{"id":3247,"date":"2015-05-14T18:00:30","date_gmt":"2015-05-14T09:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kodo.or.jp\/blog_en\/?p=3247"},"modified":"2015-05-19T12:57:40","modified_gmt":"2015-05-19T03:57:40","slug":"a-season-of-new-buds-by-tomohiro-mitome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.kodo.or.jp\/blog_en\/posts-by-kodo-ensemble-leader\/20150514_3247.html","title":{"rendered":"“A Season of New Buds” by Tomohiro Mitome"},"content":{"rendered":"
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May 1, 2015\"Photo:<\/a>
\nHello, everyone! I hope that you are well.<\/p>\n

This is Tomohiro Mitome, leader of taiko performing arts ensemble Kodo. May is here\u00a0and it is a very comfortable,\u00a0refreshing season. Flowers are bursting into full bloom\u00a0and I feel so energized by spring.<\/p>\n

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As usual,\u00a0April for Kodo was a time for us to hold rehearsals for the next new “Kodo One Earth Tour” production, which will premiere on Sado this November. We also rehearsed for “Kodo One Earth Tour: Eternity” and the School Workshop Performances,\u00a0which resume their tours in Japan in June, as well as the “Kodo Special Performances on Sado Island<\/a>,”\u00a0and other projects. Much like the cycle of the nature, this is a season at Kodo when new buds emerge\u00a0and grow.<\/p>\n

This May, we will hold\u00a0encore performances of “Amaterasu<\/a>”\u00a0at Shochiku-za Theatre in Osaka. “Amaterasu” premiered in 2006, and we also held popular encore seasons in 2007 and 2013.<\/p>\n

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This production is a rare opportunity for Kodo to collaborate on stage with our artistic director, Tamasaburo Bando. This year, we welcome back guest artist Harei Aine and look forward to sharing a new version of this performance\u00a0with our audiences. In this production, we convey the story of a famous\u00a0Japanese myth using the myriad\u00a0sounds of Japanese musical instruments, ranging from\u00a0raging gods, using the powerful roar\u00a0of the taiko, to one\u00a0scene where “eight million gods” gather for a party.<\/p>\n

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The party reaches its climax with a\u00a0dance by a\u00a0goddess called\u00a0Ameno-uzume<\/span> (performed by Harei Aine), which leads to\u00a0the appearance of the dazzling sun goddess, Amaterasu<\/span>, who emerges\u00a0from the heavenly rock cave. That moment creates such a powerful\u00a0wave of energy that even as performers on the same stage, we cannot help feeling moved by it as we\u00a0play our\u00a0taiko. It is a truly precious moment. I hope you won’t\u00a0miss the opportunity to see this performance live!<\/p>\n

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During the Japanese “Golden Week” holiday season (from the end of April), we have our fourth annual\u00a0“Kodo Special Performances on Sado Island,” here at home, featuring Kodo’s senior members and\u00a0our brand-new junior members. In March, the Hokuriku Shinkansen (bullet train) service was launched, as well as a new high-speed ferry service\u00a0from Naoetsu to\u00a0Ogi called\u00a0\u201cAkane.\u201d This has made the trip to Ogi faster and easier than ever before, and opened up the possibility for people to attend our afternoon performances on a day trip from the mainland.<\/p>\n

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In\u00a0April, twelve\u00a0new apprentices joined us on Sado to begin their\u00a0new\u00a0life here, in a world completely different from their lives before. They are gradually getting used to the rhythm of their new lifestyle at the Apprentice Centre. They face new challenges one after another, including taiko training, various\u00a0lessons, agricultural activities, and taking part in local festivals. These new experiences will form a strong base within\u00a0them, which they will surely draw on\u00a0in two\u00a0years, five\u00a0years, ten\u00a0years, and even further down the track. The Kodo members who form the core of our performances today were all once apprentices who\u00a0experienced all the very same things. These members are supported by our\u00a0senior members who paved the way for them.<\/p>\n

We will\u00a0continue to share a variety of generations and forms of expression with you all through our performances.<\/p>\n

\"tomohiro_s\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

May 1, 2015 Hello, everyone! I hope that you are well. This is Tomohiro Mitome, leader of taiko performing arts ensemble Kodo. May is here\u00a0and it is a very comfortable,\u00a0refreshing season. Flowers are bursting into full bloom\u00a0and I feel so energized by spring. As usual,\u00a0April for Kodo was a time for us to hold rehearsals for the next new “Kodo One Earth Tour” production, which will premiere on Sado this November. We also rehearsed for “Kodo One Earth Tour: Eternity” and the School Workshop Performances,\u00a0which resume their tours in Japan in June, as well as the “Kodo Special Performances on Sado Island,”\u00a0and other projects. Much like the cycle of the … \u25b6\u7d9a\u304d\u3092\u8aad\u3080<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[94],"tags":[11,102,48,6,82,64,35],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kodo.or.jp\/blog_en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3247"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kodo.or.jp\/blog_en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kodo.or.jp\/blog_en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kodo.or.jp\/blog_en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kodo.or.jp\/blog_en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3247"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/www.kodo.or.jp\/blog_en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3247\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3333,"href":"http:\/\/www.kodo.or.jp\/blog_en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3247\/revisions\/3333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kodo.or.jp\/blog_en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kodo.or.jp\/blog_en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kodo.or.jp\/blog_en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}