TOKION was relaunched on July 28, 2020, and has since been focused on delivering a variety of content centered around Japan’s cutting-edge culture as “時の音(Toki no oto, the sound of the times)” to all those who have a passion for art, fashion, music, movies, and so forth, while keeping our eyes open to the social backgrounds behind them.

Although we will take a break from updating editorial and news content, you will still be able to continue to browse our website. We hope this site will serve as a valuable archive that will lead you to new encounters with various cultures as it has these past years.

We would like to take this opportunity to express our deepest gratitude to all those who have worked with us, been involved in our projects, cherished our content, and supported us.

We look forward to seeing you again in a renewed version of TOKION.

TOKION Editorial Team

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Korean author Kim Byeol-ah compares the food culture from different countries in her essay Eating in the K-Book reading guide 『ちぇっくCHECK　Vol.9』. She wrote, “There is an old saying that the Chinese taste with their tongues, the Japanese taste with their eyes, and the Koreans taste with their stomachs.” She concluded that Korean food is a gastronomic delicacy that must be savored with the heart, and not the tongue. As a cuisine meant to be savored with both the stomach and the heart, one of the tastiest ingredients with umami in Korean food is the traditional fermented seasoning, jang. This includes gochujang (red chili paste), doenjang (soybean paste), and ganjang (soy sauce), all of which are well-known fermented foods in Japan.

To learn about Korean food and fermentation techniques, we met Kim Suehyang, a third-generation Zainichi who has lived in Korea for 26 years and runs Qyun, a café in Seoul, which specializes in fermented foods.

Kim Suehyang
Born in Tokyo, Japan, Kim Suehyang has been living in South Korea for 26 years. While studying in South Korea, she began working as a media coordinator and writer to promote Korean culture in Japan. After launching the Korean culture magazine 『スッカラ』 as a project editor, she is now specializing in Korean food culture. She started the farmers’ market, Marche@, in Seoul, which opened doors to learn about Korean food through Korean farmers in a new way. This led her to expand her interest in grasses, fermentation, bean culture, and native seeds in South Korea. While running a cafe Qyun that focuses on fermentation, she writes about Korean food culture to her audience in Japan and South Korea. She worked as a coordinator for books such as 『食べる旅　韓国むかしの味』、『コウケンテツ　僕の大好きな、ソウルのおいしい店』.
Instagram：@sukkara_seoul, @grocery_cafe_qyun

Korean food culture reveals the ambience of people’s lives

—Doenjang and ganjang both have a strong salty flavor and a bean-like aroma. Could you explain to us about the jang, the fermented seasoning?

Kim Suehyang: One scholar stated that the food in the Korean Peninsula is 120 percent fermented to emphasize that the distinctive feature of all sauces is primarily due to the fermentation of soybeans. Soybean koji called meju, which is a brick of boiled soybeans inoculated with various wild bacteria such as Bacillus subtilis, is placed in a hangari (earthenware jar) along with salt and water. The jar is positioned in the sunniest spot of the house, exposing it to sunlight, rainwater, air, and wind. The liquid strained after fermenting, incorporating various wild bacteria during the fermentation process, becomes ganjang, while the remaining solid is transformed into doenjang. The complex flavors generated through the amalgamation of diverse strains during the fermentation process characterize these condiments. Jang is an indispensable condiment and it is a lump of enzymes rich in soybean proteins.

Cooked and seasoned vegetables are called suche (ripe greens). To get the nutrients from the vegetables efficiently, namul is dressed with garlic, green onions, and jang. Finally, a few drops of sesame or perilla oil and roasted sesame powder are added on top. When all of these ingredients are mixed, it brings out the umami flavor.

In Japan, most people seem to think that namul is seasoned vegetables, however, it is a general term to describe edible plants on the Korean peninsula. Traditionally, vegetables, grasses, and fermented foods are combined in a well-balanced manner to efficiently obtain the necessary nutrients. For example, all plants beneficial to humans, with mugwort and ginseng at the top of the list, have been used as food and medically as traditional Korean medicine.

—In South Korea, I saw rows of large hangari (earthenware jars) in the gardens of temples and ancient palaces. In Japan, fermented foods are kept in a cool, dark place and minimize exposure to air as much as possible, but in South Korea, jars are placed outside, some with glass lids. What are the differences in ingredients and production methods?

