史上初の黒人守人衆登場のお知らせ

今回はアメリカ人の Mr. Emmanuel Harper（エマニエル・ハーパー氏）が有無ノ一坐とともに主宰した研究クラス「Enza Kagemai Front Line」で、自ら「円坐影舞未二観」を体験し、自分自身の言葉でネイティブの英文を記してくださいました。

必ずしも伝達が簡単ではない円坐や影舞の精神が、短期間でマニー（エマニエル）に精神的に伝わったことに僕はとても驚きました。

彼が黒人としてアメリカで体験してきたことと、円坐影舞を直ちに深く理解できたことが密接に関連しているのは確かです。

ある時彼は、有無ノ一坐の４人を名指しでこう言いました。

「ミスター橋本も、くぅさんも、仁美さんも、悠さんも、ワシと同じアウトサイダーやけ。」
（彼は瀬戸内海の離島に２年いたので広島弁を使います！）

僕の中で、有無ノ一坐の円坐影舞未二観の理念と「アウトサイダー」という概念が生き生きと結びついた瞬間でした。

“Enza Kagemai Front Line”の稽古の中で、マニーは自分がこの世界で暮らす人々の「魂の架け橋」になるような生き方を求めて日本に来たことを自覚しました。

口承即興円坐影舞　有無ノ一坐は、ひとり一人の人間関係が生まれたときから「魂の関係」であり、ひとり一人が生まれたときから「魂の架け橋」としての「芸の道」を生きていると考えています。

そして、そのための日々の実践が生業となっています。
マニーの英文は、欧米の人々への円坐影舞未二観のよきテキストになるでしょう。

そして英文に記された内容は、マニーが望む「世界の人々の魂の架け橋」を十分実現できる深度を備えていると思います。ではここで史上初めての黒人守人衆、マニーの言葉を原文でご紹介いたします。
ご高覧くださいませ。

有無ノ一坐　橋本久仁彦

☆☆

After coming to Japan in 2016, I quickly realized that the differences that divide us - our language, our culture, our gender, and even our religion - don’t mean much in the grand scheme of things. What does it exactly mean to be ‘human?’

We often define ourselves by our personality, and we use words to communicate what we think.
But what about that hidden part of us, our original spark, the person we were when we were first born?

When we first came out of the womb, we had no personality.
If we did have an ego, we didn’t have the words to even voice it.

We are born, more or less, tabula rasa - a blank slate.
Is there a way to go back to that?

Is there a way for two people to communicate beyond words, beyond language, beyond gender, and all these other categories that - though important - invaded our empty slates with violence and our individual personalities?

In 2023, I finally found a word to describe what I discovered: Kagemai- 影舞.
This Japanese word was formed by combining the word ‘shadow’ and ‘dance/stage.’

A shadow dance.

But it is much more than that, and these two words aren’t enough to explain it.
The story started in 2022 when I, a teacher in Osaka, Japan, taught a student, a man named Hashimoto Kunihiko.
At the time, I was giving English lessons to Japanese people.

I had prepared a lesson for us, but we ended up going into deep conversation about philosophy, religion, psychology, and a whole gamut of fascinating topics.

I taught him only a number of times, and each time we launched into interesting conversation.
However, one theme seemed to always come up in our dialogues: humanconnection.

Or, rather, the lack of human connection in today’s world.
It can be incredibly hard to truly connect with another human being.

The human heart is a nesting doll - chambers within chambers within chambers, many of which the individual isn’t even aware of.
How does one reach those deepest parts, when there are not enough words in the world to describe the secret chambers of the human heart?

Kunihiko would introduce me to a way to connect with a person beyond words, and that was Kagemai.
By words alone Kagemai is hard to explain, because its effect can only be fully felt by doing it.

On the surface it looks like a simple dance.
Two people silently face each other and connect their fingertips.

Then, they start to move.
But there is no choreography and no planned movements, they simply move as their bodies lead them.
The entire time, no words were spoken - only movement.

In Kagemai, one doesn’t try to outperform the other person, nor does one try to impress them.
Also, one doesn't try to ‘lead’ their movements like you would in a dance with two people.

Rather, they connect their fingertips.
On the surface, it looks simple, but here the real thing begins.

By touching their fingertips, they also feel beyond their skin and touch each other’s thoughts and spirit.
Through this bridge, they see past race, words, and gender, and understand that person’s true self.

