ZUN And His Excessive Use of Psychedelics:

[Anonymous No.]

I am certain that ZUN got much, if not all of his inspiration for Gensokyo and Touhou from habitual use of DMT (and likely other psychedelics as well).

[Anonymous No.]

bro how is this artist so creative haha are they on drugs? all artist do drugs bro lol theyre so fucking quirky haha
kys

[Anonymous No.]

Anyone that has actually done DMT will tell you that the experience is no mere hallucination. In fact, they will likely insist that they quite literally visited a different realm of reality altogether. What's fascinating however, is that there are various phenomenons people encounter with DMT that runs consistent across many different accounts. Interactions with female deities and mischievous “machine elves” are the most well known of these phenomenon. However, the environment you take DMT, as well as magic mushrooms and other psychedelics, will directly influence your experience.

It's well documented that use of shrooms is a staple in multiple shamanic traditions around the world, DMT likewise is also a naturally occurring drug. The realm encountered on a DMT or Shroom trip is literally a trip to the spiritual realm. So if you go into the woods, for example, to experience a trip, there is a high chance you will run into the spirits that inhabit that forest. This ties into the Shinto influence on Gensokyo, which is a world inhabited by yokai and kami alike. Yokai and kami (and pagan deities in general) inhabit this next layer of reality above ours, and for all intents and purposes this is literally Gensokyo. Appropriate that Gensokyo often gets translated as “Land of Illusions”, as most who have never done DMT will often dismiss the experiences others have with it as illusory hallucinations. But this is not true, Gensokyo is literally real. At least, it is ZUN's understanding of that Level 2 of reality (there are multiple levels, with the highest level being the omnipotent GOD himself). Pagan and Animist deities only occupy this second layer, which is why they are unsuitable for worship. They are as likely to deceive and play around with humans as they are to help them. You see this clearly portrayed with the mischievous and conflicting personalities that embody Gensokyo. And no surprise, as Gensokyo is literally just a modern conception of the Shinto spiritual world, yokai and kami as portrayed in Shinto myths are similarly mischievous.

What I want to emphasize again is that Gensokyo isn't inspired by Shintoism, but is literally ZUNs interpretation of the spiritual world that ancient Japanese shamans explored.

[Anonymous No.]

>>34450129
One of the most well known visual effects that psychedelic drugs induce in people are complex, self-looping designs which subtly magnify or enhance in intensity, known as fractals. For those that have never experienced it, the intricate designs that psychedelic induced fractals make are somewhat similar to the type of designs you could find when looking through a kaleidoscope. Of course that is an extremely primitive comparison, but for those who are still virgins to the psychedelic experience, its the most accurate example I can come up with. Another way I could describe them, is that these fractals can at times form patterns similar to the more hypnotizing types of bullet patterns you will see on Touhou lunatic mode.

This isn't to say that the Touhou patterns are in anyway an accurate mirror of psychedelic fractals, but they do share some similarities. As far as the Touhou Project goes, ZUN's obvious priority is to make entertaining games. Not necessarily to accurately represent the DMT experience. But its also clear where he gets the inspiration for many of the designs he implements.

What is interesting about Touhou though, is that just how psychedelic fractals are not simply passively observed, there is a feeling of actively engaging with them when you inhabit that realm. Similarly the bullet designs in Touhou can be beautiful to look at. But as you are playing a Touhou game you are intensely involved with those designs. In the case of Touhou, you are fighting off the hypnotizing allure to focus on dodging the attack patterns. The fact however, that ZUN captures this feeling of active involvement with elaborate patterns, does in a very small way capture the psychedelic experience with fractals.

[Anonymous No.]

>>34450383
Then there is the music, probably among the most beloved parts of the Touhou experience. The music is an integral part of each stage. More than pleasant to listen to, it defines the mood of each level and does this in harmony with the visuals. Particularly the bullet patterns, of which I already mentioned their influence from psychedelically induced fractal patterns. This intimate connection that each stages music has with the aesthetic layout of the bullet patterns is no coincidence.

Terence Mckenna, who was probably the closest thing there was to an “intellectual authority” on psychedelic drugs, carefully traced the usage of various hallucinogenic drugs across different shamanic practices. Among a tribe in South America, he found ritualistic use of Ayahuasca, which is a a type of drug laced with DMT. What he found is that while using this drug people would ceremonially make music. Afterwards they would discuss the different musical pieces, but they would comment on each piece with visual language. Saying that certain parts looked a certain color, and attributed designs to the tones. Fascinating though, is that everyone that participated in this completely understood these visual comments, despite the fact that they were discussing aural phenomenon.

The music in Touhou, just like the bullet patterns, are significantly influenced by the visions that ZUN experiences while on DMT and other psychedelic drugs. Which explains why the two aspects interconnect so well. While working on music, I suspect ZUN listens to drafts he is working on while on a psychedelic high. He then uses the images he saw to inform how to both edit the tracks, and on which aesthetic and bullet patterns he should use in connection with those tracks.

