World Spirit Videos - Japanese Garden Video

	Shishu (Poetic Beauty)
	Intuition and Feeling in the Japanese Garden Tradition
	Japanese Garden Culture 53 mins DVD £15.00 (P-11) Video £5.00 (P-101) Illustrated by haiku from 1200 yrs of Japanese poetry, with original music from WOMAD artist Joji Hirota and with stunning images from the temples and gardens of Kyoto, Shishu (Poetic Beauty) sets out to capture the mesmerising mystique of actually being in those gardens. Drawing deep from one of the world’s oldest garden traditions, it offers a profound insight into the intuitive appeal of Kyoto’s gardens and the legendary beauty of the Japanese aesthetic. That aesthetic draws its power from a refined and elevated awareness of the heart, of the centre of human emotion. Being a highly integrated society, the sensitivity to and respect for individual feeling permeates all Japan’s cultural forms, ikebana, sumo, shiatsu, haiku ........ the gardens are an accessible and immediate way of connecting with this realm of intuition.
			A World Spirit independent film production

DVD Menu

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1. prologue

(00:00)

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2. nature and man as sacred

(03:30)

3. origins - the Japanese garden aesthetic

(09:33)

4. zen garden culture

(18:10)

5. the tea garden

(29:48)

6. the Edo garden onwards

(34:44)

7. the heart in the garden

(43:15)

8. koi epilogue

(51:02)

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The harmonious balance of thought and feeling, spirit and matter, is at the heart of the Japanese aesthetic. Nowhere is this more evident than in the relationship of Japanese culture to the natural world. It finds its most striking expression in the Japanese Garden Tradition - a world class cultural legacy marvelled at by numerous visitors to the gardens.
An elegant and poetic study of the Japanese Garden draws together the diverse threads that make up one of the world's oldest garden traditions.

	Contributor
			Yasuo Kitayama - studied under Master Gardener, Komiyama, in the 1970's thereafter establishing his own practice. Designer of many garden projects in both Kyoto and elsewhere inside and outside Japan.
			He restored the gardens at Kodai-ji Temple and is responsible for maintaining major temple gardens in Kyoto.

	Contributor
			Marc Keane - Resident lecturer at Kyoto University of Arts and Design, organiser of the annual Japanese Garden Seminar, author of 'Japanese Garden Design', and active in cultural preservation in Kyoto, whilst still designing gardens as a landscape architect.

	Writer and Director
			Robert Ketchell - a working landscape designer with many fine gardens to his credit and ex-chairman of the UK Japanese Garden Society, wrote and directed this video. Absorbed in the profound beauty of the Japanese Garden,
			Robert has written numerous articles in various publications, has published 'Japanese Gardens in a Weekend' and conducts regular tours to Kyoto.

	Original Music
			Joji Hirota - Studied music at Kyoto Arts University, and Taiko drumming with Taiko Master, Itto Obba, in Hokkaido. As a Real World recording artist, he released a number of CDs, performing at WOMAD festivals worldwide, whilst creating music for theatre and TV productions, touring extensively with the RSC. A sensational live performer with his Taiko ensemble or collaborating with international artists.
	A World Spirit Production

P11 - Shishu	P12 - The Unchanging Self	P13 - Under A Tree in India

Filmed in the gardens of Kyoto	Filmed in the temples of South India	Filmed at Swami's ashram in Tamil Nadu


P14 - Passeggiata	P15 - Sfakia	P16 - Greenwich Village

A film about Italy	A Greek Island film	A Music DVD

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