Jun 21 (Wed), 2017 / Last updated : Jun 21 (Wed), 2017 melanie Kodo Blog, , , ,

“Meet & Greet Visit to Asakusa” by Ryoma Tsurumi

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Summer is on its way and I can feel the change of season in the air already.

The other day I went to Asakusa in Tokyo with Tsuyoshi. It was a holiday so Kaminari-mon Street was bustling with many tourists. When we glanced up, we saw that Asakusa had put “Kodo Spirited Summer” flags up all over the place!

 

Tsuyoshi and I visited many shops in Asakusa to say hello to the local supporters of our annual Asakusa concerts. Unfortunately, we found that many of the people we wanted to say hello to were not at work on this particular day, so we had to leave messages for them instead. We were pleased to see Mr. Hokari, the owner of Kaminari Okoshi Honpo!

This year marks the fifth year that Kodo has held back-to-back concerts in Asakusa. Every year the people of Asakusa help and support us in so many ways. Thanks to them, Asakusa is a very special place for all of us.

Our “Spirited Summer” tour begins on July 2 in Kyoto and will visit eleven cities throughout Japan. We will give performances in Asakusa from July 6 through 9. There are still tickets available, so please come along!

After the humid rainy season, everyone needs a boost. We hope you will join us in July for our invigorating “Spirited Summe” performances! See you soon!

Kodo “Spirited Summer” Japan Tour

 

May 20 (Sat), 2017 / Last updated : Jun 13 (Tue), 2017 melanie Kodo Blog, , ,

“School Workshop Performance Rehearsals” by Narumi Matsuda

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May 19, 2017
Photo: Narumi Mastuda

It’s starting to look very summery here on Sado Island!

Photo: Narumi Mastuda
This week at Kodo Village we are holding run-through rehearsals for the upcoming School Workshop Performance tour, which is about to begin. The other day, we asked Kodo’s apprentices to fill in as the school pupils for our rehearsal. This programme is designed for performances in school gymnasiums. As well as our taiko performance, it also features introductions to the various instruments we play and a hands-on taiko experience corner.

Photo: Narumi Mastuda

This tour will spend a month and a half giving performances at schools in Fukushima, Yamagata, Tokyo, Osaka, and Niigata. As the performers rehearse and fine tune the programme, they all wonder how the kindergarten, elementary school, junior high school, and high school students will react to their performance.
If we are coming to your school soon, we look forward to seeing you there!

School Workshop Performances
https://www.kodo.or.jp/en/performance_schoool_en

Jun 7 (Wed), 2017 / Last updated : Jun 13 (Tue), 2017 melanie Kodo Blog, , , , , ,

“Song & Taiko Ninin-Angya in Uchiko” by Mitsunaga Matsuura

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“Ninin-Angya,” an upbeat duo featuring Kodo Distinguished Members Yoshikazu Fujimoto & Yoko Fujimoto, will visit Uchiko in Ehime Prefecture for a performance on June 27.

Join the Fujimotos for a fun encounter filled with taiko, songs, and stories from their unique journeys through life. They will present some of the many songs they have encountered to date on Sado Island, on their travels, and with Kodo. You’re in for a special treat at this particular performance because Yoshikazu is bringing his own odaiko along to play. He named his big drum “Taiyo,” which means “sun.” Below is a video message from Yoshikazu and Yoko about their performance in Uchiko. They look forward to seeing everyone there!

June 27 (Tue), 2017 Yoshikazu Fujimoto & Yoko Fujimoto in “Song & Taiko Ninin-Angya” (Uchiko, Ehime) *Further details in Japanese

2017年6月27日（火）藤本吉利・藤本容子「唄と太鼓の二人行脚」（愛媛県喜多郡内子町）

Jun 7 (Wed), 2017 / Last updated : Mar 23 (Fri), 2018 melanie Kodo Blog, , , , , ,

Kodo Members Take on a Challenging New Role in “Yugen”

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The climax of our new production with Tamasaburo Bando, “Yugen,” features five colorful beasts. Two Kodo members appear in this role alongside Tamasaburo Bando, Jusuke Hanayagi and a Hanayagi dancer. They are Kengo Watanabe and Kodai Yoshida.

The picture below is of Kodai Yoshida (Kodo), Jusuke Hanayagi (center), and Kengo Watanabe (Kodo), backstage at the Nagoya performances.

And here they are again, transformed into shishi (beasts).

They look forward to seeing you at the theater for “Yugen”!

Tamasaburo Bando x Kodo Special Performance “Yugen” (Japan)

Jun 13 (Tue), 2017 / Last updated : Jun 13 (Tue), 2017 melanie Kodo Blog, , , , , ,

“We’ve Got Something in Common!” by Yosuke Kusa

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The “Yugen” tour began in Tokyo on May 16 and we gave performances in Tokyo, Niigata and Nagoya on the first leg of this tour.
For this production, the performers and Kodo staff were supported by a numerous people from a wide range of professions.

Amongst all these people from different backgrounds, I found something that six of us have in common.

Front row (from left): Tsunahito Hanayagi, Yuichiro Funabashi
Back row (from left): Erika Ueda, Takefumi Noguchi, Yosuke Kusa, Yusuke Ishikawa

The six of us pictured above all graduated from the same university! Hanayagi-ryu dancer Tsunahito Hanayagi, stage set staff Takefumi Noguchi & Yusuke Ishikawa of Tatsuta Stage Co., Ltd., Kodo performers Yuichiro Funabashi and I, and Kodo publicist Erika Ueda.
There are approximately 780 universities in Japan, so it was quite a coincidence for us all to come together to work on the same production and find that we had all studied at Kyoto University of Art and Design. As the days went by on our tour, we discovered this connection and we were so happy about that. I am still buzzing about it so I thought I would share it on the Kodo Blog.

▲At Shunjuza in Sep. 2016, warming up before our performance.

By the way, Kodo will perform “Spirited Summer” at the theater at Kyoto University of Art and Design, Shunjuza, on July 2.

Also, the Yugen tour will resume on Sep. 2 in Fukuoka and then travel to Kyoto for performances from Sep. 21 through 23.

▲　In the Yugen performances, Yosuke Kusa performs the snake dance.

The path that led me to my current job began in Kyoto, so I know that performing these programmes in Kyoto will have special meaning for me. Please come along to see “Spirited Summer” and “Yugen” in Kyoto!

Kodo Blog Archive