Kotatsu Festival recently held an Origami Animation Workshop at Tyn-y-Wern Primary School. Originally this workshop was going to be held last year during the festival, and the teacher was to be Tetsuji Kurashige. Sadly we had some issues, and we had to postpone the event.
So Eiko Meredith taught instead, and the children made some origami characters such as a dog, a cat, and penguins, and they came up with the idea of ‘Global Warming’. This video shows how they made ‘Penguin to the Rescue.’
We have some great news to announce, Yukiko Ayres, a professional calligrapher based in London, is happy to give us a demonstration at craft fair. She started learning the art of Shodo from the age of six and now works as a professional calligrapher in Japan and UK. She is also a 5th Dan Kendo master! This character ‘武道-Budo’ is her recent work which was used for the event held in London. So from 11:00 am at the craft fair, she will give us a Japanese Calligraphy Demonstration. She will write your favourite words. Just to let you know, words she writes on the day are not for commercial purposes. If you would like to use her beautiful calligraphy for your flyer or business card or anything like that, please speak with her directly. All the profit from this demonstration will go to Save the Children Japan Appeal and also the Muslin Square Project.
We are sure a lot of people know about Save The Children, but many people might not have heard about the Muslin Square Project before. The Muslin Square Project is organized by Japanese mothers who live in the UK. Muslin Squares are large pieces of cloth used to wipe babies’ mouths, for breastfeeding or as burp cloths. They are sending these to help young mothers and mothers-to-be in areas affected by the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear aftermath in Japan. They don’t send goods directly to the evacuation centres. Instead, they check how many Muslin Squares are actually needed and the majority are sent to the maternity centres in Tokyo. From there, the goods are distributed to the maternity and evacuation centres in the affected areas.
We sincerely hope the money raised at the fair will help people, especially those children and mothers who suffered from the disaster.
Thank you for all your support for Japan. They are, of course, still having a very difficult time with the huge amount of work involved in rebuilding the region, re-housing those who lost their homes and still battling the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
Sadly children are the most effected by radiation, and their risk of cancer from radiation is 10-100 times higher than an adult exposed to the same amount. Children grow more rapidly than adults, and their higher rate of cell division means they are at greater risk because radiation can disrupt the cell division process, leading to cancers, mutations, deformities and abnormalities. Unfortunately Fukushima, like Chernobyl, could continue to be a problem well into the future, and its effects could cause severe problems not only for the current generation but also for generations to come.
So, please come along on 2nd July from 10am to The Visit Caerphilly Centre and support the fair, and we hope the money we raise will help the children in Japan to have a chance at a better future. At the fair, there will be wonderful handmade crafts by local artists, such as Knitted ＆Crochet gifts, Pottery, Japanese crafts and lots more. Full details are available on the poster here (click it to open a larger version).
Kotatsu Festival Update Also, we haven’t forgotten about the Kotatsu Festival! Eiko has been very busy working away recently, but is now back and ready to take the reigns once again to organize this year’s event. We will post updates here as soon as we have further news.
We are slowly coming to terms with the earthquake disaster and tsunami which recently hit Japan on March 11th at 2:46pm (JST). We would like to send our very best wishes and most heartfelt sympathies to all affected by the terrible events of the last few days. We would also like to thank the countries involved in the huge relief efforts (over 115 countries at present), as well as anyone working as part of those efforts on the ground in Japan, and of course everyone who is remembering Japan in their thoughts and prayers.
Last year’s festival included a Japanese Marketplace, showcasing all manner of paraphernalia from comics to food, art to flip-books. One of the food stalls was from a local restaurant called Yakiniku, situated in the Seoul House Hotel on the border between Cardiff and Newport, just off the A48. We are sure you remember the great lunch boxes from Yakinuku at the festival, so why not check out their restaurant, you won’t be disappointed.
One of our official sponsors for last year’s festival was a local company from Chepstow in Monmouthshire called MVM Films. They very kindly donated a DVD of the first episode of Samurai Champloo which was shown at the festival, and also donated a bunch of first episodes of various other anime DVDs, which were given away as raffle prizes to some lucky winners. So if you are looking for any good anime DVDs be sure to check out their website MVM Entertainment, and their shop Anime-On-Line. They have recently started to expand into other genres too, including Asian Cinema and Horror.
Our Festival Steering Committee member Midori Matsui, MBE is organizing a charity concert in aid of The Japanese Saturday School, Whitchurch, Cardiff. The event will take place on Saturday 29th January 2011 at 7pm (doors open at 6:30pm), at the Canton Uniting Church, Cowbridge Road East, Cardiff, CF5 1LQ. On the bill are Saya Okada (Piano), Hiroko Sue (Koto) and bechgyn bro taf (Male Voice Choir).
Tickets are £10 (£8 concessions), with family tickets for 2 adults and 2 children also available at £26. Children under 14 can get tickets for just £5.
Tickets are available from:
Midori Matsui 029 2069 1803 / 07791 805 710 or gwyrdd@ma.kew.net, or from Bet Davies on 029 2084 4950 / 07900 842 371.
While not strictly related to Japanese animation, we thought we’d bring this to your attention anyway. The Cardiff International Comic Expo is to be held at the Mercure Holland House Hotel on Newport Road on the 26th February 2011. Tickets are selling fast, so if you are interested in attending please make sure to book your tickets in advance via their website at http://www.fantasyevents.org/cice/. From their website, it is obvious that there will definitely be lots to see, and for the more Japan related items be sure to check out the Manga Expo Spotlight hosted by our friends Otakuzoku, and Genki Gear who take the great style of Japanese culture, Anime, Sci-fi and gaming and mix it with their own unique “Genki” twist to produce great quality t-shirts.
