June 21-25: Five Performances at Asakusa Public Hall!
“Kodo One Earth Tour: Mystery”
June 21-25: Five Back-to-Back Performances at Asakusa Public Hall
Our current tour began in Kagoshima and has been going really well. We are now at the halfway mark of this tour and this week we are back in Asakusa for the second year in a row. Last year we held four performances here and this year we’ve increased it to five. The Kodo members are strolling the streets of Asakusa to see what catches their eye this time. We hope you’ll all come to see our performances and enjoy sightseeing, shopping, and meals in Asakusa while you are here.
For ticket orders in English, please call Ticket 6 (Roku) Tel. 03-5826-0315
Not many seats left for June 21 & 22!
Exhibition Introducing Kodo’s Activities / Taiko Experience Corner
1F Exhibition Hall, Asakusa Public Hall
June 21 (Sat) – 25 (Wed) 10:00 – 18:00 (Finishes at 17:00 on final day)
Our exhibition will feature panels introducing Kodo’s activities, information about the Kodo Apprentice Centre, and a corner with Kodo-related video footage on display. We want to make this a space in Asakusa where you can feel the atmosphere of Sado Island. You may encounter sides of Kodo you never knew about before. There will be a corner with taiko on display and we’ll be holding some mini taiko experience sessions there, too!
2013 Live Asakusa Performance of “Legend” on DVD Available at Venue from June 21
The first 100 customers to buy DVD “Legend” at Asakusa Public Hall will receive a special gift: a postcard signed by the three featured O-daiko performers!
Kodo DVD “Legend” – On sale from June 21, 2014
Did somebody mention a surprise?
Come and see around 3pm on June 21 at Asakusa Public Hall!
“Kodo One Earth Tour 2014: Mystery” Asakusa Performances
June 21 (Sat) – 25 (Wed) at Asakusa Public Hall, Tokyo
June 21 (Sat) 16:00
June 22 (Sun) 15:00
June 23 (Mon) 15:00
June 24 (Tue) 18:00
June 25 (Wed) 14:00
Doors open 30 min. prior to each performance.
All seats reserved. General 7,000 yen, Students (aged 6-24) 3,000 yen
◆Ticket Outlets◆
tvk Ticket Counter Tel. 0570-00-3117
Asakusa Public Hall Tel. 03-3844-7491
Ticket Pia Tel. 0570-02-9999
Ticket 6 (Roku) Tel. 03-5826-0315 (English assistance available)
“Asakusa” by Shogo Komatsuzaki
Asakusa
The scent of Japanese traditions from the good old days and craftsmen at work never fades in Asakusa. Brimming with life, pumping with a never-ending flow of people, it’s like a festival every day in this town. Last year when I came to perform in Asakusa for the first time, I felt a kind of culture shock in this constantly-bustling downtown hub.
The main shopping street in Asakusa that leads up to Senso-ji Temple is jam-packed with people every day, so it made me wonder why this town is so lively and why it attracts so many people. I think it’s thanks to the strong, passionate hearts of the locals of Asakusa, who take pride in the town’s cultural heritage, traditional arts and local specialty goods and both uphold and hand down those traditions with versatility.
The people of Asakusa have tremendous confidence and pride in their town and they are constantly thinking and passionately talking about the future of Asakusa. By meeting these people, I reaffirmed that people’s hearts uphold traditions, connect people, and bring people together. I felt really grateful to learn that it’s people like this welcoming Kodo to Asakusa. I really want many others to feel those hopes for the future of Asakusa through Kodo’s performances here.
This year is the second time for Kodo to hold consecutive performances here, and I think that “Mystery,” with its nostalgic atmosphere, truly suits the feel of the Asakusa township. Our performance is live, so I’m really looking forward to seeing how Asakusa and “Mystery” will come together and how the performances will be received by our audiences. We will do our utmost to let you experience a “Mystery” that is unique to Asakusa, so please come along!
On a more personal note, I love Asakusa’s Senso-ji Temple and shopping street by night. You might hear the sound of “Mystery” around here from this weekend…
“Collaborate with Kodo Using WholeWorldBand” by Kodo PR Team
Our new piece Open Doors (composed by Yosuke Oda & Masayuki Sakamoto) is now available on WholeWorldBand, a new iPad and iPhone application providing a global musical collaboration service.
Founded by multi-award-winner video director Kevin Godley (10cc), WholeWorldBand is an exciting new iPad and iPhone app that allows anyone to to take part in making music and videos that can be shared and enjoyed worldwide. WWB enables musicians around the world to collaborate in music and vision – interacting with each other, their fans and a new audience. Everyone from famous professionals to complete beginners can work together to create songs and visuals using just the camera and microphone in their iOS device.”
