Hanging man

Well I finally made it to Kunitachi to see this famous action. We sat in Takusan's small yard on wooden benches, after picking up a cut piece of styrofoam to provide comfort, and a wee bit of warmth. Very cold tonight. He was inside his wooden house, I could see shadows of him through the glass, and hear beautiful Japanese music playing. He came out dressed in red trousers, a red polo neck shirt with a white blouse over the top, and began his gentle silent movements through the garden area. This consisted of a few straggly trees, one tall thin bamboo, and a shrub that had gone brown and dried. The fences were lined with blue tarps, old ones, very frayed and some parts spray-painted with silver.
His presence was so sincere and delicate, minimal but exploratory. I felt the wind and watched him react. Action, reaction, honouring and moving slowly and carefully, knowing each centimeter of the ground he was covering. He seemed to pay special heed to the dried shrub, taking it's energy and giving it back. Near this was a square hole, dug into the earth. At it's edge stood an iron anvil, and over this was a beam, with hooks. There were lights positioned on the house to illuminate the space, and we could hear the outside world operating, sirens and occasional footsteps penetrating the silence. Otherwise it was completely quiet bar the wind in the trees.
Taksan explored the space, and then he climbed back into the house, tentatively I noticed...almost as though he was uncertain about it. He came back with a woven rope, red, with a hook on one end.
Let me say I was worried about seeing this seminal part, but also curious, as the Yanaka group had raved so much about him, and after meeting him, I was interested but still a bit scared. He hung the rope, then he hung by the neck for something like 5 minutes, maybe 10. Such trmendous strength and such power his profound agility communicating something from deep within, not limp and dead, but alive and beautiful, such unbelievable beauty, I was moved beyond. I felt shame at my discomfort as it was so cold, I felt his pain, but also his strength. Such an older man, so thin, with these worn red trousers, sewn tightly at the back in order to keep them from falling down, hanging by his neck, in a residential neighbourhood, every day for ten years. Rain, snow, sleet, whatever. He had been doing it for more than 40 years actually, and this is his concept to bring him to paradise. (Which I take to mean heaven).
His weakness after hanging was apparent, and he fortified himself with more movement, energy gradually returning...it was amazing. To sit in such a humble yard and to see something so profound, it was just greatness.
After his actions, we all went inside and sat around a heated table, with a big comforter over it, to warm our legs, and drank shochu with tea and ate lovely things made by his partner, Mika, who I have written about before, the greatest dancer in Japan. We discussed the work, and drank and ate and smoked, and then they sang for me! Old Japanese songs, with dear Izumi's voice ringing out like a clear bell of beauty. I saw the light come from her, and felt the love and just thought, this is it!!! This is the truth, this is life, this is paradise, and I can't stress that more.
"Correspondence", that's what Taksan said, in English, and I understood completely. This world I am privvy to is what I came to Japan for, I know it, and my fortune is finding it, and being in it. His intelligence seeps from him, because he knows.
He said strength was what life was about. I said I thought he was dancing to the tune of the wind, and he said he was. I asked if the neighbours knew what went on behind the fence, that there was such a great thing going on, each night, such a powerful thing, such a thing that was so private, yet public...they said shush, don't tell them!
What incredibleness I have experienced here, it is real, but it still feels like a dream. We came home on the train full of bliss and gratitude. I love it here. The contrasts and the fortitiude, the mad energy and the utter opposite. So much action, so much reaction, so much sealed up, mystery...I am so curious, I want to know more, delve into the dark reaches...terrific! Truly blown away. Great men, great women, greatness. As Ali G says, "much respect".