Posts by Kodo Members
Farewell Messages from Kenzo Abe & Yosuke Inoue
Dec. 29, 2014
Kenzo Abe
I decided to leave the Kodo ensemble at the end of 2014. I entered the Kodo Apprentice Centre 14 years ago in April 2000. Thank you very much to everyone at Kodo, everyone connected to our performances, and all the Kodo fans. I am truly grateful to you all.
I decided I wanted to join Kodo when I was first saw the ensemble and was overwhelmed by the honed physical beauty of the performers and the sharpness created by their purely functional movements. I felt a strong yearning to join them on stage. Kodo’s mission statement, fostered since the days of Kodo’s antecedent group “Sado no Kuni Ondekoza,” sets the group’s sights on reaching the limits of human energy. Its many members have created Kodo’s performances to date by putting that vision into practice.
For me, personally, I remain doubtful as to whether I tested myself to those limits. As a result, I was not able to devote my whole life to Kodo. That is something that I will carry with me, etched in my mind. I still wonder how to create an energy that will overwhelm people’s senses, what it is exactly, and even if that is in fact what I want to do…
Right now, I have no regrets about the path I chose, but it is time for me to stand on my own two feet and set off down a new path independently.
I can’t help this being a somewhat gloomy farewell, but I have a family now and my situation and age are not the same as when I first came to Sado Island. I can’t only talk about myself and my ideals. I have to live and make a living. Inevitably, this will test my own limits.
My experiences with Kodo are truly precious and I think they will continue to be huge assets to me in the future. I offer my heartfelt thanks to everyone who gave me this opportunity. Thank you all.
Yosuke Inoue
I decided to leave Kodo for personal reasons.
Since 2012, I have spent three years taking part in Kodo performances including “Kodo One Earth Tour: Legend,” “Mystery,” “Amaterasu,” and the “School Workshop Performances.” I got to meet so many people and had so many precious experiences, for which I am truly grateful.
Now I plan to head down a new path, which will make the most of my experiences with Kodo. I will study about the human body and massage and train to become a physiotherapist.
I offer my sincere gratitude to everyone who has cheered me on during my brief time with Kodo. Thank you all.
“Workshop Performance Tour Finale in Kunitachi” by Eri Uchida
Kodo Workshop Performance in Kunitachi, Tokyo, on Dec. 20, 2014
We, the “Workshop Performance” tour members, were welcomed by a full-house audience for the finale of our 2014 tour in Kunitachi, Tokyo.
It was the first time for 3 of our 7 cast members to take part in a Kodo School Workshop Performance tour. They were a little nervous during the rehearsals in November, but before we knew it they had become relaxed and at ease performing for the children at each school.
Children are very honest during our performances. If it’s interesting, they do not move at all, but if we lose their attention for even a moment, they start to chat. And when our sound is too loud, they block their ears. After a month of these performances, we can now physically sense the children’s reaction as we play taiko each time.
O-daiko was particularly interesting. Kenta Nakagome is very powerful and in general his taiko playing makes a very big sound, but now when he plays the big drum in front of children, you can hear gentleness in his sound.
We heard the culmination of that change in sound during our tour finale. When the first beat from the big drum echoed out, it made us feel a wonderful warmth resonate from within our bodies.
Through these School Workshop Performances, all seven of us performed face-to-face with children, and also taking a head-on look at both taiko and ourselves. During our final performance, I really felt those challenges that we had faced together.
Photos by Takashi Okamoto
“Five Back-to-Back Performances in Tokyo” by Mariko Omi
Kodo One Earth Tour 2014: Eternity
From Dec. 19 through 23, we had five days of performances at Bunkyo Civic Hall in Tokyo. Many people came to see us perform each day.
For this production, “Eternity,” the artistic direction requires detailed movements and delicate sounds during quiet scenes. To improve the performance, everyday we reflected on the performance from the previous day, checked those movements, and talked about the tempo of certain pieces.