WWB already has a number of successful musicians uploading tracks to the app for you to play with – from established artists like Ronnie Wood, Stewart Copeland, David Gray, to the new and exciting Lisa Hannigan, Passenger, Kill It Kid and many more. Using the app is like entering a virtual recording studio. Just pick a recording session & contribute a vocal, instrumental, visual or anything else that you feel like adding… or you can simply build and mix your own custom videos, you don’t even have to be a musician! Once that’s done it can be turned into a multi-channel video that can be shared via YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Soundcloud.
WholeWorldBand Official Website
http://wholeworldband.com
WholeWorldBand asked us to participate in this project, so we composed a new piece especially for it entitled Open Doors. It was recorded during our European tour on Feb. 23, 2014, at the National Concert Hall in Dublin, Ireland.
The app is free and it’s free to watch the performances on it. If you download the app, then search for “Kodo,” you can watch our video. We hope you’ll try this app if you have an iPhone or iPad. Also, we hope you’ll use this app to make your own collaboration with Kodo. We’re looking forward to hearing what people come up with!
WholeWorldBand（iTunes Store）
https://itunes.apple.com/app/id627910123
“Kodo ‘Honoka’ [Live] Digital Version Now on Sale” by Kodo PR Team
This live recording from DVD “Kodo Honoka” is available exclusively for online purchase as a digital download.
See here for details: http://www.kodo.or.jp/news/20140607honoka_live_en.html
You can take this live album wherever you go on your smart phone. It also features the original recording of “Tomorrow” as a bonus track, which was the encore piece for the stage performance.
We hope you’ll enjoy our current tour “Mystery” live at the theater, the new DVD of our last production “Legend” at home, and this digital download of “Kodo 30th Anniversary One Earth Tour 2011” on your mobile devices. The “Legend” DVD goes on sale on June 21 at our “Mystery” performance in Asakusa, Tokyo.
Artistic Director Tamasaburo Bando’s Second Production “Kodo One Earth Tour 2014: Mystery”
http://www.kodo.or.jp/news/20140510oet_en.html
Kodo DVD “Legend” – On sale June 21, 2014
http://www.kodo.or.jp/news/20140621dvdlegend_en.html
“From Fukaura Gakusha (Fukaura Schoolhouse)” by Hirofumi Uenoyama
Fukaura Gakusha (Fukaura Schoolhouse)/ Trial First Year of the “Community Development Course”
This April, we launched our new “Community Development Course.” It offers the opportunity to learn from Sado’s nature and culture firsthand and uses those experiences to cultivate human resources who will activate local communities. For this first trial year, we have welcomed two trainees: Misaki Nakamura from Kiso, Nagano, and Misato Akazawa from Niigata City. The trainees are based at the former Fukaura Elementary School, which was renovated for a fresh start under the name “Fukaura Gakusha” (Fukaura Schoolhouse). The duo have begun their studies, which center on learning from locals about the area’s agricultural & fishing industries, festivals & traditional performing arts, preservation of historic architectural areas, culture and more.
The trainees produced a special Fukaura Gakusha unveiling event, held on April 20. They gained practical experience by planning and running the event, making fliers, and digging out memorabilia and photo albums that were left in the former school to display as a nostalgic exhibition on the day. The locals who joined us for the unveiling smiled as they reminisced about the school and relived various episodes from the past. It was a valuable experience for me to see firsthand the role this school had played in the region.
On May 4, the trainees took part in the “Kodo Special Performances on Sado Island” special event “Traditional Rice Planting,” under the guidance of master farmer Mr. Kenichiro Aoki. They experienced planting rice by hand in a traditional way using seedings from a semi-irrigated rice nursery. The trainees wore traditional work pants and bamboo hats and they worked very hard with other participants.
During the course of the year ahead, I would like to join the two trainees as they recognize and tackle local issues and problems. Through the trial and error, I hope that we can discover the real identity of “community development.”
The trainees’ reports are being shared on the Kodo Cultural Foundation Facebook page in Japanese. We hope you’ll take a look at their updates.
Kodo Cultural Foundation Facebook Page (in Japanese) https://www.facebook.com/KodoCulturalFoundation?fref=ts
About the “Community Development Course”
The Kodo Cultural Foundation has gained a wealth of experience by running the Kodo Apprentice Centre to date and to make further use of this know-how, the Foundation has taken the first step in setting up a new course, separate from the course for apprentices hoping to become Kodo performers, called the “Community Development Course.” This new courses aims to cultivate human resources who will activate local communities by using experiences gained learning from the nature and culture of Sado Island.
