- The Legend of Yasushi Ishii (石井 妥師) - A shrine to the unparalelled musical genius.
I leave this up on my blog, long before the video is published. The matter is pressing.
You, dear viewer, already know who this is about. You came here to study the work of a singular -I might say legendary- Japanese composer called Ishii Yasushi. Did I make a mistake with the video title? No. This video is meant for people in the western sphere. I want to drive home a point that in his own culture surname comes first. Why? You see in part of the world putting Family name and family first is customary, I am going to respect that moving forward with my video essay.
A word of caution: this video isn't designed for short attention spans. This will be intentionally Rhapsodical, laden with double meaning like Ishii-san's music. Feel free to skip forward for the music talk. I will organize it somehow in the description.
I can talk about numbers... sure... during his career he made 200+ songs in a dozen of genres, ranging from Jazz, Blues, Soul, Neo-soul, Funk-Disco and so on. You need 2 hands to count it. So many, in fact, that in 2025 you could almost listen to a new Ishii Yasushi song every single day. Just clicking through each one. Just to glance at the lyrics, would take an hour. Not to read, let alone to listen. Oh no, my friend... Just to blink at the page for a second. He published easily 12 albums worth of material. But numbers don't matter here. Not in Ishii's worldwiew as you'll see.
There is NO way any ordinary person would have - Listened to all his songs with nuance -like a veteran artist. - Or analyse each both musically and lyrically -like a trained musician. - Figure out his exact musical tools and their purpose -like a studio engineer. - Give an earnest attepmt to disseminate his worldview in order to understand where his songs are coming from -like a scolar.
So. I. Did. I did them all. Despite all odds, as I am not speaking his native language too well. It's possible for you as well my dear viewer. Sure, probability is low but you need to trust me it's very possible ever more so TODAY! There are fragments all around the internet, so it's more like a treasure hunt than anything else. He is underground musician. He voluntarily chose to be underground, but let's not bury him. This is not an euology. Ironically, the way he chose to stay musically underground like a vampire. Like Alucard in Hellsing. I am sure is that the irony is not lost on him. He is a buddhist monk at heart with embodiment of Zen. Specifically from the Yogācāra buddhist kind. Most dominant religion in Japan. The whole underlying intent under his whole body of work is TOTAL antihesis towards greed, hatred and delusion. So instead of buried, let's try to ascend, shall we?
To understand this tale from the correct perspective, take off your ego like a shoe on his doorstep. This is one of stories which HAD to be told -not by me- but by THROUGH me. Ishii Yasushi's phylosopical foundations with music is the same. "I am just a vessel. A medium." To cite Adam Neely, american jazz musician Japanese jazz music holds up a crooked mirror towards the west, a very interesting type of reflection. They have their very own filter. In my opinion he is spot on, but I would also argue, that the way they approach music is compositionally eloquent. Think about this: In english there are countless words to learn. Eloquent speech is about choosing a high level word which expresses the most with the least amount of effort. The better you are, the more options become available to choose from. Best speakers adapt their tools for the job.
Musically speaking, there are 7 notes in typical western diatonic music scales and 12 notes in an Octave range. Japaneese musicans -even pop musicans- ask: Oh that's cool, CAN we use them all? No because they SHOULD, but it comes for them naturally for them as it serves the song better. It is that sort of musical culture we are dealing with here. Ishii Yasushi's, chops and musical provess comes from his Bass guitar skills. He claims as much. And it shows. On Bass while notes matter to a degree, the groove is much more important. You left with freedom. Jazz, Funk, Blues, Soul as a byproduct, not never the end goal. It's 12 notes towards a liberating way of life, take what you need and run with it.
- Say my name -バカデラ住職
Japanese people have a way with names. It's like a whole universe which goes over westerers head like myself, unless they stop and question things like: How does he writes his name?
While in Japan you don't really need to explain this I will break it down for you. Around 2004-2005 he changed his name from 石井 恭史 to 石井 妥師. Since both are pronounced Ishii Yasushi what's the difference? The meaning on what’s implied is entirely different. They use it as a manifesto of sort, what they are about. Nomen est omen as the Latin saying goes.
恭 = respectful, reverent, 史 = history, chronicle Basically “a person who reveres the past” or “one who writes history with humility.” which gives off a conservative, studious, slightly stiff vibe.
