Joh Tachibana

A Life lesson of an avant-garde Gymnastic teacher

Hi. This is Mr. Mizushima, your guidance counselor. Recently, I was hit by a car. And it really hurt. So, much, pain. People say it hurts, and when you actually get hit, it really hurts. Yep. I don’t want to get hit again. I have been hoping not to get hit, but because of the fact that I got hit, I now don’t want to get hit more than ever. Since then, I have been very cautious. So it was good for me to get hit. Now I think so. Same goes to you. Your first priority is to stay healthy. And Safety First. But listening to my story won’t do a thing, so you should get hit as well. You have to get hit and feel the actual pain in your bones, and you will begin to care for your health. You see? Your health is important. You should never get hit by a car. So get hit, so that you won’t get hit again. Get hit tomorrow. This is your assignment. I will hit you if any of you would not complete the assignment tomorrow. You see? It’s scary to get hit. You will get bruises. But is there any youth which would not get bruises? The answer is No. There cannot be. Youth is full of bruises. So relax and get hit. It’s going to be okay……….Was it hard for you to understand what I have been talking about? Simply put, I meant to say, Live! If you are alive, you can do many things. You can listen to the chirping of the birds and the music of the trees. There’s nothing better than being alive. So, live. I beg you. If you stay alive, I wouldn’t ask anything else. If any of you is not alive, I will kill him. If you don’t want to get killed, live. Live with all your might. If you happen to die, I will kill you. I mean it……….Just Kidding! I, your teacher, cannot be your killer, right? You know I love you so much. Don’t let me say that. Get this. Please. You all are so precious to me. I wouldn’t want any of you to receive even a minor cut. So get hit. To stay healthy, Go on, while the signal is red. 

About Joh Tachibana

Joh Tachibana is Japanese Poet.
He is a member of "Fushigi N°5"(a unit of collaborating on poetry).

He has participated in the project "a poem written by 5 poets at once" by Koki Tanaka in Venice Biennale Japan Pavilion (2013).

He was invited to the Festival of Poetry ,Slovenia 2013 , Sweden 2014 ,Belgium 2015・2016,Servia 2019.
↓the movie of the Festival of Poetry and Wine in Ptuj(Slovenia 2013)
Search with YOUTUBE,“Joh Tachibana (Veliko branje na Dnevih poezije in vina 2013)”

In 2007, Poetry Book "Fukuzatsukossetsu (compound fracture)"was publiehsed.
In 2011, Poetry Book "YES (or YES)" focused on Japanese hiragana was published.
In 2016, He began“NO TEXT”(All improvised reading aloud performance)