Interview with Sunplaza Nakano-kun
I'm getting healthier year after year. I'm certain that every method I'm doing now is good.
Sun-plaza Nakano-kun debuted in 1984 as the singer of rock band "Bakufu Slump" in Japan. With their several hit songs such as "Runner" and "Okina Tamanegi-no Shita-de ~Haruka-naru Omoi~", he became a dominant singer in his time. He is actively performing as a solo artist now.
As a matter of fact, he is known as a health expert among the world of entertainment for writing many books and giving speeches around the country on the subject. For his vast activity and insight on health, he even earned the nickname "health and happiness hermit of the rockers".
This time, Naoko Mitsuda who respects Sun-plaza Nakano-kun as her master, interviewed him on the subject of the health. Apparently he was once unhealthy for his extreme diet, then he told us about how he became health conscious, his current health methods, and what he is aiming for, etc.
Profile:
Debuted in 1984 as a singer of the rock band "Bakufu Slump".
The band released many hit songs such as "Runner" ('88), "Resort Lovers" ('89), "Okina Tamanegi-no Shita-de ~Haruka-naru Omoi~" ('89), Tabibito-yo ~The Longest Journey~" ('96).
The band stopped its activity in April 1999. After that, he started to write books and give speeches using his diverse knowledge on health and stock marketing.
His books on health are;
"Yasekata Jozu - Easy Health and Happiness Maunal by Sun-plaza Nakano" (Sun-plaza Nakano, Kodan-sha, '03)
"Heiwa-na Karada" (Sun-plaza Homeopath Nakano, Yubikita Studio, '07)
"Tabe-kata Mondo - Recommendation of Eating Less - Asked my mentor for the the essence of the health!" (Mitsuo Koda and Sun-plaza Nakano, Makino publishing '08) etc.
Also, he has written scripts, produced, voice acted and wrote and sang the theme song to animation "Honmaguro Torotaro" which has been shown since July '07 as a part of a TV program called "Fightention School" (TX group).
Web site of Sun-plaza Nakano-kun:
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Temple Beautiful: You are now famous as the most health conscious person in the world of Japanese Rock, but is it true that you had a completely different life-style before?
Sun-plaza Nakano-kun: Yes, I did. Especially my diet, which was extremely unbalanced. That was the time when the song "Runner" was in the charts, I used to eat Korean BBQ and sweets as much as I wanted every evening. And for some reason, I was into muscle building so I was taking large amounts of protein. I used to drink a lot, too.
TB:When you gave us a speech at our 15th anniversary event, you said that you were eating Oshiruko (Japanese sweet azuki bean soup) every night before going to bed.
SN: That's right. I was drinking, and I loved eating sweets.
TB:It's hard to imagine from what you are now.
SN: Yes (laugh). Gradually my condition became worse, and when I started to think "There's something wrong with me", it was scary. I found out that my father had a cancer. He passed after about a year of fighting the disease. As I observed the process, I started to think that the disease will not always be cured by just going to hospitals, and sometimes it can't be cured. That's how I made a firm resolution to study about health. When I look back, I feel like my father showed me an example of someone who had a bad physical condition. It was when I was about 35 years old.
TB: I see… It must have been very hard. But because of your father's disease and death you became the way you are. It can be said that your father's will lives on in you since we are learning about health from your attitude on it.
By the way, what was your physical condition like in those days?
SN: Dizziness, hot flushes, palpitations, mood swings, etc… I was troubled by symptoms similar to what women experience at menopause. At the time, I had an opportunity to talk about my condition to a medical doctor so I asked for their opinion. I was told that it could be a male menopausal disorder. I thought it could be so but as I researched, I found out that men don't have menopausal disorders. So I reached a conclusion that my condition was not a menopausal disorder. So what did I have? Actually, I found out that it was 'hypoglycemia'.
TB: You mean the hypoglycemia which people get from eating too much sweets?
