Team Team Awai
Yuki Nomiya
Poetry / Composition / Direction
She composed and directed the entire work, and wrote and supervised the entire “language” of the work.
She has composed and directed a series of poems that weave the memories of the land into a story that can be passed down from generation to generation.
She expresses the ambiguous, beautiful, awe-inspiring, and loving sensation that exists in the space and time woven by people and nature in a traditional Japanese farming village through the “Awai” of words and phrases.
Profile
Poet, born in Tokyo. Representative of the planning group Six Space. Member of Seinendan’s directing department. She has been working with people from various fields to produce collaborative works that cross the borders of theater, three-dimensional poetry, and other genres, using the voice of the place and the voice of the people. His past works include the poetry and direction of “ICHIZO” (2019), an independent project for young people at Mutsurinkan (Nomiya Project), dramaturg and lyricist for the poetry play “Hibiki to Anger” (2021), and the picture book “Kaiju no inai machi” (2020). In addition to producing artworks, he is also an instructor for a high school drama club, and organizes workshops for working people on the theme of body and language, and events for food and entertainment. From 2020, she will be working between Nishi-Aizu and Tokyo. She has been involved in theatrical productions based in the Nishi-Aizu International Art Village, including the
composition and overall direction of Machimeguri Engeki’s “Night on the Galactic Railroad.
<Nomiya’s Note: https://note.com/sippe60_n/ >
YUKI NOMIYA
Nao Nakazawa
Videography, Sound, Lighting
A filmmaker, musician, and artist, collects materials that he captures through his stay in the village, which he feels are memories of the land and subtle changes, and expresses them through images, sound, and light. Images reminiscent of memories of the future, the present, and the past are incorporated into a collection of light particles, creating a dramatic effect that immerses the viewer in the unique time and space flowing through the village.
Profile
Born in Nagano City. After graduating from the University of California, Santa Cruz with a degree in film studies in 2001, he worked as a camera technician and video editor for several production companies in the San Francisco area. He graduated from the Graduate School of Film and New Media at San Francisco State University in 2014. He graduated from San Francisco State University’s Graduate School of Film and New Media in 2014 and is currently working in the US and Japan. His own work includes feature films, short films, experimental films, and animation. He works as a freelancer using a wide variety of production techniques. He has worked primarily as a producer, sound technician, cinematographer, sound designer, editor, and camera assistant on many productions. In Japan, he has worked extensively as an associate producer, sound technician, and interpreter for foreign production companies shooting in Japan.
<NAO NAKAZAWA：http://www.naonakazawa.com/about-1 >
NAO NAKAZAWA
Chihiro Sato
Chef
A chef who makes you realize the connection between good taste and healthy food.
He provides food that is simple, but aims to bring out the essence and depth of the ingredients.
In this work, the composition of the dishes aims to provide a food experience suitable for each situation, while making full use of local ingredients.
By fusing the power of the ingredients with the power of the land, we will “deliver” the story of “eating the scenery”.
Profile
She trained at KIHACHI Ginza in the fish cuisine and dessert departments. After moving to Niigata, she worked on a number of custom-made projects at a wedding hall, including wedding cakes and wedding desserts, and later deepened her study of dietary laws. She specializes in making the best use of seasonal ingredients from farmers, and has been writing a series of recipes for easy snacks that can be made at home, as well as researching and developing allergy-friendly menus. In addition, he operates a kitchen car, provides catering services, and in 2018, started “rucoto,” a collaboration of agriculture, happiness, and food, which utilizes non-standard agricultural products to create a delicious circulation system in the local community. In 2018, he started “rucoto,” a collaboration of agriculture, good fortune, and food.
<rucoto：https://cskitchen.shopinfo.jp/pages/3690616/rucoto >
CHIHIRO SATO
Tetsuya Takizawa
Artist
Takizawa’s series of works using Japanese paper as a medium are created through a production process that accompanies nature, just like the beautiful forms created by nature itself.
In Narayama village, a site-specific work created in a pond on the site is incorporated, contributing to the absolute value of the place and revealing the memory of the land. In this work, the creation is scattered in various scenes.
