1983 House of Councillors Party Election Broadcast (NHK Radio Broadcast)

Kishimoto Sayako (1939–1988), an artist focused on performance pieces and painting, emerged in the 1960s as member of the Neo-Dada Organizers art collective and “declared herself a witch” in the 1980s. In 1983, she ran in the House of Councillors election as a member of the “Zatsumin Party” organized by Tōgō Ken to assemble candidates from minority groups, such as gay people and people with disabilities. This text is a transcript of the political party broadcast transmitted by NHK Radio.
In it, Kishimoto refers to herself as a “messenger of hell” and condemns the social systems of the period, including both capitalism and communism, as nothing more than competitions to reach the top of the social pyramid—in other words, to acquire power and prestige. She advocates for mutual aid and policy making that considers the happiness of the entire world, employing statements such as “it should be a fight to the bottom” and “we should take on each other’s hells.” Furthermore, she notes, in modern society, where value judgments based on the body and the material are rampant, spirituality, as well as eros—the unification of bodily and spiritual love—suppressed to the point of absence. Instead, as a result of the Ministry of Education’s “educational policy that produces robotic humans that are convenient to the establishment” and that restricts free thought, plutocracy and materialism have become core values. Kishimoto cites what she refers to as the three sacred treasures of money, informational media, and scientific technology, advocating for the freedom of mind and spirit to master these treasures rather than be slaves to them, as her argument turns toward a criticism of our materialistic modern society.

Title

1983 House of Councillors Party Election Broadcast (NHK Radio Broadcast)

Author

Kishimoto Sayako

First published

1983

Translation

Aiko Masubuchi

Editing

Sam Bett, Ishizaki Takashi

Design

Ian Lynam

Theme

Feminism and/in Japanese Art

First Posted Online

2021-09-30

Last modified

2021-09-30

© 2021 Iida Yoshiko + Bunka-cho Art Platform Japan

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Citation

Footnote/endnote: Kishimoto Sayako "1983 House of Councillors Party Election Broadcast (NHK Radio Broadcast)," trans. Aiko Masubuchi, Bunka-cho Art Platform Japan, posted September 30, 2021, artplatform.go.jp/readings/R202106.

Bibliography: Kishimoto Sayako. "1983 House of Councillors Party Election Broadcast (NHK Radio Broadcast)." Translated by Aiko Masubuchi. Bunka-cho Art Platform Japan. Posted September 30, 2021. artplatform.go.jp/readings/R202106.

Original Japanese Edition

“Shiryō: Kishimoto Sayako 1983-nen sangiin senkyo seiken hōsō” in Neo-Dada kara 21-seikigata majo e: Kishimoto Sayako no hito to sakuhin [From Neo Dada to twenty-first-century witch: The person and work of Kishimoto Sayako] (Yokohama: “Josei to Āto” Purojekuto, 1997), 59–60.

岸本清子「資料：岸本清子1983年参議院選挙政見放送（NHKラジオ放送）」、『ネオ・ダダから21世紀型魔女へ : 岸本清子の人と作品』、"女性とアート"プロジェクト、1997年、59－60頁。

National Diet Library(NDL)

https://iss.ndl.go.jp/books/R100000096-I006687297-00?ar=4e1f&locale=en

ISBN