Japanese Storytelling7th May 2014Pegasus TheatreOxford Brookes UniversityDepartment of English and Modern Languages1	  	  

2	  ProgrammePART Iモチモチの木 The Tree of Courage(in English)Story by Ryusuke SaitoPictures by Jiro TakidairaStory by Shinsukeねこと七夕 The Cats and TanabataTakasaki(in Japanese)Illustrations by PanaStamosJapanese Folk Tale鶴の恩返し The Grateful Crane(in Japanese)Illustrations by Peter DalyINTERVALPART II花鬼 Hana Oni (in Japanese)Story by Bunnoh FujisawaIllustrations by ToshiyaKobayashi100 万回生きたねこ The Cat Who Lived a Million Lives(in English)Stories and Pictures by Yoko Sano	  3	  モチモチの木 The Tree of Courage (1971)A picture book for children. Illustrations are kirie, Paper –cutting art. A storyabout Mameta, a little boy living with his Granpa. There is a big tree beside hishouse and the tree lights up magically once a year at night. Only very bravechildren get to see the magical lights. However, little Mameta is afraid of goingto an outside toilet at night……

ねこと七夕 The Cats and Tanabata (2013)Tanabata is the legendary, romantic story behind two stars on the East and Westof the Milky Way… When two lovers in heaven, Orihime and Hikoboshi, incitethe anger of God, they are separated by the Milky Way and are only allowed tomeet on one day each year, the 7th July. People make a special wish written on apiece of paper and decorate a bamboo branch with them. On the day ofTanabata, Natsuki, Kyohei and Shota are studying together. When Natsuki’s catdisappears, Natsuki and her friends search for it. In an enthralling adventure,they unite Natsuki’s cat with her mate.

鶴の恩返し The Grateful Crane ( Japanese Folk Tale)An old man rescues an injured crane. Later a poor but happy old couple giveshelter to a mysterious young woman. Their kindness will be repaid in amagical , but poignant way. Grateful Crane is an evocative tale of compassion,gratitude and the effect of our actions on others.

100 万回生きたねこ The Cat Who Lived a Million Lives (1977)There was once a cat that lived a million years. A million people loved him anda million people cried when he died. One day the cat met a beautiful white cat,but she never looked his way. The cat did three somersaults in front of her andasked …….

	  4	  花鬼 Hana Oni (2006)A long long time ago, there was a little girl called Ren. Her father was amedicinal herbalist. Ren helped her father picking flowers for medicinal use.
One summer day Ren was out in the mountain picking cluster amaryllis, but shelost her way. When she saw a light and ran towards it, she came to a field full ofamaryllis. With the wind, the brilliant red flowers swayed like waves of ocean.
The villagers called the field, ‘the Garden of Filth’. Ren wondered, “What abeautiful place. Why is it filthy?” “None would mind if I picked some flowers.’Ren noticed a little boy was looking at her from the edge of the field. The boycame to Ren giving her a stem of amaryllis flowers. “Thank you.” said Ren.
The boy blinked and rubbed his eyes with his white hands.
The boy and Ren collected basket full of flowers. Ren gave the boy half of herlunch rice ball. From then on, Ren and the boy picked flowers together in the‘Garden of Filth’.
One day, the drum beats of the village autumn fair reached to the field.
“The festival is on the night of next full moon.” “Come to our fair with me!”Ren asked the boy.
The boy was a child of Oni demons.
On the night of the full moon, the boy will enter adulthood.
Once entering Oni adulthood, the boy will lose his human appearance andchange into a demonic figure. He will loose his human words and ahuman heart.
“ I will teach you how to dance for the fair.” Ren and the boy practiced in thefield.
dede tsuku dede tsuku dedetsuku denThe boy was really bad at dancing.	 
Ren would twirl beautifully, the boy would fall over again and again.
dede tsuku dede tsuku dedetsuku den‘Ha ha ha’, Ren and the boy laughed and laughed.
On the night of the autumn fair, the boy did not come.
Time passed and Ren grew into a young woman.
That year, the villagers were ordered to go to the “Garden of Filth” to collectamaryllis. There was a bad epidemic, so they needed a lot of amaryllis to makemedicine.
The “Garden of Filth” is the ‘Sacred place ‘ for Oni demons.	  

