Tokyo (AFP)
Idle and in financial difficulty because of the pandemic, a Buddhist monk in Japan combined his sacred chants with his other passion, beatboxing, both to collect donations to subsist and to proselytize.
Her video titled "Heart Sutra Looping Remix" has been viewed over 700,000 times on YouTube since it was uploaded in May.
Yogetsu Akasaka, 37, appears there with his head shaved and in his loose brown monk robe, calmly putting on headphones and plugging in a drum machine before grabbing his microphone.
After percussion sounds looped over layers of throbbing sounds, he poses his deep throat song then recites sutras, sacred Buddhist texts.
During the state of emergency in Japan established in April-May in the face of the pandemic, all the ceremonies for which his services are usually requested, including funeral rites, were canceled, he told AFP.
"So I had no more jobs, no more income. It was really difficult for me, but at the same time I thought it was a good opportunity to reflect on myself and on the future of the Buddhism, ”he explains.
"I was looking for my own way to teach Buddhism not only in Japan but around the world."
Since the success of his first internet video, filmed in a recording studio, he has performed other online and live musico-religious sessions this time around, soliciting donations to help him survive in these times. pandemic.
Nearly 44,000 cases of Covid-19 have been identified in Japan since the start of the health crisis, for around a thousand deaths. The number of new cases of infection has risen sharply in the archipelago since the beginning of July.
And "maybe if my music attracts younger people, it will be a good opportunity for them to learn more about Buddism," the monk hopes.
© 2020 AFP