During consecutive performances at the same venue, we have more spare time than on a one-day-only performance. So, during this period new members can learn how the senior members use their time to warm up and get in the zone before each performance. They get given specific advice like, “Make your time to rest your ears.”
The audience reacted completely differently each day, even at the same venue, so we enjoyed their unique responses and were kept on our toes for all five days.
After that, we had our final performance for the tour in Niigata City, my hometown!
“Kodo One Earth Tour: Eternity”
“My Directorial Debut: Kodo Workshop Performances” by Eri Uchida
Thank you very much to everyone who came to see our Workshop Performance in Kyoto on Dec. 7.
Dec. 7 (Sun), 2014 Kyoto Performing Arts Center Shunjuza, Kyoto City
It was my first time to direct a Kodo Workshop Performance, so I was really anxious. But the theater staff gave us such great support and we had a wonderful time working with them at Shunjuza. We had rehearsals right up until just before the performance, so it must have been physically and mentally challenging for the cast, but they all did wonderfully on stage!
While we were creating the stage lighting for this performance, I realized that even though I want to try all kinds of things as a director, the main things I want to show are people and sound.
On stage, all of us do our very best as we face the taiko drums, each other, and ourselves, head on.
I hope that this performance also creates a chance for the staff involved and the audience to discover or realize something within themselves.
As the director, I created the programme’s framework, but it is the cast and staff, and the audience, who actually breathe life in to it. I felt that physically as gratitude welled up from within me as the performance came to an end.
When I open up myself to see what others express from a neutral position, I see those expressions react with each other and create a chemical change, and the programme morphs into a world I couldn’t have imagined myself.
I still have a long way to go, but will continue to do my best. I hope you will cheer us on.
I will make the most of what I learned here today, and use it to fuel our School Workshop Performances nationwide!
*These photos from our rehearsals on Sado Island. (Photos: Takashi Okamoto)
▶Kodo School Workshop Performances
“Bi no Tane (Seed of Beauty) in Kyoto” by Yoshikazu Fujimoto
On December 12, I took part in the “5th Bi no Tane (Seed of Beauty) in Kyoto” event. International costume designer and artistic director Shingo Tokihiro and a wide range of artists from all over Japan gathered for this on-stage exchange under the theme, “Our Town, Our Land.” Thank you to everyone who came along!
The picture above was taken with taiko performers Mr. Kawarazaki and Mr. Pak and Mr. Tokihiro at our meeting and rehearsal on Nov. 11.
Dec. 12 (Fri), 2014 Kyoto Art Live Theater International (ALTI), Kamigyo Ward, Kyoto City
Yoshikazu Fujimoto & Yoko Fujimoto Guest Appearance at “5th Bi no Tane (Seed of Beauty) in Kyoto”
http://www.kodo.or.jp/news/20141212binotame_en.html
“Things I Have Learned from Children” by Kenta Nakagome
Things I Have Learned from Children
A year has passed since I started touring as a member of the “School Workshop Performance” tour cast. When I was a school student myself, I wanted to skip class as much as possible and I wished it was Sunday or the summer holidays every day of the year. When I think about it, it’s pretty strange that I have started going to school again.
Our performances are held as a part of each school’s curriculum for performing arts appreciation.
During our performance, we want to share the true sound of taiko drums, teach the kids about taiko as a musical instrument, and tell them all kinds of things. We interact with the students using our taiko, all up-close & within arm’s reach. This is the purpose of our School tour.
For about a year, I have traveled around many schools, playing taiko and spending time with my fellow cast members. It seems to me that while we want to say and convey different things to the children, we somehow end up receiving a lot more from them than we give.
I think children are wonderful beings.
When I see other Kodo members communicate with children, they have an indescribably calm and warm look. We are there to give a performance, but we are unusually relaxed. It seems like I can see each member’s true self appear at these performances.
As Kodo members, we always perform with pride and to the best of our abilities. We aim to deliver good sound and a good performance. We all have the same strong attitude towards our performances. However, most of the children have never heard of Kodo and some have never heard the sound of taiko before.
