Tag ‘Sado Island’
“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.
“The ‘Sado Long Ride'” by Yui Kawamoto
Spring is here on Sado Island, which brought bright green colors into the scenery.The beautiful weather wonderfully complements the grand panoramic view. Wouldn’t it be a great opportunity to exercise in an environment like this?
The Sado Long Ride was held on May 18th. Participants biked around the island through various scenic views. After cycling up a long strenuous hill, participants would hear….
Don doko, Don doko, Don doko, Don doko!
We had a chance to cheer on some participants who were half way through the course.
Hope to see you back on Sado again! And come visit Sado Island Taiko Centre while you’re here!
“The Start of a New Year” by Tomohiro Mitome
May 1, 2014
This is Tomohiro Mitome, leader of taiko performing arts ensemble Kodo. I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone who follows the Kodo website and Kodo Blog for your constant support of Kodo.
From now on, I am going to write a message at the beginning of each month to give you, our readers, an update from the Kodo ensemble. This month, I will talk about what I felt as we welcomed the new apprentices and junior members to the group recently.
Over the last few years, I have been energetically instructing our apprentices on Sado Island. On April 6th, I attended this year’s entrance ceremony at the Kodo Apprentice Centre.
The “Member Development Course” for people who want to become members of Kodo is a two-year course, with a diverse curriculum which includes performing arts, of course, and also studying agricultural work and etiquette, etc, which aims to develop well-rounded stage performers. When I was an apprentice, the apprentice program lasted one year and we did nothing but physical training and pounding in hours of taiko practise everyday… when I think about it, I feel like a long time has passed since then.
However, between then and now, the apprentices’ will to stand on the Kodo stage and to become Kodo members has not changed. When I see the sparkle in their eyes when we first meet at the entrance ceremony, every year it makes me remember my own initial resolve, and it always feels like the start of a new year.
Apparently, many apprentices say that their lifestyle became the complete opposite of their former one when they entered the Apprentice Programme. The second-year apprentices, who have already spent a full year at the Apprentice Centre, welcomed the new first-years by saying, “Welcome to an unreal world!” and that really made an impression on me.
When I was a new to Kodo, one of the tour managers told me that a Kodo performance has both reality and unreality, and that showing the audience the unreal is what leads to making them dream and moving them. At the Apprentice Centre, where there is a mixture of reality and unreality, I hope that the apprentices will learn many things and gain a lot of experience during their two years, which will make them develop as performers. I hope that one day they can appear on the Kodo stage.
And now, having just completed this two-year-long Apprentice Centre lifestyle, the five young, new junior members are now mixed in with their seniors and they are frantically doing their best to prepare to take the Kodo stage.
Once we are on stage, it doesn’t matter whether you are a veteran or a newcomer, because as performers we are equal. While they have less technique and experience, the newcomers are armed with their youth. They have their own new sensibilities, and as musicians and performers I want them to do their best to create unforgettable performances for their audiences.
“Shukunegi, the Venue for ‘Kodo Special Performances on Sado Island’” by Michiko Chida
“Kodo Special Performances on Sado Island 2014 – Spring” started on April 27th. Right from the opening performance, we have welcomed so many audience members from around Sado Island and from offshore. Thank you very much for coming!
These performances are being held in Shukunegi. This village has a wonderful atmosphere, so I would like to introduce it further to you.
Shukunegi flourished in the Edo era due to trade by sengoku-bune (large junks/wooden sailing ships) and there about 100 houses in the village, nestled in this small valley. Many of the houses were constructed by shipbuilders and built using their own special techniques to suit the small plots of land. The exteriors are very simple, but the interiors are gorgeous. Some of the houses even feature beautifully laquered pillars, ceilings and beams on the interior.
There is a bamboo fence at the entrance to the village. Stones and three horizontal wooden boards are stacked up at the bottom of it. The bamboo fencing behind is so long and thin. We are allowed to put our poster on this beautiful structure only during this performance period. When you walk through the central gate, it feels like you have wandered into another world.
“Sado Island Taiko Centre (Tatakokan) in Spring” by Masami Miyazaki
At the Sado Island Taiko Centre (Tatakokan) in spring the sounds of energetic taiko echo out every day. Today members of “Aoba-kai,” a physical rehabilitation group on Sado Island, visited us at the Centre.
I was glad to see them play taiko and have fun, saying with pleasure that “We thought we wouldn’t be able to play taiko with our bent backs, but we were able to play so much!” Seeing that really made an impression on me.
So, please come to the Takokokan to play taiko, all of you. Taiko gives you a lot of energy!
“Kakinoura’s Festival” by Tomohiro Mitome
On April 15, spring festivals were held all over Sado Island. The community of Kakinoura, where the Kodo Apprentice Centre is located, has taken the Kodo apprentices “under its wings” and teaches them how to dance the local demon dance every year.
If they reach the right standard, some apprentices may be allowed to wear the special costumes and perform as demons in the festival. This is such a special day.
“One Year Down, One to Go! Update on the 2nd-year Apprentices” by Michiko Chida
After seeing off the apprentices from the year above them in January, there were only 8 new 2nd-year apprentices living together at the Apprentice Centre until they welcomed the new 1st-year apprentices in April. They had to adjust their relationship and learn to cooperate as such a small group. And, they had to deal with the harsh Sado Island winter for the first time.
Through this season, they really had to face each other and take a good look at themselves. But, what they gained from this time must become their energy for their new start as 2nd years.
The apprentices came through this challenging season and by the end of March they’d had a lot of new memorable experiences.
Yoko Fujimoto’s “Voice Circle”: 2 days/1 night with Yoko Fujimoto, spent learning songs and listening to the stories. At the end, they sang Hinei Ma Tov to each other.
“New Car Ferry ‘Tokiwa-maru’” by Maya Minowa
We performed at the special event for the new car ferry “Tokiwa-maru” before its public launch.
It was the first time for me to play taiko on a moving ship.
The weather was bad, so it rolled and rocked. Even when we bowed at the end of performance, it was hard to stand straight. This ferry is bigger and more beautiful than I expected! I know we will use this ferry a lot from now on.
“Special Performance on New Sado Kisen Ferry ‘Tokiwa-maru’!” by Eri Uchida
April 4 Performance to Commemorate the Maiden Voyage of New Ferry “Tokiwa-maru”
A new ferry has joined the Sado Kisen fleet, which we always use to come and go from Sado Island. This was my first experience of performing on the sea. I was both really excited about the new ferry and really worried about getting seasick.
We set sail and our performance commenced!
We began with okedo-daiko piece Ugachi, which we played as we wove our way through the audience. Then we performed Hobashira Okoshi Ondo, a tradtional workmen’s song for raising the mast on sail boats. Kenta Nakagome played Odaiko, then to finish with a bang we all performed Yatai-bayashi. I could barely stand straight for the encore piece, but once you go with the motion of the waves, you get into a different groove than usual and that was fun in itself.
