In her latest video, a 3-D animation by Berlin-based Taiwanese-Japanese media artist NAOWAO, Japanese voice artist Hatis Noit is depicted as a youthful shamanic figure leading a ritual in a mythical psychedelic world inspired by Japan’s Jōmon period, from which the song takes its name.
Jomon is a long and culturally diverse period (c. 14,000 and 300 BC1), and the clay ceramics that have survived that period are thought to have been made by women. The late-period ceramic figures seen in places like New York’s The Met2 have striking large eyes (the mouth and nose are barely discernible) with the body carrying tattoo markings. In the Jomon prehistoric sites of Northern Japan, religious and ritualistic items have also been found whose purpose has not been identified, but they are thought to relate to ‘rites for fertility and safety at hunting, memorial services for ancestors, and as prestige goods3‘.
With what we know of this mysterious culture, the depiction of an imagined Jomon ritual by NAOWAO has been beautifully done, drawing on nature and animism, woven alongside other folklore elements such as those derived from Hatis Noit name, taken from Japanese folklore and meaning the stem of the lotus flower. NAOWAO’s animation also seems to be a response to her perception of Hatis Noit, an artist who doesn’t use real words or lyrics, lending her performances an alluring shamanic quality that’s difficult to ignore.
Jomon is taken from Hatis Noit’s Aura album, released on Erased Tapes: https://hatisnoit.bandcamp.com/album/aura
Hatis Noit is touring her Aura album in the US during March/April.
Tickets: https://www.hatisnoit.com/shows
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C5%8Dmon_period ↩︎
- https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/jomo/hd_jomo.htm ↩︎
- https://jomon-japan.jp/en/learn/jomon-culture ↩︎