Mononoke literally means "a thing transformed", and it is classified as preternatural creatures including spirits of the dead and the alive.
In 1997, the well-known Japanese film director, Mr. Hayao Miyazaki produced the film, "Princess Mononoke" and it was globally viewed in selected regions in Europe, U.S.A and Canada in 1999.
The conception of "mononoke" is originally derived from animism, a primitive form of religion.
Animism is based on a belief that "spirits and gods exists in all things in nature".
It is more like a belief rather than a religion, and it can be found all over the world - Native Indians in U.S.A and Canadian Inuit are particularly famous for its accompanied adherence to the mother nature.
In Japan, a type of animism was already found in the prehistorical time (14,000 ~ 300 BC), and it is often called Jomon Shintoism, which is the original form of Shintoism.
It has been believed in Japan that at dusk and at around 2am, the border between our world and the world of the dead gets ambiguous and humans have a better chance to see those creatures.
Between 1- 3am, even grass and trees fall in asleep, and a cursing ceremony, nailing a doll of straw on a big tree in a shrine garden, is widely known in Japan.
During these times of the day, our world is connected to the world where enraged gods inhabit, and mononoke grow in their spirits.
One type of mononoke called Tsukumo-gami is a spirit which possesses any plant or animal lived long or an item used for a long period of time by humans.
This spirit can be often found in folk tales all over Japan, including Ainu's, and men are punished by not taking a good care of a household goods.
Now, let's move on to "Spooky Jacaranda" by Fujifabric!
This song sounds rock'n roll, but it is filled with typical spirit of Japanese culture.
The scene at the beginning reminds us a car race at night in the films, such as "The Fast And The Furious", but after the middle of the song, it turns into the dark creepy Japanese spooky world!
In dark at night, I, just like being possessed by something, suddenly turns into an animal, roars, and SHOUTS
at mononoke.
And beside me, there is a burned guitar made of expensive Jacaranda Wood, and it is growling...
Can you feel this spookiness in Japanese spiritual world?
This is one of my biggest attempt that I am making in my blog - explaining in words WHAT is behind the lyrics of Fujifabric's songs.
I just wish Fujifabric fans abroad can receive the message and the real meanings of the lyrics more easily by understanding hidden matters under the surface, and this can lead you to enjoy and love Fujifabric even more.
Claude Lévi-Strauss (28 November 1908 – 30 October 2009), a French anthropologist, who is often called the "father of modern anthropology" argued that the "savage mind" had the same structures as the "civilized" mind and that human characteristics are the same everywhere.
He strongly calimed "the search for the underlying patterns of thought in all forms of human activity." - after all, we are all the same humans.
Here is "Mononoke hakaranda"(Spooky Jacaranda) by Fujifabric
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