BWW Reviews: OZASIA FESTIVAL 2014: HIROKO WATANABE & ABOVE THE CLOUDS Brilliantly Combines Calligraphy and Music

Reviewed by Barry Lenny, Saturday 13th September 2014

The Japanese have four systems of writing, with romaji being the one that uses the western alphabet and is specifically for the use of us gaijin, or non-Japanese, to help us learn to pronounce the Japanese language correctly. Gaijin is itself, of course, an example of romaji. Next are katakana and hiragana, simplified sets of characters for each syllable of a word, one set for Japanese words and one for non-Japanese words, such as the brand names of western foods and drinks, or for non-Japanese personal names. At the top of the hierarchy comes kanji, the more complex characters taken from Chinese, with around 2,000 needing to be learned for one to be accepted as literate.

These characters or, more correctly, ideograms, are at the core of Hiroko Watanabe and Above the Clouds. Hiroko Watanabe is an expert calligrapher and, using several brushes of different sizes, and a large container of black ink, she sets about writing an ideogram on each of a pile of large cards, her selections linked to her inspiration gained from the music of the band, Above the Clouds, as they play their jazz influenced improvisations around her. An overhead camera allowed us to see her working, with the video displayed on a large screen at the rear of the stage.

Watanabe has developed what she calls ritaisho, or three dimensional writing, taking each large card with the newly written ideogram, which she then opens out to reveal that it is, in fact, a box. She then decides where on the stage, or even in front of the stage, to place each one, a few individually, but most stacked to various heights, and occasionally interspersed with a completely black box. Japanese writing, of course, is written and read from top to bottom, right to left.

Japanese calligraphy is about more than just writing the ideograms, however, it is also about how they are written. There is a specific order as to which stroke of the brush is first and how the others follow, which is a quick stroke, which is a slow stroke, and which is drawn with pauses or jerky movements. This is where it differs from our writing, which is simply about putting down a series of words to convey something to others, and not about the value of the writing itself, although those of us old enough to remember learning to write in several styles at school, including such difficult styles as copperplate, using a pen that was dipped into an inkwell, will recall the hours spent in that endeavour. We have lost that respect for the writing itself, where most Asian countries have not.

When she reaches the final box, she applies her gago-in, the small red personal seal that one sees on artworks from parts of Asia, to indicate that her work was finished. The stage was now filled with this glorious architectural artwork, and the audience has been constantly amazed at the great skill of Watanabe. It is not necessary to understand the kanji that she has written to appreciate the aesthetic beauty of what she has created.

But what of the band, Above the Clouds, you are bound to ask. The two drummers appeared first, to play a piece that one could, perhaps, think of as a percussive overture to the performance. Niwa Ayako played a conventional drum kit, whilst Sho Kobayashi played the wadaiko and other drums. Within Japan, taiko simply means drum, but wadaiko refers specifically to the variously sized barrel shaped drums used in what we westerners refer to as taiko groups. As the two played, the intensity grew and grew to a powerful finish and much applause, during which the other two members of the group, Masashi Hasegawa on electric guitar and Ikuo Hayashi on electric bass, came onstage to join them.

As they played, images were projected onto the screen, preparing us for what was to come once Watanabe joined them. The drive of the drummers, the pulse of the bassist, and the intricate work of the guitarist combined to provide music that would have been a great concert if they were performing alone, but their interaction with Watanabe, she responding to their music, and them developing improvisations triggered by her calligraphy, added a higher level of engagement and excitement, particularly knowing that this performance was created just for us, as every performance is different.

As a bonus, audience members were offered a complementary two track Above the Clouds CD, which the members of the band and Hiroko Watanabe were all happy to sign, and so we even got to take home a small sample of her work. This generous and thoughtful parting gift put the perfect final touch to a wonderful evening.

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