Although I do not know what the children are actually thinking, I feel that they have an instinctive insight into the real nature of each performer without considering the name of “Kodo” or our various titles and positions, like “professional performer” or “musician.”
They also judge whether our taiko performance is good or bad, interesting or not interesting, purely by instinct.
For School Workshop Performances, we perform in school gymnasiums.
So, the audience gets to listen to our taiko at a closer range than in a concert hall. If the sound is too loud, some children block their ears, and if the music is too monotonous, they start chatting. If the performance is good, they concentrate on our music and I sometimes see some children enjoyably swaying their bodies to the rhythm. For me, seeing that instant reaction from the children is very interesting and it makes me feel an air of tension, in a good way. I feel that children help us improve our own sensibilities when it comes to conveying the sound of taiko to an audience.
I used to just play taiko powerfully, with all my might. However, when I play taiko in front of children, my sound automatically becomes softer at times and stronger when I feel it needs to be. I now think about what sound will best reach the audience at each different moment.
As a member of the Kodo ensemble, I have always had in mind that I need to play taiko in a certain way or I need to act in a certain way. However, through our School Workshop Performances, I feel like I am now facing taiko anew.
I have been given a great opportunity to reflect on the sound that I create.
The right sound to play at each and every moment during our performance comes to us from amongst the children and within us, as we share that same space in time.
Keeping all of this in mind, I now enjoy going to school.
“Lecture and Workshop in Fukuoka” by Mitsuru Ishizuka
Dec. 14 Folk Performing Arts Lecture and Workshop in Fukuoka
I visited Fukuoka last week on tour with “Kodo One Earth Tour: Eternity.” On Dec. 14, the day before our first performance at Hakataza Theater, I was invited as a guest speaker to give a “Folk Performing Arts Lecture” to high school students from around Fukuoka Prefecture. I gave a talk and led a workshop. To my surprise, about 160 students gathered for the event!
I heard that the teachers from the various high schools would like to start introducing local traditional performing arts to their school taiko clubs. So, at the beginning of the lecture, I talked a little bit about the reasons and intentions behind Kodo’s integration of traditional performing arts from all over Japan into our performances, and how we go about doing that. Then I led a workshop for them.
At the supervising teachers’ request, I did a workshop based on the theme of “Practise Methods that Don’t Require Taiko.” Apparently all of their schools have a lot more taiko club members than taiko drums (…can something be done about that?), so they gave me this unique theme to suit their particular situation.
I had never given a workshop based on a theme like this before, nor had I ever had so many participants in one workshop, so I really puzzled over what to do while I was preparing for this workshop. I decided to do rhythm training by clapping our hands and rhythm practice using kuchi shoga or vocalization of the rhythm. We did both of these activities rather thoroughly and the students concentrated hard until the very end and seemed to enjoy themselves, too.
I think it was a fruitful session, thanks to the encouraging support from my fellow Kodo members.
The lecture and workshop gave me a good opportunity to reflect on the basics, while the serious attitude, excited facial expressions, and laughter of the young participants’ gave us a lot of energy.
I really hope that they had a great time, too.
Thank you for such a fun time!
“Fire-Walking Event at Fukugonji Temple” by Eri Uchida
Dec. 14 Performance at Fire-Walking Event at Fukugonji Temple
We performed at this year’s Fire-Walking Event at Fukugonji Temple in Komaki, Aichi. Unfortunately, there was bad weather on the day of the performance, but the venue was lively from early on in the morning with performances by a variety of groups and stalls selling tasty fare.
This is the second time for Kodo to perform at this event, following on from last year. Before the event started, the temple priests briefed us on the origins of the ritual. I felt so honored to be able to perform at their event, which has been held for centuries. I was determined to do my best.
As evening drew nearer, the temperature went down steadily. A bell was sounded at 5 o’clock and we started our performance right there in the bell tower. They kept ringing the bell during our performance. The sound of our taiko echoed out nicely far and wide– perhaps that is because the tower was built so that the sound of the bell could be heard at every corner of the village?