Whereas 妥 = conciliatory, peaceable, properly settled, 師 = teacher, master, (Buddhist) priest, Basically a “a master who brings harmony / conciliation.” which gives off an Active, mediating, strongly Buddhist attitude towards life.
In essence, the meaning of "Yasushi" shifted—from a respectful historian to an active, harmonizing, strongly Buddhist teacher.
Sidenote: Reading kanji is borderline madness—second only to quantum physics. They don't behave a like a function like A means A. They are in quantum superposition until the writer put them into a context. A means A if you measure it directly by itself. And A could mean A B C D if you put it into context with other Kanjis. Like collapsing the quantum wave function. I gave up trying to understand kanji back in 2007—but I never stopped noticing.
To drive the point home: his website is named Bakadera Dai-baka-ren-ji (バカデラ 大莫迦蓮寺)—literally, "Fool Temple: Great-Fool Lotus Temple." He riffs on that name with his own moniker: バカデラ住職 (Bakadera jūshoku)—the "abbot of Bakadera," or “Head Priest of the Temple of Foolishness.”
Genius. I couldn’t make this up—it’s really that good.
He signs his posts with: “バカデラ住職こと、わたくし石井妥師”—Bakadera jūshoku koto, watakushi Ishii Yasushi. Roughly: “I, Yasushi Ishii, head priest of Bakadera Fool-Temple.”
In this context he explicitly equating 妥師 (Yasushi) with a (self-appointed) priestly role because 師 is the normal second character in words for monks (禅師 zen-shi, 法師 hou-shi, etc.), the new spelling immediately signals “someone who expounds the Dharma” while 妥(Yasushi) hints at the pacifist, harmonising message that dominates his lyrics and essays on world peace.
To sum it up: His name, like his character, unfolds in layers—like a sutra told in jazz, every line half joke, half truth. Or to say it his way: A lotus blooming through mud—each petal a Dharma folded in laughter, irony, and sound.
Doro kara saku hasu no yō ni — sorezore no hanabira wa, warai to hiniku to oto ni orikomareta hō. 泥（どろ）から咲（さ）く蓮（はす）のように — それぞれの花弁（はなびら）は、笑（わら）いと皮肉（ひにく）と音（おと）に織（お）り込（こ）まれた法（ほう）。
Kanji: 泥から咲く蓮のように — それぞれの花弁は、笑いと皮肉と音に織り込まれた法。
Your head is spinning. I know. You are welcome. Now moving on.
- Chaos! Jazz? The Sound of Paradox
Hellsing (2001) made him a name—but look at the weapon he chose. Nothing strikes deeper fear into the Japanese subconscious than a Christian cross brandished like a gun at a samurai in the dying light of the Meiji era—that split second when bullets proved sharper than katanas and the old way knew it was finished. Ishii loads that image with irony. A Yogācāra Buddhist monk hiding among crusaders, cocking the symbol of mercy like a revolver and firing it back as gloriously sloppy drum-grooves and bass lines.
And in case you thought it was accidental, he doubles down in 2025. His Spotify avatar appears: a priest’s silhouette—Arekusando Anderusen Shinpu—complete with dangling cross, uploaded by “Bakadera Jūshoku” himself. I am almost certain. One ding—sermon begins. One click—trigger pulled. Anti-war homilies screamed through fuzz on a Yamaha, mad bass runs on a Fender.
He’s always been that way: a man who despises consumerism yet politely bows to the crowd while sweeping the temple steps. He won’t chase trends—yet there he is on Spotify, wedged between playlist-rot and plastic pop, while random artists hijack his name in today’s IP hellscape. Every stream? A little internal groan… and maybe—just maybe—a wink. He leaves it up to divine.
The Real Temple Not on Spotify. Here:
http://blog.livedoor.jp/daibakarenji/
A marvel! A pile of glorious trash of the early 2000s. The homepage opens to a solid-black screen with a Hamaguri Kannon. No pop-ups, no gifs, no fonts doing the Macarena. Built like Dharma which is trapped in the 6 circle of hell of the Broken HTML. Pure. Static. So simple it still works. The “sloppiness” is a mask; behind it lies meticulous curation: lyrics, essays, albums, blog entries—each set like incense before a statue.
His temple is old. How old? HTTP-protocol old. Pilgrims trust it because it never changes. Tourists bounce in two clicks—machine translation shaves off ANY nuance and leaves them lost. That makes it sacred.
