The connection between Irish traditional music, video games and Japan might not immediately spring to mind, but a programme coming up on TG4 this Sunday will tie everything up for you.
Made by Big Mountain Productions based in Newry, Gradam Ceoil TG4 @ Expo 25 does exactly what it says on the tin.
The idea for the programme was to take the winners of TG4’s annual traditional music awards on a musical trip of discovery to Osaka where they would take part in the Expo 2025 event that was happening there.
The five-yearly Expo is described as a landmark international exhibition which “celebrates innovation and culture while addressing global challenges through a shared theme.” Different countries have different pavilions to showcase their cultures and the Irish were there in force.
The idea for the programme was to take the winners of TG4’s annual traditional music awards on a musical trip of discovery to Osaka
— Robert McMillen
Over the six months of the Expo, which attracted over 29 million visitors, Irish music of all kinds was featured nearly every day but for the Big Mountain programme, 12 musicians, singers and a dancer would collaborate with their Japanese counterparts in creating a unique musical event in front of a live audience – and what a show it turned out to be with thousands of people queuing up to get in the Shining Hat venue in heat so strong, sprinklers were used to keep the crowds cool.
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The idea that Irish trad music would be popular in the land of the Rising Sun has been slowly dawning on me with musicians such as Kozo Toyota, the first Japanese flute player to qualify for the All-Ireland Fleadh, and bands like Pinch of Snuff and O’Jizo.
For some, it is the similarities between Irish and Japanese music with their pentatonic scales and their feeling of melancholy, while for younger people it is the social aspect of traditional music that attracts them.
Whatever reason, many Japanese are besotted by our native music as Jane Kelly of Big Mountain. explained over a Zoom call.
“I really loved Osaka, where you have the old and new sitting side by side and it is quite breath-taking,” she beams.
“You could be walking down a street in Osaka and it looks like, you know, 5th Avenue but you’ve also got your Gucci and your Versace and all the rest of it and then you look down a side street and it’s like Blade Runner with shops and restaurants all piled on top of each other,” says Jane.
“And that’s why the Irish bars have grown massively. Japanese people are setting up little sessions in little bars, little makeshift bars in the back end of Osaka, Tokyo, Hiroshima and Kyoto.
“I can’t get over how huge Irish music is and, in the film, Reiko Yamashita, who is president of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann (Japan), talks about how video games have been really important because a lot of video games emanate from Japan and, of course, many of them have folklore themes and where they have folklore themes, they generally use traditional Irish music and that has contributed to the growth amongst young people, particularly.”
That was particularly evident in the show the TG4 winners put on where there was such a great response to the music – and no wonder.
On stage was an A-list band of award-winning musicians – Matt Cranitch who some might remember from Na Filí; fiddler Siobhan Peoples; Cathy Jordan, singer and musician with Dervish; Young musician of the year, piper Colm Broderick, box-player and composer of the year, Johnny Óg Connolly and the trad band extraordinaire – featuring Brian Finnegan, Sarah Allen, Ed Boyd and John Joe Kelly.
Joining them were pianist Rod McVey, sean-nós dancer, Becky Ní Éallaithe, and all corralled by Belfast-born composter, Neil Martin. Áine Hensey is the film’s narrator.
John McGovern and Jane Kelly from Big Mountain Productions, makers of Gradam Ceoil TG4 @ Expo 25
Any apprehension the ensemble might have felt at the daunting task melted away as they practiced in the Shinko-ji temple in Osaka, a serene escape with beautiful gardens for contemplation – and music-making.
It was here that Team Gradam TG4 met up with their Japanese counterparts, including Taka Hayashi, “the Michael Flatley of Irish dancing” in Japan; the Okinawan folk singer Misako Koja, who, believe it or not, had a huge hit with a Japanese version of the Ulster folk song, The Mountains of Pomeroy; drummers Luke and Hero Hayashida and two Bon Odori dancers, Yukiko Nakanishi and Wataru Kikuchi.
Bringing such a task to fruition was hard work, but Jane says everyone ended up doing three jobs each in this labour of love.
At the end of the recce, they pretty much figured out how the whole show would work. They’d mapped out the logistics — how many people they needed, how many Japanese colleagues to work with — and brought in a Japanese events company, fixers, and local crew for cameras, sound, and staging. Once they arrived, they only had a few days to pull the whole thing together, so it was full-on from the start.
Cathy Jordan from Dervish and Okinawan singer Misako Koja embrace after their stunning version of The Mountains of Pomeroy
Everything finally came together and the end result was genuinely magical.
The concert took place on September 8 this year in The Shining Hat, a central venue in Expo 2025 which had daily light shows on its magnificent roof, with many turned away as the venue only holds seating for 2,000 people. Yes, 2,000!
Those who did get in weren’t disappointed. There were traditional Irish tunes, plus two newly-composed pieces, one by Johnny Óg Connolly, Caoineadh Aisling na nGael while Neil Martin composed The Raven’s Cry, in homage to Patrick Lafcadio Hearn, an Irish-Greek writer who moved to Japan and is well-known there for the collections of Japanese folk tales he collected under his adopted name of Koizumi Yakumo. (He’s well worth a Google).
Needless to say, the programme went down a treat amongst the local audience, surprising even the musicians on stage.
“They honestly didn’t expect the reaction they got,” says Jane.
Even this author had to catch himself on. When watching the preview of the film in the IFI in Dublin, I almost gave a big round of applause, forgetting I was watching a film and not a live concert. That’s how immersive it was for me.
On the night itself in Osaka, the response was just as overwhelming. The famously-reserved Japanese didn’t just politely clap — they went wild. They cheered, stood up, applauded between verses, and clearly connected with what was happening on stage especially when the Irish tried out their few phrases of Japanese!
Everyone stayed to the very end and would happily have stayed longer.
For the musicians, it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Some had never played to an audience that large before and were visibly amazed. Even seasoned performers found it deeply emotional to be collaborating across cultures for the first time. The whole experience left everyone — performers and producers alike — feeling proud, moved, and a little stunned.
In the end, it felt bigger than just a concert or a film. It felt like one of those rare moments where everything clicks — creatively, emotionally, and culturally — and people walked away dreaming it might happen again!
Gradam Ceoil TG4 @ Expo 25 can be seen on TG4 this Sunday evening, December 21 at 9.30pm.
AloJapan.com