不自然 by hhvm
アメリカ合衆国第42代大統領ビル・クリントンが、米軍の足跡を減らすとスピーチをして二十年が経った。その間、基地に反対する人物が沖縄県知事に就任したり、基地反対派が議会の過半数を占めたり、県民主体の基地反対運動（普天間米軍基地移設反対運動含む）も続いているが、あいかわらず「善き隣人宅」の隙間を縫うようにして生活している。生まれてからずっと基地があるので、飛行機が飛び立つ轟音も、街路樹のごとく続くフェンスも生活するということはそういうことだと受け入れている。
いつかの飲み会で中部から北部へ通勤する友人は、渋滞のせいで帰宅するのに車で２時間かかるとぼやいていた。基地がなくなれば道路をもっと造れるからきっと交通状況は良くなる。鉄道だってできるかもしれない。選択肢があるだけで生活はよくなる。そんなことを友人と話す。でも、基地がなくなるとはお互い本心では思っていない。基地がない風景を知っている人はもう少ないし年々その人たちも歳老いて消えていく。抗い続けた人たちを私たちはよく見ているから、多くの約束が反故にされたこともよく知っている。だから、こうやって話の種にはするけれど、手の中にぎゅっと握ったままにする。芽がでないことを知っているから。
でも、この作品は海から川に向かって流れる。
mv https://youtu.be/t9rDix8M3TU
Twenty years have passed since Bill Clinton, the 42nd President of the United States, gave a speech in which he stated that he would reduce the footprint of the U.S. military. During that time, a person opposed to the base has been appointed governor of Okinawa Prefecture, base opponents have gained a majority in Congress, and the prefecture's citizen-led movement against the base (including the movement against the relocation of the Futenma U.S. military base) has continued, but as usual, we are still living in the gaps between “good neighbors' homes. Since the base has been there since I was born, I have accepted the roar of airplanes taking off and the fence that stretches like a roadside tree as a way of life.
At a drinking party one day, a friend who commutes from the central part of the country to the northern part of the country blurted out that it takes him two hours to drive home because of the traffic jams. If the base is removed, more roads can be built and the traffic situation will surely improve. Maybe they can even build a railroad. Life would be better just by having a choice. That's what I talk about with my friend. But neither of us really believes that the bases will disappear. There are few people who know what it would be like without the base, and those who do are growing older and disappearing every year. We know that many promises have been broken, because we have seen those who have resisted for so long. So we talk about them like this, but we keep them tightly in our hands. Because we know it won't sprout.
But this work flows from the sea to the river.
mv https://youtu.be/t9rDix8M3TU
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He started his career in Tokyo in 2023 and now lives and works in his native Okinawa. He plays all instruments himself and incorporates field recordings into his music. His discography is available on Bandcamp, and his EP “不自然,” released in July 2024, was featured in Bandcamp Daily's “The Best Field Recordings on Bandcamp, July 2024.