5	  When the Oni demons learned that villagers had gone into their sacred place,battle broke out.
One night, the villagers pretend to give up and offered a lot of sake wine to thedemons. They drunk it merrily and soon fell asleep, snoring loudly. Thevillagers jumped out from the bushes where they were hiding. One by one, theykilled demons.
At last there was one left, but he was moving quickly here and there.
The Oni ran toward Ren and poised his sharp claws over Ren.
But, the claws did not come down. He lowered his claws quietly.
His mane shined silver under the moonlight. HIs big eyes burned red likesparkling fire. Then the Oni uttered a terrible groan.
But Ren was not at all afraid.
“Run, Ren, Run!’ A villager shouted and threw a bamboo spear into thedemon’s belly. The Oni ran away toward the mountainThat night, Ren went to the Garden of the Filth.
A lonely Oni stood in the middle of the field. The moonlight fell on him. Slowly,he started to dance. He tried to twirl. Thump! He fell. He stood up again and fellagain.
Tears ran down Ren’s cheeks.
The Oni looked at Ren with his dark black eyes, silently stretching out his handwith crimson flowers. “Thank you,” said Ren.
As he fell down, the flowers scattered in the air.
Ren kneeled down and placed her hands on him.
The crimson flowers danced in the air.
Tears dropped from Ren’s eyes.
dede tsuku dede tsuku dede tsuku den,	 Ren patted the Oni’s shoulders.
They were alone in the field under the pale moonlight. The wind blew his manesilently. The crimson flowers waved quietly.
The drum beats dede tsuku den,A drop of tears from a demon in the mountainA demon danced under the moonlightA beat of the drum, a drop of tearsA beat of the drum, danced a demondede tsuku dede tsuku dede tsuku den,A long long time ago, there were a girl and a boy dancing in the mountain.
Shall we start to beat a drum?
dede tsuku dede tsuku dede tsuku den.	  

6	  Motoki HiraiAcclaimed worldwide for his imagination and sensitivity, Motoki Hirai has appearedin the music capitals of the East Asia, America and Europe, performing regularly inprestigious venues including Wigmore Hall (London) and Carnegie Hall (New York).
Highlights of the current season and beyond include solo recitals in RoyalConcertgebouw (Amsterdam), Konzerthaus (Vienna), Cadogan Hall, Milton Court,Kings Place (London), Carnegie Hall (NY), Kioi Hall (Tokyo) and concertoperformances with orchestras such as Czech Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra. As acomposer, Motoki’s works have been performed and premièred in such venues asCarnegie Hall (NY); South Bank Centre, Wigmore Hall, St. John’s Smith Square,Duke’s Hall, Unicorn Theatre, Chelsea Flower Show (London); St. George’s (Bristol);Eden Project (Cornwall); Smetana Hall (Prague); Cultural Summer Festival(Bratislava); Maison de la culture du Japon à Paris (Paris); Auditori Pau Casals(Barcelona); Cameri Theatre of Tel Aviv (Israel); Al-Kasaba Theatre (Palestine); aswell as La Folle Journée, Tokyo Opera City and NHK Hall (Tokyo). His music hasalso been used in such films as ‘Voice’ (2004) and ‘The Emperor’s Tram Girls’(2005).
Born in Tokyo in 1973 into a highly gifted musical family, Motoki studied piano andcomposition with his grandfather, the eminent composer Kozaburo Y. Hirai, andviolin with his grandmother. After reading philosophy and aesthetics at KeioUniversity in Tokyo, Motoki came to London in 1996 to study at the Royal Academyof Music. Over the years, Motoki has performed for the promotion of world peace andfor people in need worldwide in association with organizations such as the GreatBritain Sasakawa Foundation, Japan Society (Tohoku Earthquake Relief Fund), RedCross, Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, UNESCO and UNICEF. As an artisticemissary of the Japanese government, Motoki has visited France, Spain, Portugal,Denmark, UK, Romania, Oman, Sri Lanka and Malaysia since 1994. Motoki hasbroadcast internationally on radio and television (Classic FM, BBC, ITV) and hasmade a number of recordings on CD.
www.motoki-hirai.comChie IshiyamaA freelance news announcer and journalist from Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture. Aftergraduating from university, Chie joined NHK Nagoya Branch and worked as a newspresenter from 1994 to 1998. She was a business news presenter and reporter of NHKBS 1 (Worldwide Satellite Channel) from 1998 for ten years. In 2008, she startedworking as a TV presenter of BS-TBS (Satellite Channel of Tokyo BroadcastingSystem Television) and also as a radio presenter and reporter of NHK Radio 1. Amember of the dramatic reading group Monogatari Theater, Chie reads masterpiecesof Japanese literature and children’s stories to a broad range of audience for the lastfive years.	  