SN: Well, if it's explained simply, that's how we get it. The human body has a mechanism of always keeping the right balance. After we eat food, our pancreas secretes insulin to lower the blood sugar level. But when the pancreas is too tired to do this, our blood sugar level can't be controlled. And this causes the blood sugar level to go up and down abruptly. Repeating this causes hormones such as adrenaline and noradrenaline to be secreted which starts to affect the body and mind. This is called hypoglycemia. And its symptoms are just like menopausal disorder's.
As you said, this is caused by eating too much food that raises the blood sugar level suddenly, such as refined grains or sugar, including white sugar. It is a sickness of 'sweets'. I suppose many people have this in our modern society.
Mariya Clinic in Inage, Chiba is famous for accepting outpatients specifically in hypoglycemia in the Kanto area, and their website has a detailed explanation about the disease, so you can look at it. By the way, I have interviewed the director of this clinic. The doctor said that "The people who have schizophrenia and come here for a hypoglycemia test, almost always have a positive result. But it can't be said the other way around (Hypoglycemia patients have schizophrenia)."
Incidentally, many people mix up the words "Tei Ketto Sho (hypoglycemia)" and "Tei Ketto (low blood sugar)", but "Tei Ketto Sho (hypoglycemia)" is the name of the disease and "Tei Ketto (low blood sugar)" means the condition of the blood sugar level is low. As I mentioned earlier, the problem of having hypoglycemia is not for the blood sugar level to go lower, the problem is when it becomes impossible to control the blood sugar level.
TB: It feels like talking to a doctor at a hospital (laugh). I used to eat sweets ordinarily, since my childhood hobby was 'making sweets'. But I've been having a sugar-free life style for almost 20 years. Because I haven't eaten sugar for a long time, when I eat something containing a lot of sugar, I immediately have a headache, fever, and a runny nose. So I can't eat sugar any more. But sometimes, I receive some sweets with a reputation. Then I eat with determination despite catching a cold. In fact, I caught a cold many times because of sweets… It's a 'sweets cold' (laugh).
I was just thinking that I am at the age of menopause. But I don't have any symptoms like what you had. Maybe I'm benefitting from my diet of low sugar… My 40-some-year-old friend who loves sweets is suffering from symptoms like menopausal disorder. Perhaps she has 'hypoglycemia'.
SN: Especially among ladies, there are many people who eat sweets as a daily habit as if it's a virtue. People who have a bad condition chronically can suspect that they have hypoglycemia. Of course the influence of the sweets may or may not be obvious depending on the individual. But when one drinks too much, eventually the liver gets damaged. I think the same thing can be said about eating sweets.
TB: It's an ear-aching story for women. So, as you said that you made a firm resolution to study about health, how did you start specifically?
SN: At first I started to learn about 'taking' the nutrition I was lacking after reading "Earl Mindell's Vitamin Bible". I read it literally as a bible, and memorized the whole book. After a while, I became aware of "Nishi Shiki Koda Ryoho" by Dr. Mitsuo Koda.
Then my view on health shifted from 'taking' nutrition to 'not taking' nutrition which is the method of the Nishi Health System. I presently practice this method.
TB: "Nishi Shiki Koda Ryoho" is the method known for fasting and eating small amounts. I'm really into trying diets, but as soon as I read the book about Nishi Shiki Koda Ryoho, I immediately thought "I can't do this!" and gave up on trying. I think Nishi Shiki Koda Ryoho is a very challenging diet for ordinary people. What made you think to try it?
SN: At the time, I was reading several books on health including Yuriko Tojo. Among all the books I read, I was most inspired by Dr. Koda's "Shoshoku-ga Kenko-no Genten (The Starting Point of Health is The Light Eating)". Until then, I had this fixed idea that the cause of a disease is the lack of nutritions. But in his book, he argues that overeating causes problems. The scales had fallen from my eyes and I was convinced by almost everything he said in the book, so I decided to try it.
TB: With the diet of Nishi Shiki Koda Ryoho, especially the old method, you eat a thick green juice made with only leafy green vegetables using a pestle and mortar. Just imagining it makes me lose my appetite. Wasn't it hard for you to change your diet from Korean BBQs to thick green juice with brown rice and vegetables, and even fasting and light eating?
