Video Portraits - Men: Issey Miyake

Shot on 16mm film, this experimental piece is inspired by a short story by Ango Sakaguchi about a doomed romance set against the backdrop of blooming cherry trees. Michishita dispenses with the lovers and retains only the cherry blossoms. Caught from every angle, they bloom and fall, communicating a sense of enrapturement with this local and eternal cycle. The music is by Toshi Ichiyanagi, a major figure in postwar Japanese music.

A part of Michishita’s two-part series Being Women in Japan, Living with the Ocean alternates between footage of men and women fisherman harvesting kelp, and interviews with both about their lives and their work.

In this elegant, muted suite of three miniatures, Michishita captures the snowy landscape of Sapporo with a refined eye for its shadows and textures.

Being Women in Japan documents the recovery of Michishita’s sister from brain surgery, which hospitalized her for four months. Michishita's interest was not only in the personal struggle of her sister to regain her health, but also in how this crisis caused a major rupture in the daily life of her sister's family.

The composer, famous for bridging Japanese traditional music with the European avant-garde, shows off his culinary skills while discussing his artistic practice. Kyoko Michishita: “The internationally acclaimed composer demonstrates how he makes soba dipping sauce, which he takes as seriously as he does music. That speed, that dynamic! It was delicious.”

A playful portrait of designer Ryoichi Enomato, a former collaborator of the Shuji Terayama and the Tenjō Sajiki theater troupe. Kyoko Michishita: “…when I asked Enomoto, the king of parody, to let me film him at the Japan Graphic Exhibition, an event that has become the gateway to success for commercial artists, he gracefully took his clothes off for me. But he asked to wear sunglasses to hide his embarrassment.”

In his darkened apartment the poet, translator, and lyricist discusses his work and his "art of being alone". In the words of Tanikawa: "If there is love, there is nothing more to say...".