Suehyang: The hangari is designed in such a way that airflow can enter through the lid of the jar or the lids can be changed to glass ones to allow light to mix with all the bacteria in the air. On the Korean peninsula, each household made fermented foods using these jars in their own way. Each household had its own koji culture that made full use of the bacteria unique to each family, and homemade fermented foods were indispensable in ceremonies to honor ancestors. Literature shows that from the Goguryeo period, the taste of jang on the Korean peninsula was well known and highly regarded for its high fermentation techniques. That means the peninsula was blessed with the techniques to handle bacteria and the climatic environment to make exquisite jang with the wild bacteria from ancient times.

Japanese miso is made from beans, salt, and rice or barley koji, while jang on the Korean peninsula is made from beans, salt, and water. The Japanese use koji mold, however, on the Korean Peninsula, soybeans are steamed, pounded into clumps to prevent air from entering, and then laid on straw to ripen using a wide variety of natural bacteria to make meju (soybean koji). In Japan, wild bacteria was used originally. However it’s more humid in Japan than on the Korean Peninsula, so it was difficult to control the bacteria in the warmer climate. Therefore, there was a business called Moyashiya that managed the koji. They produce the seed koji, in which koji mold is cultured and dried. If the changes caused by the action of microorganisms are beneficial to humans, they are classified as fermentation and if they are harmful, they are considered putrefaction. Misuse of this can pose risks to human life. So each country has developed its way by choosing fermentation suitable for the climate of the country.

Basically, both ganjang and doenjang are made only with soybeans, and the taste is created by a variety of wild bacteria and the natural environment such as climate and temperature. In Japan, miso is added at the end of making miso soup, but on the Korean peninsula, when making soup with doenjang, it is added from the beginning and simmered to bring out the various tastes and flavors contained in it. The same is true for soups made with ganjang, where the diversity of flavors within the ganjang itself serves as a broth. Sprinkling a few drops of ganjang to boiled vegetables is like adding soup stock, which adds depth to the flavor of the vegetables.

—Many people in Japan buy miso and soy sauce from supermarkets and breweries. Do most people still make them at home in South Korea?

Suehyang: Until our grandmother’s generation, which is just a few decades ago, it was common to make jang at home, but this culture is disappearing due to changes in the housing environment and lifestyles. Jang made by masterful elderly women, who made it all their lives, were turned into branded products and are now available for purchase. Factory-made ganjang and doenjang, which have similar production methods to their Japanese counterparts, became common. The ones made with traditional methods and fermented with wild bacteria are differentiated and called Korean ganjang and Korean doenjang . In today’s Korean diet, traditional jang fermented with wild bacteria and factory-made jang coexist.

Some families insist on homemade jang, but it is a declining trend, and the same is true of many restaurants. On the other hand, some wealthy people have their jang made by their housekeepers. While Japanese miso and soy sauce are distributed and recognized overseas, jang from the Korean peninsula is distributed only by a few major manufacturers. The reason for this is the use of wild bacteria. Because it is wild, it is difficult to control, making factory production difficult, time-consuming, and inefficient.

With a few exceptions, such as barley miso from Kyushu and Hatcho miso from Aichi, there is a uniformity in the flavor of Japanese miso. However, Korean jang is difficult to control the flavor, so even if the ingredients are the same, each house has a completely different taste. That is what makes it interesting, but because of the wide range, it is difficult to focus on one and convey a typical flavor. I tell the name of the manufacturer to the people who try jang for the first time at my workshops. Strangely enough, good jang has a common taste of animal protein. With it, it is possible to supplement the umami flavor without chemical seasonings.

—From a fermentation standpoint, are there any other ingredients that you are looking at besides jang?

Suehyang: I have a great interest in beans native to the Korean peninsula, especially those of the genus Glycine. There are so many varieties that I think they may be the starting point of Korean Peninsula’s fermented foods. Since the Japanese archipelago was part of the Asian continent far back, there are many beans that originated in Japan, but the varieties originating from the Korean peninsula are far beyond that.The place of origin refers to where the plant was first cultivated and supplied. The history of beans in the Korean peninsula is very old, and the unique bean sprout culture, which is a home-grown vegetable, has sustained the lives of the people of the Korean peninsula during the long winter months, with Kongnamul being the most famous bean namul.

