Japan Times, Jan. 3, 2013
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/fm20130103a1.html
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New-age musician Kitaro (left) and Native American leader Dennis Banks meet up in Tokyo (photo by Sachiko Tamashige)
Kitaro taps into Native American culture
By SACHIKO TAMASHIGE
New-age musician Kitaro (left) and Native American leader Dennis Banks met up in Tokyo at a party that showcased their joint album, “Let Mother Earth Speak.”
“Kitaro and I were destined to meet each other,” Dennis Banks tells The Japan Times. “Our beliefs are similar: Mother Earth, who we are … we are all the children of this Earth.”
Banks, 75, is a Native American activist and leader of the Anishinaabe people from northern Minnesota. He is known for leading the Longest Walk in 1978, a pilgrimage of 26 Native Americans who walked across the United States to draw attention to Native American rights.
In November, Banks reunited with new-age music composer Kitaro (real name: Masanori Takahashi) in the posh Omotesando district of Tokyo at a party to showcase their album, “Let Mother Earth Speak.” Kitaro, 59, is a Golden Globe and Grammy Award-winning multi-instrumentalist regarded as a pioneer in the new age genre.
“The recording session went smoothly as being in Kitaro’s studio made me want to sing,” Banks adds. “There were more than a hundred instruments in his studio. Just being with Kitaro playing all sorts of instruments inspired me to sing stronger and higher.”
Shinto drum at Yoshida Jinja
The flattery goes both ways as Kitaro praises Banks’ voice: “His voice is always in tune and most of the tracks were recorded in one take. It was amazing.”
“Let Mother Earth Speak” was released last year and features nine tracks of Kitaro’s musical stylings with Banks’ spoken word poetry. The album is filled with traditional Native American instruments and, of course, Banks contributes a number of songs indigenous to his cultural background.
The first track, “Thank you Great Spirit (Migwetch Gitchi Manitou),” features Kitaro on a Native American-style flute as Banks addresses the listener and plainly sets out the theme for the rest of the album. The effect this has might be akin to sitting around a fire in the woods and listening to someone telling a story before slipping into a dream.
Kitaro says the tunes on the album came from Native American culture and directly reflect Native American’s lives, including Banks’. They are about family, love, history and responsibility.
“Native Americans lead balanced lives in harmony with animals and nature,” Kitaro says. “Their wisdom has accumulated over generations and I tried to condense that in our CD. I hope that it can be a kind of textbook to help the youth — or anyone on the planet — live in harmony with nature.”
Banks elaborates on the message by addressing what he calls the “seventh generation.”
“(Our community) always talks about the seventh generation, which is how far our responsibilities go,” he says. “Our chief used to say we always have to think ahead, not only for this generation or the next generation but ahead to the seventh generation.”
The concept is one that Kitaro feels he can relate to as a Japanese in the land of Shinto, a nature-based religion. He also feels that the Japanese can learn from Native American beliefs.
“We, the Japanese and the Native American, have the same ancestral roots,” Kitaro says. “Deep down we share the same spirit and respectful attitude toward nature, and it has profoundly influenced our ways of life.”
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“Let Mother Earth Speak” is available from Domo Music Group in stores. For more information, visit www.domomusicgroup.com/kitaro/index.php
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