Posts by Staff
“Sumida Park in Spring” by Naomi Iseki
March 28, 2015
There is a cherry blossom festival underway at Sumida Park, near Kodo’s Tokyo Office. When you go there to see the blossoms, you also see a lot of bright pink paper lanterns.
This year, there is a lantern for “Taiko Performing Arts Ensemble, Kodo” hanging amongst the lanterns for all the shops in Asakusa. They always support us so warmly.
We hope you’ll keep an eye out for our lantern if you visit Asakusa to see the cherry blossoms!
Kodo “DADAN 2015” Performances
June 10 (Wed)–15 (Mon), 2015 Asakusa Public Hall, Taito Ward, Tokyo
Tickets are selling quickly! Don’t delay, reserve yours today!
“Yoshikazu Fujimoto Taiko Workshop in New Zealand” by Tsugumi Yamanaka
Yoshikazu Fujimoto is heading to New Zealand for the first time, where he will lead taiko and bamboo flute workshops.
If you live in NZ, or fancy a trip there, please sign up and take part!
Dates: June 5 (Fri)–7 (Sun), 2015
Venue: International Pacific College, Palmerston North, New Zealand
Instructor: Yoshikazu Fujimoto
For further details and to book, please contact the organizer directly:
Email: s2111016@ipc.ac.nz (Saki Iwasawa)
Details also available on Facebook.
“Kodo Apprentices Have a Go at Noh” by Yasuko Honma
On March 1, the Kodo apprentices took part in a Noh recital in Hamochi on Sado Island. The Noh master who taught the Kodo apprentices until last year, Mr. Masao Matsunaga, stopped teaching because of his age, and a new master will come and teach our apprentices from later this year. So before this recital, some locals gave the apprentices three lessons and then they appeared on stage in their first Noh performance.
At the recital, they performed Shimai, one style of Noh where one person dances without a mask and the others sing along to accompany the dance. The title was “Momijigari”, which means “autumn-leaf viewing.” It was not easy to do the whole piece, but they did their best. Local students also joined in and the apprentices were very impressed by the Noh performances by high school students.
At the “Thank You” after-party, the apprentices enjoyed talking to a lot of different people. It was a valuable experience for them.
The locals say they look forward to the apprentices’ participation every year. They learned a lot about Noh, including dance and how to put on the various costumes, so they sang a song for them as a token of their gratitude .
“Yoko’s Song Workshops at Ogi Elementary School” by Tsugumi Yamanaka
In February, we held four of Yoko Fujimoto’s Song Workshops at Ogi Elementary School on Sado Island. It was a chilly time of year with light snowfall, but the children sang happily and had a great time together with Yoko.
Yoko has led these song workshops at this school every year for 16 years now. Even though the teachers have come and gone with transfers to other schools, this workshop been handed along like a relay baton. The first workshops were held here when my daughter was in the first grade, and although her homeroom teacher at that time was subsequently transferred away, she was transferred back here again some years later. That feels like fate to me.
Ogi Elementary School is going to move to a different school building (formerly Ogi Junior High School) in April, so this year’s workshops were the last ones here at these premises. This building has echoed with songs for years and years, but it will be demolished soon. On March 9, Yoko volunteered to give a concert entitled “Sado-kara Itadaita Uta Monogatari (Story of Songs from Sado Island)” for all the students, teachers and parents of Ogi Elementary School. She showed them her appreciation for being able to give enjoyable workshops at Ogi Elementary School for such a long time.
“Taiko Experience On Location with Shinchan-sensei” by Shinichi Sogo
Feb. 24, 2015
Sado Island Taiko Centre On Location!
–Taiko Experience with Shinchan-sensei–
I was really lucky with the weather for my taiko workshops in Niigata. I went to many different places: a hotel, Niigata Prefectural Civic Center, several schools, and a nursery school.
Every time, I was at a different venue with a different number of participants of different ages…the situation changed every time. So I would meet each group, then on the spot I would think about what games to play with them. It’s a bit nerve-wracking, but that pressure is always exciting for me. I made a taiko piece with each group and sometimes we even sang together as we drummed.
When I see everyone united and smiling, it makes me want to keep playing taiko, too! I will lead these workshops again next year, too, so I hope to see everyone again then!
Sado Island Taiko Centre (in Japanese) ENGLISH COMING SOON!
Sado Island Taiko Centre on Facebook (in Japanese)
“Ebisu Daikoku” by Ryoko Iwamoto
Ebisu Daikoku
“Ebisu Daikoku” is a new unit that brings together former “The Blue Hearts” drummer Tetsuya Kajiwara and Kodo’s Yosuke Oda. Their pulsating performance is making its way to Shibuya, Tokyo, this weekend.
Mr. Kajiwara came to Sado Island for from days, from Feb. 23 to 26, to prepare for the performance. I will show you some pictures from their rehearsals.
They created a storm of sound, rhythm, and beats in the large hall as they rehearsed. They demonstrate that there are far more possibilities than you’d think when it comes to drums and taiko. I am sorry that I cannot do their explosive sound justice in pictures.
