901clay

Masayo Enokido

Tokyo

This is an extract article of an interview by Japantimes in 2003. (Japantimes is a newspaper in English in Japan.)By my friend , writer : JEFF OGRISSEG She has, for nearly all her life, wanted one thing most of all -- to play. Whether it be in the sanctuary of fantasy anime worlds or along a deep spiritual vibe for healing the soul, just let this woman play.Masayo Nakao, DJ 901, has been on a quiet rise in Tokyo's Goa trance scene. The 28-year-old artist is the epitome of Japanese homegrown female talent, a proud native of Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture, who first made music at age 3.Quietly playful. Softer than life. 901 is deep and shimmeringly transparent at the same time. Her stage name is a reminder of the girl that's still in the fantasy world of "Galaxy Express 999" ("Ginga Tetsudo 999," created by Leiji Matsumoto)."901," you see, is wordplay on the character of "Claire," a Glass Crystal Machine trying to earn her human body back -- but even 901 admits most people don't make the connection.When Nakao first set foot in club culture about six years ago, she sought out a gender-neutral identity that could still evoke her sense of female determination. And then she remembered Claire's adventures from her youth, which she transposed into "ku-re-i," or one of the Japanese pronunciations for "nine," "zero" and "one.""Many Japanese read my name on the flyer like it's just a number -- like 'kyuhakku-zero-ichi' ('nine hundred and one') -- and the foreigners usually say it as 'nine-oh-one,' " 901 explained in an exclusive interview with The Japan Times. "No. My birthday is not Sept. 1."901's modest success so far is unremarkably remarkable -- her quarter century on electronic keyboards could have taken her anywhere. But instead, she chose to take her chances on something more wide-open but uncertain. Again, not really surprising -- in junior high school, she formed her own jazz-fusion band, which falls outside the normal teeny J-Pop flow. ------ Now,I play keyboard,piano,crystal bowl,and japanese bamboo flute-Shinobue. Enjoy this life!