PYRAMID: Kaleidoscope Memories of Destruction
(PYRAMID—Hakai no kioku no somato)
JAPAN / 2015 / Japanese / Color, B&W / Blu-ray / 50 min
Director: Sasakubo Shin
Photography: Sasakubo Shin, Onishi Kenji
Sound Editor: Chichibu Avant-Garde
Producers: Chichibu Avant-Garde, Onishi Kenji
Supported by KEN, Yokoyama Hiroaki
Source: Sasakubo Shin
Chichibu, Saitama—home of Mt. Buko, known as the “mountain of the gods.” It is the most important mountain in the local folk religion, and serves as the sacred site of the Chichibu Shrine. This sacred mountain is blasted, even today, by large corporations who harvest limestone with dynamite. This film, a project by the art collective Chichibu Avant-Garde, depicts memories of the destruction of Mt. Buko as if through a somato (Japanese revolving lantern) or kaleidoscope.
[Director’s Statement] I was raised in a place called Chichibu, where I spent my childhood in an environment in which the sound of dynamite blasts on Mt. Buko meant it was time for lunch. In my hometown, the extraordinary event of the blasting of the “mountain of the gods,” has become an everyday aspect of the daily lives of the children who live there. Subconsciously, destruction has become part of our identity. This film is about the “pyramid” that has stood before my eyes since I was a child.
Sasakubo Shin
Sasakubo Shin is a musician specializing in contemporary music and Andean guitar. He lived in Peru from 2004 to 2007, during which he studied the music of the Andes. As a musician he has performed in Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, and Cuba. He founded Chichibu Avant-Garde, an art group that produces films, visual art, photographs, plays, and lectures in his hometown of Chichibu. As of 2015, Sasakubo has released twenty-four CDs.