in this episode we have a conversation with davy millard who runs an english-school/coffee-roaster assemblage in west tokyo (@tokyocoffeejp). we discuss a problem deeply rooted within japanese society, and talk about new classifications for death that stem from japanese work culture. we also discuss how roguture is providing a response to the cycle of violence embedded within japanese work culture.
Read Moreif one disrupts, or is unable to incorporate oneself into the wa, it is tantamount to death. among the many things that are distorted by the wa, people’s concept of death seems the most affected. within a context where karoshi and kodukoshi are part of everyday reality, suicide seems almost trivial. but that’s the dark irony– death has become banal. and as a direct consequence of this, so has life. we’ve now ventured even further into the black hole.
Read More“there’s a japanese word called ‘wa’. no one wants to disrupt this wa regardless of if it’s in the family, in a community, at work, or anywhere else in japan. it means harmony, not status quo…wa technically is good thing, it has a positive connotation, but the way that it works is so bad. this concept of wa is inherent to japanese people because they’re raised in this culture. and they can’t function without it. it’s so against their nature to break that wa. if you break the wa then you’re probably worse than a foreigner, you become something other than japanese.”
Read More"decomposition is simultaneously recomposition. one break necessitates a re-connection elsewhere, and life will go on... until a body is no longer able to make connections that augments its capacity to endure. until it is no longer able to flow..."
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