SN: No, it wasn't so hard. In fact, I was already a vegetarian since I was 33 years old. I became vegetarian because I started to get diarrhea when I ate meat. I guess I ate enough for one life-time's worth (laugh). Regarding fasting, I started from 'half-day fasting' with which you just skip breakfasts.
TB: I see. By the way, I heard that you had a period of time when you were only eating brown rice flour!
SN: Yes. Now I'm mainly eating Nagaoka-shiki Koso Genmai, so I don't eat rice flour any more. But certainly I used to make rice flour with a German millstone which I purchased from Catalog House, and I was eating that home made flour.
The oxidization of brown rice begins as soon as it gets milled, so I thought fresher flour is better. I ate brown rice flour according to the Nishi Shiki diet. In those days, I was having no breakfast, only brown rice flour for lunch, and brown rice and vegetables at night.
TB: Wow! How stoic could you be? It sounds like a monk on austerities (laugh).
SN: You're right. People around me said that I wouldn't have the pleasure of eating. But then, I was having the pleasure of feeling like "How cool am I to keep on doing this? I'm amazing!" (laugh). It's a little weird (laugh).
TB: Are you still drinking the thick green juice?
SN: I'm drinking green juice made with a juicer, not pestle and mortar. Of course I'm using the slow speed juicer (laugh). I've been sleeping on the wood board bed with wooden pillow, and having the hot and cold baths as recommended by Nishi Shiki.
TB: I followed your example and started to sleep on a wood board bed. But I can't use the wooden pillow, because it hurts (laugh). And the hot and cold baths are so challenging since the dipping in hot bath and cold bath has to be repeated seven times, and it is too cold in winter.
SN: Everyone says that. But it is worth the effort. In my case, after doing the hot and cold baths for 3 months, I recovered from poor blood circulation. After eating the Nishi Shiki diet for 4 months, I lost 20 kilograms and my condition became much better. If you bare using the the wooden pillow for a month, you'll get used to it and start to feel good (laugh).
TB: I see. If my master says so, I should try again… (laugh). By the way, you just mentioned Nagaoka-shiki Koso Genmai(Fermented brown rice. Koso=Enzyme, Genmai=Brown rice). This is also a famous method among health conscious people. How did you start it?
SN: Some time ago, I went to hear Minori Okamoto*'s speech. She was over 90 years old but she was so vigorous. I was shocked by her appearance and every audience felt the same way. So at the Q&A time at the end, we all asked her "How are you looking so well!?" (laugh). And her secret of health was the Nagaoka-shiki Koso Genmai. She told us that she was so weak that she couldn't walk by herself. But she found out about such brown rice in her 80s and now she's in her 90s and becoming healthier.
Her words and appearance persuaded me to think "I must try this", since I knew its reputation. I went to "Taiyo-no Kai" and attended a lecture on how to make Nagaoka-shiki Koso Genmai. Then I purchased the special cooking utensil and started to eat it. I've been doing this for five to six years now. It's tasty, and it's satisfying mentally.
TB: I see. I've attended the lecture once. It is tasty and its texture is like the sticky rice, and I was told how it improves the condition by some people who were eating it for a long time. So I wanted to try as well, but I was hesitating because the color and the largeness of the thermal jar was far from good looking. Then I missed the timing. Also I thought that I'm too hasty to follow such a procedure of cooking which is like a ritual.
SN: However, if you cook once, you don't have to do it for another 10 days or so. This could be helping rather than being a hustle for housewives (laugh). About Nishi Shiki diet, the number of meals become twice or one and a half. This would help financially, and save time for thinking what to cook. It's the most appropriate diet for busy housewives (laugh). Moreover, it's good for your health. It is a wonder to me why nobody's doing it.
TB: Well, that makes sense (laugh). Perhaps it's worth keeping that enormous jar, even in a small kitchen.
SN: I'd like to add an explanation about Koso Genmai(Fermented brown rice). It's said that you can eat as much as you want, so you can get satisfaction. Even when you eat a lot, it has Koso (enzymes) to help digestion so it will not be a burden on the digestive system. Therefore, it's said that it is ok to be eaten by old people with no teeth, or small children. Actually, there are different Koso Genmai to Nagaoka-shiki and they are becoming popular.