A distinctive aspect of the culture of the Korean peninsula is people’s strong fixation on plants. In the northern regions and around the border with China, vegetables could not be grown for about six months, and even in Seoul, nothing could be cultivated for at least four to six months a year. Jang, which has a long shelf life and is rich in protein, became a vital nutrient to survive the harsh natural environment and a source of vitamins. From this point of view, jang is a soy culture that people dedicated their lives to build.

−−Jang is made with wild bacteria and beans grown in nature with plenty of sunlight. I learned that the rich food culture of the Korean peninsula was developed and passed down in the family.

Suehyang: When complimenting a restaurant, there is an expression that “you taste the hands (that crafted the food).” Namul is meant to be mixed directly by hand, and they say that the traditional flavor has been nurtured by the hands of the ancestors. The best tool for making tasty food is the hands, and elderly women still use their hands to carefully prepare their dishes. If wild bacteria is also mixed in with the food, then the “taste of hands” could be the taste of the bacteria of the family. Sadly, many restaurants are now forced to cook with gloves, which marks a departure from the hands-on approach of the past.

Eating Korean food is about sensing the hands and the warmth behind the dishes 

−−Fermentation is also connected to alcohol. Could you tell us about the history?

Suehyang: The Korean Peninsula had a culture of home brewing, where sake was made at home before the Japanese occupation. Back then, the Japanese government made it illegal to brew sake at home or in local communities, and the sake production was regulated by the Japanese government. Shortly after WWII, the Korean War broke out, leaving the country in destitution. The Korean government banned the use of rice to make sake, which led to the decline of traditional sake brewing.

However, over the past couple of decades, through the efforts of many people, home-brewed alcohol has come to attract attention as a cultural heritage of the Korean peninsula. This is thanks to the valuable brewing techniques and wisdom that have been passed down in secret within the family through the turbulent times.

−−Do people still make fermented foods at home despite their busy schedule?

Suehyang: Fermented foods are once again attracting attention, and since home brewing is legal in South Korea, making makgeolli was all the rage during the pandemic. If you break it down into generations, those in their 60s and 70s have inherited the traditional art of fermentation, and they value the culture of fermenting foods at home. Those in their 40s and 50s have inherited some cooking methods including how to prepare, but are less familiar with making kimchi and the fermentation culture. The parent-child relationship on the Korean peninsula is unique, and it is not uncommon to see parents in their 60s and 70s cooking for their children in their 30s and 50s, so this environment is influencing the way each generation interacts with the fermented food culture.

I am a Zainichi living in South Korea. As a third-generation, who grew up in Japan, I can step back and have an overview of the fermented food culture of the Korean peninsula, as well as delving deeper into it. I was fascinated by the diversity and depth of the fermented foods of the Korean peninsula that I encountered when I started living in South Korea.

In the midst of all this, I am worried that the diverse wisdom and techniques to make fermented foods held by the women of the Korean peninsula will disappear. Experts know the importance of fermented culture, but to make as many people aware of it as possible, I run a cafe that specializes in fermented foods, and I continue to research and revive local dishes, and hold study sessions. I will continue my activities so that the flavors created by hand, which is based on fermentation unique to the Korean peninsula, will not be lost.

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This is the third year of the pandemic, now that we’re in 2023. Compared to the beginning of lockdown, the city has almost returned to how things were pre-covid; it seems like it was all a bad dream. Yet, some places still reflect the pain of that period, and we’ve lost some things along the way. This series is about recalling the near past and chronicling the strange flow of time, and my first year of living in Connecticut was vastly different from my life in the States before then. That year was filled with events I want to document, like learning to light a fire in a fireplace without any firelighters as a city mouse who lived in New York for a decade, falling in love with sunrises and sunsets, and discovering how to live off-the-grid in nature.

