New work from 2024 by the Shinjuku East Exit Cat. Cat language amplified by echo reverberates across the plaza in front of Alta.

Theme set as “music as an asylum (sanctuary / free domain).” The staff notation in the lyrics (music) was interpreted as an asylum, a free domain. In the lyrics, music itself is called upon as something whose inherent joy one is made to notice, and it is sung that surrendering oneself to it is an ordinary, insignificant act. It also sounded like an antithesis to the recent situation (the COVID-19 pandemic), which can even create the illusion that there are restrictions on enjoying music. But in reality, there are no such restrictions on music itself. For both its creators and its listeners, it has always been free, inviolable, a sanctuary, and sometimes a refuge. Within that, the aim was to express through collage and an allegorical story the process of simply enjoying music with curiosity. “An asylum, or asylum (German: Asyl, French: asile, English: asylum), is a historical and social concept referring to a special area also called a ‘sanctuary,’ ‘free domain,’ ‘refuge,’ or ‘place without ties.’ Its etymology lies in the Greek word ‘ἄσυλον’ (meaning a place that cannot be violated, a sacred place). In concrete terms, it generally refers to an area beyond the reach of governing power.” - Wikipedia “A place where criminals, slaves, and others flee to escape severe harm or retaliation and receive protection. The term derives from the Greek asylos (unharmed, inviolable, sacred). In premodern times, before the state’s power to punish had been organized and systematized, it was a制度 seen in most societies. Originally, this system was based on a primitive religious belief that harming (taking revenge on) someone who had entered a sanctuary was a blasphemy against the gods. In ancient Greece, temples were regarded as places of protection for abused slaves, criminals, and debtors, and it was considered a religious offense to retrieve or punish those who had fled to a temple and come under divine protection.” - Kotobank What I focused on in this work was not only using live-action cuts, but also frequently cutting by motif in order to blur the boundaries of the domain.

To set this apart from previous dance videos, I created the background entirely in CG. I produced it with the concept of dancing under the starry sky on a planet.