TB: You mean the one made with a certain rice cooker. I am doing Caye's diet so I don't eat rice mainly. But we have a rice cooker called "Amaterasu" which makes Koso Genmai, so I sometimes eat that with some staffs. Though it only cooks four cups of rice, so we eat up before it ferments (laugh).
*"Amaterasu" is currently not sold, but similar products are available. They can be found on the internet.
SN: I heard that with "Amaterasu", you have a setting for sprouted rice. Nagaoka-shiki doesn't sprout rice. They make the same Koso Genmai but their methods are different whether sprouting rice or not. Some people say sprouting rice increases GABA, so it's better for health. The others say it's not good to sprout because sprouting reduces the energy of grains. I'm still researching this subject.
TB: It's like a march between me who's an easy "rice-cooker" user and you who's a proper "Nagaoka-shiki" user (laugh). After eating for five to six years, how do you feel physically?
SN: I feel really good. I'm getting healthier year after year and not only from eating "Nagaoka-shiki Koso Genmai". I'm certain that every method I'm doing now is good.
*Nagaoka-shiki Koso Genmai: Cook brown rice with some azuki (red bean) and salt with a Nagaoka-shiki pressure cooker, then place the cooked rice in the 3.6 liter thermal jar to ferment it. They say it's better to eat the rice which was stored for longer than 3 days than the freshly cooked rice. Eating this fermented rice supplies the lacking enzymes to our body and it is supposed to improve our physical condition.
Unlike normal brown rice, it is highly digestible so you don't have to worry about chewing so much. Yet you can intake the good nutrition of brown rice, so it is a very popular method among health conscious people. In order to cook this "Nagaoka-shiki Koso Genmai" properly, it is necessary to attend lectures by its organization "Taiyo-no Kai" (lectures are for free of charge). http://www.n-kousogenmai.co.jp/
*Minori Okamoto: The wife of Tenmei Okamoto who psychically received "Hitsuki Shinji" (spiritual messages).
TB: Yes, I can see that (laugh). By the way, you have studied homeopathy thoroughly and received a diploma.
SN: Yes, I studied with Greek homeopath Mr. George Vithoulkas* who is one of the best two homeopaths in classical homeopathy at the present age. But I didn't study directly with him in Greece, I studied with his close German apprentice who was visiting Japan. I studied with him for four years and passed the test for an approval by Mr. George Vothoulkas.
*George Vithoulkas: He is one of the most well known homeopaths. He lives in Alonisos, Greece. He runs the International Academy of Classical Homeophathy. More than a hundred homeopaths from over ten countries attend his lecture which is held annually in June. (Reference from Japan Homeopathy Foundation website, http://nihon-homeopathy.net/index.html )
TB: For four years! That must have been so hard to manage, making time between your busy schedule. How come you wanted to study homeopathy so much?
SN: When my physical condition was not so good, one of my music related friends told me about homeopathy. He was like an early adopter of the spiritual movement.
He also gave me Shirley MacLaine's book "Out on a Limb", soon after it was published in Japan. I had his recommendation so I went to the Japanese Homeopathy Medical Association which is organized by Ms.Torako Yui to try the remedies.
Then I was prescribed some remedies, and one of them seemed to miraculously work on me. Have you ever seen the opening to the TV program "Ultra Q"? It was not as extreme as that, but soon after I licked the remedy I felt like my field of vision turned a half way or one way around. I thought to myself "Oh, I'm healed." I had this dramatic experience and just as I became more interested in homeopathy, another friend told me that they're helping this homeopathy school and asked me if I wanted to study there. So I decided go along.
TB: I see. Well, you accepted the invitation casually, but wasn't the study hard?
SN: Yes, it was. First of all, I couldn't remember the name of the remedies (laugh). And then I had many occasions when I couldn't comprehend, even when the tutors gave us as much explanations as they could. I became so upset that I shouted "I really can't understand!" (laugh). But overall, it was fun.
