Tag ‘Sado Island’
2017 Kodo Group Portrait
Yesterday the Kodo Group gathered in the rehearsal hall at Kodo Village for a 2017 group portrait.
We kindly ask for your continued support throughout the year ahead.
“New Year’s Mochi Making at Kodo Village” by Shingo Kawamura
Jan. 14, 2017
New Year’s Mochi Making at Kodo Village
As you can see, Kodo Village is covered in deep snow and has been since we returned from our winter vacation.
Despite the cold conditions, we are all keeping well!
Today we enjoyed one of Kodo Village’s annual events: mochi making.
Mochi is a traditional Japanese pounded rice cake.
The young members did a lot of the rice pounding and the village was buzzing as everyone excitedly enjoyed the freshly made mochi.
This Japanese soul food gave us all a boost to start the new year.
On behalf of Kodo, I will take this opportunity to ask all of you for your continued encouragement throughout the new year ahead!
“The Young Ones, Back in Action” by Ryotaro Leo Ikenaga
The Young Ones, Back in Action
Happy New Year, everyone!
Kodo’s young members, myself included, got back into action early on this year with a live-in rehearsal period from Jan. 4.
A new year is a new start, so we planned this rehearsal period with that in mind.
We practised core pieces that Kodo has performed since its early days, such as “Miyake” and “Yatai-bayashi,” under the instruction of Kodo’s veteran members.
Through these sessions, we also wanted to explore some new pathways. So we pooled and shared ideas and compositions, then worked together to create new sounds and pieces.
We were the only ones at Kodo Village and every day we made new discoveries and realizations. It was an opportunity for us all to reaffirm just how lucky we are to have a place where we can create sound all day long.
In 2017, we have all set our sights on new heights!
We hope you’ll cheer us on!
Kodo’s Last Day of Work for 2017
Dec. 27 was our last day of work for 2016.
We celebrated Kodo’s 35th anniversary in 2016, which was a year filled with new encounters around the world and exciting new challenges. We pushed ourselves to discover brand new possibilities in artistic expression. In this milestone year, we also made a giant leap towards the next era of our group.
In 2017, we look forward to sharing performances with you all that we hope will move you to the very core.
Thank you all for your continued support.
Best wishes from all of us for a happy, healthy new year.
Kodo members gather in the Kodo Village Dining Hall on the last day of work for 2017
Taiko Workshop & Exchange with Shiki Theatre Company
Taiko Workshop & Exchange with Shiki Theatre Company
On Oct. 30, we hosted an exchange event at Kodo Apprentice Centre for Kodo and Shiki Theatre Company. The Company came to Sado to give performances of “The Adventures of Ganba” for fifth & sixth grade elementary school students from all over the island. As soon as they arrived on Sado, they came straight here to see us!
The Kodo apprentices welcomed the Company with a performance.
Kodo’s Eiichi Saito led a taiko workshop for our guests. He told them, “Feel everyone’s hearts connect as you play taiko together.”
It looks like the members of Shiki Theatre Company really enjoyed playing taiko.
Next, they showed us a scene from “The Adventures of Ganba” that features taiko!
We all enjoyed dinner together. The apprentices made curry from scratch and filled the tables with vegetable dishes made with fresh produce they harvested themselves. Of course, they also served up Sado’s famous “Okesa Kaki” persimmons. We had such a fun meal together. Most of our apprentices are around 20 years old and so were many of the Shiki Theatre Company performers. They also had an apprenticeship period in their training, so everyone had a lot in common. Everyone enjoyed talking to each other and it was a very fruitful exchange for all involved.
The Shiki Theatre Company members have a go at playing the big drum, o-daiko.
Shiki Theatre Company will perform on Nov. 1 at Amusement Sado for the children of Sado and our apprentices will help them out with the load-in and load-out.
Thank you for visiting us, Shiki Theatre Company! We are looking forward to seeing your performance! Break a leg!
Shiki Theatre Company with Eiichi Saito and the Kodo apprentices.
So Kuramoto Visits Kodo Village
So Kuramoto Visits Kodo Village
On Oct. 4, Mr. So Kuramoto, a Japanese scriptwriter, playwright, and director, visited Kodo Village with his family. It was a fresh, sunny autumn day on Sado Island. Our visitors watched Yosuke Oda play o-daiko, the big drum, in our rehearsal hall. Then they went and observed the apprentices practising tea ceremony at our traditional homestead, Izumi-tei. Next, they had a look around our nearby facilities, Sado Island Taiko Centre and Fukaura Schoolhouse, before they traveled over to Kodo Apprentice Centre where they watched Yoshikazu Fujimoto lead the apprentices through a taiko practice session.