Please come to Shibuya to feel their sound in person.
See you on March 8 for “Ebisu Daikoku” live!
Ryoko Iwamoto (former Kodo apprentice, staff member since Feb. 2015)
Mar. 8 (Sun), 2015 Yosuke Oda “Ebisu Daikoku” Performance (Shibuya Ward, Tokyo)
http://www.kodo.or.jp/news/20150308ebisudaikoku_en.html
“The Year 33 (2014-2015) Apprentices Commence Their 2nd Year” by Michiko Chida
Feb. 21, 2015
Year 33 class of Kodo Apprentices finished their 1st year of our programme in January and started their 2nd year in February. They used to rely on the apprentices in the year above for all kinds of things, but those senior apprentices have left the nest, so now there are just eight of them living here: 7 males and 1 female. The number of apprentices has halved, so they have to cooperate more than ever and figure out how to live together comfortably, as a new team. Otherwise, they will not be able to concentrate on their studies nor improve as a class.
On top of those changes, a powerful, relentless cold wave hit Sado during their transition period. It was the first winter on Sado for the new 2nd year apprentices, so they looked nervous to find out just how cold it would get. One night, when it was forecast to reach a low of -4℃ , one of the apprentices anxiously asked me:
“Is is going to get even colder?”
I said, “No, no, this is the coldest it gets on Sado. It won’t get any colder than this, so you can wear your warmest clothes now. You’ll be all right, you will survive!”
They had a dance practice day on one of those freezing cold days in February.
Ohara-bushi Dance Practice
While teaching them Ohara-bushi, a Tsugaru dance from Aomori Prefecture in Northern Honshuu, Chieko Kojima looked outside and happily exclaimed, “Perfect! It really looks like Aomori!”
Onikenbai (demon sword dance) Practice
Yasuhiko Ishihara, the head of the Apprentice Centre, teaches them demon sword dance Onikenbai, which is a traditional performing art from Iwate Prefecture, also located in northern Japan. He told them, “The locals practice this dance outside at this time of year…”
The Year 33 apprentices must have become both physically and mentally stronger since last year…
I hope they will have grown even more by the time the new 1st year apprentices join them in April.
“The Road to ‘Michi’–Part 3″ by Mitsunaga Matsuura
As the performers rehearse, it feels like each beat creates a “pellet” of sound.
The rehearsal hall is filled with sound pellets, fired from every instrument.
▶YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1N2ME9rH4E
Kodo 2015 Special Concert “Michi”
Mar. 19 (Thu)–20 (Fri), 2015 Yokohama, Kanagawa
http://www.kodo.or.jp/news/20150319michi_en.html
Director: Motofumi Yamaguchi
Performers (TBC): Eiichi Saito, Tomohiro Mitome, Yuichiro Funabashi, Mitsuru Ishizuka, Kenta Nakagome, Tsuyoshi Maeda, Rai Tateishi, Maya Minowa, Ryosuke Inada, Masaya Koike and Mizuki Yoneyama
Programme (TBC): Zoku, Jang-Gwara, Chonlima, Michi, Shamisen, Monochrome, Miyake, Sankan Shion, Yamauta, O-daiko, Yatai-bayashi
“The Road to ‘Michi’–Part 2” by Mitsunaga Matsuura
Kodo 2015 Special Concert “Michi”
This programme is filled with moments to let each individual shine, showcasing their own uniquely honed skills.
▶Watch on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1N2ME9rH4E
Kodo 2015 Special Concert “Michi”
Mar. 19 (Thu)–20 (Fri), 2015 Yokohama, Kanagawa
http://www.kodo.or.jp/news/20150319michi_en.html
Director: Motofumi Yamaguchi
Performers: Eiichi Saito, Tomohiro Mitome, Yuichiro Funabashi, Mitsuru Ishizuka, Kenta Nakagome, Tsuyoshi Maeda, Rai Tateishi, Maya Minowa, Ryosuke Inada, Yuki Kajiro, Masaya Koike and Mizuki Yoneyama (Cast subject to change)
Programme (TBC): Zoku, Jang-Gwara, Chonlima, Michi, Shamisen, Monochrome, Miyake, Sankan Shion, Yamauta, O-daiko, Yatai-bayashi
“We’re in Texas!” by Yui Kawamoto
Feb. 19, 2015
We are now in Austin, Texas, on the “Mystery” North America Tour.
We will perform at the Paramount Theatre tonight. When we arrived backstage, we found autographs by the Kodo members who came here on tour in 2007!
Takeshi Arai and Masayuki Sakamoto were on that tour 8 years ago and they told us all kinds of stories from 2007, reliving their memories as they looked at each name on the wall.
We still have many more performances to go on our current tour throughout the USA and Canada!
“Kodo One Earth Tour 2015: Mystery” North America Tour
http://www.kodo.or.jp/oet/index_en.html#schedule13a