Profile
Born in Tokyo in 1977 and currently lives in Nishi-Aizu Town. In 2005, he graduated from Tokyo Zokei University, majoring in fine arts, and in 2009, he completed a project to train people to inherit the techniques of Ogawa Washi, and has been involved in the revival of Gundo paper, an intangible cultural property of Tokyo. In 2009, he completed a project to foster the inheritance of Ogawa washi paper making techniques. AOMORI PRINT TRIENNALE 2014, 2016 Mori no Ark Art Project: Mori wo suku (Nishi Aizu), etc. After working as a member of the Fukushima Prefecture’s Regional Development Cooperation Team in charge of Dekahara Washi, he is responsible for passing on the tradition of washi as a washi craftsman, while researching the possibilities of new creations that are close to nature as an artist.
<Tetsuya Takizawa：http://tetsuya.main.jp/word/ >
TETSUYA
TAKIZAWA
Kaori Yamaguchi
Production / Room decorations
She is an artist who shakes the air with tiny devices.
She specializes in capturing the invisible values that exist in “awai”.
Her aim is to create a world of stories through Shiturai – Japanese way of room decoration.
In this project, she is in charge of conception, project manager, production, stage director, art and decoration.
Profile
She is an artist from Nagoya, Japan, living in Nishi-Aizu town, in charge of NIPPONIA Narayama Village Sitsurai and owner of Nishi-Aizu Shouten. She creates contemporary art, mainly installations, and since 2009 has planned and organized a group exhibition that has lasted 13 years (-2020). She has also been involved in design for advertising and interior design, costume production, and event planning. He began his involvement with the Nishi-Aizu International Art Village as a member of the art team “Kototoka” and moved to Nishi-Aizu after a regular stay. In NIPPONIA Narayama village, she has created a space suitable for this place, surrounded by mountain scenery with a view of the sea of clouds, the mountain god who protects the village, and the forest that surrounds it.
<Nishiaizu Shouten：https://www.instagram.com/nishiaizu_shouten/ >
KAORI
YAMAGUCHI
Itsuki Yawata
Web Director / Branding Designer
He is a designer who creates local yet global designs based on his deep exploration of multiple languages, cultures, and customs. He makes full use of images and animation to convey the production team’s concept experientially on the web, expressing the sensibility of “awai” that cannot be put into words. The web page created by Yahata also serves as the cover of the “Ginza Ginza Tokyo Tokyo” series as a story to be handed down by the participants.
Profile
Born in Venezuela, he has worked in branding and design in South America, the UK, Ireland, China, Taiwan, the Middle East, and Japan. While running mottomo Inc., he has been involved in many planning and video production projects from a branding perspective, and has worked with many small and medium-sized companies and domestic governments in Japan and overseas on branding, design (apps, web), international PR and marketing. While providing consulting, branding, and design services, he is also active in a wide range of activities as a producer and planner for the world through creativity.
Awarded the Good Design Award (Japan).
<mottomo：https://www.mottomo.co.jp/ >
<Design：https://www.behance.net/mottomo >
ITSUKI YAWATA
Mr. Yabe Shirota
Teacher
He is an educator and a philanthropist who is also engaged in the economic revitalization of the local community. The many anecdotes and records left behind by Mr. Shirota, the history of the Narayama-Yabe family, and the many other materials left behind by him and his way of life form the backbone of the “Narayama-fugeta-tan. He taught at a nearby school for many years and was well respected by his students and their parents, but he was also feared for his calm demeanor, unafraid of things, and his keen eye for the essence of things. There is an anecdote that he got along well with animals and was able to talk to them. He also enjoyed writing and painting, and was said to have been fond of alcohol. He was an influential figure in many ways, appearing in a mysterious story that is said to have really happened in modern folklore. As he had no children, he had no direct blood descendants, but he is still respected by his relatives to this day.
Profile
A teacher active from the late Meiji era to the early Showa era. Head of the Kayane Branch School. The only member of the Narayama-Yabe family.
When he was a child, he was adopted by the Narayama-Yabe family, along with his sword, from a samurai family that had moved to the north due to the chaos after the Boshin War. Shirota’s ancestor was a member of the Tomita clan, a chief vassal of the Ashina clan that ruled Aizu during the Warring States period, and was a doctor for generations. Mr. Shirota, who grew up in Narayama village, attended a teacher’s training school and became a teacher, and worked hard to revive the economy of the neighboring villages as well as educational activities. His achievements are inscribed on a stone monument in the nearby village of Matsumine and on a stone monument at the site of the former Kayane Branch School.
SHIROTA YABE
Yuki Nomiya
Poetry / Composition / Direction
She composed and directed the entire work, and wrote and supervised the entire “language” of the work.
