KYOKUBAKAN Namidabashi Elegy SS-3927 PRIVATE PRESS PSYCH JAP 300 ONLY

	£		105
	$		139

Be sure to add me to your favourites list! Check out my other items!
Sign up for my email newsletters by adding my eBay Shop to your favourites

KYOKUBAKAN
 Namidabashi Elegy – Muma to Kyôso
 Kyokubakan – SS-3927

CONDITION-

SLEEVE-EX-Light surface wear, slight corner dents

VINYL-EX -Excellent clean vinyl with only very minor surface wear

Private ultra rare release that saw the light of day on September 20th, 1978

Original release. Most copies are rumored to have been destroyed in a fire.

More obscured by the winds of time than any of the other theatrical troupes such as Tenjosajiki and Kuro Iro Tento is the Kyokubakan collective, an assembly of people that became active on the fringes of the theatrical world at the beginning of 1972. But as opposed to the other troupes, the Kyokubakan was perhaps the most radical of them all as far as their political motives and actions were concerned and their overtly anti-governmental and anti-emperor stance certainly caused for the shit to hit the fan.The troupe got formed in 1973 out of a circle of students of the Waseda University and was forced to dissolve itself in 1981, by then operating under the banner of the Shibai Shûdan. Spearheaded by Sakurai Taizô, the troupe got molded into a unit calling themselves the Kyokubakan troupe. Immediately following their inauguration, Kyokubakan squeezed out a number of plays and performed with them all over the country in unconventional locations such as dried riverbeds, parking lots and university compounds where they set up their nomadic tent that served as the action grounds for their idiosyncratic and agitated plays staged in a guerilla fashion filled with oppressive counteraction and antagonist elements. To make things even worse, the troupe’s dramatic plays were constantly interspersed with anti-imperialistic themes.

As a result of such a hardcore stance, the troupe got subdued to persistent police oppression. This is hardly surprising considering that the elemental receipts for one of their scripts consisted out of the following raw ingredients such as - A motor cycle gangs clashing with police, phantom armies attacking the imperial city and decapitating the emperor. So it comes as no surprise that their activities were most of the time shut down by constant oppression, repression and obstruction. Upon performing in 1976 at the Tokyo Gaikokugo Daigaku Nakano Shinsatsu 15 members of the troupe were arrested by the police, six of them were charged with being involved in violent acts, causing injuries and the possession of dangerous weapons, got imprisoned for a period of one year and six months while the remainder of the arrestees got a three year suspended sentence.

Like on other occasions the troupe’s overtly denouncing and insulting the Japanese Imperial system, actions that come close to blasphemy and contemptuous disdain of a nearly sovereign deity, provoked the police intervention. Still, a part of the troupe was also active as musicians but even they had a hard time making the ends meet and were forced to hide their radical nature, taking on jobs as day laborers and making a living as part of the lower class of civil society. Eventually, operating the troupe became nearly impossible so that by 1981 the troupe was forced to disband itself.

Although that the Kyokubakan was severely restricted in its operations, they nevertheless succeeded in 1978, at the peak of their activities, to leave behind some evidence of their existence in the form of a self-released LP in an edition of 1000 copies. However, due to a fire in their practice room, 700 copies of the album went up in flames, making it this day a rather phantom-like record that hardly resurfaces. As might be expected, the album is filled with radical and extreme political messages, a factor that is responsible for its appeal and fascination it excerpts these days. Music-wise, the sounds on display depict a wide range of various influences, going from world music to psychedelia, spiced up with tape insertions depicting Hitler speeches and the sound of marching troupes, field recordings, circus sounds and atmospheres, etc, rendering it into an amalgam listening experience.

Still the theatrical aspect is never far behind and omnipresent throughout the recording, responsible for turning it into a highly original concept album. Throughout all of group related projects of Sakurai, various musicians have at one time or another passed through its ranks or has been involved in it in one way or another. Sakamoto Ryûichi for example has offered a song to the Kyokubakan troupe and the Kaze no Ryodan group acted as a transit point for artists such as Kudo Tôri, Koma Keita (Inu, Up-Maker, CHE-Shizu), Nishimura Takuya (CHE-Shizu), Shinoda Masami (A-Musik, Jagatara, Compostella) and Kuge Yoshio (Pungo, A-Musik) amongst other drifting participants, making Sakurai as a highly valuable, but unsung hero of the Japanese past and present cultural underground movement.

Extremely rare and top notch copy. As far as I can tell copies have never been offered for sale

 A museum piece that comes highly recommended.

 If you like Tenjosajiki, J.A. Seazer, Orff like demented female choruses all mixed into a psyched out brew, than this one has written you all over it.


Tracklist A1 tears Bridge Lamentations A2 come dripping moonlight Operahe A3 circus song '74 A4 clown of counting rhymes A5 harmonica tenement A6 Maboroshino flight It will stay throne actors of A7 journey A8 too late Uta A9 flame ball of A10 Iyo - Nan'nyonhi A11 Moyuru wreck B1 Japan beggar opera theme Discard B2 miso tub B3 prison spell B4 Hebimusume theme Take me to the ends of the world B5 B6 huntingtin boogie B7 fool of Carnival theme B8 grief of May B9 circus song '77 B10 separation  

PLEASE CONTACT ME FOR
POSTAGE DISCOUNTS ON MULTIPLE 12” VINYL ORDERS

UK BUYERS-Get Three x 12" LP's for same postage costs as one!!

(Gatefold Sleeves may incur a higher cost-contact me for a quote)

All reasonable "Best Offers" considered

VINYL GRADING

 Mint – In Perfect / As New Condition
Excellent – Used And With Minor Signs Of Wear
Very Good – Used, Sleeve Will Have Obvious Signs Of Wear/Damage. Vinyl Will Have Obvious Signs Of Wear, Will Play With No Major Faults, But May Have Some Surface Noise
Good – Sleeve Will Have Significant Wear/Damage. Vinyl Will Have A Fair Amount Of Surface Damage, Will Play With No Jumps Or Sticks, But Will Have Significant Surface Noise
Fair – Sleeve Will Be Badly Damaged, Vinyl Will Have A Lot Of Damage, Will Play With Surface Noise And May Jump/Stick Etc.

Please note-VINYL IS ONLY VISUALLY GRADED UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED

I would love to listen to every LP that passes through my hands, but I simply do not have time, so I do my best to honestly grade the vinyl visually.

  Will be posted in record mailer, with card stiffeners.

PAYMENT AND POSTAGE-A Few Important Details

All items paid for with Paypal can only be sent to the address where your Paypal account is registered, unless you have a second address set up.

Tracked services are available for overseas buyers, costing an extra £5.30 per package. If you want tracking please ask me before you pay.

Do you reduce postage on multiple items?

International Buyers – Please Note:

Import duties, taxes, and charges are not included in the item price or shipping cost. These charges are the buyer's responsibility.

Please check with your country's customs office to determine what these additional costs will be prior to bidding or buying.