TB: Do you still use the remedies to adjust your condition? And do you give advice or recommendations for certain remedies to the people around you?
SN: Of course, I'm using it for myself. My household medicines are the remedies, not the antibiotics. And about giving advice… I would give to a very limited amount of people. I do have a diploma, but it only means that I was approved by Mr. Vothoulkas, not by the Japanese Ministry of Welfare nor the medical world. Someone ike myself, who is not a medical doctor should never prescribe anything to others carelessly.
TB: I see, certainly you're right. Well, we've been asking you about various health methods, but we must ask you about Edgar Cayce (laugh). Apparently you are using the distilled water maker "Didimi"(Distilled water purifier) and the Castor oil pack. Firstly, can you tell us how you found out about Cayce?
SN: I found out about Cayce as the greatest prophet of the 20th century, not as a psychic who gave health readings, since I was interested in the spiritual world. This might change the subject, but there used to be a TV program called "Time Traveler" on NHK's Boys' Drama Series.
TB: I know, it's with Ken Sogol (the character's name), right? That's nostalgic! It's a drama based on Yasutaka Tsutsui's novel "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time". I have a DVD which contains the last episode of the series (laugh).
SN: Wow! I'd like to see it! I haven't seen it since I saw it at my relative's house when I was in primary school (laugh). When I look back, that drama opened the door to my spiritual interest. That's how I became interested in Cayce, and gradually I became interested in health methods. I learned a lot of information from your website, rather than reading books about him.
TB: We're honored! Yes, the Didimi water distiller was your purchase with us, by mail order.
SN: Yes, that's right. One of my friends was praising the Didimi so much. He said that the energy of distilled water is very high. So he purchased five of them to fill the bath with distilled water. He was proudly telling me that he was feeling its energy on his entire body (laugh). He may sound strange, but he's an excellent person and graduated Tokyo University. Also his senses are very sharp, so I decided to give a try (laugh).
TB: That's an interesting detail. Five of them… I'd like to try bathing, but getting five Didimies is too challenging. And, you're also using the Castor oil pack, aren't you?
SN: I couldn't start using the Castor oil pack, because of the stickiness of the oil. But last year, I felt like trying so I started doing it. Sure enough, it feels good. I was healthy before I started, so I can't tell if anything has changed. But because of the sensation, I felt like using it more and more. So I'm using it once a week, continuously. In my case, I use it as soon as I wake up in the morning.
TB: I heard that you're doing colonics too.
SN: Yes, I am. I tried it for the first time about 15 years ago. I was using an enema pump which I found on the internet, but it broke early on. I couldn't be bothered to buy it again, then I thought "Maybe I could use the shower hose.", so I tried it. I unscrewed the shower head and laid on the bathroom floor. I pushed the hose to my anus and it worked. Since then, I was doing in that way.
TB: Really!? With a shower hose… Could it really be possible?
SN: Of course, it is. When you use a 'Washlet' (a Japanese toilet with water sprey), some water goes up in your anus. This is like its expanded version (laugh).
TB: That's so bold. But inserting tap water to the intestine, I don't want any good kids to imitate (laugh). But you're a using Colon Kit (enema bag) now, aren't you? How is it?
SN: The difficulty of using the shower hose was that I couldn't tell how much water I was inserting. But with an enema bag, I can measure the correct amount so it's safer. This gives me a clean sensation, a different feel-good to the Castor oil pack. I knew about the coffee enema, but I never imagined I would be doing it. It was my first time to drink coffee from my bottom (laugh).
TB: (Laugh out loud) The solution for enemas which Cayce recommended is with salt and bicarbonate of soda. This way is a little deep. But among all the enema solutions, coffee is the easiest. People who are allergic to caffeine use herbal tea, camomile tea is commonly used. Although using coffee is better because its caffeine which is absorbed from the intestinal mucosa, stimulates the liver and the gall bladder to increase their ability of detoxification.
SN: Oh, really? That's interesting. It reaches the liver. Speaking of the liver, I have done a "Liver Flush" (liver cleansing) as well. It's a method of drinking some Epsom salts, olive oil and grapefruit juice for some days. It's true that some green pellets come out with our stool.
