Ultimate Land: a Year of IWASAKI ONIKENBAI
- Country / Region
- Japan
- Year
- 2008
- Producer
- ECHIGOYA Takashi
- Director
- MIYAKE Nagaru
- Time
- 128min
- Language
- Japanese
- Production
- Aichi Arts Center
- Distribution
- Kukkyo Films
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Iwasaki Onikenbai is a traditional Japanese folk performance of an agricultural region, Iwasaki in Kitakami City, Iwate Prefecture. This documentary follows the lives of the people of Iwasaki. Many of the Onikenbai dancers are farming households with many carpenters and craftsman with daily work routines while performing and teaching the younger generation. Onikenbai is not solely for those specializing as dancers but everyone in Iwasaki has experienced and can dance the Onikenbai as they start learning Onikenbai in nursery or elementary school. It is the performance closely tied to the life of the people of the region and shared among them, which makes us realize the universal concerns of living in modern society and diminishing communities and fundamentals.