[Anonymous No.]

>>34450087
Welcome to the reality lads, if you are (((r*dditor))) or a shitty dircord tranny fag GTFO and kill yourself now

[Anonymous No.]

I think the drug he uses is alcohol, not DMT. Beer makes people more creative.

[Anonymous No.]

>>34450129
>Gensokyo is literally real
Reminds me of this thread

[Anonymous No.]

>>34453237
stop talking like a crossboarder and lurk more faggot

[Anonymous No.]

I only tried LSD 2-3 times. Are shrooms really better?

[Anonymous No.]

>>34453667
now this is a jp dream I can get on board with

[Anonymous No.]

Hitler took the DMT

Stalin took the DMT

Mao took the DMT

The DM DM DMT

[Anonymous No.]

/jp/ - DMT culture

[Anonymous No.]

dude I think you're underestimating beer.

[Anonymous No.]

Based Shizo

[Anonymous No.]

>>34457231
better than the 3dpd generals

[Anonymous No.]

>>34459749
Shizo Abe

[Anonymous No.]

piss off youtherock
piss off alison

[Anonymous No.]

>>34457138
AND I'M HERE TO TELL YOU, 1776 WILL COMMENCE AGAIN IF YOU TAKE OUR DMT

[Anonymous No.]

>>34461419
What are ZUN's political views?

[Anonymous No.]

>>34461846
Beer

[Anonymous No.]

>>34453667
I think I remember that thread.

[Anonymous No.]

>>34450129
>>34450383
>>34450488
very cool

[Anonymous No.]

>>34450129
>“machine elves”
Oh how I wonder.

[Anonymous No.]

>>34462522
So the Dwemers did't vanish, they just moved to Gensokyo!

[Anonymous No.]

>>34462696
Yukari took a liking to their math, so she changed a few numbers is all.
One day they just went poof. Gone like dust in the wind.

[Anonymous No.]

>>34453667
I like that he makes a fairly okay case for this but then says 'noone' instead of 'no one'.

[Anonymous No.]

>>34450087
typical druggie who thinks that imagination is only possible on drugs

[Anonymous No.]

>>34465760
typical /pol/tard election tourist

[Anonymous No.]

>>34465760
>>34450122

[Anonymous No.]

>>34465760
>>34466552
Typical 4chan users, insulting someone and making assumptions about people they don't know nothing about.

[Anonymous No.]

[Anonymous No.]

>>34456223
No.

[Anonymous No.]

>>34450129
>>34450383
>>34450488
The question is can you meet cute hyperdimensional anime girls on DMT. I dunno, never tried it. But I have played some 2hu on two tabs and that was pretty sweet. Otaku who don't dabble in this out of fear or prejudice are missing an entire layer of new experience but that's their loss. But yeah, 2hu is laden with synesthesia, pretty neat. All this being said, I don't know if ZUN or other people in Japan can even get their hands on drugs, considering they still lock people up for weed ffs. Shrooms seems more realistic as they can just go hunting for those, or grow them.

[Anonymous No.]

>>34450488
The only drugs Zun do is alcohol, and maybe mushrooms (they cite them as psychedelic in mangas and other works so much, but most for laughs).

[Anonymous No.]

>>34453667
First part set up an interesting thesis only to drop it harder than the bass on a hardstyle song in the second part

[Anonymous No.]

>needing drugs
I pity you neurotypicals that dont have the brain capacity to induce altered SoM at will.

[Anonymous No.]

>>34468014
>Winner use drugs
Ok loser

[Anonymous No.]

>>34469006
I envy neurotypicals for whom altered states of consciousness are optional.

[Anonymous No.]

You really can't take it easy anymore on the jay.

[Anonymous No.]

>>34473629
/jp/ almost feels like a 4chan board now.
It makes me shudder. But I keep my optimism.

[Anonymous No.]

I looked it up, and apparently magic mushrooms were legal in Japan up until 2002. So, I suppose it's a possibility he used them. Not so sure about DMT, though. I'd imagine it's difficult to get your hands on that in any country where it's illegal, unless you know a fair bit of chemistry.

[Anonymous No.]

>>34473936
DMT is a naturally occuring drug (for example, when you die it gets released to your brain). If you know what your doing its one of the easiest drugs to access, since you can extract it from regular plants. So its practically impossible to ban so long as you know how to extract it.

[Anonymous No.]

>>34453667
So in other words... it IS real and I need to go find it myself

[Anonymous No.]

>>34468014
This but unironically. Taking psychedelics while playing Touhou was a wild ride. You arent a true Otaku if you arent willing to experiment with drugs to get closer to Gensokyo

[Anonymous No.]

>>34450087
americans are so brain damaged as a society that the only explanation for a slightly unusual level of creative originality from an individual artist is that it has to be ~weird~mind~bending~drugs~. what a fuckin toilet of humanity and culture you have been raised in

[Anonymous No.]

