Posts by Staff
“The Road to ‘Michi’–Part 1” by Mitsunaga Matsuura
Kodo 2015 Special Concert “Michi”
Even though these are such familiar pieces, they filled the rehearsal hall with a wave of fresh air.
▶Watch on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1N2ME9rH4E
Kodo 2015 Special Concert “Michi”
Mar. 19 (Thu)–20 (Fri), 2015 Yokohama, Kanagawa
http://www.kodo.or.jp/news/20150319michi_en.html
Director: Motofumi Yamaguchi
Performers: Eiichi Saito, Tomohiro Mitome, Yuichiro Funabashi, Mitsuru Ishizuka, Kenta Nakagome, Tsuyoshi Maeda, Rai Tateishi, Maya Minowa, Ryosuke Inada, Yuki Kajiro, Masaya Koike and Mizuki Yoneyama (Cast subject to change)
Programme (TBC): Zoku, Jang-Gwara, Chonlima, Michi, Shamisen, Monochrome, Miyake, Sankan Shion, Yamauta, O-daiko, Yatai-bayashi
“Motofumi Yamaguchi’s Appearance on FM Niigata” by Yuki Nakagawa
Feb. 16, 2015
Motofumi Yamaguchi’s Appearance on FM Niigata’s “FIGUEROA”
On March 27, Kodo will appear at a special event at Ryugon Hotel in Minami-uonuma, Niigata. Motofumi Yamaguchi went to mainland Niigata to appear on FM Niigata to help promote the event, which is called “Kodo x Hakkaisan x Ryugon.”
He was joined on air by Mr. Utsugi from Ryogon Hotel, Mr. Sato from Hakkaisan Brewery and shamisen player, Fumiyoshi. It will be the 6th annual event, so they all know each other well and the recording took place in a very relaxed manner.
We hope you will come along for this special event at Ryogon Hotel on March 27.
Special Event “Kodo x Hakkaisan x Ryugon”
Mar. 27 (Fri), 2015 “Kodo x Hakkaisan x Ryugon” at Ryugon Hotel, Minami Uonuma, Niigata
Appearing: Kodo (Motofumi Yamaguchi, Yuichiro Funabashi, Mitsuru Ishizuka, Kenta Nakagome, Tsuyoshi Maeda, Rai Tateishi, Maya Minowa, Ryosuke Inada), Fumiyoshi (shamisen)
Inquiries: Ryugon Event Desk Tel. 025-773-2222 (9:00 – 18:00)
“EXADON” by Tsugumi Yamanaka
EXADON
In the near future, apparently one in five people aged 65 & over in Japan will be likely to suffer from dementia. To combat this, Sado Island Taiko Centre and Sado City Senior Citizens Welfare and Care Insurance Division launched “EXADON” in 2014, which is a course that teaches people about playing taiko as a way to prevent dementia.
“EXADON” is a word created by dementia specialist Mr. Yoshinori Morimoto (Shiosai Clinic) from these three words: “Exercise” + “Sado” + “Don (the sound of a taiko drum).”
Last year, the “EXADON 2014 Supporter Training Course” was held to teach supporters (future EXADON facilitators). This innovative project has been expanding on Sado Island ever since. There were 30 participants in this course and they came to Sado Island Taiko Centre twice a month for three months. At the beginning of the course, their sound was very weak, but at the end of it, they all enjoyed playing taiko so their sound got much bigger and really powerful. Over the course of those 3 months, they had all become taiko enthusiasts.
Recently, the first EXADON workshop was led by some of the EXADON supporters at a lecture about dementia prevention. It went really well.
Warm-up exercises
The EXADON supporters took the reigns to lead workshops for the first time.
When the EXADON supporters were too serious, Shinchan-sensei gave them this adivice: “Don’t forget to smile!”
When the workshop participants smiled and laughed, the EXADON supporters really enjoyed themselves, too. They all had a great time together.
Everyone played a new piece, “EXADON Song,” together.
This happy couple smiled non-stop. They made us smile, too.
With the EXADON supporters
“Rehearsals Begin for ‘Michi'” by Mitsunaga Matsuura
Rehearsals for Kodo 2015 Special Concert “Michi”
Rehearsals have begun for Kodo 2015 Special Concert “Michi.”
