What we do

“The Shadow of Sankei” film project

  • Organization : Mika Sasaki
  • Section : Artistic and creative activity in Tokyo
  • Type of Grant Program : Single
  • Art Forms : Visual Art / Media Art

Outline

This project was an attempt to explore the history of the Sankeien Garden in Yokohama’s Honmoku district through the production of a short film, “The Shadow of Sankei” (directed by Mika Sasaki and produced by sonarpakhi).A woman (played by Hono Miyabe) goes around Sankeien as if guided by the poem “Stray Birds,” written in Sankeien by the Nobel Prize in Literature-winning poet Rabindranath Tagore.The end product of the project is a docufiction work in which the past sleeping in the garden and the present intersect. Music by Mio Adachi and sound recording by Yuya Sito creates an audio environment that evokes the past and present of Sankeien, and the inner voice of the woman. Costume by Misaki Kuroi(Midorisha)recreates the look of a Taisho-era female visitor to the garden with a Kasuri kimono and wagasa Japanese umbrella.Shinta Yabe, who specializes in the documentary photography medium, was in charge of still photography.
A zine booklet was also created alongside the film as a record of the research involved.This handmade silk bound zine, designed by Moe Suzuki(Banyan Books)and edited by Yusuke Nakaoka(Sanrinsha Inc.), gives a sense of the history of Sankeien.

Profile

Mika Sasaki
Film director and writer. Born in Fukui, she studied Hindi and Bengali at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. By interpreting and translating songs and poetry in the video medium, she strives to create works that connect Japan and South Asia. Sasaki directed the documentary “Tagore Songs” looking at the poems of Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore. The film had nationwide release in Japan and was shown at the 2022 Dhaka International Film Festival.

Venues

KINOKOYA, Tama City, Tokyo