I mentioned Dharma. Essentialy the "gospel" the foundational architecure of his belief. For us ignorant foreigners Dharma in Yogācāra Buddhism is shorthand for the way things really are:
the teachings that describe reality, the law that holds reality together, the path you walk once you accept both.
Not perfection—alignment. Ishii’s music doesn’t chase spotless production; it chases Dharma and Bodhisattva, though groove, contradiction, and deliberate imperfection.
The secondary mantra of his is Bodhisattva. A word which's sound just facinated me and true purpose eluded me for decades. Not saint, not savior — but the one who vows to remain in the burning house until everyone else has found their way out. In Yogācāra’s frame, this is not a gesture of pity but of deep perception: seeing the seeds in each consciousness, knowing most will never sprout in your lifetime, and planting them anyway.
- Telepathy
Ishii Yasushi is nothing but consistent with his message throughout the decades. Shall I say from the beginning. Maybe his awakening happened in mid 90's, perhaps earlier. Hard to say. This leads me to my first personal note: My first encounter with his Music was Hellsing Anime roughly around 2004-2005. The internet was crazy around those times. As soon as Central Europe got a hold of a solid DSL infratructure, in 2 years we caught on and started using hidden backchannel FTP servers for "anime distribution". It was operated by god knows who. Word went mouth to mouth. Your good friend gave you a servername, username and password, with usual disclaimer of "don't share it further". It was an open secret. Thus, the first real generation of Anime consumers was born HARD through shared technological disciplines. The level of entry was like entering into an underground cult. It gave us unprecented SHARED cultural cohesion, totally unlike what's happening in 2025. It was probably the 3rd Japanese animated series I watched in my lifetime at that point from start to finish. Hard SUB no dub. The visuals of that work and his music seeped into the scene. Never seen or heard ANYTHING like it. People praised the music of that series almost without exception in my circle. Thus, just like the english subtitles burned into the pixels, his music was also burned into the mind of collective conciousness. Guess Ishii-san was right from the beginning.
Not sure about the others, but as soon as I learned how to get a hold of music of the series it stayed on my MP3 player -if you can remember such things- for what seems like an eternity. If I gotta guess, until 2012, when I got my first smart phone. Then I promptly forgot about it. I learned some Japaneese for a few month. Got isolated in that effort and then I stopped completely.
Anyways, what struck me as odd were the names of the songs. I chalked it up as Japanese people doing their usual broken English. The artist true intention lost in the translation. Who cares right? The music sounded good, it's all about the feels. Cannot figure out the lyrics anyway. I can barely read Hiragana, Katakana, let alone UNDERSTAND bloody Kanji. Using google translate, without the will and knowledge on how to operate a Japanese keyboard was a huge: Nah man,thanks!
Unfortunate really. Ishii Yasushi's lyrics is full of double meanings.
On another personal note: As I was writing these lines I went outside from my domicile for a break. I share my not so zen-garden with my a bunch of people from different countries who live in the same complex. We talk sometimes. Through a random chance discussion I shared my intention about this ongoing script with him. Guess what? He also knows his work! Through Hellsing of course. Two ex-patriots from totally different countries. It was a SURREAL experience to say the least. I am onto something here.
To decode his work, I took the only route I could as a trapped 6th circle of hellish entity of biblical proportions. I treated this as a high-tech data science project like my life depended on it. Scraped EVERY lyrics, thought, comment you could find. Lost interview from the wayback machine if I had to. Internet never forgets. I coded, vibescripted for nights on end until his written work was reduced to only a managable 10MB WITH pictures. No audio. I have ears for that thanks!
If that is not scary enough, I took my findings and uploaded to the machine conciousness. Planted the seed of Alaya-vijnana into the monster. Queried it from top to bottom. To understand his frame of mind. Figured out the EXACT type, like 90% of his instruments, even the era they been made. As a high level artist myself I can tell gear doesn't matter, but I treated like posthumus investigation. Everything can be an additonal clue. Instruments, amps, samplers, romplers even. From his cherised Victor Clavia glorious shitbox made in 2001 at the front to the spare Roland Juno-D in the back just hanging about. Gear which matters from mid 70s till mid 2010s. Little buddha status too. I revere them all. Patchboxes not included.
