{"id":781,"date":"2014-05-23T10:33:03","date_gmt":"2014-05-23T01:33:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kodo.or.jp\/blog_en\/?p=781"},"modified":"2014-05-23T10:33:03","modified_gmt":"2014-05-23T01:33:03","slug":"from-amaterasu-to-mystery-part-4-by-journalist-sachiko-tamashige","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.kodo.or.jp\/blog_en\/articles-interviews\/20140523_781.html","title":{"rendered":"\u201cFrom ‘Amaterasu’ to ‘Mystery’: Part 4″ by journalist Sachiko Tamashige"},"content":{"rendered":"
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From “Amaterasu” to “Mystery”: Part 4<\/h2>\n

Article by journalist Sachiko Tamashige<\/h3>\n

“Mystery” directed by Tamasaburo Bando<\/span><\/h1>\n

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Tamasaburo Bando,
Artistic Director<\/p><\/div>\n

The audience may wonder what kind of idea lies behind the production of \u201cMystery.\u201d To address this, Tamasaburo Bando wrote the following note prior to the opening:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to put into words, but I\u2019m aiming to create a world of mystery. Across Japan, the folk arts have been handed down for countless generations. There\u2019s a sacredness there, an air of mystery within each prayer. The drums express this, and I would like for the audience to feel it, too. I hope theatergoers will experience the same sort of otherworldly splendor that you sense in temples, shrines, and moments of discovery in the forest. I also want people to enjoy darkness: the beauty of something you come across lit by candlelight, a sense that is both vague and marvelous. Peel back the layers surrounding mystery and you find fear, humor, charm, and other varied and significant qualities. In the \u201cSerpent Dances\u201d that have come down from old, the defeated serpent is endowed with a surprising level of sacredness. In this performance, many things will emerge from out of the darkness. While it\u2019s essentially a drum concert, playing as only drums can play, we\u2019ve added plenty of visual interest. A moment of wonder means nothing unless you are actually present to experience it. Religious rituals as well as the arts have been refined over centuries, using inspiration from those who came before us. In this drumming performance, I hope that the audience will enjoy to the fullest that magical sense of space and time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Namahage\"

“Mystery” introduces new theatrical elements and acting parts to the Kodo stage<\/p><\/div>\n

Just before the opening, I asked the artistic director Tamasaburo the following question: \u201cWhat is \u2018Mystery\u2019 all about ?\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt is nearly invisible in the darkness, but you can catch a glimpse of it if you narrow your eyes. If something is hidden or obscured by a veil, the urge to reveal it becomes stronger. You long for light and the future if darkness prevents you from moving forward. You experience fear and anxiety \u2014 a craving for something. Darkness triggers a wave of emotions and whirling desires in one\u2019s mind, and this is the key to open the realm of \u201cMystery.\u201d When you look at the serpent dance, it allures you with its seductive beauty, and you cannot help asking the question: is the serpent really evil or a sacred spirit? \u201cMystery\u201d in the darkness invites you on a trip into your internal world. When an artist performs to the best of his abilities, wholeheartedly utilizing his polished senses and training, he might be able to conjure up a magical moment on the stage. It might happen to only one performer or occur on only one night. Then, the stage is totally transformed. This is the power of theater.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"New

New lighting props were designed especially for “Mystery.” A mystical atmosphere is created with both sight and sound.<\/p><\/div>\n

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The darkness of \u201cMystery\u201d and the words of Tamasaburo remind me of the Grand Relocation of the Ise Jingu shrine last autumn. The relocation reached its climax on the evening of October 2nd<\/sup>, 2013, when the sacred regalia, the mirror that represents Amaterasu<\/span>, was moved from the old shrine to the newly built one. The mirror was covered by a white silk curtain and carried out by shinto priests in ancient traditional costume. All of this happened in darkness. Three thousands people sat in in front of the procession, hardly able to see or hear anything apart from the insects, the sound of the wind and the sound of Shinto priests\u2019 traditional shoes stepping on pebbles in the walkway. I felt mystery in the darkness for a long time. This is the 62nd<\/sup> relocation, and the first one in the 21st<\/sup> century \u2014 part of a tradition that has been handed down to us through many generations since 690 AD. We tend to light up everything. We tend to believe that things are only visible after the Modern Age began. Kodo\u2019s \u201cMystery\u201d will evoke something deeper within us, and help us transcend our contemporary space and time for a glimpse of another dimension \u2014 an invisible world just beyond the darkness.<\/p>\n

Photos: Takashi Okamoto<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Also read From \u201cAmaterasu\u201d to \u201cMystery\u201d<\/strong>: Part 1\u00a0– Guided by the mysterious power of the Serpent<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Part 2 –\u00a0Behind the Scenes of \u201cMystery\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Part 3 –\u00a0Iwami Kagura: Feeling the Heat and Beat in Shimane Prefecture<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Sachiko Tamashige, Journalist<\/span><\/h4>\n
Studied social psychology and\u00a0journalism at Waseda University,\u00a0art history at Sotherby\u2019s and film\u00a0anthropology at Goldsmith College in\u00a0London. Worked for NHK, BBC, and\u00a0Channel 4 etc. between 1990 and 2001\u00a0in London. Writing for newspapers\u00a0such as Japan Times, newspaper weekly\u00a0magazines such as AERA, monthly\u00a0magazines such as Blue Prints, etc.\u00a0specializing in contemporary art,\u00a0architecture, design and Japanese\u00a0traditional culture.<\/address>\n
\u00a0<\/address>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From “Amaterasu” to “Mystery”: Part 4 Article by journalist Sachiko Tamashige “Mystery” directed by Tamasaburo Bando   The audience may wonder what kind of idea lies behind the production of \u201cMystery.\u201d To address this, Tamasaburo Bando wrote the following note prior to the opening: \u201cIt\u2019s hard to put into words, but I\u2019m aiming to create a world of mystery. Across Japan, the folk arts have been handed down for countless generations. There\u2019s a sacredness there, an air of mystery within each prayer. The drums express this, and I would like for the audience to feel it, too. I hope theatergoers will experience the same sort of otherworldly splendor that you … \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":[50],"tags":[67,6,7,86,64],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kodo.or.jp\/blog_en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781"}],"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=781"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/www.kodo.or.jp\/blog_en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":799,"href":"http:\/\/www.kodo.or.jp\/blog_en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781\/revisions\/799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kodo.or.jp\/blog_en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kodo.or.jp\/blog_en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kodo.or.jp\/blog_en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}