After almost a year of hard work and planning, the Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival 2010 launched on Friday 26th November, with a series of short animated films screened at the Atrium, part of the University of Glamorgan in Cardiff. Although the extreme weather conditions caused a greatly reduced turnout – even our own festival organiser was snow-bound 10 miles away – about 40 cold but dedicated people still managed to turn up to revel in the animated offerings of some of Japan’s finest up and coming artists.
Thankfully the weather eased off a little for Saturday, as more people turned out for the two screenings of Ponyo, which was also shown on Friday afternoon. An old story retold by none other than the master himself Hayao Miyazaki, co-head of Studio Ghibli, Ponyo follows the story of Sosuke, a 5yr old boy who lives with his mother by the sea, and his relationship with Ponyo, a goldfish princess who is desperate to become human, only to find out that to do so would jeopardise the delicate balance of all life on Earth. It is interesting, as an aside, to note that since the success of Studio Ghibli’s oscar-winning Spirited Away, Disney are taking a much larger interest in all things Ghibli, and Ponyo is no exception being distributed by Walt Disney Pictures.
Next up was the Masterclass with Barry Purves, an animator, director and writer held in high regard, with a long list of successful credits such as Mars Attacks!, Chortle and the Wheelies, Captain Kremmen, Dangermouse, King Kong and many others. Interviewed by Tim Allen, whose work includes Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride, Creature Comforts and Fantastic Mr Fox, Barry recounted stories and insights from his life in animation. Barry’s films have achieved more than sixty awards around the world, with his theatrical style and often controversial themes. Barry Purves’ website can be found at www.barrypurves.com.
One of the many highlights of the 2 hour masterclass, was a short film by talented French student Damien Ferrié entitled “Overtime”, which was produced as a tribute to the late, great Jim Henson. Animation was done completely in CGI, whilst faithfully and convincingly recreating all the subtleties and nuances of hand made puppets.
Sunday kicked off with a card making workshop, Japanese themed of course, under the expert guidance of Vanessa Feuillade from Inspired Bliss. The short film screenings that followed were each hand picked by the guest speakers Midoriko Hayashi and Tetsuji Kurashige and showing three distinct styles of animation; anime, hand-crafted and artistic. Midoriko Hayashi organises animation screenings in Japan, through her organisation Animation Tapes, while Tetsuji Kurashige is a lecturer in animation at Hokkaido University of Education.
So what was next, ah yes, the raffle. There were so many prizes this year that it took nearly an hour to call out all the names. Suffice to say that there were some really good prizes on offer, especially the Ghibli art book, and the top prize of a Wacom graphics tablet (you know who you are you lucky people).
Last, but certainly not least, was the Welsh premiere of Summer Wars, finishing off the festival in style. From Mamoru Hosoda, who previously directed the multi-award winning “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time” (時をかける少女, Toki o Kakeru Shoujo), comes this mixture of traditional Japanese animation with a thoroughly modern twist. The story surrounds Kenji Koiso, a high school student who, on request, pretends to be the boyfriend of class mate Natsuki Shinohara at her large family house for a summer holiday. Whilst there he receives, and solves, a mysterious mathematical puzzle sent to his mobile, resulting in his online account at OZ, the world-wide social and financial Second-LifeTM type network/virtual world, being hacked by The Love Machine, an artificial intelligence out to destroy the system. The film is a mixture of traditional anime style and CGI, with the CGI being used to portray the vast online virtual world of OZ, which looks like it could possibly be inspired by the artwork of Takashi Murakami.
Takumasa Ono Studio Stall
TK Trading Stall
The real atmosphere of the festival came from the events in the Chapter foyer, as it played host to guest stall holders selling a fantastic and wide ranging selection of Japanese art, books, food, snacks, drinks, merchandise and more.
Over the weekend, visitors were able to wander through the marketplace and savour the treats on offer from vendors such as London-based TK Trading, the UK’s No.1 importer of Japanese and Oriental Foods, the delightful sumi-e artwork from the studio of Takumasa Ono, the pop-culture merchandise from Cardiff-based Otakuzoku, and the delicious food from Yakiniku, a Japanese and Korean restaurant based in St Mellons.
Otakuzoku Stall
Trying out the flip books on show
Oh and not forgetting the various exhibits, such as the animated Flipbooks, there was even one drawn in 3d! with anaglyph red/cyan glasses, and the beautiful stop motion animation puppets on display. There was so much to see, and it was nice to have the Chapter buzzing with excitement; surely a fun filled and interesting day out for all ages.
So, it’s all over for this year. We’ll be posting blogs throughout the year to keep up to date with developments in Japanese animation, and maybe a bit of pop culture too. Stay tuned for news of next year’s festival due to be announced early next year. We’ve already been offered a rough date, and hopefully we’ll avoid any snow! So all that remains is to thank everyone who came along to any of the events, and especially the event organisers and guest speakers, we couldn’t have done it without you.
If you have any questions or requests for this or next year’s festival, be sure to leave a comment below.
Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival would like to say a big thank you to everyone who came to the festival – despite the very, very unfortunate weather. Sadly a lot of people couldn’t make it… Please come to the next one!
Also thank you very much for all the funding organizations such as The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation, Japan Foundation, The Japan Society, and Atrium (which sponsored Barry Purves’ Masterclass), lots of companies and artists who kindly donated money and prizes for our festival raffle, and last but not least Chapter Arts Center, who were also very supportive. We couldn’t have done our first festival without their help. (Please help us again!) People who couldn’t come to the festival this time, please don’t worry – Broadstroke Productions documented all the events on video, and these clips will go on to our website soon.
Festival Director Eiko Meredith is so happy, our Japanese culture is accepted by the nice people in Cardiff. Thank you!
