2022 年 8 月 19 日
Impressions しょかん 所感.
Matsuri means Festival. In Japan there is a regular calendar of them, especially in the summer. They are huge community events, often involving the carrying of some festival shrine through the streets, and accompanied by much dancing and merry-making. We can't reproduce this in Frankfurt of course, but have evolved a model which encompasses a range of traditional and modern arts. There is Calligraphy, Manga, Kendo, Archery and Ikebana. But the biggest attraction is the music/dance and fashion performances on stage, the Cosplay, the food, and of course, the drink. The latter could be fine Sake or Kobe Coffee. Or simply a Calpis.
My various jobs at this and former festivals include picking up artists at the airport, and helping them check into their hotels. Some have flown directly from Japan (longer flights now that you can't fly over Russia), or have changed planes in Ho Chi Minh City or Seoul......as did Sammy Satoshi, our percussionist exraordinaire.....
I try and park as near as possible to the hotel entrance....😅
Then there could be PCR tests to coordinate, an epiano to deliver, and some sightseeing to organize. I also write/translate all the English texts for the website https://www.main-matsuri.com/en/
Thank heavens we were able to put on the festival this year! It was a tremendous success, with estimates of up to 25.000 visitors over the three days. I am not going to write much in this post. It is not a comprehensive summary, rather the first of a personal gallery of photos and video clips.....just taken wherever I was at that moment.
Off we go/Los geht's/行こう...
Before we opened the gates, Fuekiさん (drums), Sammyさん (rhythm) and Kojiさん (shamisen) got the mood going with a little jam session...
Having started beforehand with a Japanese-style introduction round........かおあ顔合わせ.
The kimonos are already on display....
At the smaller of the two stages, Yurie Nishie from Berlin opened the day with a self-choreographed display of contemporary dance. There seems to be no muscle she cannot move, no joint she cannot flip here and there..
Sorting out details before stepping on stage....Yurie and Christof..
Then there was Caligrapher Rena Kato, who, accompanied by Touzan Hirano on the shakuhachi flute, wrote two Haika poems on stage......Here she is with one of our transalators, Meiさん。
The LADY SAMURAI IDEAL Samurai group gave members of the public a chance to handle a Katana (Samurai sword)....applauded here by group member Rikoさん.
...who later joined her colleague Erikoさん on the main stage......
The two men in the team, Hiroyukiさん and Kentaさん, introduce this scene.....
Meanwhile the Kotos wait patiently for their players........
....and the music is already prepared.....
And this stall seems to sell all sorts of things...
Later on, Akari Mochizuki, aka "Mochi" gets the audience going with her hit song "Hitoride nadeshiko" It's a classic romantic heart break song about a girl who is dated by a guy (in her Youtube film Akari drops her Oyster Card (like the Suicha Card in Tokyo!) on the streets of north London.A guy picks it up, and she is so grateful. Only later does she discover that he has a wife, who of course creates hell when she finds out. So Akari is left "Hitori" - ie alone. Nadeshiko is the name of the flower that describes Japanese women in general. So the song title ends up as something like "Nadeshiko flower on her own".
Mochi....
Jumpeiさん is an artist with a camera. I shall be interested to see his pictures....写真を見るのを楽しみにしています
Finale on the first night...最初の夜
That's all for today. More later........
p.s. You can look up any of these artists here....https://www.main-matsuri.com/en/programme/artists
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