“Junior Member Rehearsals at Kodo Village” by Narumi Matsuda
Junior members Naoya, Shunichiro and Kengo are practising hard at Kodo Village, preparing for the Kodo “DADAN” performances in Spain and France this July. It will be their first overseas tour and their first big Kodo performance.
Currently two different casts of Kodo members are on tour in Japan, so most of Kodo’s taiko are also on the road and not many are left here for members remaining on Sado to use. So they have to practise with whatever drums & stands are available. Usually this piece is played on hirado-daiko set down on the floor, but today they are practising it up on o-daiko stands. The piece is really powerful like this, too!
You can feel that they don’t want to be beaten by their seniors nor admit self-defeat. I’m looking forward to seeing how much they grow during this rehearsal time while the other members are away.
“With Burikatsu-kun” by Yosuke Oda
Everyone, summer means “Earth Celebration,” right?
Both Burikatsu-kun* & I are waiting for you on Sado Island!
It’s all happening on August 22, 23, and 24!
*Burikatsu-kun is a character based on Sado’s delicious specialty burikatsu-don: yellowtail cutlet rice bowl.
“Performance in Kashiwazaki, Niigata” by Mitsunaga Matsuura
June 8, 2014
Performance in Kashiwazaki, Niigata
I met up with the cast and crew of “Kodo One Earth Tour: Mystery” at their Kashiwazaki performance. I hadn’t seen this team in a month, but they were all well and working hard. They received a lot of warm applause from the audience members there.
Their next performance is on June 9 in Uonuma. It’s the last performance of “Mystery” in Niigata Prefecture, so don’t miss it!
“Recording of New Piece at Kodo Village” by Narumi Matsuda
At Kodo Village, our performers recently recorded a new piece that will be used to promote the new production that debuts this November, “Kodo One Earth Tour: Eternity.” This music will accompany TV commercials for “Eternity” from fall this year. I didn’t see the recording in progress, as it was behind this firmly closed door. I hope you’re looking forward to this new production!
“Release of Promotional Video for Kodo ‘Legend'” by Kodo PR Team
A promotional video for new DVD Kodo “Legend” has just been created! This DVD is the recording of “Kodo One Earth Tour: Legend” at Asakusa Public Hall in 2013 and will go on sale on June 21.
Kodo Website | Kodo DVD “Legend” to go on sale June 21, 2014
Here is the video:
YouTube Link▼
http://youtu.be/VNBKj1Xxur0
“Kodo One Earth Tour 2014: Mystery” is currently on tour in Japan, so we hope you will enjoy “Mystery” live at a theater near you and “Legend” at home on DVD.
This DVD will go on sale on the first day of our performances in Asakusa this month, June 21, and will be available exclusively at Kodo performance venues and from the Kodo Online Store.
“Visit from Mr. Arata Iura” by Tomohiro Mitome
On May 31, Mr. Arata Iura came to Kodo Village while he was holidaying on Sado Island.
He is an actor and model who has his own design brand “Elnest Creative Activity,” a man of many talents, and one of his hobbies is photography. So we showed him to our rehearsal hall and played Yatai-bayashi and O-daiko for him while he enthusiastically took photos of us drumming.
I said to him, “Since you’ve come all this way, would you like to play taiko?” and he had a go at playing both Yatai-bayashi and O-daiko!
Mr. Iura gave us a signed copy of his book, “Iura Arata no Bijutsu Tanken” (Arata Iura’s Fine Arts Exploration).
“Workshop Performance at Myoko Junior High School” by Kenta Nakagome
We gave a Workshop Performance at Myoko Junior High School in Niigata Prefecture.
This school had a great feeling about it… and you could see beautiful snowy mountains from the gymnasium windows.
The children were carefree and energetic and they enjoyed playing taiko during the “Taiko Experience Corner” of the programme.
The sound of their taiko really energized us, making it a memorable performance.
It was fun!
Photos: Takashi Okamoto
Kodo School Workshop Performances
http://www.kodo.or.jp/koryu/index_en.html
“Kodo’s Taiko Clinic” by Mitsunaga Matsuura
Kodo’s “Taiko Clinic” at Tokai City Bunka Center Hall on May 24
On May 24, we had Kodo’s Taiko Clinic workshops at Tokai City Bunka Center Hall in Aichi Prefecture.
