Merzbow - Minazo Volume One - CD

Minazo is Merzbow's tribute to the beloved male elephant seal who lived life in captivity at a Tokyo aquarium. Masami Akita often visited the seal at the aquarium and was allowed to access Minazo behind the scenes. Minazo includes many photographs and an essay by Masami Akita, as well as illustrations by Jenny Akita. Minazo, an Elephant seal, died at 5:15 pm on October 4, 2005. He was 11 years old, still young for an elephant seal whose life expectancy is 20 years on average. Whatever the cause of death, I feel sad and angry each time I hear about animals dying in captivity far away from their natural habitat. Minazo was raised at the Enoshima Aquarium in Kanagawa Prefecture. With a strong build, 5 meters in height and 2 tons in weight, he was the only male elephant seal in Japan. Director Yukiko Hori said in her book, The Story of An Aquarium (published by Iwanami Shoten) that Minazo was brought to Japan from Uruguay in 1995. His name, which consists of three Kanji characters meaning