Festival Music and Dance of Old Tokyo with Eien Hunter-Ishikawa
What better way to commence our 2024 programming than an evening of festival music — Edo Bayashi — and dance — Kotobuki Jishi celebratory lion dance — with Portland-based musician and educator Eien Hunter-Ishikawa.
Photo credit: Xun Yu 六入處感官美學研習社 The Six Sensorial Lab
During this intimate lecture-demonstration in the tatami tearoom of SaBi Tea Arts, participants had the chance to experience the music and dance of the celebratory Shishimai lion dance up-close and to learn about the history and meaning behind this Intangible Cultural Asset of Folk Art from one of the rare experts in the field.
All photo credits: Xun Yu 六入處感官美學研習社 The Six Sensorial Lab
Eien’s performance and insights were truly a joy to receive and made us hopeful for an auspicious year ahead!
About the Educator:
Eien is the founder of the Portland Shishimai Kai. He started learning Edo Kotobuki Jishi in 2001 under the instruction of Kenny Endo, continuing on to study with Kyosuke Suzuki, a longtime member of Wakayama Shachu (Nationally Designated Important Intangible Cultural Asset of Folk Arts). Eien is a certified instructor of all four parts - music and dance - of Wakayama Ryu Edo Kotobuki Jishi. Eien is also a gifted musician and composer on a variety of traditional Japanese instruments, especially taiko and shinobue flute.
We gratefully acknowledge support from the Community Fund of the Japanese Canadian Legacies Society.