Tribute to the resistance of the Tohoku Region during the HIBIYA FESTIVAL 2021

Festivals are a very important part of Japanese culture. They’re a day of celebration for just about every reason you can think of, and because they’re spread out over the year, there’s always one on our “must go” list.
Unfortunately, COVID-19 has made it very difficult to hold the festivals, and although we are unable to enjoy them in person, it does not mean that they have been completely canceled. In fact, many festivals and events around Japan have made changes to being held online.

One of these online festivals this year is the Tokyo Midtown Hibiya Festival 2021. This year the event serves as a memorial to the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake, featuring regional art from it.
The grand finale of the event – ‘Sanriku Performing Arts Dance’ – was held in Tokyo Midtown Hibiya Step Square without an audience on May 15, 2021. The event was recorded and edited, and later published on the HIBIYA FES CHANNEL YouTube channel.

The result was more than just a recording of the event. With a duration of almost 40 minutes, the video manages, through camera movements and particular angles, to envelop the audience in a Japanese festival experience like never before.

The presentation tells the story, through experiences, of what happened in the Tohoku region after the 2011 earthquake, and the 10 years of growth and change that have occurred since then. These experiences and changes are marked during different points in the video: Darkness, Prayer, Sympathy, Contact, Return to Nature, and Brightness.

The Sanriku Performing Arts Dance was planned and produced by Culture Vision Japan and the Sanriku International Arts Festival. With this year being the 10th anniversary of the devastating 2011 Tohoku earthquake, it was decided that Sanriku Performing Arts Dance would incorporate original traditional art from Iwate Prefecture in the Tohoku area.

Due to the state of emergency, the artists behind the presentation had to interact online to prepare and create this amazing presentation.
The video was directed by musician Shogo Yoshii, introduced to the growing experimental band KIMIYA SATO MIKUSA BAND, Waraku Soden music project, traditional dance groups, Nakano Nanatsumai Ichinokai and Kanatsu-ryu Yokohama Lion Dance.