Wadaiko x Gospel Fusion

I’m pretty stoked about this: From Studio Re:, this is the short version of the wadaiko x Japanese black gospel fusion video for the song “Ride on King Jesus.” I believe there are plans in the works for releasing a documentary of this event, tracing the history of both musical genres. Pretty cool stuff.

To view it full-screen, click on the little box at the bottom right corner.

"Jitensha"

I’m excited for my friends at Studio Re:, whose short film “Jitensha” is an official selection being shown at this year’s Venice Film Festival — one of the top five film festivals in the world — this weekend.

From Paul, at the Worship & the Arts blog:

Jitensha grows out of the Studio Re: vision to impact Japanese culture through redemptive films. We are stunned that high up professionals in the film industry have chose our film to be part of one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world.

As I have reflected on why this happened, I think it is about the power of a good story, a story with heart, along with great production values. In other words, technically it is a well crafted film that allows the story to “connect” with the audience. Every aspect of the film is strong, the cast, the music, the locations, the cinematography, the music, and the editing — which is amazing for a low budget film made by students and emerging filmmakers in Tokyo who are committed to making films with redemptive themes.

I saw this film in August, and was pretty impressed myself. These guys are doing great work, and providing an example and inspiration to those of us with our own dreams of impacting Japanese culture through the arts.

Here’s what the movie is about:

“Jitensha” (or “Bicycle”) is a story about Mamoru Amagaya, a young man struggling to find meaning in life. A co-worker confronts Mamoru on his apparent apathy toward life, and this results in Mamoru leaving his job out of humiliation.

Now alone and without work, just as it seems that things could not possibly get worse, parts of Mamoru’s bicycle begin to disappear, one by one. In frustration, Mamoru leaves a note for the thief, begging him to just take the whole thing. The note left in response is signed “God”, leaving Mamoru only more confused.

At last, when the only remaining piece of the bicycle is a lonely bell, Mamoru receives an envelope, containing addresses at which each piece of the bicycle might be retrieved.

Puzzled yet intrigued, Mamoru embarks on a journey to resurrect and reassemble his beloved possession. As he seeks out each piece of the missing whole, Mamoru begins to discover that he himself is in a healing process. As he puts his bike together piece by piece, he realizes that he himself is in the process of being reassembled in the same way, by one far greater than himself.

Intrigued? You can read the whole above-quoted article HERE, and check out the movie’s official site HERE.

TV Program Leads Japanese Youth To Faith in Christ

Read this: Worship & The Arts: TV Program Leads Japanese Youth To Faith in Christ. Great testimony.

Manga Bible

From the Japan Christians in the Arts Network website:

New Life League Japan (NLLJ) is publishing a very important and exciting series of books called “Bible Manga.” Japanese artists are creating five genuine manga books based on the Bible (three Old Testament and two New Testament). The original art and text is in Japanese but Manga Messiah has already been released in English and is available at Amazon. According to Roald Lidal, NLLJ will publish the original Japanese version of Manga Messiah in Japan in early 2008.

“Bible Manga” is probably the most contextualized mass media presentation of the gospel in the history of Christianity in Japan. Remarkably, it is already being translated into at least twenty different languages.

CAN is a network of creative people trying to reach Japan in creative ways. I’m glad to have connected with them through the web, because I believe we need new fresh, creative approaches in Japan. But I’m an artist myself so I’m biased, of course. They’re hosting an information meeting about the Manga Bible in the near future, in Tokyo, in case anyone there is reading…

You can read the full articles here and here.