Japan Video Topics 2014/15
Festival Art in Tohoku (4’18”)
We visit two art festivals in the prefectures of Yamagata and Akita, in Japan’s northern Tohoku region. The Yamagata Biennale Art Festival featured work on mountain themes by artists connected to the prefecture, while the Odate-Kitaakita Arts Festival, centered on a city shopping district, presented a variety of works on local themes by local artists. These festivals illustrate the power of art to bring people together, and show how art is playing a role in building a better future for the Tohoku region.
A Spirit of Service (4’19”)
The level of service and hospitality visitors enjoy in Japanese hotels and ryokan is extraordinarily detailed, with care and attention lavished on things no guest will even notice. And all done without expectation of reward, since there’s no tipping in Japan. This ideal of service, based purely on pleasing the guest, is thought to originate in the philosophy and traditions of the tea ceremony, and it’s a legacy that remains deeply embedded in the character of the people of Japan.
Exploring a Tokyo Yokocho (3’48”)
Yokocho are the back street shopping and entertainment districts found in towns all over Japan – Tokyo alone has hundreds. We explore Harmonica Yokocho in Tokyo’s Kichijoji. This is a maze of 100 or so tiny shops and restaurants, each with its own distinctive character, one being almost 70 years old. Some offer unique specialty items that draw long lines of customers every day. Another attraction of yokocho is their sense of community – we see the families of Harmonica Yokocho in their early morning market and at the Kichijoji fall festival.
Washi – The Versatile Paper (4’23”)
The craft paper known as washi has endless applications in Japanese daily life. So durable that documents from over 1,000 years ago look fresh and new, washi is invaluable for preserving and repairing art works. When a photograph is required to last hundreds of years, it’s printed on washi. This paper is used inside capacitors for electronic devices, to make tough tatami mats, and even in architecture – sandwiching washi between glass layers allows the design of walls that exploit washi’s unique range of textures.
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