In Timeless Transformation

You cannot walk deep into the islands of Japan and walk out the same person. Only, you must stop to listen to what is seldom spoken.

- Soumya Mukerji

TOUCHING DOWN IN OSAKA from the serene skies of Vietnam seems like landing in a sea of chaos. With the busy central transport junction and tourists flitting about, this first sight makes you disbelieve any picture of peace you carry about Japan– but one must not judge a book by its cover. Nor by its trending blurbs. So, I consciously omit the postcard hubs from my itinerary to seek out the essence of the hinterlands.

That evening, I walk to the night street of Dotonbori, but the first instance of a vibrational intervention comes en route, with the musical energy of two technopercussionists. They are playing with ardent abandon at the pulsating Namba crossing, their pop-streaked hair swaying in effortless joy, one with their art and the audience. I’m reminded of the spirit of Wu Wei (or effortless action) that is tattooed across my shoulder blade. There is something about the youthful spirit of the city bathed in hyper-urban dreams— the screaming need to immerse oneself in colour, and break away into a hyper-real, technicolour future—that makes one want to let oneself go. The Japanese call this Shikata Ga Nai. To accept the moment, to flow with it, to relinquish control where one has none. I’m a ball in that beat.

The rebellious spark is evident in the clubs, gaming salons, the loud neon signboards. The party is powerful not just in its street food and drink and local riverside revelry, but because it carries the throb of the future, and the possibility of embracing a plurality of pop cultures, tastes and fashions. I keep close this reflection of Kyosei, the symbiotic spirit where diversity converges for the common good.