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shigemiinaga
surlevisaged’unautresignel”2Hewasreferringto
astrangestatueportraitoftheMonkHôshi宝誌
和尚(illl1)keptatSaijû-jiTemple西住寺lHis
frontfaceisverticallysplit,andanotherfacereveals
itselfinthecleavingfromtheinsidelOnemayask
iftherevealedfacerepresentsCempty-ness’空性or
thetrueCBuddhanature’仏性lTakashiMurakami,
afamouscontemporaryJapaneseartist,disguised
himselfinthisdoubleimageofuncertainidentity
inrepetitiverevelationsl
1.Morimura’ssignature:Jikihitsu,orthe
(im-)PersonifiedWorldArtHistory
LetusbeginwithafamousghoststorylAccord-
ingtolegend,Hôichiwasablindminstrel(or
biwahōshi)withanamazinggiftforthemusical
instrumentbiwa(aloquat-shapedJapaneselute)l
HewasparticularlygoodatperformingtheTaleof
theHeike,anepicdescribingthefallofEmperor
Antoku(1178-1185)lHoichiwasapproachedlate
onenightbyagruffsamuraiwhodemandedthat
theminstrelplayforhislordlItturnsouteventu-
allythatHôichiwasplayinghisbiwafuriouslyin
themiddleoftheAmidajicemeterylRealizingthat
Hôichihadbeenbewitchedbyghosts,thepriest
vowedtosavehimfromfurthertrickerylHepaint-
edHôichi’sbodywiththekanjicharactersofthe
HeartSutraforprotectionandinstructedhimto
remainsilentandmotionlesslTheghostlysamurai
approachedHôichibutwasunabletoseeanything
buthisearslThesutrahadrenderedtherestof
Hôichi’sbodyinvisiblel3
LetusquotefromtherenditionbyLafcadio
Hearn(1850-1904),whomadethisstoryfamous
inhisEnglishrendering,TheStoryofMimi-Nashi-
Hôïchi,includedinhisfinalbook,Kwaidan(pub-
lishedonMarch25,1904):
AtthatinstantHôïchifelthisearsgrippedby
fingersofiron,andtornofflGreatasthepain
was,hegavenocrylTheheavyfootfallsreceded
alongtheverandah-descendedintothegarden
-passedouttotheroadway-ceasedlFromeither
sideofhishead,theblindmanfeltathickwarm
trickling;buthedarednotlifthishands(…)4
2Barthes(1972:XX,accessed20l11l2019)l
3https://enlwikipedialorg/wiki/Hoichi_the_Earless(ac-
cessed20l06l2019)l
4Hearn(1904:XX,accessed20l11l2019)l
Obviously,earlobesheredesignatetheClimi-
nality’(ZlBauman)ofpossession-betweenthe
realmsofthesaneandtheinsanelWeknowof
severalfamoushistoricalfigureswhohavecutoff
theirearlobeslInmedievalJapan,thePriestMyôe
(1173-1232)isknowntohavecutoffhisright
earlobeduringanasceticexercise;inthemodern
era,theDutchpainterVincentVanGoghalsocut
offhis(left)earlobelVincenthadpreviouslymade
aself-portraitintheguiseofaJapaneseBuddhist
monkwithwhomhewishedtoidentifyhimself
(1888)lOneofMorimura’searliestattemptsat
disguisinghimselfasaWesternpaintershowshim
asVincentsmokingapipewithhisleftwounded
earbundled(originalin1889,Morimura’sperfor-
mancein1985)(illl2)lForhislaterretrospective
show,Morimurapublishedabook,Confessionofthe
Self-portraits,withthesubtitle:Cwhen“I”-watashi
私encounterother“I-s’’-watashiわたし’
lIsit
amerecoincidencethatthefirstpersonalpronoun
(Cwatashi’inJapanese)alsohappenstomeanCferry’
orevenCferryman’likeΧάρων,orCharōninGreek
mythology,whoassurestheconnectionbetween
Hellandthisworld…
Tounderstandthismultiplicationandsucces-
siveCrebirth’oftheCI-watashi’inHistory,Lafca-
dioHearn’sobservationishelpfullInoneofhis
essaystreatingofinsects,Hearnquotesformone
wakapoet,MinamotonoShigeyuki源重之(dlcal
1000),withhisEnglishtranslation:
音もせで思ひにもゆる蛍こそ啼く虫よ
りも哀れなりけれ
Oto-mosedeomohi-nimoyuruhotarukoso
nakumushiyorimoawarenarikere
Notmakingevenasound[yet]burningwith
desire,-forthisthefireflyindeedhasbecome
moreworthyofpitythananyinsectthatcriesl
AndHearnaddsthefollowingexplanationlIn
hisimagination,notonlythegenerationsoflives
buteveninanimatematterconcealswithinitself
asuccessionofmemoryfromtheimmemorialpast:
ButIcannotridmyselfofthenotionthat
Matter,insomeblindinfallibleway,remembers;
andthatineveryunitoflivingsubstancethere
slumberinfinitepotentialities,simplybecauseto
everyultimateatombelongstheinfiniteandin-
destructibleexperienceofbillionsofbillionsof
vanisheduniversesl5
5Hearn(1910:169)l