The cast features three brand new junior members: Yuki Kajiro, Masaya Koike and Mizuki Yoneyama.
Everyone is working hard to prepare for the performances in March.
▶Watch on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1N2ME9rH4E
Kodo 2015 Special Concert “Michi”
Mar. 19 (Thu)–20 (Fri), 2015 Yokohama, Kanagawa
http://www.kodo.or.jp/news/20150319michi_en.html
Director: Motofumi Yamaguchi
Performers: Eiichi Saito, Tomohiro Mitome, Yuichiro Funabashi, Mitsuru Ishizuka, Kenta Nakagome, Tsuyoshi Maeda, Rai Tateishi, Maya Minowa, Ryosuke Inada, Yuki Kajiro, Masaya Koike and Mizuki Yoneyama (Cast subject to change)
Programme (TBC): Zoku, Jang-Gwara, Chonlima, Michi, Shamisen, Monochrome, Miyake, Sankan Shion, Yamauta, O-daiko, Yatai-bayashi
“Year 32 (2013-2014) Apprentice Graduation Ceremony” by Michiko Chida
Year 32 (2013-2014) Apprentice Graduation Ceremony (Jan. 17, 2015)
Eight members from the Year 32 (2013-2014) class graduated from the Kodo Apprentice Centre on January 17, 2015, having completed our 22-month-long apprentice programme.
When they entered the programme, there were 12 apprentices in their class, but 5 of them left after a year and the remaining 7 members advanced to the second year of the programme. In June 2014, an apprentice from the year above them, who took time off due to an injury, returned to continue his studies. The eight of them, with unique personalities that inspired each other, worked diligently to grow as individuals.
On this final day, they expressed their gratitude for all of the encounters & experiences made possible by their time at the Apprentice Centre. They ended their apprentice life with one last performance together, as a team, showing us their sense of unity.
Now, they will set off on different paths, but I hope that what they experienced here will become a foundation, source of confidence, and something that they will treasure for the rest of their lives.
Thank you very much to all of you who loved and encouraged these young apprentices over the past two years.
“The 2015 North America Tour Begins!” by Yui Kawamoto
On Jan. 26, the One Earth Tour members arrived safely in North America!
Today, we unpacked our cargo at the first performance venue in Bellingham, Washington.
It’s a cute theater in a small town.
Tomorrow is our opening night!
We look forward to seeing you all at Bellingham’s Mount Baker Theatre.
Jan.–Mar. 2015 “Kodo One Earth Tour 2015: Mystery” North America Tour
http://www.kodo.or.jp/oet/index_en.html#schedule13a
“‘Taiko Experience’ Workshop for Kodo Members” by Shinichi Sogo (a.k.a. Shinchan-sensei)
On Jan. 11, I led a “Taiko Experience” workshop for a small group of Kodo members. I was a little nervous about how it was going to go…
Once it started, there was non-stop laughter!
It was so much fun that the 90 minutes just flew by!
Sado Island Taiko Centre (Tatakokan) http://www.sadotaiken.jp/ (Japanese)
Sado Island Taiko Centre Official Facebook Page (Japanese)
“Making Mochi at Kodo Village” by Yutaka Teramoto
We just had our annual new-year Mochi-tsuki Taikai (event where we make mochi: pounded rice cake) at Kodo Village.
All the Kodo members and staff gathered to pound the steamed rice into mochi outside the Kodo Village dining room.
The mochi-making team leader this year was performer Tetsumi Hanaoka (pictured right).
We all enjoyed the freshly made mochi for lunch. It was delicious!
Happy New Year from Kodo
Happy New Year from All of Us!
May 2015 be a happy and fruitful year for all of you.
Photo taken at Sado Island Taiko Centre on January 13, 2015
“Backstage Tour” by Naomi Iseki
After the “Kodo One Earth Tour2014: Eternity” Tokyo performance on Dec. 22, we held a backstage tour for a special group of people who handle our ticket sales.
We don’t get to offer this kind of tour usually, but we were able to show this group around backstage with the support of our junior members.
Yosuke Oda appeared as a special guest! He played a hirado-odaiko drum with an array of different drumsticks. It was a very short time, but I think everyone enjoyed it.
Thank you to all of the participants for joining us! I would like to plan this kind of tour more often in future, so I hope you’ll have a chance to come along, too!