A State of War
Kyohei Sakaguchi
People always tell me how lucky I am that I’m able to get by doing the things that I like. But that makes me feel a little weird. People who think that way can deal with a life without the things that they love. That’s a type of disability, I think, even though we call such people healthy. This kind of person makes up 80% of the population. One major theme in my life revolves around how to carry out your life in such a situation. People talk about democracy, but the foundation of democracy is majority rule. Since the other 20% of the population are either in hospital or holed up at home only the majority opinion of the remaining 80% of the population that is able to vote has any real power. That’s why I do art. Just like there is the Paralympics in contrast to the Olympics, perhaps a para-politics is needed, in contrast to the politics of the present government. That idea is what my New Government proposes. I can’t do the same thing every day. I’m thinking new things all the time. Sometimes I hole up at home. But even then, that’s my natural, honest life. And the politics of someone like me, that’s what the New Government is. It’s my intention to show the possibilities of a politics of the disabled. For me, the current situation where 30,000 people commit suicide annually is a state of war. This might be hard for both pro and anti-war campaigners to understand but for me that’s what it is. A State of War. That is why I am doing ‘Inochi no Denwa’(telephone lifeline). People around me always ask me why I’m doing it. “Isn’t it terribly distressing?” they ask. But as these calls are from the army of my New Government this is common-sense for me. It is normal politics to display the intention to save your people. But healthy people can’t fathom the fact that people who want to die are at war. The reason that I started “Inochi no Denwa” was because I was overheated with worry that another nuclear bomb was going to drop, but around me people look on as if nothing is wrong. I guess it’s just that we have a fundamentally different way of thinking, even though we all share the same human form. That’s why I feel such a sense of unease. Right now, a nation that cannot do anything in response to the fact that people are dying is no government in my eyes. That’s why I live this way. But I have no army. Only the army of Kyohei Sakaguchi. Just one person. I’ll do it alone. That’s the only way. I have no conspirators or students. That’s the key characteristic. To live according to your characteristics, that’s the true meaning of living the way you want to.
(Kyohei Sakaguchi / Male / 37 / President of the New Government) (Translation: Chris Berthelsen / Male / 36 / Vagrant)
my rough translation, first draft
Great translation Chris, I hope he finds more armies, the mental state of Japan is perhaps its biggest challenge in the years ahead, something has to change.