TB: You've done Liver Flush as well?! I've done it once some years ago. Surely we'd never normally see the green pellets in our daily stool come out. It is said that they are gallstones, but I couldn't believe I had them in me. I was shocked. It is very mysterious for gallstones to come out from the liver or the bile duct by such an easy method.
SN: It's like "Who the hell has found this method!?" (laugh) It is very mysterious. Well, I'm thinking of continuing it once every year.
TB: You're such an expert of health methods, and you're aiming to live till 125 years old.
SN: Yes, I am. Marquess Shigenobu Okuma who was the founder of Waseda University (his old school) clearly said that "Human lifespan is to 125 years old", so I'd like to live till 125. Recently, there are some scientists who have theories of the human lifespan to be to 130 years old. By the way, Waseda University values this number "125". For instance, they made the hight of the clock tower of Okuma Kodo (hall) to be 125 shaku (old Japanese unit, equivalent of 37.9 meters), and they cerebrate the 125th anniversary grander than the 100th anniversary.
TB: If you keep on like this, you might live till 125 years old (laugh). Well, lastly, we'd like to ask you about your activity as a musician which is your main career. You have been performing around the disaster-stricken area since March 11, 2011. What made you to do such activities?
SN: When I watched what happened in those area on TV right after the earthquake and tsunami, I thought that "This is terrible, I want to do something." Actually, I thought the same way when the Hanshin Earthquake struck (1995), but I was not physically well so I couldn't go to the damaged area. I've been regretting that ever since. So I really had to go this time. Also, the generation of Bakufu-Slump fans are around their 30s to 40s, and these people will be leading the restoration of the area. And I thought people wouldn't mind hearing our songs which are lively.
For example, "Runner" can sound strong if I sang it with one guitar on my back. It's been played at sports festivals of schools, so children know it too. I felt that "I have this great song, so if I didn't go, who could?" Then I made some connections with people to be invited to the area. I am a completely different person from who I was 17 years ago when the Hanshin Earthquake struck. But sometimes I think to myself that I became healthier for this purpose of encouraging those people.
TB: What do you feel after actually going to those places?
SN: Well, this time I was in a good condition physically and mentally, so it helped me to stay calm even when I saw things which were as bad as I expected. So I feel that I could reach the victims through singing because I was relaxed. Even though, when I sang at the stage of some school gyms which were actually shelters, I may have forced some people who didn't want to, to hear my songs. I really don't know how my music was received, but I hope that they enjoyed it.
The most impressive thing was that I could feel the spirited energy which was like "It will be hard, but we're going to rebuild from zero." among people in Iwate. I was glad to feel that. I will keep on doing this activity.
TB: What message do you want to spread through your songs?
SN: It has to be the energy of well-being and healing. I produced the album which was released in last March called "Utau (singing) Power Spots ~in Sedona and Hawaii~", with such intention. On one of the songs of the album called "Shiawase ~for TERRA~", we used the "field recording" technique on the beach of Maui to capture the natural sound.
I really want people to listen to this song. My recording staff was amazed and he said, "This is unbelievable that the sounds of the waves were captured at perfect timings!" It ended up sounding as if the nature supported us. In fact, the day before of the recording, I went to pray at the Haleakala mountain where the God of Maui is believed to live. I said in my prayer, "I'm going to sing tomorrow, so please support us." So we believe that the God of Haleakala really supported us (laugh).
TB: You recorded all the songs at power-spots (vortex points) like Maui and Sedona. Also you have written a guide book called "Seichi Sedona-no Arukikata" (How to walk through Sedona, the sacred place).
SN: Yes. In that book I introduced the vortex (a location thought to be emitting energy) of Sedona, shops, restaurants, and spiritual people. A native american shaman, Yukuara whom I interviewed for the book also sang a song on the album "Utau Power Spots ~in Sedona and Hawaii~". He says he wants to go on a pilgrimage to Fukushima this year, so I'm thinking of going with him.
TB: That will be wonderful. We're praying for you to make it. We thank you for telling us your valuable stories.
