Tawada Yoko

I had to smile when he spoke about tradition in Montana but actually what he said was not funny. Tradition is a fiction. It is always produced in hindsight. If it isn’t manufactured, it is not there. The Japanese tradition is no less fictive than that of Montana. When the Japanese government at the end of the 19th century opened the country to the outside world, it quickly re-activated ancient Shinto traditions that had not been practiced in over three hundred years. The cultural tradition was needed in order to form a national identity. It had not been necessary so long as the country had not had direct contact with the outside world.

Since tradition is fictive, there is no reason to feel genetically allied to a tradition. Everyone can freely choose the fictive tradition they wish to work with. Every artist may work with any of the elements found on the planet. Whether an artist can produce something new and exciting from that depends on not the origin of the artist but the artist’s ability.