Noda

FUTURE SHORTS - SPECIAL JAPAN (2007)

Future Shorts hosts a Japan special at Favela Chic featuring the best in Japan-produced, themed and inspired short film and music video.
Come and be entertained as Geisha girls feed you popcorn and attend to your every need!
The Japanese special features fabulous shorts both old and new including Nagi Noda's hilarious spoof 'Fitness Video', as well as the brand new and stunning 'Monkeylove' from Royston Tan which won the Labo competition at Clermont-Ferrand this year. 'Coin Laundry' is a love story set in a launderette from Jerome Oliver while 'Cold Cut' is another magical piece from the mind of Joji Koyama (director of the enchanting 'Watermelon Love') You can also expect to see Future Shorts favourities including 'On a Wednesday Night in Tokyo' by Jan Verbeek which investigates how many people you can fit into an underground train, as well as 'Salaryman' by Jake Knight which explores a uniquely Japanese phenomenon.

The development of koto music was one of Japan's most valuable contributions to the history of classical music. Some scholars trace the instrument back to the 8th Century or earlier but koto music became firmly established in the 16th Century, and the present-day 13-stringed instrument and the music written for it are inherited from that time. Originally a court instrument, the koto with its harplike sound became a symbol of gentility and good taste in the home. Playing the Koto well is an accomplishment that enhances the marital prospects of well-bred Japanese girls. Three schools were established among koto musicians from the 17th to the 19th Centuries. The traditions of each school (ryu) exist today. They are the Yatsuhashi-ryu, Ikuta-ryu and Yamada-ryu. Each school used differently shaped finger picks, thereby producing different sounds and techniques. For example, musicians of the lkuta-ryu who made this recording use square picks and play a koto that is longer than the usual six foot size..