What I missed the most once the city changed because of lockdown in 2020 were the things that made each day a bit special. It was shocking to see the little sweets I treated myself to, such as orange potato cakes and baklavas from Pi Bakerie, a Greek café in our former neighborhood, and almond croissants from Lafayette, a French restaurant, vanish. The only stores deemed essential enough to be open were just about supermarket chains. Freshly baked bread had disappeared from such stores, and many bakeries were closed too. On Instagram, it seemed like one person after another started baking sourdough bread at home, and supermarkets were constantly low on flour and yeast. I tried baking bread several times but couldn’t do it well. Instead, I asked Mariko, a neon artist who had often helped me out with catering, to bake bread many times because she made delicious homemade sourdough and focaccia for her friends. Mari-chan, thank you for sharing that joy with me back then! I didn’t succeed at baking bread, but I got into making sweets out of necessity under the guidance of Brian, who has a strong opinion on sweets. As a result of trying to make various kinds, I can now make financiers, lemon bars made out of mochi flour, and different types of cookies, which I wasn’t interested in previously, to my liking. I want to give myself a pat on the back for that. With that said, buying the perfect croissant in New York in 2020 was close to impossible. 

Amid all that, I unexpectedly came across a stylish-looking café called Arethusa Amano in the small town of Richfield in Connecticut, a 13-minute car drive from home. The café, run by a dairy farm called Arethusa Farm, came to me as a shock because it sold everything that faded away in New York in 2020. Starting with beautiful, crispy croissants, I never knew fresh donuts, French-style lemon cream, and crullers could taste as good as they were. For their egg and cheese sandwich, an American breakfast staple, Arethusa Amano uses their own English muffins and eggs and cheese from the farm. Their cuban sandwich that uses brioche that would make you melt(even I, as a vegetarian, thought was good), cruffins (a hybrid of a croissant and muffin) with mascarpone, and cookies that change monthly are a bit more reasonably priced compared to New York. This is another good thing about the place. Across the café is Arethusa al tavolo, an American fine dining restaurant and a daily store that sells Arethusa’s ice cream, milk, cheese, yogurt, butter, and vegetables in the spring and summer. 

The owners are, low and behold, the executives of the shoe brand Manolo Blahnik. After the brand rose in popularity as Sex and the City’s Carrie’s favorite shoes, the executives purchased the dairy farm of their dreams in 1999. With “Milk like it used to taste” as their tagline, they take care of and pamper more than 300 cows; they shampoo and treat the cows’ tails every day. Of course, if you go upstate, you’ll find many organic farms and farmer’s markets where the local vendors sell food that uses high-quality ingredients, but the majority of them are homemade and hippie-like (which is also something I love, don’t get me wrong). It’s pretty cool to have a food culture derived from a luxury brand just as well-known in New York in a small town in the northern part of Connecticut. Plus, it’s so close to where I live. When I miss the city a bit, I’m going to visit Arethusa instead of making my own cakes, which tend to be less on the sweet side.

Edit Nana Takeuchi

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In June, the photographer held his latest photo exhibition, entitled Ayarl. He showed photos of his wife and newborn baby— a different expression of love from his body of work. We go deep with the photographer to better understand the process of his work, and the origin of his ideas.

PHOTOGRAPHERHAL
PHOTOGRAPHERHAL is a photographer born in 1971 in Tokyo. He began taking photos of couples in 2004. Notable exhibitions include Couple Jam (2009), Flesh Love (2011), Yoko (2019), Washing Machine (2021), and Ayarl (2022). 
Instagram：@photographerhal

Instead of quitting because one mistake could be fatal, PHOTOGRAPHERHAL tries to reduce risks  Reducing risks rather than giving up

From the photo book, Zatsuran (2014)

——You’re known for your vacuum-packed photographs. How did you come up with that idea?

PHOTOGRAPHERHAL: When I was taking photos for Couple Jam (a photo book comprised of couples hugging each other in the bathtub) in 2009, I began to wonder if there was a way for people to get even closer than being in a bathtub. I wanted to use something we’re all familiar with, not special photography equipment. Vacuum-sealed bags for storing futons came to mind, and when I tested one, I was like, “This is amazing!”

Couple Jam (2009) 

——Did that idea come to you quickly?

HAL: Whenever I’m working on a project, ideas for the next one come to me naturally. I tried out some other things while taking vacuum-packed photos, but nothing was better. I came up with the idea behind Washing Machine [a solo exhibition held in 2021] during that time, but I couldn’t execute it well. Usually when that happens, I save the idea for later and try my hand again after a couple of years. Some turn out well. At first, I couldn’t take good photos of vacuum-packed places, like the ones that appear in 2016’s Flesh Love Returns, but once I returned to the idea after taking a lot of other vacuum-packed photos, I was able to create this story about two people in their own space in the outside world.