She has composed and directed a series of poems that weave the memories of the land into a story that can be passed down from generation to generation.
She expresses the ambiguous, beautiful, awe-inspiring, and loving sensation that exists in the space and time woven by people and nature in a traditional Japanese farming village through the “Awai” of words and phrases.
Profile
Poet, born in Tokyo. Representative of the planning group Six Space. Member of Seinendan’s directing department. She has been working with people from various fields to produce collaborative works that cross the borders of theater, three-dimensional poetry, and other genres, using the voice of the place and the voice of the people. His past works include the poetry and direction of “ICHIZO” (2019), an independent project for young people at Mutsurinkan (Nomiya Project), dramaturg and lyricist for the poetry play “Hibiki to Anger” (2021), and the picture book “Kaiju no inai machi” (2020). In addition to producing artworks, he is also an instructor for a high school drama club, and organizes workshops for working people on the theme of body and language, and events for food and entertainment. From 2020, she will be working between Nishi-Aizu and Tokyo. She has been involved in theatrical productions based in the Nishi-Aizu International Art Village, including the
composition and overall direction of Machimeguri Engeki’s “Night on the Galactic Railroad.
<Nomiya’s Note: https://note.com/sippe60_n/ >
YUKI NOMIYA
Nao Nakazawa
Videography, Sound, Lighting
A filmmaker, musician, and artist, collects materials that he captures through his stay in the village, which he feels are memories of the land and subtle changes, and expresses them through images, sound, and light. Images reminiscent of memories of the future, the present, and the past are incorporated into a collection of light particles, creating a dramatic effect that immerses the viewer in the unique time and space flowing through the village.
Profile
Born in Nagano City. After graduating from the University of California, Santa Cruz with a degree in film studies in 2001, he worked as a camera technician and video editor for several production companies in the San Francisco area. He graduated from the Graduate School of Film and New Media at San Francisco State University in 2014. He graduated from San Francisco State University’s Graduate School of Film and New Media in 2014 and is currently working in the US and Japan. His own work includes feature films, short films, experimental films, and animation. He works as a freelancer using a wide variety of production techniques. He has worked primarily as a producer, sound technician, cinematographer, sound designer, editor, and camera assistant on many productions. In Japan, he has worked extensively as an associate producer, sound technician, and interpreter for foreign production companies shooting in Japan.
<NAO NAKAZAWA：http://www.naonakazawa.com/about-1 >
NAO NAKAZAWA
Chihiro Sato
Chef
A chef who makes you realize the connection between good taste and healthy food.
He provides food that is simple, but aims to bring out the essence and depth of the ingredients.
In this work, the composition of the dishes aims to provide a food experience suitable for each situation, while making full use of local ingredients.
By fusing the power of the ingredients with the power of the land, we will “deliver” the story of “eating the scenery”.
Profile
She trained at KIHACHI Ginza in the fish cuisine and dessert departments. After moving to Niigata, she worked on a number of custom-made projects at a wedding hall, including wedding cakes and wedding desserts, and later deepened her study of dietary laws. She specializes in making the best use of seasonal ingredients from farmers, and has been writing a series of recipes for easy snacks that can be made at home, as well as researching and developing allergy-friendly menus. In addition, he operates a kitchen car, provides catering services, and in 2018, started “rucoto,” a collaboration of agriculture, happiness, and food, which utilizes non-standard agricultural products to create a delicious circulation system in the local community. In 2018, he started “rucoto,” a collaboration of agriculture, good fortune, and food.
<rucoto：https://cskitchen.shopinfo.jp/pages/3690616/rucoto >
CHIHIRO SATO
Kaori Yamaguchi
Production / Room decorations
She is an artist who shakes the air with tiny devices.
She specializes in capturing the invisible values that exist in “awai”.
Her aim is to create a world of stories through MURORAI.
In this project, he is in charge of conception, project manager, production, stage director, art and decoration.
Profile
She is an artist from Nagoya, Japan, living in Nishi-Aizu town, in charge of NIPPONIA Narayama Village Murorei and owner of Nishi-Aizu Store. She creates contemporary art, mainly installations, and since 2009 has planned and organized a group exhibition that has lasted 13 years (-2020). She has also been involved in design for advertising and interior design, costume production, and event planning. He began his involvement with the Nishi-Aizu International Art Village as a member of the art team “Kototaka” and moved to Nishi-Aizu after a regular stay. At NIPPONIA Narayama village, he has a view of the mountain range where you can see the sea of clouds, the mountain god who protects the village, and the forest surrounding it. In NIPPONIA Narayama village, they have created a space suitable for this place, surrounded by mountain scenery with a view of the sea of clouds, the mountain god who protects the village, and the forest that surrounds it.