7	  World of Japanese Picture Books -Brought to Life through Reading and MusicThe World of Japanese Picture Books Project is an educational programme,introducing Japanese culture through a collaboration between images, reading and livemusic, which pianist and composer Motoki Hirai has been promoting globally asartistic director. The project began in 2007, when the then Japanese Ambassador toDenmark, Masaki Okada, initiated the Japan Culture Festival to be held inFrederikshavn in August that year. He commissioned composer-pianist Motoki Hiraito write music for two violins based on and inspired by three picture books, and thus‘The World of Japanese Picture Books Project’ was born. It received great acclaim as‘a project which has depths in its content in that it is artistically excellent and highlyentertaining yet significant in terms of “introducing a culture unique to Japan,encouraging cultural dialogues between nations, and promoting education” ’.
Since its successful première in 2007, the ‘World of Japanese Picture Books’ has beenperformed in many countries in a variety of languages across the UK, Europe, the US,Middle East and Africa at theatres, concert halls, festivals and schools. It provides atrue platform for participatory international cultural exchange owing to the flexiblesetup, as Japanese reading and performers are also possible (e.g. in the 2012performance in Israel, the Jews and Arabs performed together, representing hopes toachieve peace through ‘soft power’). There are profound messages and universalthemes embedded in each of the stories which are particularly relevant to modernsociety - including environmental issues, human greed or arrogance, the side effect ofcivilization, peace, life and death, and family ties. The music is placed in such a wayto enhance the experience.
Let’s Read JapaneseLet’s Read Japanese is a series of graded readers for learners of Japanese. Each bookat each level includes famous stories from Japan and from other parts of the world.
Some are retellings of traditional tales, others are newly commissioned stories that aredesigned to introduce particular aspects of Japanese culture and society.
beautiful colour illustrations are woven throughout the text. The texts are graded, withcarefully controlled vocabulary and grammar, so that students of Japanese can startenjoying reading a ’story’ from the early stages of their learning. Teachers will findthem an invaluable resource in the classroom and could return to them again and againas students’ language develops. Let’s Read Japanese readers provide the idealcomplement to any textbook being used by a student of Japanese anywhere in theworld and will ensure hours of pleasurable learning and practise.
The Japanese Editor: Suzuko Anaiwww.letsreadjapanese .com

	  This event was supported by the Japan FoundationMusic and Piano: Motoki HiraiProgramme and translations: Suzuko Anai and Keisuke HondaArtistic Director: Motoki Hirai and Suzuko AnaiReadingHana Oni by Chie IshiyamaThe Tree of Courage by John Lo BreglioThe Cats and TanabataOmar Chowdhury, Alex Hughes, Clarissa Marley and Rosie TaylerThe Grateful CraneJonathan Boon, Conor Dunne, Alice Fracchia and Anthea HopkinsThank you for coming. We hope you enjoyed these stories.

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