Druidism and Shinto on TV Tokyo

[Sciethe]

Greetings and Oestre joy to all.

A request- lately our seed group had a request from TV Tokyo to film and interview some of us, it was for a programme series on the history of the world for airing in Japan. The crew wanted to compare Druidism and Japan's indigenous spirituality, Shinto. Feeling that there was a great deal in common between the two paths, and having checked with the OBOD office to see if anyone felt they'd like to take over/ could do it better, a few of us agreed. It was a surreal yet heart-warming experience. Despite the language barrier there was clearly a great deal in common.

None of us will have access to the actual programme when it goes out, and it will air sometime soon, if it hasn't already. We'd be really pleased if anyone with access to Japanese TV and who speaks the language could report back on how they think it all went.

Blessings,
S

[Whitemane]

Seriously cool and I agree that there is a commonality.

I have several Japanese coworkers, and will see what they can do for us.

[Sciethe]

Excellent, thanks Whitemane.
Attached a pic from the day during filming.
The ritual of course involves the use of the word "Hail". The last use of it, very loud, coincided with a sudden massive hailstorm out of a clear sky. A good omen I think.
S

[Alwin]

Wow! Cool! Did you actually meet some people who practice Shinto?
Maybe you can ask the producer to send you a link if the series is available on the web.

[Sciethe]

Wow! Cool! Did you actually meet some people who practice Shinto?
Maybe you can ask the producer to send you a link if the series is available on the web.

Hi Alwyn,
Some of the crew were very Shinto aware, it does not have the negative connotation or disconnection from the mainstream that Paganism sometimes has and is well embedded in the Eastern culture. There were no actual "priests" though, bit of an effort to ship them all the way to our Grove the UK!

I am advised that there are no plans to make this series available on the web, sadly.
S

[Sciethe]

Update, had an E-mail from the asst. producer:

"I am pleased to say that our episode on paganism will be broadcasted this Saturday in Japan.
We have a very short teaser up and running on our website: http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/137/index.html
I hope I can get you DVDs when we complete our episodes on the UK.
Also, the presenter has posted your pictures on her production diary: http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/137/diary/index.html
Thank you so much for taking part in the filming!"

Some of the Bing translations from the Japanese are priceless. All seems good though.
S

[Whitemane]

Nice pictures on the diary and the translations from Google were quite sweet.

Pleased to hear about the update. I have a couple of people keeping an eye out for this program.

BTW, you may have to make a DVD player region-independent to watch the DVDs, but it's quite easy, and as a bonus you can order DVDs from anywhere. We did this so that my wife could order some murder mystery DVDs from Australia.

[Sciethe]

Thanks Whitemane,
you are a mighty rock in a world with too much universal swirly nothingness.
S

[Alwin]

Does your seed group already have a manager and an office in Japan to handle all the requests?

[Whitemane]

I showed the trailer to a Japanese friend and she immediately became interested.

She identified two of the presenters as well-known TV personalities in Japan, suggesting a lot of resources and backing for the program.

[Sciethe]

Does your seed group already have a manager and an office in Japan to handle all the requests?

Stop it, you're scaring me

I showed the trailer to a Japanese friend and she immediately became interested.

She identified two of the presenters as well-known TV personalities in Japan, suggesting a lot of resources and backing for the program.

I'd gathered that the young lady presenter we took to the woods and got a trifle muddy was an up and coming media phenomenon, but not until we actually met at the Grove. You never know, eh? It's not the first celeb. we've taken there though, John Peel came and recorded our drumming for Radio 4 a decade or so ago. It was a pretty cool party.

I just hope the result is a positive one for understanding of Druidism in the world at large. If we can make another link in Japan with Shinto then I'll be satisfied.
S

[Whitemane]

I didn't ask for a word-for-word translation, but just for a general impression of the trailer, but my Japanese friend thought it was generally positive and she is going to try and catch the program herself.

I don't think you need to worry ambush journalism here, any more than you did with John Peel.

[Sciethe]

Update for those interested,
TV Tokyo have very kindly sent me a DVD of the episode that our Druidic efforts were featured in, and it all looks good. There are Wicca Man and Cottingley Fairies asides, but they are put into context. There is a nice letter too, part of which attached. The programme does draw together and look at a few commonalities between various indigenous spiritualties including Druidism and Shinto. I'd say job done.

What do your friends think, Whitemane?
S

[Whitemane]

They recorded the show, but last I heard, they hadn't watched it.

[ideagirl]

Ooh! Is there any way to order copies of the DVD? I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to have it, even in Japanese--my husband speaks Japanese.

[Sciethe]

Ooh! Is there any way to order copies of the DVD? I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to have it, even in Japanese--my husband speaks Japanese.

Hi ideagirl, I know of no way, unfortunately my contact at TV Tokyo has moved on to greater things. I can suggest writing a letter of enquiry to the address of the London Bureau which is at the top of the letter a few posts back on this thread. They're pretty friendly and helpful there.

Hope that helps!
Sciethe