SHIMADA GREENTEA SONG ～Samurai Spirit～

Tittle: Shimada City Music video「SHIMADA GREENTEA SONG ～Samurai Spirit～」

Production date: 2017.10.2

Running time: 5' 22"

Director: n/a

・Songwriting: ViRGO a.k.a HAMMER

・Appearing artists: ViRGO a.k.a HAMMER, 2Y from FRONT LINE, B-BANDJ

・Video production: 株式会社FKParty

・Ink wash (sumi-e) painting: Sumi-E Artist OKAZU

Copyright: Shimada City

Location: Chimanji Temple, Horaibashi Bridge, Oigawa Railway, Big Cherry Blossoms Tree

Plot summary:

The story begins in 1869 with samurais and their families who, having lost their jobs due to the Meiji Restoration taking place at that time, became involved with the development of the Makinohara Plateau. 

The samurai swapped their “to protect, to live” battle sword for hoes which they used to work the earth and grow tea plants.  

The resulting green tea of which Shimada City is proud, was born from a hard toiling of the land and is filled with passion and “the soul of the samurai.”

While peace and unrest visit the area over the years, people continue to fight sickness and disease. But the tea, filled with the will of the samurai, reveals the kind of power such that it is considered the best medicine. This tea becomes the hope of the people.

The Makinohara tea plantation presents a carpet of green that spreads as far as the eye can see. Here the soul the samurai, that brought hope to the people, lives on to this day and will continue to live on into the future.

PR:

This music video was created as part of a city promotion “Green Tea Project” for Shimada City, Shizuoka Prefecture. The video explores the theme of green tea through the lives of Bakumatsu-era samurai and events like the pioneering of the Makinohara Plateau (home to the Makinohara tea plantation, the largest in Japan). Green tea culture and the unique landscapes of Japan are conveyed through a rap song which includes lyrics in Japanese, English and French.

From the City-Cost team:

The setting is the vast Makinohara Plateau, atmospheric forests and old Japanese buildings for a music video which tells the origin story of green tea in Shimada City, Shizuoka Prefecture. The video combines western rap music and contemporary dance with traditional costume and settings to recount a time of wandering samurai who put down their swords to tend the earth.