After that, we performed on the main stage right in front of the spot where the fire-walking ritual took place. It was colder than I had expected… so cold that any of our skin not covered by clothing hurt intensely. Surprisingly, that painful chill actually cheered us on.
For O-daiko, Kenta Nakagome was playing on the front of the big drum and it looked like his back was giving off steam. You could tell from Yuta Sumiyoshi’s drumming on the back and Tetsumi Hanaoka’s chappa (cymbal) playing that they were getting into the spirit of it, too.
We started to play Yatai-bayashi as the fire was set alight. I think our performance sounded a little bit different in front of the firey blaze and smoke.
However, no matter how much heart we put into the performance, it was freezing cold! I did not feel cold during our performances, but I seemed to be shivering so much, and that caused a lot of muscle pain deep inside my body which hit me the next day.
This ritual tells of the horror of all-consuming fire, but at the same time, I learned the horror of the opposite: coldness. The power of nature is beyond our own. This experience made me reflect on the way I spend my time in winter: I realize that if you stay wrapped up too warm in winter, you become a weaker human being!
The “School Workshop Performance Tour” members are all doing well!
“New Piece Michiru” by Mitsuru Ishizuka
“Kodo One Earth Tour: Eternity” New Piece Michiru
On our current tour, we have performed on Sado Island, and in Nagaoka, Nagoya, Osaka, Okayama, Hiroshima and Fukuoka.
Right now, we are in Tokyo.
In this production, we play my brand new piece Michiru.
When I first heard that the theme of this performance would be “Eternity,” for me it conjured the image of something “revolving.” I don’t know what is revolving exactly.
Perhaps it is like Sun or Moon orbiting, or the Earth revolving, or the hands of time turning over and over again. It could be the spirals and cycles of people’s everyday lives…
I took that image of “turning around” and worked to create a new piece in my favorite “taiko-meets-dance” style.
The title “Michiru” means “to be full.” It came from the words of our choreographer, Ms. Kawahara, who said “As the piece goes on, the power increases little by little until it is full like a full moon. (My name, Mitsuru, is similar to the name of this piece, but I didn’t name it after myself!)
Please come to see us play it live in Tokyo or Niigata!
Kodo One Earth Tour 2014: Eternity
Dec. 19 (Fri)–23 (Tue/Public Hol.) Bunkyo Civic Hall, Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo
Dec. 25 (Thu) Niigata Prefectural Civic Center, Niigata City
“Appearance in December Kabuki Program” by Yoshikazu Fujimoto
On Dec. 2, it was the opening night of the December Kabuki Program at Kabukiza Theatre in Tokyo. It was my debut taiko performance in a Kabuki play and it went well.
After the performance, I practiced with Eiichi Saito and former Kodo member Kazunari Abe in the hall where our taiko is kept. As a triple cast, we are taking turns to perform at the climax of the play everyday until December 26.
Kazunari came all the way from Shikoku to join us. It’s so good to see him again.
Kodo’s Debut Kabuki Appearance
Kabukiza Theatre December Kabuki Program (Evening Programme)
“Narukami Fudo Kitayama Zakura” (Saint Narukami and Deity Fudo)
Dates: Dec. 2 (Tue)–Dec. 26 (Fri), 2014
Appearing: Ebizo Ichikawa, Ainosuke Kataoka, Shido Nakamura, Tamasaburo Bando, & others.
Taiko Performers (triple cast): Yoshikazu Fujimoto (Kodo), Eiichi Saito (Kodo) and Kazunari Abe (former Kodo member)
Kabukibito | December Kabuki Program http://www.kabuki-bito.jp/theaters/kabukiza/2014/12/post_82.html (in Japanese)
For details & ticket orders in English, please visit Shochiku Ticket Web http://www1.ticket-web-shochiku.com/en/info/schedule.html#1