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9 I Quit My Job for a Funeral The Mourning and Empowering of a Japanese Rock Star Carolyn S. Stevens The death[s of celebrities] . . . ha[ve] oftentimes been viewed through converging psychologies of denial and rationalization. The ¤rst dictates that death, and speci¤cally the horror of death, be repressed in social practice and cultural remembering. The second transforms death into spectacle, entertainment, banality. Relayed through new communication technologies, death is constructed and circulated as an object of consumption, knowledge , and desire. . . . Such decontextualisation is part and parcel of the standardized, repetitious presentation of death in the mass media, the most important consequences of which are a fading of its emotional signi¤cance and its reconstruction as something trivial. Elliott 1999:148 Death changes the way we view life. Science has increased our potential to live longer and increasingly pain free; in the modern and postmodern era, the “key notion is ful¤lment” (Huntington and Metcalf 1979:205). Many argue that because of this, our ability to deal with death is diminished. Anthony Elliott (1999), in his book on John Lennon, hypothesizes that the cultural ¤eld seeks to avoid direct confrontation with death through trivialization, while Little (1999:86) notes the trend toward manipulation of these events as means to a political end. Meanings that arise from a public death are ®uid. Public ¤gures who die in their prime years are frozen in time. Their permanent association with earlier life stages allows them to retain an ideal physical memory; furthermore, their early deaths mean they gain knowledge of the afterlife unnaturally soon, enhancing their spiritual status and power. Taken too soon, these celebrities are idealized and romanticized. WHAT MAKES A JAPANESE ROCK STAR A CANDIDATE FOR SAINTHOOD? Matsumoto Hideto, also known as “HIDE” or “hide,” former lead guitarist of X Japan and promising solo artist, died in unusual circumstances in 1998.1 The ensuing expression of public mourning and the media frenzy surrounding it sparked interest not only in fan circles but in the general population as well. Why did this promising young musician die? Why did his fans have such a dif¤cult time coming to terms with his death? Why the adoration? Why did he die and for what purpose? Some said it was due to depression over his band’s breakup while others blamed alcohol. Or he was merely a highly strung individual who met with an accident. Either way, he had crossed boundaries that few at his age had. He gained power through death and unleashed a powerful public reaction. Today, fans gather to commemorate hide’s death at the hide Museum in his hometown of Yokosuka. The museum was opened in 2000 and built with the cooperation of Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. The Japanese mass media contributed to the empowering of hide. The nonstop coverage of fan grief encouraged public emotion (either sympathy or disbelief ), which then, in turn, encouraged further expression of sadness or cynicism . The banalization of a Japanese rock star’s death served to critique the outburst. Why would such a senseless death be considered holy? Saintliness appears to be enhanced by a combination of humanity and holiness. For saints, their faults are often as endearing as their virtues. Take, for example, the appeal of St. Augustine (as the sinner in The Confessions), St. Teresa of Avila (with her “unconventional” sense of humor [Peers 1960:16, 20, 39]), and the natureloving St. Francis of Assisi (who was the ¤rst saint to show human attributes of Christ in the form of stigmata). Yet hide’s act of self-denial was harshly criticized by many who said he had a greater responsibility to the public to face his problems. Some said he was a failure as a role model, but fans created their own mythology: hide was too sensitive, too kind, and too gentle to exist in this world. WHO WAS HIDE? Matsumoto Hideto was born December 13, 1964, in Yokosuka. His hometown is described as a place where “lead-colored ships ®oat in the sea and the driedout sound of U.S. military radio networks ¤lls the air” (Shukan Josei 1998b:56).2 Yokosuka is known for its U.S. naval base with all its cultural baggage: greasy spoons that accept both yen and American dollars, raucous nightclubs, and tacky Japanese souvenir shops. In this uneasy mix of imitative and resistant culture , Matsumoto heard a KISS album and decided he wanted to learn to play guitar. Meanwhile, he studied to become...

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