Holy rap! 'Funky' Japan monk gets grannies in a spin
AFP / Behrouz MEHRIJapanese monk Akinobu Tatsumi, who has been dabbling in hip hop since he was a teenager and makes clandestine recordings of his own ambient music, DJs at a venue in western Japan
At a remote temple in Japan cradled by a croissant-shaped mountain range, Akinobu Tatsumi leads a rare double life -- as a Buddhist monk who preaches about DJing.
The amateur enthusiast has been dabbling in hip hop since he was a teenager and makes clandestine recordings of his own ambient music while his temple, located in deepest Kyushu, western Japan, sleeps.
After keeping his nocturnal hobby a secret from fellow priests for years, the 38-year-old Tatsumi now gives record-spinning tips to his ageing temple-goers.
AFP / Behrouz MEHRIAkinobu Tatsumi isn't your typical Buddhist monk. He has long hair, tied in a ponytail and fancies himself as a human beatbox
"It's true a monk does usually deliver a regular sermon," Tatsumi told AFP at Syousanji temple.
"When I first began playing the grannies music and showing them how to scratch, they did look a little bemused.
"Around here people call me the funky monk," the wannabe DJ added in an interview after chanting a sutra.
Tatsumi isn't your typical Buddhist monk.
He has long hair, tied in a ponytail, and fancies himself as a human beatbox -- a genre also steeped in hip hop culture.
"I was influenced by hip hop -- I started listening to Run-DMC and Public Enemy," said Tatsumi, nimbly sidestepping the issue of rap music's explicit lyrics.
AFP / Behrouz MEHRIAfter keeping his nocturnal hobby a secret from fellow priests for years, Akinobu Tatsumi (R) now gives record-spinning tips to his ageing temple-goers
"I got into beatboxing in that way. I used to practise on the edge of a cliff, where there was a lovely echo."
Tatsumi's digression from Buddhist writings to scratch sermons was fraught with risk -- he also says he kept his monastic life hidden from night-time venues he played at.
"I didn't tell other priests about my music but also hid the fact I was a priest from bars and clubs," he said.
- Disco tummy -
While the likes of Calvin Harris or the Chemical Brothers have little to fear from his recreational activities, Tatsumi's love affair with music began very early -- before he was even born, he claims.
"My mother used to hold a speaker to her tummy and play me classical music or 70s disco," he said.
AFP / Behrouz MEHRIAkinobu Tatsumi's digression from Buddhist writings to scratch sermons was fraught with risk -- he also says he kept his monastic life hidden from night-time venues he played at
"Later when I discovered those records and played them, I felt I had heard them before, which was weird."
Tatsumi takes care not to anger his fellow priests, using headphones when he mixes his music -- which combines electro and dubstep with Buddhist chanting -- to avoid getting into trouble.
Even when he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis four years ago, Tatsumi persisted with his hobby, making music from his hospital bed.
"I used to use the beep-beep of the heart monitors to make club music," said Tatsumi, who now walks with a cane.
The one-time skateboarding monk believes his illness has brought him closer to his fellow devotees.
"I suddenly felt a connection with the aged and temple-goers who were suffering from illness or injury," he said.
"These days I get on famously with the old folks!"
Migrant crisis on the menu as Macron meets Italian leader
POOL/AFP/File / Ian LANGSDONFrench president Emmanuel Macron, left, meets Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte during last week's G7 summit in Canada
French President Emmanuel Macron will meet Italy's new premier Giuseppe Conte Friday to try patch up relations, after sparks flew between the two countries over Rome's rejection of a migrant rescue ship.
Despite efforts by both sides to play down their testy exchanges, the clash underscores the deep divisions in Europe over how to handle the massive influx of migrants from across the Mediterranean in recent years.
In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel is embroiled in a showdown with the right wing of her governing coalition, which is demanding that she immediately ditch her liberal migration policy and tighten border controls.
Merkel has pleaded for more time to negotiate with her European partners on a common response ahead of an EU summit on June 28-29.
But there are few signs that European leaders are anywhere near being ready to coordinate their policies despite a looming end-of-June deadline to change the EU's current asylum rules.
In a telephone call Wednesday to turn the page on days of bickering, Macron and Conte called for "new initiatives" to ease the pressure on Italy, Greece and Spain -- the three countries on the frontline of the migrant crisis.
"It's time for collective action," Macron said afterwards.
- Ship on way to Spain -
SOS MEDITERRANEE/AFP / Kenny KarpovA migrant onboard the Aquarius rescue ship as it heads towards Spain
The Aquarius rescue vessel at the centre of this week's row was on Friday continuing to make its way across the Mediterranean to Spain, which agreed to take the 629 migrants aboard after Italy and Malta refused the ship permission to dock.
Spain's foreign minister Josep Borrell said he hoped the spectacle of the migrants -- mostly Africans, including pregnant women and scores of children -- would "move" other European states into showing more solidarity.
Under the EU's Dublin Agreement, which is currently up for review, migrants hoping to apply for asylum must do so in the first country they enter, a policy which has placed a huge burden on Italy in particular.
The influx has encouraged the rise of far-right and populist parties -- leading most recently to an anti-migrant coalition government taking power in Italy.
"We need to work on reform of the Dublin Agreement," Conte stressed ahead of his Paris visit.
Earlier this week his interior minister joined forces with his German and Austrian counterparts in an "axis of the willing" to combat illegal immigration.
Other countries meanwhile, such as Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, have either refused outright or resisted taking in refugees under a contested EU quota system.
- 'Hypocritical lessons' -
SOS MEDITERRANEE/AFP/File / Kenny KarpovThe Aquarius rescue ship, which has 629 migrants aboard, has been the centre of a European row after being turned away by Italy and Malta
The spat between France and Italy erupted this week after Macron accused Rome of "cynicism and irresponsibility" for refusing to let the Aquarius dock.
Italy's new government hit back, accusing Paris of giving "hypocritical lessons" and threatening to pull out of the meeting with Macron on Friday.
Rome also summoned the French ambassador over the dispute -- the second time it has done so over the migrant crisis in two months.
Macron's critics said he was hardly in a position to lecture, noting that France had taken in far fewer migrants since the start of the crisis than the likes of Germany and Sweden, and has sealed off its border to most migrants trying to cross into the country from Italy.
The French leader, who has taken a hard line on migration from African countries that are not at war, said Thursday that "none of his comments were intended to offend Italy and the Italian people".
In a further gesture of reconciliation the French foreign ministry said it was ready to welcome migrants aboard Aquarius who "meet the criteria for asylum" after they arrive in Spain.
AFP / Paz PIZARROThe path taken so far by the refugee ship Aquarius
Italy itself has appeared eager to avoid too harsh a response. After turning the Aquarius away, it allowed a coast guard ship carrying over 900 migrants land on Sicily on Wednesday.
And on Thursday, the Italian coast guard brought fresh supplies to the Aquarius as it made its way past Sardinia. It is due to arrive in Spain at the weekend.
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