Title of the film: KA・TA・O・RI・HA
Genre: Music Video, Short, Web / New Media
Duration: 2018/9/27
Country: Japan
Director: Kei Uehara
Synopsis: This video visualizes the image of Hakata-Ori with a modern twist, with the chanting rhythm of KA-TA-O-RI-HA.
Hakata-Ori is a specialty silk textile of the Hakata area, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. It’s said to originate from the textile weave which came to Japan from Southern Song in 1241. To this day, Hakata-Ori is a beloved textile used to make obi sashes.
The video “KA・TA・O・RI・HA” was made in celebration of 777th anniversary of Hakata-Ori. The inspiration for the lyrics is how the textile is made- careful stitch after careful stitch. The repetition of the word KA-TA-O-RI-HA mimics those stitches. It is a nonsense word in Japanese, coined by the film, and invented by displacing some of the sounds of the word Hakata-Ori. By repeating KA-TA-O-RI-HA as in the film, it starts to sound like Hakata-Ori.
The movement of dancers evokes an image of weaving Hakata-Ori such as spinning looms and yarns while implying its long history of 777 successive years of production. The video was shot at Jouten-ji temple, the place of origin of Hakata-Ori.