Flesh Love Returns (2016)

——You vacuum-sealed entire buildings in Flesh Love Returns.

HAL: What I want to say with wrapping buildings is that we’re all a part of society. 

——How did you wrap them?

HAL: I can’t actually vacuum-pack buildings, so I would wait first for the plastic sheet to stick, then take the photo. That way, it would cling to the building without me having to suck the air out. But whenever the wind’s blowing in the wrong direction, the sheet could puff up like a balloon, since it’s not tight enough. I’ve wasted a whole day because the wind wasn’t in my favor before. The ideal setting is when the wind’s blowing gently from behind me. 

——How did you make the sheets? 

HAL: By myself (laughs). I attached different sheets used for interior construction with this type of glue that melts polypropylene. I did everything, from measuring the house to covering it with a sheet.

——No way! You covered the houses by yourself? I completely assumed you had an architect in your crew.

HAL: I had a team of about five people, but I only had my assistants on set. I put on a harness to climb the roof and did everything alone. I watched videos on how to repair roof leaks on YouTube and learned how to climb and do rooftop work. 

——Didn’t you think it was dangerous? And scary?

HAL: I didn’t know what was risky and what wasn’t at first. So I was putting myself in danger before I knew it. And instead of thinking, “If I slip, I might die” and giving up there, I thought, “How can I reduce the risks?”

——Among the those you took are photos of elderly couples. Was it hard to make them understand your concept? 

HAL: You’re referring to my parents and my wife’s parents. I shot my in-laws shortly after my wife and I got married. Since they’re potters and generally understand what I’m going for, when I told them “I want to express love!” they welcomed the concept with open arms. My parents, on the other hand, didn’t understand and rejected the idea, saying it was gross when I showed them my photo book. But after they saw how my in-laws accepted it, my parents thought there was no choice but for them to do it too. 

From the series Flesh Love All

 “I felt I could evolve in my own way if I took advertising photos and photos for myself”

Photo books PHOTOGRAPHERHAL has published thus far

——What would you say your photographic origins are? 

HAL: I started taking photos in college when I was a backpacker to document my trips. I then got immersed in photography and learned a lot from joining in a public workshop hosted by a vocational school. I took a liking to photos that captured the city graphically, like those by Daido Moriyama-san. From then on, I began shooting outside of my travels. After graduating from school, I became an advertising production assistant and gained some experience doing that. I eventually started shooting advertisements myself. 

——Considering your body of work, I didn’t expect you to start your career with advertising photography. 

HAL: I took photos for work and also for myself. I took photos to build my portfolio with hair and makeup artists and stylists. That was how I started shooting couples in each other’s arms at clubs. I shot at places like Aoi Heya in Shibuya run by Masako Togawa-san. Because I had to work during the day for the production company, I could only shoot at night. I liked going out, so taking photos at the club was perfect for me. 

From photo book Pinky & Killer (2004)  

——Advertising photography was your day job, but did you want to eventually only shoot personal work? 

HAL: Not necessarily. Some of my seniors only took advertising photos while others were holding solo exhibitions; people held different attitudes about it. I felt I could evolve in my own way if I took advertising photos and photos for myself at the same time.

——Did you continue working at the company for a while?

HAL: I worked at the production company for two decades. I still sometimes get asked to take photos as a freelance photographer. 

——Were you still an employee at the company when you started your vacuum-sealed series?

HAL: Yeah. I went overseas on my paid vacation days. I quit working at the company because I started going overseas more and more and didn’t have enough paid vacations left. I had to choose one over the other, but it wasn’t like I left because I didn’t enjoy working there. I would’ve been happy to stay at the company forever. 

——Change of topic: you go by PHOTOGRAPHERHAL instead of just Hal. Why is that? 

HAL: When I first made a photo book on my own, I tried to use my real name on the cover, but it didn’t have that punch to it. So, I came up with PHOTOGRAPHERHAL, much like a DJ when they call themselves DJ so-and-so. There was a space between PHOTOGRAPHER and HAL at first, but abroad, that would read as Hal the Photographer, so I got rid of the space and changed it to PHOTOGRAPHERHAL. It sounds like Pro Golfer Saru, the manga (laughs).