The Kodo Cultural Foundation would like to start off this course with practical activities that tackle the following themes: “What kind of trainee programme is required to cultivate active human resources for community development?”/ “What is ‘community development’?”/ “How can human resources work independently in community development?”/ etc.
“From Hawaii” by Yoshikazu Fujimoto
Hanayui Hawaii Tour
I visited Hawaii with the “Hanayui Hawaii Tour”!
On May 31, we were reunited with Faye Komagata and her husband at the theater in Honolulu. We’ve been friends since the early days of Kodo.
On June 2, I left the 3 girls (Chieko, Yoko & Mitsue) and went to Hawaii Island by myself. There, I taught taiko workshops from 5pm on June 2 and 3.
I stayed at James McCully’s house. He runs an orchid nursery, so he showed me around inside. I played the music for demon sword dance Onikenbai on my bamboo flute.
I also enjoyed sightseeing around Hawaii Island with the young members of Puna Taiko.
With Kenny & Chizuko Endo at the airport. They looked after us for our performance and workshops in Honolulu.
On June 4, I joined the three Hanayui girls on Maui Island as planned. We performed with the children of Zenshin Daiko and we gave a workshop there, too. Everyone had a lot of fun and did their best!
Macadamia nut fields as far as the eye can see
“Fujimotomida” Concert
Now I am back in Japan and later this month I am going to perform with Kazuaki Tomita in our “Fujimotomida” Concert.” I will do my best. I hope to see you all at the theater.
June 20 – 22, 2014
Yoshikazu Fujimoto Appearance in “Fujimotomida” Concert
Yoshikazu Fujimoto will join Kazuaki Tomida of Uchigumi for their first ever two-man taiko performance. They first met 37 years ago when Tomida joined Kodo’s antecedent group “Sado no Kuni Ondekoza” and it was Fujimoto who helped with his initiation, teaching him the basics of taiko. Don’t miss this special chance to see them perform together!
June 20 (Fri), 21 (Sat), 22 (Sun), 2014
Tiara Koto Sho-Hall, Koto Ward, Tokyo
Appearing: Yoshikazu Fujimoto (Kodo), Kazuaki Tomida (Uchigumi)
Doors Open:30 mins. before each performance.
Start: June 20 (Fri) 19:00 June 21 (Sat) 17:00 June 22 (Sun) 15:00
Ticket Outlet: Tiara Koto Ticket Service Tel. 03-5624-3333
“Looking Forward to the Asakusa Performances” by Tetsumi Hanaoka
This month, “Kodo One Earth Tour: Mystery” will give five performances at Asakusa Public Hall, from June 21 through 25. Last year I performed in back-to-back concerts in Asakusa during my first tour, “Legend.” One year has passed and I am really looking forward to the opportunity to show an even more powerful Kodo performance here this year!
This time, the production incorporates the great serpent dance from Iwami Kagura*, upheld in the Iwami Region of Shimane Prefecture. We have been learning this folk art since April 2013 through visits to Shimane and we spent a year creating the stage piece featuring the dance, Jamai.
*Kagura: dance and music for the kami, or deities
Our Iwami Kagura teacher Mr. Taizo Kobayashi, who also made the serpent heads for us to use on stage, said, “No matter how simple thing the task, it’s important to do it everyday and do it properly.” I took this advice for my daily habits, both on and off stage. I am striving everyday to make each performance better than the last. Please look out for Jamai on stage when you come to see “Mystery”!
Also, “Mystery” is filled with scenes of darkness. I think that mysterious things and darkness have a deep relationship. I experienced this living on Sado Island, for example when I saw Kodo Village by moonlight, far away from the lights of the township, or at the climax of a festival in the pale light of paper lanterns.
Darkness conjures fear at first glance, but mysterious things are created in such darkness. I hope you will come and watch, hear, and experience that kind of magical world in our performance of “Mystery.”
Photos: Takashi Okamoto
Kodo One Earth Tour 2014: Mystery
June 21 (Sat) – 25 (Wed) at Asakusa Public Hall, Tokyo
June 21 (Sat) 16:00
June 22 (Sun) 15:00
June 23 (Mon) 15:00
June 24 (Tue) 18:00
June 25 (Wed) 14:00
Doors open 30 min. prior to each performance.
