The man in this video is Shintaro Fujiyama, known for his superb traditional Japanese magic, or tezuma, skills. Today, the 52-year old magician is leading 48 other magicians in a lawsuit against Nippon Television and TV Asahi. Why? Because in reporting news about another magician's arrest, they went on to reveal the secrets behind the coveted coin trick. They are claiming that the TV reports are infringing on the magicians' "common property."
This is interesting. A magician's tricks are his bread and butter. And it's true, once giant TV stations start blabbering their secrets for everyone to hear on public television, then all of a sudden they can't use those tricks anymore. A LOT of people watch the news on these two channels.
The magician who was arrested was operating a magic bar in Osaka. He was charged for putting holes in coins for some kind of magic trick. Defacing coins is illegal.
We'll see what the results of this legal battle will be later, but in the meantime, we can all enjoy Fujiyama's butterfly dance video. It's pretty rad.
This is the kind of magic I like. It's not strictly magic, yet all the more magical because of the tezuma.
Posted by: Namtillaku | May 01, 2007 at 07:24 PM
That's pretty neat the difference between Japan and the US. Exposure of magicians secrets has ruined magic in the US. I've performed magic professionally in both the US and Japan, and although I do not speak Japanese, it is much more appreciated in Japan. It's nice to see that the Japanese magicians are trying to preserve their craft in the country.
Posted by: amvalenz | May 01, 2007 at 08:40 PM