The trend of tourists wanting their photos taken by PHOTOGRAPHERHAL

——Speaking of going abroad, your work is also popular outside of Japan. What was the impetus for that?

HAL: There’s an annual international photo exhibition called Paris Photo. They highlighted Japanese photography in 2008, and there I showed Pinky & Killer DX [a collection of photos of couples in each other’s arms at clubs]. Someone working for Paris Photo had been looking for Japanese photographers, and they went to Tosei-Sha, the gallery that published my work, and one of the photobooks the owner handed to them was mine. 

Pinky & Killer DX (2007) 

——Colette started carrying your photo book thanks to Paris Photo, right?

HAL: Yes. Sarah of Colette liked it and thought it was cool, so Colette started selling Pinky & Killer DX. They sold other works of mine after that. Thanks to Paris Photo, my photography became known.

——You take photos of many different subjects. What do people abroad latch onto?

HAL: The vacuum-packed series. It seems many people don’t know how I take the photos.

——Perhaps that’s because they don’t sell futon bags overseas.

HAL: Right. They do have something similar used for fetishes, though (laughs). I think they have it in Europe. But my work isn’t associated with that.

——How do you shoot abroad?

HAL: When I go abroad for events, I bring my gear with me so I can shoot whenever. I sometimes befriend people, and they tell me they want their picture taken, or that they know a couple who wants theirs taken. I also get a lot of DMs from people abroad. A couple came from Germany because they wanted to be shot by me. Someone once contacted me saying they were visiting Japan and wanted me to shoot them. Apparently, for a while, it was trendy among tourists to get their picture taken by me once they came to Tokyo (laughs).

——Do you plan to show your work at events outside the country?

HAL: I have plans to show the Flesh Love All series in Munich next year. I haven’t been able to take photos of vacuum-packed houses since my last exhibition, and the staff in Munich said they want to take a behind-the-scenes video, so I want to take more photos this year. So far I’ve shot modern houses, so I want to shoot kominka, [an old Japanese-style house] unique to Japan.

Vacuum-packed love is like a mother holding her baby

——Your latest work, Ayarl, is quite different from your past work.

HAL: At first, I took photos of love in the form of two people being together at the club. The shape of love [in my photos] has been changing since then. My latest work is about loving another person. I had a kid this January, and now I feel that my wife radiates this grandness, a warm kindness. I wanted to take photos in which a mother and the background become one, and went with the theme of a mother’s love. I didn’t do any vacuum-packing, but I feel like a mother holding her child and vacuum-packing are the same. So as a series, there’s continuity.

——How did you shoot the images?

HAL: I decided not to disclose the photographic techniques I used. I’m sure some people can tell right away when they look at the photos, but I want them to look at the complete product and feel something. It was a sensorial experience, trying to find the sweet spot between the mother and the background. There weren’t many, but there were moments when my wife and the background were in sync.

——You mentioned how you think of ideas for your next project while still doing work on your current one. What do you want to shoot next? 

HAL: It’s still vague, but I think the relationship between a mother and her son is fascinating. Parents and kids of a different gender probably go through many stages. Once a son reaches an age where they’re aware of their surroundings, they start to be cognizant of other genders. Mothers then go from viewing the son as a cute boy to something else. Because I’m the father, I won’t be able to hold and rub my cheeks against my child as my wife does. So, I’d like to take a step back and continue Keep taking photos. 

——Do you think you’ll ever vacuum-seal your wife and child?

HAL: It depends on whether my child says they want to do it once they can express their thoughts. If they want to do it, I’d definitely do it (laughs). 

Photography Shinpo Kimura
Text Kango Shimoda

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I am a contrary person from birth. I wasn’t very interested in the musician who was overwhelmingly popular and was at the top of the hit chart every time a new album was released, and there are many songs that I missed because my silly prejudice.Until recently, Taylor Swift was such a musician for me. Probably I wouldn’t listen her latest work “folklore” without the involvement of indie rock people such as Aaron Dessner (The National) and Bon Iver. However, not being a fan and inexperienced listening gave me the opportunity to face this album without prejudice and preconceived. Throughout the album, I got affinity with Taylor Swift and her music.

