Posts by Kodo Members
“Rehearsals for EC ‘Shukusai / Celebration’ Today” by Kenta Nakagome
Aug. 11, 2014
Today we had rehearsals for the concert on the third day of Earth Celebration, “Shukusai / Celebration.”
We’re on a drumming rampage, making some serious noise! Please look forward to it!
“Rehearsals for ‘Kozan Matsuri'” by Jun Jidai
July 26, 2014
Rehearsals for Sado Festival “Kozan Matsuri”
Today it is so sunny here on Sado Island. We’re in the middle of our rehearsals for tomorrow’s performance at festival “Kozan Matsuri,” trying to compete with the sun in terms of energy!
It’s one of our limited number of chances a year for people on Sado Island to see us perform, so we drum and drum, dripping with sweat in the summer heat, in preparation for the concert without caring at all about the blisters on our hands!
Please come along to see us tomorrow in Aikawa!
“A Visit to ‘Asa and Asa'” by Yoshikazu Fujimoto
From July 2014 Issue of Monthly Japanese Newsletter “Kodo”
Last March, Yoko and I visited Mr. Shigeki Hatakeyama on Sado, who taught us mat (floor) exercises during the early days of Ondekoza. Last year, his wife passed away, so Yoko asked me to go with her to light incense and offer a prayer for Mrs. Hatakeyama.
This couple always came to see our annual December performances on Sado Island together. When we visited their home for the first time, it was like a little art gallery. Their house is an old Japanese-style home, which was remodeled to make the most of the traditional style, and they have decorated it with a variety of artworks, creating a special harmony with both old and new pieces.
From the left: Yoko Fujimoto, Yoshikazu Fujimoto and Mr. Shigeki Hatakeyama
Mr. Hatakeyama was born in 1944 and turned 70 years old this year. He was a high school P.E. teacher in the seventies when he taught us. Ever since, he has made and sent a wonderful new-year card to Kodo every year. We found out he had made these with his wife. She was a also teacher, who taught Home Economics at Sado Girls’ High. After losing his beloved wife, Mr. Hatakeyama decided he had to make the art gallery that they had been thinking of opening together in the barn in front of their house. They wanted it to be a place for friends to come together. So he has been working away, establishing it with help from his friends.
In his gallery, there are some works created by Yoko and I on display. Some were made using my old bachi (drumsticks) and another piece is a picture on a large white panel, which Mr. Hatakeyama adorned with a tri-color decoration. So, this piece is a collaborative work created by the three of us. The name of this gallery is “Asa and Asa.”
“My First Overseas Tour, ‘DADAN'” by Kengo Watanabe
July 24, 2014
This “DADAN” tour is my first time giving performances abroad. Leading up to the opening night, I was especially nervous to see how the people in Spain would react to our performance, but they got very excited, much more than I had expected! So after the performance I was on such a high, which didn’t go away even after I got back to my hotel room.
We receive such great applause every time we perform, but I am not going to let myself be satisfied by that considering my own power right now. What I will do is think more and more about performing and by the time we get back to Japan, I hope that my senior Kodo members will think that I have grown. Then, I want to show people in Japan how I am developing as a performer, too.
I am still an inexperienced junior member, so I will keep trying hard to catch up to the senior Kodo members!
My first performance abroad at Teatro Campoamor in Oviedo, Spain
“‘Mystery’ Team Returns to Sado” by Kosuke Urushikubo
July 22, 2014
Hello, everyone! Thank you very much for always reading our blogs.
We have just returned to Sado Island from our two-and-a-half month tour.
Today, we carried out maintenance on the small props. We did it with the great care as our way of telling the equipment, “You did a good job over the past couple of months and we are counting on you for the fall tour, too!”
We met a lot of people during this spring tour. We really appreciate everyone who came to see our performances. If you have not seen “Mystery” yet, please come to see it in September and October. We hope to see you at a theater somewhere!
Sep. – Oct. 2014 “Kodo One Earth Tour 2014: Mystery” Japan Tour
http://www.kodo.or.jp/news/20140510oet_en.html
“Kodo ‘DADAN’ Madrid Performance” by Mitsuru Ishizuka
We, the “DADAN” cast & crew, came to Spain’s capital city, Madrid. The other day we were performing on an outdoor stage, so the mechanical atmosphere of this round theater is quite a contrast to that. The circular stalls section in the middle of the theater is apparently sometimes used as a stage for circuses and other events by taking those seats out.
Compared to the other theaters we have performed at on this tour, the stage width and depth are somewhat smaller, so we had to arrange our instruments and the cast formations to suit.
The new members are doing their best to hang in there as we adapt to each different venue we encounter.
Over 1000 people joined us for our evening performance in Madrid, making for a very lively, exciting capital-city performance.
Kodo “DADAN” Spain & France Performances
http://www.kodo.or.jp/news/20140709dadan_en.html
“‘DADAN’ in Tarragona” by Mitsuru Ishizuka
July 12, 2014
We came to Tarragona today, it took us two hours to get here by bus this morning.
Here is the entrance of the theater. What awaits us inside?
We were greeted by a loading route somewhat like a suspension bridge. We had to load all our equipment in along this route, ducking between the trees along the way.
It took us all the way to this amazing outdoor stage!
Behind the stage, you can see the castle-like walls of the city, which was built in ancient Roman times. Tarragona has been designated as a World Heritage Site and we get to perform in front of this gorgeous backdrop.
The junior members, for whom this will be their third performance, were stunned by this situation but they are doing their best!
This stage is outside in the middle of the town, so during our rehearsal we heard chiming church bells, the sound of fireworks at a weekend event, sirens from police cars, etc, etc, and we were worried, wondering what sounds would ring out during our performance. But thanks to the audience’s superb concentration, we weren’t aware of any other noises at all. I was both appreciative and moved by this fact while I was performing. Thank you!
Tomorrow we have a day off in Tarragona. I will go to see the World Heritage sites!
Kodo “DADAN” Spain & France Performances
http://www.kodo.or.jp/news/20140709dadan_en.html
“Rehearsal in Tarragona” by Kenta Nakagome
Photo Album
These pictures are from our rehearsals in Tarragona, Spain. Now, we will go to Madrid. It will be around 34℃ there, but we will do our best!
Kodo “DADAN” Spain & France Performances
http://www.kodo.or.jp/news/20140709dadan_en.html
“We’re Setting Up for ‘DADAN'” by Kenta Nakagome
Setting Up for “DADAN”
First, we open all the boxes packed full of our instruments.
These taiko were sent here after our tour in Europe earlier this year, “Kodo One Earth Tour 2014: Legend,” which finished in March.
This is the theater where we have our first performance of “DADAN.”
This time, the programme uses a grand total of TWELVE shime-daiko! (roped drums)
These taiko were packaged up for months on end. We look at their condition and tune each one very carefully.
Tonight is our opening night! I’m looking forward to seeing how the performance turns out!
Kodo “DADAN” Spain & France Performances
http://www.kodo.or.jp/news/20140709dadan_en.html
“Akita Performance” by Akiko Ando
July 4, 2014
Akita Performance
When I was a freshman in high school, seven years ago, I saw Kodo perform for the first time and it made me decide what I wanted to do in the future. I’m from Akita Prefecture, and while our performance this weekend isn’t in my hometown, I am still really looking forward to finally having the chance to perform with Kodo in my home area.
In the “Mystery” programme, I was given a role that I feel allows me to show my own character well. It is important to feel the air and the darkness created each and every time we perform. I also feel the regional differences in the audience’s response to our performances, so I’m really excited to see what kind of reaction the people in Akita will have to “Mystery.”
Photos: Takashi Okamoto