.

Scholar of
Tibetan Buddhism

Scholar of Tibetan Buddhism
I really would like to know

I really would like to know

what it was for and
who it was offered to.

Buddhism Researcher

Buddhism Researcher
Is the Tower of the Sun an offering?

Buddhism Researcher

Buddhism Researcher
I think it may be so.

Buddhism Researcher

And who is it offered to?

I think it was to humanity.

- Our ancestors, and
we living In the present time,

and our descendants who will
live in the future.

The tower was

an offering to humanity
across all time.

This is my opinion.

So what is the tower?

If other pavilions at Expo '70
had remained,

they would have all aged,
but the Tower of the Sun remained,

and never changed or aged.

The tower is philosophically strong
SO its messages endure.

It's not a sculpture of anger.
It's not about love.

It is beyond words.

Japan, or all human beings who
created civilization:

The tower looks so determined to
carry their history,

and just keep standing there.

I feel like the tower can
see everything.

Those eyes.

Like, the words and excuses
that we make just to...

to justify what we want to do
are not overlooked.

Taro wouldn't overlook those things.

They couldn't tear down the tower.

Everything else on the huge site
was torn down,

but they couldn't tear down
the Tower of the Sun.

Maybe they were scared of
that unknown thing.

That...

chaotic thing.
You can't really interpret

the meaning of it, can you?

Japanese society couldn't
understand and accept it,

and began to reject Taro.

But still, they couldn't tear down
the Tower of the Sun.

The tower keeps testing us,

or keeps doubting us.

The tower stands there for that purpose.

I live my life earnestly today
for tomorrow.

And next day I'll think anew.
Every moment is

simply wonderful.

That I'm living today.

Are you, or is the present society
okay as is?

What is important for humanity?

What is the essence of humanity?

It's nothing but
an infinite question. So,

what the Tower of the Sun meant
in 1970, and

what it means today are

completely different.

As long as the tower stands there,
the meaning changes,

although it doesn't change physically.

I feel...

the meaning will change a lot
in the future.

Now, it stands in the
Expo 70 Commemorative Park,

and it was made for Expo '70-Osaka
in 1970,

and is preserved after the Expo.
We know the background.

But someday, the facts will be
forgotten,

maybe due to a huge war or disaster.

Or by an unpredictable incident.

I all background information
is untraceable,

if everything including the nation
of Japan doesn't exist, but

If the Tower of the Sun
still stands there,

the meaning will be different
from how we now perceive it.

It represents human thoughts
before the agrarian revolution.

Way before the Industrial Revolution.

The thoughts have still survived,

and are in us today.

When they want to come out,
and you try to express them,

you'll be obstructed.

The tower encourages you to express,
beyond those obstructions.

An expression can take shape
beyond the creator's intention.

If Taro was an outstanding artist,

it's true because his expression
went beyond Taro himself.

He took the contemporary
circumstances into himself,

and output the core of
those circumstances.

That resulted in that monument
with that shape.

The word "gift” is becoming

a really important theme for today.

You give something as a gift

10 someone.

You don't require a reward for it.

People who can give something
10 someone without any return

can be an important factor for society.

Like a detonator for revolution
and transformation.

I think the Tower of the Sun
was a gift.

We are given that strange
overwhelming gift.

I think Taro wanted

to strip individuality away
and just move forward.

He really wanted to do that and he did.

By doing that,

he tried to have his expression close 10

the expression of the human world.

And that's exactly what he did.

Artists can't help doing that.

What drives them to do so is

a call from something beyond themselves.

It's not an external call,
Like the voice of God in religion,

- but is an internal,
instinctual human impulse.

So, expressing it is
a kind of obligation

for artists.

I think Taro had
a sense of duty as artist

10 society.

So, he was not Taro Okamoto.

No one but someone.

It called to Taro,
and he responded, running forward.

When I'm in front of the tower,
I feel like I'm being asked a question,

and I think about what the question is,
then, something new emerges.

That cycle goes on forever.

Perhaps when people 1000 years from now
see this strange tower,

and feel like it is asking questions.

They may notice what they must do,
or what they have missed.

I think

that is the role of
the Tower of the Sun.

Presented by PARCO CO., LTD. SPOON I NC. Taro Okamoto
Memorial Foundation NHK EDUCATIONAL CORPORATION

Directed by

-2018 “TONER OF THE SUN” Film Partners English subtitles by
Ayako Kawakita and Tim Olive