"My idea was that it wouldn't be a specialized book just for the amateur public, because I'm neither an expert nor was that the point," he argues. David López Canales (Madrid, 1980). "I wanted it to be a book of unusual stories, unique characters, and unexpected encounters. A book of lives and souls." He is referring to A flamenco show in another worldThe amazing story of how the flamenco conquered Japan (Alianza Editorial). He says he's spent twenty years searching for good stories to hear and experience. So he can tell them. What a blessed profession, by God. And during an evening with guitarist Pepe Habichuela, the spark ignited. How fortunate that he's the one who provides the written account of this fantastic adventure.  

 

– Definitely, Japan is another world, my sir.
– It is. I've been lucky enough, for work as a journalist or for pleasure, to travel to many countries, nearly fifty of them. Well, I've never felt so much like I was on another planet as I did in Japan. I'd never had the feeling of not understanding what was happening there. It was as if I were missing a code to decipher the reality before my eyes. As if I were in The Matrix and couldn't decode what I was seeing and experiencing. And if that's happening to me now, what must the people there be feeling? flamencoThat's when they started going there, in the sixties, when Japan was hardly even seen in movies.

Why is this one of the most amazing stories ever told? The conquest of Japan by the flamencoI mean.
– Because it's a story of a clash of worlds and lives. Because there was nothing in reality to foreshadow that two worlds like the Japanese and the... flamencoSeparated not only by ten thousand kilometers, but also by such disparate histories and cultures, they were able to find each other as they did and continue to do. And because all the protagonists of the story are wonderful characters, for who they are, for where they come from, and for what they experienced both there in Japan and here in Spain.

– What have you learned from this essay? Have you found an explanation for this sociocultural phenomenon?
– That Japanese society is as complex as it is enigmatic and fascinating. I believe that Japan's attraction and overflowing passion –because that's what it is, overflowing passion, and that's what's wonderful– for the flamenco It has two causes. On the one hand, Japan is an unusual case of a country that was isolated from the rest of the world for two and a half centuries, and when it began to open up, it started absorbing the best or most striking aspects of other cultures. On the other hand, the Japanese like the tragic. It's the Buddhist influence of accepting that we are ephemeral and not fighting against the inevitable, and the flamenco It is tragic in itself, because of the music, the lyrics, and the story.

 

"Reggaeton, which comes from the Caribbean, doesn't feel foreign. But the flamenco It's unclear what it is. There's no sense of rhythm that makes everything fit together, no sense of harmony between the guitar and the... canteThat musical and ancestral value. And not understanding it means it's not valued."

 

– I once asked him that's it –why the flamenco —conquered Japan— to a well-known flamenco journalist from that country who has lived in Seville for 34 years. Her response was that Japanese culture avoids expressing feelings. Anyone who does is seen as shameless. That's why art that expresses its feelings so much is so striking. Do you agree?
– Of course. A Japanese woman cannot say "I love you," or "I hate you," or "I'm happy" or "I'm sad." Nor can she break the bonds and restrictions of a society that is still very, very patriarchal today, relegating them to the domestic sphere. flamenco That's exactly it: being able to say "I love you" or "I hate you." With stomping shoes on the platform, dancing, joy is celebrated and sorrows exorcised. The Japanese, especially the women, find in the flamenco a way to express themselves, to feel emotions, to be who they want to be in a society that represses emotions and expressions. flamenco It is liberating for them.

 

 

– What about the fact that there are more academies and flamenco venues in Japan? flamencoIs this a proven fact in Spain or an urban legend?
– No flamenco venues. There are more flamenco venues in Spain. But yes, there are academies. Because, in recent years, more academies have appeared. Before, there were few, but with many students. They were mainly the academies set up by the great Japanese masters. Now, many of those students have struck out on their own and created their own academies, and there are more schools, but with fewer students in each one.

– Chiquito de la Calzada did well there, didn't he? Except for the detail that he shook hands with the same person six times, according to what he said.
Chiquito did well, like everyone else who went, because in Japan back then, in the seventies and eighties, when he was there, you could make a lot of money. Chiquito, who was a backstage flamenco singer, not very good at singing but with excellent timing for singing to dance, barely scraped by as a singer, going from stall to stall and from flamenco venue to flamenco venue. And he went to Japan so he could save up and buy a house. Because that's what Japan meant: a house. A house you could buy outright when you got back and still have savings left, still have some cash in your pocket. But for Chiquito, like many others, those periods felt endless, they were a sacrifice. Although later he would laugh about it all, making jokes on television, like the headbutts, the bows, which he says he always made to the same doorman, thinking he was someone else, because he couldn't tell them apart.

