Tales Alive! Publishing

"Chieko and the Pine" is a beautiful story of magic, mystery, and music. In this moving Japanese folktale, Chieko lives in a remote mountain village and plays the koto. One night she is accompanied by a mysterious flute player from the forest. For many nights Chieko and Matsuo play together, but when a great pine tree is needed to rebuild the village bridge, Matsuo disappears. After finding his flute where the tree was felled, Chieko begins to play her koto on the new bridge...their music is, once again, heard throughout the village.

In addition to the story, the DVD features a live performance by renowned Japanese koto player Reiko Obata; a talk with Fred Miyahara, bonsai curator at the San Diego Japanese Friendship Garden; footage of Nihon Buyo, Japanese traditional dance; and a demonstration of Japanese sumi-e brush painting by award-winning artist and "Chieko" illustrator Takashi Ijichi.

DVD, NTSC, approx. 30 min., $14.99 + free shipping within the U.S.
Priority mail and international orders, please contact us

A beautiful story of magic, mystery, and music. Chieko ("child of a thousand branches") lives in a remote mountain village surrounded by trees. She plays the koto and one night she is accompanied by a mysterious flute player from the forest. For many nights Chieko and Matsuo play together, but when a great pine tree is needed to rebuild the village bridge, Matsuo disappears. After finding his flute where the tree was felled, Chieko plays her koto on the bridge where their music is heard again through the village.

The illustrations in this book were done using Japanese sumi-e ink and gansai on rice paper with Japanese sumi-e brush.

Hard cover, 32 pp., $13.95 + free shipping within the U.S.
Priority mail and international orders, please contact us