<西会津商店：https://www.instagram.com/nishiaizu_shouten/ >
KAORI
YAMAGUCHI
Tetsuya Takizawa
Artist
Takizawa’s series of works using Japanese paper as a medium are created through a production process that accompanies nature, just like the beautiful forms created by nature itself.
In Narayama village, a site-specific work created in a pond on the site is incorporated, contributing to the absolute value of the place and revealing the memory of the land. In this work, the creation is scattered in various scenes.
Profile
Born in Tokyo in 1977 and currently lives in Nishi-Aizu Town. In 2005, he graduated from Tokyo Zokei University, majoring in fine arts, and in 2009, he completed a project to train people to inherit the techniques of Ogawa Washi, and has been involved in the revival of Gundo paper, an intangible cultural property of Tokyo. In 2009, he completed a project to foster the inheritance of Ogawa washi paper making techniques. AOMORI PRINT TRIENNALE 2014, 2016 Mori no Ark Art Project: Making Mori (Nishi Aizu), etc. After working as a member of the Fukushima Prefecture’s Regional Development Cooperation Team in charge of Dekahara Washi, he is responsible for passing on the tradition of washi as a washi craftsman, while researching the possibilities of new creations that are close to nature as an artist.
<Tetsuya Takizawa：http://tetsuya.main.jp/word/ >
TETSUYA
TAKIZAWA
Itsuki Yawata
Web Director / Branding Designer
He is a designer who creates local yet global designs based on his deep exploration of multiple languages, cultures, and customs. He makes full use of images and animation to convey the production team’s concept experientially on the web, expressing the sensibility of “awai” that cannot be put into words. The web page created by Yahata also serves as the cover of the “Ginza Ginza Tokyo Tokyo” series as a story to be handed down by the participants.
Profile
Born in Venezuela, he has worked in branding and design in South America, the UK, Ireland, China, Taiwan, the Middle East, and Japan. While running mottomo Inc., he has been involved in many planning and video production projects from a branding perspective, and has worked with many small and medium-sized companies and domestic governments in Japan and overseas on branding, design (apps, web), international PR and marketing. While providing consulting, branding, and design services, he is also active in a wide range of activities as a producer and planner for the world through creativity.
Awarded the Good Design Award (Japan).
<mottomo：https://www.mottomo.co.jp/ >
<Design：https://www.behance.net/mottomo >
ITSUKI YAWATA
Mr. Yabe Shirota
Profesor
He is an educator and a philanthropist who is also engaged in the economic revitalization of the local community. The many anecdotes and records left behind by Mr. Shirota, the history of the Narayama-Yabe family, and the many other materials left behind by him and his way of life form the backbone of the “Narayama-fugeta-tan. He taught at a nearby school for many years and was well respected by his students and their parents, but he was also feared for his calm demeanor, unafraid of things, and his keen eye for the essence of things. There is an anecdote that he got along well with animals and was able to talk to them. He also enjoyed writing and painting, and was said to have been fond of alcohol. He was an influential figure in many ways, appearing in a mysterious story that is said to have really happened in modern folklore. As he had no children, he had no direct blood descendants, but he is still respected by his relatives to this day.
Profile
A teacher active from the late Meiji era to the early Showa era. Head of the Goyoune Branch School. The only member of the Narayama-Yabe family.
When he was a child, he was adopted by the Narayama-Yabe family, along with his sword, from a samurai family that had moved to the north due to the chaos after the Boshin War. Shirota’s ancestor was a member of the Tomita clan, a chief vassal of the Rona clan that ruled Aizu during the Warring States period, and was a doctor for generations. Mr. Shirota, who grew up in Narayama village, attended a teacher’s training school and became a teacher, and worked hard to revive the economy of the neighboring villages as well as educational activities. His achievements are inscribed on a stone monument in the nearby village of Matsumine and on a stone monument at the site of the former Koyone Branch School.
SHIROTA YABE
YUKI NOMIYA
NAO NAKAZAWA
CHIHIRO SATO
KAORI YAMAGUCHI
TETSUYA TAKIZAWA
ITSUKI YAWATA
SHIROTA YABE
