We spoke with MIKIKO, who is expected to achieve even greater success in the future, having been selected, along with Shiina Ringo and others, as part of the comprehensive planning team for the four ceremonies at the Tokyo 2020 Opening and Closing Ceremonies.
Text: Masaki Mugikura Photos: Nariko Nakamura
"Travel" is a luxurious time to face yourself. What you feel is the most important thing.
JAL: Looking back, what kind of experience was it for you, MIKIKO, during the year and a half you spent in New York?
MIKIKO: I was always trying to be inspired and absorb everything I could, but I think the most important thing for me was not to learn about America or New York, but to see what I felt when I was there.
Since I was not working, I had plenty of free time, and I repeatedly asked myself how I would use my experience in New York in my work after returning to Japan, and what I was doing there. I keenly felt that having time to do only for myself was both very freeing and painful at the same time.
JAL: It gave you the opportunity to think about things that would have been unthinkable in Japan.
MIKIKO: I think that's exactly what going abroad means to me. You notice and think about things that you don't notice in the repetition of your routine, or things that you don't usually have time to think about. By staying in the same place, your senses become blurred little by little, and by going outside, you can refresh them. Even now, when I go abroad, I feel like I'm looking at what I'm doing and creating in Japan, while experiencing the city and art of that country.
Not an imitation of Broadway, but "an expression that makes Japanese people look their best"
JAL: For you, your experience abroad is solely for the purpose of utilizing it in your work in Japan. Why are you so particular about expressing yourself in Japan?
MIKIKO: I think there is a critical eye that is unique to Japanese people. We demand craftsmanship in our skills and pay more attention to the details than people overseas. I think it is a higher hurdle to make things according to Japanese standards.
But even more than that, ever since I was in New York, I had a strong sense of mission to "find an expression that makes Japanese people look the best." If you compare Westerners with Japanese people, everything is different, including height. So instead of competing with them and dreaming of performing on Broadway, I wanted to create something in Japan that only Japanese people could do.
JAL: Some people go abroad and become completely immersed in the local culture, but that wasn't the case for you, MIKIKO.
MIKIKO: When I was in New York, I often thought it would be easier to just blend in. But I thought I couldn't blend in that much, and that I wouldn't be able to stay there permanently unless I did. So, I think that working in Japan in the way I'm doing now is probably the best fit for me.
"This is just how we've always been," is how Japanese "iki" is.
JAL: What do you feel is the best fit for you about Japan?
MIKIKO: I really like the attention to detail and consideration that is unique to Japan. Also, my job is not to move myself, but to get others to move, so for example, if I'm getting a group of five people to dance, the overall mood when they get together is very important. I don't just gather five highly skilled people and get them to move the way I want them to, but I create the best possible thing within the relationship between those five people. So each job takes time, but that's what makes it interesting.
JAL: Perhaps in a way, it is very Japanese to bring out the best in each individual and make the whole look beautiful.
MIKIKO: As long as I continue this work, I definitely want to perform in Japan. I have overseas performances, but due to equipment and venue restrictions, I can only bring a compact compilation of the performances in Japan. So I want people to come and see the complete performances we are doing in Japan. I have a very strong feeling about that.
JAL: In 2020, the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games will take place, and MIKIKO has been selected as part of the planning team for the opening and closing ceremonies.
The Flag Handover Ceremony at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympics, which MIKIKO worked on as part of the production team (©️Tokyo 2020)
MIKIKO: That's right. We are still in the discussion stage, but just like with the "Flag Handover Ceremony" at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympics, we want to show something that Japanese people can confidently say is the coolest right now, without being strangely conscious of overseas audiences. And instead of forcing it on the audience, we will do it with a cool face, saying "This is how we always are." I think that is the Japanese "iki".
MIKIKO
Choreographer and director. Founder of the dance company "ELEVENPLAY". He choreographs for Perfume and BABYMETAL, as well as a variety of music videos, commercials, and stage productions. He is highly regarded both in Japan and overseas in the media art scene, and as a director with the skills to elevate new technology into entertainment, he collaborates with various creators across genres.
The contents published are accurate at the time of publication and are subject to change.
