BAKERU – EN

Transform into a non-human being
Experience the Supernatural World

Work: About BAKERU

About BAKERU

This experiential installation was inspired by the Tōhoku-region’s long-practiced traditional performing arts. Through the medium of interactive video, you can experience the mystifying act of transformation into a non-human form.

Idea: Folk festivals in Tohoku

Motif

Tōhoku is home to so many kinds of folk festivals
that it has is called a treasure trove of folk festivals.

At BAKERU, you can experience worldviews
with the four themes of Namahage, Shishiodori, Kasedori, and Saotome,
to which WOW has added our interpretation and expression.

Interpretation: Four different folk festivals

NAMAHAGE Mountain Ogre

Akita Prefecture. Here, the mountains and oceans are rich with important resources, but they are also places where mysterious creatures live. Each year, throughout coastal regions of the Tōhoku region, creatures with monstrous faces and eerie voices rampage into the human world. In Akita, they call these creatures “Namahage.” Since ancient times, people have welcomed these visiting deities into their homes, treating them with hospitality until they are satisfied and leave. Once happy, Namahage ward off evil, bestow blessings from the mountains and ocean, and ensure the growth, health and safety of children.

Wikipedia

SHISHI-ODORI Beast Dance

Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures. The Tōhoku region is surrounded by lush mountains, home to various beasts. Among these, deer have been a precious food source, supporting the life of people since ancient times. People may have initially dressed as beasts as an offering to express their gratitude toward them. They used long bamboo rods blessed with spiritual power, to strike and purify areas of earth. The earth would become fertile, supporting various plants and animals.

Wikipedia

KASEDORI Straw Goblin

Yamagata Prefecture. Winters are long and snowy in the Tōhoku region. Traditionally, people would hoard the rice and straw produced during autumn, and spend the winters in their homes, making straw crafts and cooking. The biggest threat during winter is fire. In order to protect their homes from fire, people put on straw capes and transform into goblins called Kasedori. They go out into the streets, and other villagers splash them with cold water, symbolizing the act of fighting fire. Spiritual power lives in the straw, and the strands of it that fall to the ground can be collected and used as protective charms.

Wikipedia

SAOTOME Rain Maiden

Miyagi Prefecture. Rice is the staple food in Japan. But in the harsh environment of the Tōhoku region, it is hard to grow, and at times survival has been difficult. Because of this, people developed beautiful, stylized dances to communicate with the deities residing in the earth and rice paddies. Young women with mysterious powers to communicate with the gods, known as “Saotome,” are the central figures in these rice planting dances. The tradition starts with storytelling, and continues with many elaborate dances, sure to delight both humans and gods, guaranteeing a bountiful harvest that year.

Wikipedia

Challenge: Tradition, new expression, and technology

Reexamining Tradition

Contained within the arts and crafts that have been handed down since ancient times are the rich worldviews, such as techniques, thoughts, and culture of those regions.

BAKERU is one of a group of works that lets us learn once again about this culture and that lets us reexamine its soul through modern expressions and techniques.