
Atsushi Hirata
2021Good Soil
Craig Shimahara
Shin Koyamada, Yoshi Ando
Ships from Europe brought Christianity to the shores of Japan in 1549. For decades the seeds of faith grew under the watchful gaze of the Shogun, but the fear of foreign influence eventually gave rise to persecution. By 1624, Japanese Christians enjoyed only a few more years of peace. Jinbei Mauda comes to a point in his journey were he has to choose between his family or faith. Jinbei Masuda, a Japanese Christian of the samurai class who draws his strength from his faith, family and kenjitsu (Art of the Sword). However, he is caught up in the shogun's policy of religious persecution and must choose between his loved ones or his God.
Good Soil
Sicigorousawa un Cironnop
Tune Sugihara
Atsushi Hirata
This story is told in the Ainu language, which has been deemed a critically endangered language by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Ainu is an indigenous people of Japan (Hokkaido, and formerly northeastern Honshu) and Russia (Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands). Some of main staffs USA Teruyo (Ms), YUKI Koji (Mr), nitankur (Mr), FUKUMOTO Shoji (Mr) are Ainu artists. Story; Higashiyama, the home of the foxes, has become an illegal dumping ground. This has resulted in the decline of small animals, which the mother fox relied on as prey to feed her children. The fox comes down for the mountains in search of food to feed her children, and comes upon a human village.
Sicigorousawa un Cironnop
The Fox of Shichigorosawa
Tune Sugihara
Atsushi Hirata
The Fox of Hakodate Higashiyama have been living by the Shichigoro swap for generations, but humans have begun polluting these waters with medical waste... Through traditional Ainu storytelling, this story illustrates the tale of this Fox entirely in Ainu.
The Fox of Shichigorosawa