Four years have passed after the Great Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami. What should the Japanese people be aware of and what should they do for achieving true rebirth and regeneration?
There are some Japanese who believe that “we must relearn the ability to listen to the voice of the tree spirit, in other words, the voice of the cosmos”. "Gaia Symphony No. 8" will attempt to transmit to the world the thinking and activities of these people in hopes that all living things on earth will continue to live healthily.
1. Encountering the Tree Spirit
For the past 600 years, while waiting to once again see the light, the noh mask Akobu-jô has lain hidden away in the treasure house of the Tenkawa Dai-Benzenten Shrine deep in the mountains of Yoshino in Nara Prefecture. The ancient mask, which had once presented by the gifted noh actor and third Kanze school head, Motomasa, revived in this present world.
2. Listening to the Voice of the Tree Spirit
Japanese violin maker Muneyuki Nakazawa says, "The soul or the 'tree spirit' of the instrument has continued to remember the 'sound soul' of all the great performers who have played it over generations." Nakazawa crafted a "tsunami violin" made of the wooden rubbles of pine and maple trees, which had once been pillars and beams of houses but destroyed by 3.11 tsunami.
3. Growing Trees with Heart
Shigeatsu Hatakeyama began the movement to reforest Mt. Murone in 1989 after realizing the fact that the destruction of the forests turned the blue sea of Kesennuma Bay red. Thanks to his reforestation activity, Kesennuma Bay gradually became blue again. But the 3.11 tsunami hit there and Hatakeyama's oyster beds were completely destroyed. This part depicts the process of recovery of his soul and the sea.