(Blog post written on October 29, 2023)
I have continued the activities of La Neige, a “contemporary tea room,” for 30 years.
And I have lived my entire life—57 years—in the land of Fushimi-Momoyama, where I was born and raised.
At last, the day has come when I can finally do something I have long imagined—somewhere in the back of my mind—“someday.”
That “someday” is the event we will hold on February 11, 2024:
“Rediscovering Fushimi! Rediscovering Japan’s Traditional Storytelling Arts!”
When I was a fifth-grader in 1977, I took part in an international camp in Graz, Austria, for four weeks. Teams gathered there from Austria, Germany, Greece, Israel, Romania, Poland, Spain, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Norway, Canada, Mexico, and Japan—each team composed of two boys and two girls of the same age, plus one leader aged 21 or older. The camp was supported by local staff and a group of 17-year-old mentors from the local community as well as from Sweden and Poland, along with nursing staff from Yugoslavia.
That experience made me keenly realize something:
many Japanese people do not know the traditional culture of their own country. We are good at adopting foreign cultures (sometimes conveniently), yet not so good at communicating our own culture to the world.
From then on, that “antenna” was raised within me—but I was no exception. Opportunities to encounter traditional culture are limited, and as a result, there is always so much we simply do not know.
At La Neige, I have continued to host events centered on what I myself wanted to learn. Through those activities, I connected with many people, and over time, a series of discoveries began to come together.
In 2018, when we celebrated the 25th anniversary of La Neige, I planned to invite a flute-and-guitar duo, Tsuna Kōji, and was discussing also inviting Rakugo master Shiodai Katsura. At that time, the late Kōji Hattori—originally from Kakegawa and a rakugo fan living in Tokyo—said to me, “If it’s Fushimi, I’d love to hear Sanjikkoku Yume no Kayoi-ji,” a rakugo story based on the Sanjikkoku boats. I had never even known such a story existed. When I asked Master Shiodai, he told me it was one of his signature pieces, so I immediately requested it—and I was deeply moved when I heard it.
Then, in 2020, when I asked Rōkyoku performer Keiko Haruno to present “various styles of Japanese shamisen,” featuring the shamisen accompanist Hazuki Ippūtei as “the shamisen of rōkyoku,” I told them where La Neige was located. They instantly said, “Then it must be Kesa and Moritō.”
I did not even know at the time that the tale of Kesagozen and Moritō is connected to Koinzuka-dera Temple in Akaike, Fushimi—and that even the origin of the place name “Akaike” is tied to that story.
And on September 28, 2020, I attended a presentation of a remarkable project: ultra–high-resolution scanning and preservation of an illustrated scroll depicting the Battle of Toba–Fushimi, set in my own local area. Yet even though I live here, I realized I knew almost nothing about that battle. In the scroll, scenes of fires breaking out in places very close to where we are today were depicted, and drone footage showed the present-day locations corresponding to the scenes in the scroll. I strongly felt that I wanted local residents to see this.
While I was thinking of asking for cooperation, I saw an even more powerful version of the project on January 30, 2021—now combined with kōdan storytelling by Kyoko Kanda. I pleaded for the opportunity to collaborate, and on June 17 we held a private preview at Uosaburō, a historic local ryōtei in Fushimi where traces of the battle still remain.
From that moment, I kept thinking: Someday, I want to bring these three elements together—here in Fushimi, at the Kuretake Cultural Hall.
Now, even more has been added:
historical talks by Masahiro Wakabayashi, a living encyclopedia of Fushimi;
the venue decorated with Sayoko Hayashi’s town-house quilts inspired by Fushimi;
and an additional related exhibition on the illustrated scroll, organized in a separate room by the Institute of Advanced Imaging Engineering, who have also provided video content.
For the event’s host, I have asked Kyoko Tsushima, who was also born and raised here in Fushimi.
Even though I was born and raised here, and have had that “antenna” up since I was about ten years old, it still took me more than 55 years to finally encounter these three traditional storytelling arts that are all set in Fushimi.
But for the children growing up here now—elementary and junior high school students—I want these to become things they “naturally know” from an early age.
I raised four children myself, so I understand how busy children are today and how difficult it can be for them to come in person. As I will explain in a later post, I hope to invite as many as possible through the methods available. And for the many children who cannot watch in real time, I plan to prepare DVDs that can be lent out to schools as a unit.
Even if they cannot attend, I want them to know:
there are such traditional arts, there are such stories, and their stages are right here in their own Fushimi.
That is also why I want to distribute flyers to schools in Fushimi Ward.
To make it clear that we are operating on a nonprofit basis, I established a general incorporated association.
Just in time.
Of course, the children are the group I most want to reach—but even for people of my own generation or older, those I have spoken with over the years, almost none of them had heard of these works. The illustrated-scroll content is a very recent creation, so that is understandable; but even regarding the other two, I found virtually no one who knew them.
So, local adults who are hearing these for the first time—welcome!
And of course, anyone coming from outside Fushimi—welcome as well!
I hope that by encountering traditional storytelling arts set in Fushimi, people will also discover the charm of Fushimi itself, and the charm of these performing arts. And I hope that similar “rediscoveries” will take place in many regions, bringing people together and enlivening each place through opportunities to experience its unique cultural treasures.
We have set the ending time at 5:00 p.m., and I would be delighted if, afterward, people would visit local restaurants and shops in the area. And if this event inspires you to visit the real-life locations connected to each story—
or to go see live performances by each artist, in their own theaters and venues—
nothing would make me happier.
It is nearly time to replace this draft flyer with the final version including ticket prices and the official name of our association—while also announcing the plans for this series in 2025 and 2026, which I will share in a later post.