Words Can’t Go There

“Everything is connected”, says John Kaizan Neptune. He was born in California. He loved to surf so he moved to Hawaii. He quickly decided he did not want to pursue a conventional life path. Before he dropped out of school, since he had one more semester already paid for, he took a class called ethnomusicology. That is where he discovered the instrument that changed his life. The shakuhachi is a traditional Japanese bamboo flute that was once used as a tool for meditation. John instantly fell in love with its pure and deep sound. He sought out the best teacher to learn how to play the shakuhachi, which brought him to Japan in 1979 where he still lives today. He is one of the world’s best musicians playing the shakuhachi. He crafts his own instruments and improves them. His innovations have developed new sounds never heard before with the instrument. An extraordinary journey showing how you can overcome cultural borders and become a master of a traditional art. “Yareba Dekiru” – “If you do it, it’s possible”. (Warsaw Film Festival)