On May 16, 2020, we debuted Sayonara Mata Ashita. 52 people sang along with us. We reached out to people that have been a significant and inspirational part of our taiko lives - our mentors, our Unit Souzou taiko family, our Women & Taiko community connections, our Warabi-za family, our organizational partners. It was such a beautiful and overwhelming journey.
Sayonara Mata Ashita (Goodbye, Until Tomorrow) is a piece created for Unit Souzou’s performance project, Constant State of Otherness, centered in the acknowledgement of the historical and divisive ways that othering has pervasively and insidiously affected our communities. In the creative process, Unit Souzou heard stories of otherness from people in 5 different cities in the United States, especially from youth. One of the universal impacts heard from the stories was of loneliness. As our communities are facing duress, we hope that the narrative of this time is not of more othering, but of more togetherness.
Sayonara Mata Ashita さよならまた明日
Alone, I walk down a path 一人で歩くこの道
I feel like crying and I look back 泣きそうになって振り返る
Goodbye because I know we will meet tomorrow さよならまたね明日会うから
Alone, I can't sleep 一人で眠れない夜
I feel like crying and look up at the stars 泣きそうになって星を見たよ
Goodbye because I know we will meet tomorrow さよならまたね明日会うから
Alone, I gaze at the ocean 一人で眺めた海は
My tears stream down and disappear into the sand 涙が溢れて砂に消えた
Goodbye because I know we will meet tomorrow さよならまたね明日会うから
You are not alone 一人じゃないよ
Everyone is here みんながいるよ
Today, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and many days after 今日も明日も明後日もその次の日も
Goodbye because I know we will meet tomorrow さよならまたね明日会うから
Constant State of Otherness
Project Conceived and Directed by Michelle Fujii
Works devised in collaboration with Unit Souzou Ensemble - Ian Berve, Michelle Fujii, Toru Watanabe, David Wells, Vicky Zhang
Sayonara Mata Ashita lyrics composed by Toru Watanabe
Special Thanks to:
Amy Naylor - Video Editing
David Wells - Sound Editing
Michelle Fujii - Video Project Manager
Koto - Izumi Kuroki
Shakuhachi - Tsuyoshi Ozawa
Everyone in the credits at the end of the video!!
