Collaborative Project Between Keio Affiliated Schools: Group Reading of The Tale of the Heike

On Sunday, January 29, the Keio Research Center for the Liberal Arts sponsored a group reading of The Tale of the Heike at the Jisonkan Hall at Keio Yochisha Elementary School. The event involved approximately 100 students from the Yochisha Elementary School, Keio Futsubu School (Boys Junior High School), Keio Shiki Boys Senior High School, Keio Girls Senior High School and Keio University. The students recited in unison an excerpt from The Tale of the Heike, the famous scene of the fleets of the Heike and Genji clans confronting each other at the Battle of Dannoura, ending with the Heike clan’s ships sinking beneath the waves. After the reading, participants from different institutions met in groups and had lively discussions about their hard practice and the final performance.

Group readings have also been organized by the Keio Futsubu School and the Keio Shiki Boys Senior High School as a part of their Japanese course. In January 2004, the Research Center for the Arts & Arts Administration sponsored an event performed by Shiki Boys Senior High School students entitled “Celebrating Life: The Power of High School Students’ Voices” and, in 2005, a group reading of “Yamato Takeru,” a story from the Kojiki (The Records of Ancient Matters), was held as a collaborative project between the Yochisha Elementary School and the Shiki Boys Senior High School. This time, the event was expanded to include students of all ages, from elementary school to university, and both the participants and the audience experienced the power of combined voices reciting an ancient text.