Mr. Kuramoto has presented “Furano Juku” workshops for years in Hokkaido, where he helps actors and scenario writers to cultivate their skills. He asked the apprentices many questions about their life at the Apprentice Centre, their training, and their thoughts and hopes. Everyone enjoyed this fun opportunity for exchange.
The apprentices sang a lively folksong at the end of this special visit.
“KASA MIX 2016” by Yui Kawamoto
KASA MIX 2016
Rumored to be “life-changing,” this biennial program called KASA MIX is an intensive program designed for taiko players from outside of Japan.
With the current growth of the international taiko culture and community, the KASA MIX participants have gathered from countries all over the world such as United States, Canada, England, Argentina.
When they arrived on Sado, the KASA MIX participants joined our apprentices in their unique lifestyle at the Kodo Apprentice Centre.
They participated in every aspect, from the early morning workout to eating meals, cleaning, and taking baths together.
They took a variety of different workshops from our veteran Kodo performing members, and experienced the great seasonal nature of Sado.
Timing worked out perfectly to observe one of the practices of ondeko (demon drumming) in the Iwakubi community, and had the opportunity to learn an ondeko dance themselves, from the Kasuga community in the latter half of their stay.
And of course, they enjoyed everything else that this island has to offer.
Gathering from all over the world, the participants were able to share with us some taiko stories from their country or area.
The different reasons, history, spirit and culture that each person had shared with us have opened up a bigger world for our young apprentices who had no knowledge on the taiko culture outside of Japan.
As they discovered their new findings of taiko in the world, it looked to me that they found another reason to strive to become a Kodo performing member.
KASA MIX has come to an end once again with very warm and heart-filling memories through this short time we had together on Sado island.
As one of the staff members for this program, I was very moved by the unification we have created through taiko, which brought a sense of nostalgic comfort to my heart.
Thank you to everyone who participated this year! We look forward to seeing you again somewhere in this world.
Next one is coming up again in two years! To all taiko enthusiasts all over the world, we look forward to having you here on Sado for our next KASA MIX!
Thank You for Joining Us for Earth Celebration 2016!
Thank You for Joining Us on Sado Island for Earth Celebration 2016
[EC 2016] “Rehearsals for ‘Kodo Village Concert'” by Ryotaro Leo Ikenaga
Rehearsals for “Kodo Village Concert”
We have returned to Sado Island after our Kodo 35th Anniversary Concerts at Suntory Hall and leapt straight into rehearsals at Kodo Village with the EC 2016 guest artists from Vietnam! We are collaborating to make new pieces together to perform at Kodo Village Concert on Aug. 26.
We are so curious about each other’s culture and music.
The current atmosphere in the Kodo Rehearsal Hall is both harmonious and electric!
We look forward to sharing this feel-good exchange and collaboration with you all soon at EC.
We are waiting for you all on Sado Island! See you soon!
Earth Celebration 2016
Aug. 26 (Fri)–28 (Sun), 2016
Sado Island, Niigata
“Rehearsals” by Kenta Nakagome
Aug. 5, 2016
Greetings from Summer on Sado Island
We are currently right in the thick of our rehearsals on Sado Island for our upcoming “Kodo 35th Anniversary Commemorative Concerts.”
We are going to make this summer a really lively one! We hope you will come and join us.
Illustrations: Kenta Nakagome
Kodo 35th Anniversary Commemorative Concerts
http://www.kodo.or.jp/news/20150917kodo35th_en.html
The next generation of Kodo will take a bold step forward into new frontiers with three mid-summer night concerts in Tokyo.
*Tickets on sale now for Aug. 18 & 19.
*Aug. 20 performance is SOLD OUT
*Commemorative Concert Sponsors: Suntory Beer Limited, Onkyo & Pioneer Innovations Corporation, POLA INC.
For ticket orders in English, call Ticket Space Tel. 03-3234-9999 (Mon–Sat 10:00–12:00, 13:00–18:00)
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Aug. 18 (Thu) First Night ‒Deai‒ (Encounters)
Featuring: Kodo, New Japan Philharmonic
Conductor: Tatsuya Shimono
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Aug. 19 (Fri) Second Night ‒Spiral‒ <<S-seats sold out>>
Director: Tamasaburo Bando
Featuring: Kodo
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Aug. 20 (Sat) Third Night ‒Hisho‒ (Soaring) <<SOLD OUT>>
Director: Tamasaburo Bando
Featuring: Kodo with guest artists Blue Tokyo & Dazzle
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Preview on YouTube https://youtu.be/
Earth Celebration 2016
Aug. 26 (Fri)–28 (Sun), 2016
Sado Island, Niigata