>>34477961
>weird mind bending drugs
Don't forget autism as well

[Anonymous No.]

>>34476106
I'm not being ironic. There's really something to be said about mixing low doses of psychedelics with anime and stuff.

[Anonymous No.]

>>34481417
You're not being ironic, you're being a fucking retard 20-something DUDE I JUST DID DRUGS FOR THE FIRST TIME faggot being obnoxious

[Anonymous No.]

>>34470210
ya like steve jobs and elon musk, what huge losers

[Anonymous No.]

>>34483789
They are (or were) also bussinesmen. Getting stoned won't make you succesful, anon.

[Anonymous No.]

>>34483940
thinking outside the box certainly will and psychedelics are well established at doing that, common sense really anon

[Anonymous No.]

ZUN is a hack

[Anonymous No.]

>>34483511
Haven't even done them in years but keep being a hostile faggot for no reason.

[Anonymous No.]

>>34483511
Take it easy or get out of /jp/ faggot.

[Anonymous No.]

>>34467194
https://streamable.com/lyx6oh

[Anonymous No.]

>>34450129
I want to fuck a machine elf

[Anonymous No.]

>>34489583
What Touhou character most resembles a machine elf?

[Anonymous No.]

Reminder that Perfect Memento in Strict Sense says the forest of magic is filled with hallucinogenic mushrooms. Many characters have consumed mushrooms from the forest of magic, of note is the chapter of CoLA in which Marisa picked mushrooms to try and make Rinnosuke's temperment less gloomy.

Eirin made a drug that gives people happy dreams and she said that Alice is her biggest customer for said drug. Team Shanghai Alice is named after Alice and her doll, Shanghai.

Rinnosuke has a hookah, and the stage 3 newhu uses her smoke to mellow people out.

Outside of canon, ZUN's had Alison do art in a couple of the official 2hu books, and Alison also got comics in several issues of SCoOW. If you're unfamiliar, Alison wrote some touhou doujins which are more about drugs than they are about touhou, or anything else for that matter.

Glad we could finally admit this side of the series.

[Anonymous No.]

>>34466552
I don't see how decrying drug use is /pol/ exclusive. Crawl back into your hole and trip on shrooms or whatever

[Anonymous No.]

>>34492293
fwiw
while that's true about the shrooms, the main thing consistently brought up with shrooms in touhou is their poisons
The drugs which made you dream were less about drugs and more about ancient philosophical concepts (Am I a butterfly dreaming that I'm a man?)
Correct about the smoke and hookah there. Correct about Alison. There's also Joon (and Rinnosuke, a little) who smoke cigarettes, but this is shamed or associated with negative stuff in Touhou.

Interestingly although Touhou is very big on drinking (of course) it does have an entire chapter of WaHH that is a PSA against peer pressure drinking.

[Anonymous No.]

>>34492522
I will when you finally fuck off from /jp/

[Anonymous No.]

>>34492522
I don't see how being a butthurt faggot gets you anywhere.

[Anonymous No.]

>>34484419
Try creating as much as him.

[Anonymous No.]

>>34483940
The most recent fad of CEOs and bussinesmen are trying a semanal micro-dose of DMT/psychedelics. And it works well, just google it to see some stories. A friend of mine do it, taking edible DMT, and he is a sucessful bussinesmen, and likes to be stoned too, neither of that made he loses his company, conferences he do or high-priced courses for other bussinessman.

Just like coke is the holy grail of drugs for financial people and CEOs bosses, but it won't make you looks like a crack addict.

[Anonymous No.]

last one.

[Anonymous No.]

>>34450087
Japanese people don't do drugs. They're retarded and think weed makes you trip out and shit.

[Anonymous No.]

>>34453667
The second guy is a retarded ESL. He thinks that "observation" in quantum physics refers to whether the scientists are looking at the experiment or turned around. Not to mention all of his grammar and spelling errors. A stark contrast to the first poster who has interesting ideas and a strong command over the language.

[Anonymous No.]

>>34508884
Japanese people ARE drugs

[Anonymous No.]

>>34453667
You truly cannot let common sense restrain you in Gensokyo.

[Anonymous No.]

>>34453667
By this logic wouldn't things like Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and Elder Scrolls be considered "real" as well? It's entirely possible to make fictional worlds in any fictional media "real" as well.

[Anonymous No.]

>>34484419
I fucking wish I was a hack of his level.

[Anonymous No.]

>>34520050
Well, you COULD simulate said universes in a computer when technology gets advanced enough. As far as the (sentient?) beings living in said simulations are aware, their reality is real, even if to you they are merely data in a sandbox.

[Anonymous No.]

>>34520574
God, imagine being able to enter that simulation. I could finally live out my fantasy of being a drug baron in Miami of 1980s

[Anonymous No.]

reminder that everyone is born and is naturally creative.
the world is set up in a way to strip you of that creativity to become another cog in society. those who never lose their creativity strive when given the chance.