Only then can they naturally respect each other, when they see beyond their differences.
I believe Kagemai births chivalry between people.

The word ‘chivalry’may seem outdated today, but I think this deep respect is important.
When Kagemai finishes, the two participants disengage their fingertips.

Afterwards, they may feel the need to hug each other or be overcome with emotion.
But if they are chivalrous, they retain a respectful distance towards each other, just as two martial artists bow towards each other in silent reverence.

The laughter and emotion may come later, but first, they respect the other’s space.
Those ideas above illustrate what Kunihiko calls 対峙 and 仕合, which are hard to explain in English.

The best word we thought of was ‘chivalry,’ which is honored by Kunihiko and his organization, 有無ノ一坐or Umu no Ichiza, in English.
I recently became a new member of this group,

Umu no Ichiza consists of four original members:
the leader Kunihiko Hashimoto, the sub-leader Hiroko Matsuoka, Kunihiko’s daughter Hitomi Hashimoto, and Kunihiko's son, Yu Hashimoto.

I have started to work with them.
When I first tried it, the strangest thing happened.

I felt like the person and I had entered another space - a world where only we existed.
The flow of time felt　irrelevant.

Because no one talks during Kagemai, the language barrier also disappears.
I found that I connected with the person in a way that words can’t describe - I touched their spark before the human ego came crashing in.

I touched their first, true self. And they had touched mine.
After this ‘dance’ is over, the ‘performers’ bow to each other, then bow to the audience.

They leave the space that their two bodies and souls inhabited earlier, and return to the normal world.
But that space still exists somewhere - and they can visit it in their minds when they think of each other again.

In a way, memory serves as a sort of time capsule.
Each time you wish to revisit the past, all you need do is remember it.

The space kagemai creates is like that.
Only after doing Kagemai several times, did I find the words to describe it.

There are three steps to the whole process.
At first, the participants do Enza: gathering in a circle and fellowshipping.

There’s nothing overly philosophical or deep about it, just humans talking with other humans.
There are not set topics or rules, just plain conversation.

But, it’s important for the participants to listen closely to whoever is speaking, until their final word.
This listener is called an 円坐守人 or Enza Moribito in English.

This bonding and listening is vital to developing Kagemai.
After the fellowship, two participants do Kagemai in front of an audience.

Second, they do the kagemai performance.
I call it a performance because it’s the closest thing I can think of.

It’s not a new age spiritual exercise or the newest way to open your chakra.
Kunihiko has experience performing improvisational theater and also worked as a mental health counselor.

Also, he used to work as a teacher for an inner city boys school.
He created Enza and Kagemai out of these backgrounds.

In counseling, one listens and gives suggestions in order to help that person move past their mental struggles.
In theater, performers impress thoughts and emotions on the audience.

In both these disciplines, there are roles, and roles create separation.
In Kagemai, the performers feel no separation.

There is no boss and subordinate, no patient and counselor, no father and son, no wife and husband.
Because Kagemai requires no talking, it allows the people to access their deepest parts.

It’s a way to enter a sort of ‘sacred space’ where emotions - sometimes hidden - come out.
Even after the performance is finished, one can always revisit that sacred space and experience the emotions they felt.

It’s not a way to ‘feel better’ or overcome mental struggles.
But it is a way to freely exit and enter that sacred space.

The third and final step is called a ‘minikan’ or 未ニ観.
The performers face each other and each speaks in turn.

There are 8 minutes for each person to speak, uninterrupted.
Their partner never interrupts; though they may disagree with them, though they may feel urged to comfort them, though they may feel the need to share (or force) their opinions, they remain silent.

Instead, they follow that person on a journey, a journey made of words.
In those 8 minutes, stories are shared, and places are visited.

The person shares whatever comes to their mind.
Their partner follows them to their very last word, when the 8 minutes are up.

On paper, it’s hard to convey what I feel when I do Kagemai.
But I feel it transcends the borders that separate us from others.

I’m very cautious about using the word ‘spiritual’ to describe Kagemai, as the word often conjures up ideas of spirits, seances, and supernatural experiences.

Kagemai is none of that.
If anything, it’s human spirituality.

It’s a way to connect with another’s spirit - if that’s the word you want to choose!
(wrote by Emmanuel Harper)