Then, what is the “affinity” comes from the introspective nature of each song. It’s like when I first listened to Bon Iver’s “For Emma, ​​Forever Ago” (2008) and, further back, John Lennon’s “John’s Soul” (1970).
Slow the rhythm, avoid elaborate performances, and bring the singing to the fore. The music common to these works makes the listener feel as if they are looking inside the musician. However, the difference between the two works is that Iver and Lennon voluntarily made an album in the studio, while Taylor had no choice but to put himself /in that isolated space.
It shows the current state of society at the mercy of the CONVID-19. To prevent infection, she wrote and completed the songs on the album, limiting her activities such as interacting with fellow musicians and people involved in her production.
These inconveniences are, of course, encountered not only by her, but by people all over the world as well. In other words, when everyone is exposed to everyday life and situations where they have come to reassess themselves, a tight bond is created between the musician and the listener, and even if not a longtime fan like me, you can empathize with her songs.
The above affinity means such a connection that arose from the predicament, and the recorded song “exile” strongly reflected this. The song co-starred with Iver, superficially talks about the love between men and women and their catastrophe, but the deep part of the song has a sadness suddenly thrown into the world of loneliness

I can see you standing, honey
With his arms around your body
Laughin’, but the joke’s not funny at all
And it took you five whole minutes
To pack us up and leave me with it
Holdin’ all this love out here in the hall

I think I’ve seen this film before
And I didn’t like the ending
You’re not my homeland anymore
So what am I defending now?
You were my town, now I’m in exile, seein’ you out
I think I’ve seen this film before

The situation of the song is to leave the person who was a lover, but it is interesting to use the words “homeland” and “my town” for the person who has left. For those left behind, no matter what they do outside, no matter how long they are, it is a place where they can return, and it shows that they were once a strong bond.
Their reliance place that seemed immovable disappeared from their front, or a person who is left alone, lacking something like a pillar that supports the place of their homeland, has no choice but to dwell on the the past and be confused.

I can see you starin’, honey
Like he’s just your understudy
Like you’d get your knuckles bloody for me
Second, third, and hundredth chances
Balancin’ on breaking branches
Those eyes add insult to injury

I think I’ve seen this film before
And I didn’t like the ending
I’m not your problem anymore
So who am I offending now?
You were my crown, now I’m in exile, seein’ you out
I think I’ve seen this film before
So I’m leaving out the side door

What catches the eye here is the part where the lover “leaving out the side door”. It is an expression reminiscent of a house, and the feeling of loss that the nest of love created by the two of them no longer exists exudes.The feeling of loss can also be seen as a feeling of everyday life that has continued. It is the situation where I feel the gratitude of the “home” for the first time after losing it, and know how much I have relied on and how much I have loved.
From that point of view, I feel that it is similar to the situation we are in now. The calm days before the spread of the corona infection are gone far away, and the loneliness and emptiness that we are soliciting to miss and remember those times will be further synchronized in the latter half of the song.

So step right out, there is no amount
Of crying I can do for you
All this time
We always walked a very thin line
You didn’t even hear me out (You didn’t even hear me out)
You never gave a warning sign (I gave so many signs)
All this time
I never learned to read your mind (Never learned to read my mind)
I couldn’t turn things around (You never turned things around)
‘Cause you never gave a warning sign (I gave so many signs)
So many signs, so many signs
You didn’t even see the signs

Ignoring the repeated danger signals, I am at a loss as a result of the catastrophe of love.
It’s like a mirror image of politicians who didn’t face reality and our indifference to politics, while being warned of global infectious diseases by scientific data.
Even a pop star that everyone knows would have been overwhelmed by the catastrophe of love, the inconvenience of a pandemic, and the misfortune of a huge number of casualties. I can see Taylor Swift’s ingenuity and sensibilities in singing that feeling and creating a horizontal connection with people.

Text Niimoto Ryoichi
Illustration Masatoo Hirano
Edit Sumire Taya

The post TOKION SONG BOOK #2： Taylor Swift’s “exile” that created strong cohesion and affinity from the situation of predicament appeared first on TOKION - Cutting edge culture and fashion information.