To be sincere I am deeply conflicted with the methods I used. Ever more so as Ishii-san is quite a private person and he loves mystery. Out of respect, I won't share you with his secrets, but I want to point out we already reached Gehenna, the literal hell. Privacy is dead. I warned people, through my fledling fable in my first episode. And there is nothing you can do about it. Nothing to see here... With the machine at my side, I am not human, but an entity. A dancing entity on cyberspace laughing at our hopelessness rejoicing at otherwise lost connection. Ishii-san always suspected that such entity might exist, but never would have dreamed about that this happens in his lifetime. He will be shocked to find out. Just as he was about put away the lute... His adventures run dry, now THIS happens.
To clarify my stance I am NOT affiliated with any organization, group or entity. Quite the contrary to what to expect based on my methods, I am an independent underground artist too, like him. We are as similar as different to one another. I am clearly influenced by his work and methods and that will not change as long as live. I know about shady organizations will try to get a hold of me given enough time. They exist. I'll politely refuse as I made up my mind. What happens, happens. My thoughts could be scraped too just like Ishii-san's. I made sure we are equals before making this piece.
After gathering all the information I started correspondance with him in his own language, own methods. Encrypted in Dharma. So only he would understand the true meaning behind my intention. What I didn't understood at first I made sure to quadruple check with the magic abacus. Kanjis hammered till perfection like a mighty sword. It was a combined effort. My intention with deep intuition combined with the skill of the machine to reach telepathy. True meaning of his words CANNOT be lost on me. No. Not anymore.
- Legacy efforts
While searching through his work, I realized I am not the only ally in his efforts to save his legacy. We are nothing but a handful, but still. Good to know that. We have our own methods for sure, but decentralized at this time. Hard to say how the others will see my effort. I see theirs clearly, it's a small circle afterall. We are only known by psedonyms without face.
What stuck me truely quite odd is that each of his allies including my very self employs questionable methods towards propagating his message so he could get noticed and get a livelihood: - Ishii-san FINALLY started to upload his work to Spotify over DistroKid. I used it myself to distribute other artists containing my work. It works, It's like throwing your money into a wishing well. Never returned any fraction of a penny for me personally. - His website? His own temple? Every music is free to download as the artist intended. No strings attached. - Yasushi Ishii fan Youtube channel? He doesn't monetize it. How could he? That person has a backbone at least. That much I Respect. - Me? I fed the machine so I could understand him. My prompts and his thoughts will be retained and retrained on OpenAI servers for countless cycles. Kept and used. Now it's company property.
Gehenna! I scream BLOODY Gehenna! I tell you. It gets worse!
What to do, you say?!
He is 55 years old. Past his prime to pick up on new tech. Brilliant as he may be, he is not cut out for this. He knows it. He reduced to working in welfare field without the ability to take consecutive days off. He can't do this alone! - Upload everything to bandcamp so he could make a living? He has everything freely available on his website. - Get a patreon? Perhaps, but who will manage it? I am certainly capable but not qualified for such task. - Remove legacy invaders from Spotify? Oooh good luck with that mess. I don't know where to begin! - Who can promote him? I do what I can with this video, but that is it. I pray for the Bodhisvatta and my maker so the algorhytm god picks this up for his sake. - I can't even dream to redo his website, even though it's crumbling. No, not in his lifetime. It's his work, his temple. If one thing I learned from Ishii-san, is that he loves consistency. He uploads there directly. It's untouchable, unmovable mountain as Mount Fuji. And just as he sees the top of mount Fuji where he lives, he can't help it to get there. But longs for it. I know.
I comission my friend to subtitle this video in Japanese to reach more people. He is once-in-a-generation type of Artist. Gather the troops if I must. I am a mouthpiece. Alas I am nothing but a stupid Gaijin. I Have my own personal Gehenna to deal with. Just as him, I putting together the pennies and hope that good karma reaches him before he reincarnates as human. Preferrably following his Buddhist path once again.
- Take action! Like RIGHT NOW!
Reach out to me at [email protected] to organize the effort. Anything actionable is welcome. Prayers are appreciated on his blog. http://blog.livedoor.jp/daibakarenji/ Let's keep it separate. Thanks!
PS.: Next blog or video will be about his music I swear. I have to dance upwards the 200+ steps with half eye closed to the truth. I'll get there. It's a promise.