 

"The Japanese like tragedy. It's the Buddhist influence of accepting our ephemeral nature and not fighting the inevitable. And the flamenco It is tragic in itself, because of its music, its lyrics, and its story."

 

– Tell us about that conversation with Pepe Habichuela that inspired you to write this book.
One day, while having lunch with Pepe and his wife Amparo at their home, they both mentioned, in passing, that they had spent a year in Japan in the late sixties and that for her it had been like a prison sentence. I like good stories; I'm always looking for them, especially those with real lives and souls, and this one certainly had them. So I told Pepe that I would come back another day to hear the full story. I already knew I would want to write it down later. As a deal, I offered to bring a bottle of wine for us to drink while we chatted. And he accepted. That night with Pepe and Amparo is the seed from which the book sprouted. The first of more than fifty interviews I conducted afterward with Spaniards and also with Japanese people who came to Spain in the sixties to become immigrants. flamencos. To make it a living book, I wanted the stories and their protagonists to be alive.

– Japan financed the dreams of the flamencos. Not so much anymore, right?
– No, the Japanese gold rush ended years ago. Now, although the pay is still better than in Spain, salaries aren't as good, and people don't spend a year or six months there like they did at the beginning. And besides, flamencoThey can no longer sell products, from guitars to hair combs, to the Japanese at exorbitant prices, as they did for years, which also reduces profits. The Japanese have learned that flamenco In Spain, unfortunately, the situation is generally precarious, they already pay what's fair and they squeeze the Spanish people even more.

 

 

– The Japanese learned Spanish so they could sing flamenco. The flamencoDid they learn Japanese to work and live in Japan?
Very few learned it. Some who adored Japan did, like the flamenco dancer Tomás de Madrid, who found there a seriousness and respect for the work and a freedom to create shows and choreographies that he didn't have in Spain. Or the guitarist Tito Losada, who has been to Japan seventy times, who loved it, both on and off stage, and who was one of those who did the most business selling guitars and everything else to the Japanese. And the Spaniards who stayed there speak it, or rather, speak it haltingly, because there are many, like Enrique Heredia, Carlos Pardo, or Curro Valdés.peñas, who married a Japanese woman and settled there.

 

«The Japanese, especially women, find in the flamenco a way to express themselves, to feel emotions, to be who they want to be in a society that represses emotions and expressions. flamenco It is liberating for them»

 

– He admits that he didn't want to write a book specializing in flamenco Because he doesn't understand it well enough to dare to do that. Writing these stories of cante jondo Has his time in Japan allowed him to appreciate the dimension of this Andalusian art, which is now universal?
– I already appreciated it before the book. In fact, I adore it. flamenco And I play a little flamenco guitar. Well, "play" might be a bit of an exaggeration. Let's just say I hold it. That's also why I wanted to write the book: as a tribute to flamencoMy idea was that it wouldn't be a specialized book just for enthusiasts, because I'm neither an expert nor was that the point. I wanted it to be a book of unusual stories, unique characters, and unexpected encounters. A book of lives and souls. And one that could also be approached by someone who knows nothing about... flamenco and finish reading it understanding a little more what it is, where it comes from, what it consists of, and where its richness lies. flamenco.

– And why do you say that in Spain the flamenco Doesn't it receive the care, prestige, and attention it deserves?
– I think that on one hand, people feel it's something foreign because they don't understand it. And it's curious, because reggaeton, which comes from the Caribbean, on the other side of the world, doesn't feel foreign. People don't know what it is, they don't perceive that rhythm that makes everything fit together, that harmony between the guitar and the canteThat musical and ancestral value, too. And not understanding it means it's not valued, because I'm not saying it has to be liked—that's another story—but it does have to be valued. And on the other hand, it's clear that the institutions here have never been too concerned about it, about caring for it, defending it, and giving it prestige. In school, we learn as children to make noises with a plastic flute, which is fine, even if it drives parents crazy, but it's not explained that we have something unique called flamencoWe don't know what it is, where it comes from, why it's so good, or why it stirs such passions around the world, as it does in Japan. And until that changes, which it should, we'll continue to grow up oblivious to it.

Top image by David López Canales: Uxío Da Vila