video,  1’13,  Full HD 2020

Kyoko Kasuya discovered an anecdote about a Spanish surname, Japón. There are around 300-400 people with this name in Spain today. Kyoko Kasuya researched the subject. 400 years ago, some Japanese traveled to this country and a few people stayed. This is the origin of the family name. This point of departure helped the artist to find the story of the samurai Hasekura, who landed in Spain in the 17th century on a diplomatic mission from a small bay, Tsukinoura, in the Miyagi prefecture in northern Japan. The artist went there imagining Hasekura’s era. These floating images reactivate the poetic and dreamlike aspects, and the narrator’s voice establishes a link between the Samurai era and today. This video is an introduction to the origins of the Hasekura legend. It was presented at BIENALSUR in Cordoba, AR and Montevideo, UG (2021 and 2022).