Kenta Nakagome led the basics session in the morning. The participants were able to experience something very important to the Kodo members: ippatsu uchi, which means singular beats of the drum. A series of single sounds becomes a song, so he let the participants feel how big the sound gets when they relax their bodies to drum.
Mitsuru Ishizuka led the practical session in the afternoon, which focused on playing taiko as an ensemble. The participants were individuals who gathered for the workshop, but by following the shouts that Mitsuru used to lead them, their sound united and turned into a feel good rhythm.
“Leading Up to the Asakusa Performances” by Tomohiro Mitome
June 1, 2014
This is Tomohiro Mitome, leader of taiko performing arts ensemble Kodo.
May on Sado Island brought us a mix of both hot, sweaty days and brisk, chilly days. I can now feel the gradual change from comfortable spring to the hot days of summer.
This month, I’m going to talk about our Asakusa performances.
Kodo held its first consecutive performances in Asakusa last year, and thanks to your support, this year we are heading back for a second year. When I think of Asakusa, the things that first come to mind are the festival “Sanja Matsuri,” which has been introduced on this blog, and a downtown area full of life all year round. Since the olden days, Asakusa has been home to rows of playhouses and movie theaters and one could say that Asakusa’s unique atmosphere comes from the Edo Period culture upheld in the area.
In Asakusa, there are many stores selling stage equipment and costumes, etc, and Kodo frequents the area for that reason. However, we also have a connection through Rokusuke Ei, who hails from Asakusa and was one of the key people involved in the founding of Kodo’s antecedent group, Sado no Kuni Ondekoza. In 1982, soon after Kodo began, we joined Rokusuke Ei on stage at Asakusa Public Hall for a performance called “‘Ei Rokusuke + Kodo’ Nagesen Kogyo” (lit. “‘Rokusuke Ei + Kodo’ Coin Toss Entertainment”). This was Mr. Ei’s venture, programme, and artistic direction, which had no set outline at all and featured the members of Kodo on stage playing taiko, dancing and singing on Mr. Ei’s command.
Time went by, then in 2013, Kodo performed at Asakusa Public Hall again for the first time in 30 years. “Kodo One Earth Tour: Legend” had toured for over a year and we received a great response to holding the domestic finale as four consecutive concerts in Asakusa.
June 2013 “Kodo One Earth Tour: Legend” Asakusa Performances
Asakusa is one of Japan’s iconic sightseeing areas that attracts tourists from around the world. It is centered around historic Senso-ji Temple, the shopping street leading up to the temple, and Kaminarimon Gate, but along with the opening of Tokyo Skytree, in recent years there has been noticeable expansion in new movements to develop the town. The area is also drawing attention as a new center for entertainment.
We hope you will join us in Asakusa to thoroughly enjoy the timeless charm of this area’s history and culture, to feel the flow of time from the past to the present, and to see “Kodo One Earth Tour 2014: Mystery” at Asakusa Public Hall. We are sure you will enjoy the different feel this area brings to our performances.
Asakusa is a place where an array of performing arts and performers are both born and cultivated. By holding a series of performances here each year, we hope that Kodo will receive guidance and encouragement from a wide range of people and their support for many years to come. We also sincerely hope that our performances in Asakusa will help in some way to maintain the prosperity of Asakusa’s culture.
We are looking forward to seeing you for Kodo in Asakusa.
Kodo One Earth Tour 2014: Mystery
“Thank You for Joining Us in Kyoto City!” by Kodo PR Team
“Mystery” Performances at Minami-za Kabuki Theater, Kyoto
For three days, from May 30 through June 1, we held back-to-back performances of “Kodo One Earth Tour: Mystery” at Minami-za Kabuki Theater in Kyoto. Thank you very much to everyone who came along!
The audience applauded for 5 encores! During the final one, the cast performed on the hanamichi, the long runway-like section of the stage found in Kabuki theaters.
Before the performances at Minami-za, we held special taiko workshops. Eiichi Saito was the instructor and so many people wanted to take part. The participants and the audience all got really excited by the games they played with taiko during the on-stage, pre-concert workshops.
Tomorrow, on June 4, we have a performance in Ayabe, Kyoto Prefecture. We look forward to seeing everyone there, too!
Mystery Performance at Chutan Bunka Kaikan, Ayabe, Kyoto (June 4)
http://www.kodo.or.jp/oet/20140604a_en.html