All seats reserved. General 7,000 yen, Students (aged 6-24) 3,000 yen
◆Ticket Outlets◆
tvk Ticket Counter Tel. 0570-00-3117
Asakusa Public Hall Tel. 03-3844-7491
Ticket Pia Tel. 0570-02-9999
Ticket 6 (Roku) Tel. 03-5826-0315 (English assistance available)
“Fujimotomida Rehearsals” by Tsugumi Yamanaka
We all have round faces. I wonder how many years have passed since we were together at Daisho in Mano*?
After the “Fujimotomida” rehearsals, the three of us took this picture together at the Sado Island Taiko Centre. Their voices were crazily loud during the rehearsals… can you imagine what they’ve got in store for the audience?!
*Daisho in Mano: Kodo used to be based at the former Daisho Elementary School in Mano, fondly called “Daisho.”
“Fujimotomida” Concerts
Tickets are on sale now! Please come along! It’s going to be a fun concert for sure!
Yoshikazu Fujimoto will join Kazuaki Tomida of Uchigumi for their first ever two-man taiko performance. They first met 37 years ago when Tomida joined Kodo’s antecedent group “Sado no Kuni Ondekoza” and it was Fujimoto who helped with his initiation, teaching him the basics of taiko. Don’t miss this special chance to see them perform together!
June 20 (Fri), 21 (Sat), 22 (Sun), 2014
Tiara Koto Sho-Hall, Koto Ward, Tokyo
Appearing: Yoshikazu Fujimoto (Kodo), Kazuaki Tomida (Uchigumi)
Doors Open: 30 mins. before each performance.
Start: June 20 (Fri) 19:00 June 21 (Sat) 17:00 June 22 (Sun) 15:00
Ticket Outlet: Tiara Koto Ticket Service Tel. 03-5624-3333
“Rwandan Soul Food” by Kiyoko Oi
I took part in a Rwandan Home Cooking class on June 8.
Instructor: Marie Louise Kambenga
President of NPO Think About Education in Rwanda/ Resident of Fukushima
*Menu*
・Rwandan Omelettes
・Stewed Cabbage with Tomatoes
・Stewed Beans and Carrots in Tomato Puree
・Fried Potatoes (Pre-boiled)
・Ugali (paste made from corn flour and water)
・Salt Covered Roasted Peanuts
・African Ginger Tea (with milk)
These mild dishes were mainly flavored with salt and tomatoes and they were all meat-free. Though simple, the flavor of the vegetables came out so nicely in the dishes that they make you eat a lot of vegetables for sure! If you like, you can also add a hot spice called akabanga to the dishes. I’m not so good with spicy foods, so when I tried it, at first it felt like a hot attack on my tastebuds. But then the heat faded away and the akabanga brought out even more flavor from the vegetables. If you try this spice, you could become hooked on it! We got to use maize, raw peanuts, akabanga and tea all brought here from Uganda.
When I think of Africa, I imagine the desert, but Marie said they have a lot of vegetables in Rwanda! The vegetables we used today are popular around Japan, so I am planning to cook these dishes for lunch at Kodo Village. Corn flour is not easy to get, but I think rice flour can be used as a substitute for it.
On June 7, Marie gave a lecture on “Important Things: Life, Peace & Education – A Look at Children as the Future” and the following day she held this cooking class as an exchange event. Thank you, Marie!
I will make use of this experience when I plan meals at Kodo Village.
“Asakusa by Night” by Naomi Iseki
This year, there will be one evening performance during the “Kodo One Earth Tour: Mystery” concerts in Asakusa, Tokyo. It’s on June 24th. It will commence at 6pm and conclude around 8pm.
The shops in Asakusa seem to shut earlier than they do in other areas. But even when it’s all closed up, it looks really beautiful here. Take some time after our evening performance to stroll through the streets and enjoy the echo of “Mystery” under the warm street lights.
Kodo One Earth Tour 2014: Mystery
June 21 (Sat) – 25 (Wed) at Asakusa Public Hall, Tokyo
June 21 (Sat) 16:00
June 22 (Sun) 15:00
June 23 (Mon) 15:00
June 24 (Tue) 18:00
June 25 (Wed) 14:00
Doors open 30 min. prior to each performance.
All seats reserved. General 7,000 yen, Students (aged 6-24) 3,000 yen
◆Ticket Outlets◆
tvk Ticket Counter Tel. 0570-00-3117
Asakusa Public Hall Tel. 03-3844-7491
Ticket Pia Tel. 0570-02-9999
Ticket 6 (Roku) Tel. 03-5826-0315 (English assistance available)