Part of the February special exhibit at the Kokaido Hall in downtown Echizen city (Fukui-ken) has been a few demonstrations of the visual artist at work; in this case at the gallery, but with related events this time at Shokaku-ji, about 150m to the west, or so.

The artist, Ueda Miyuki (site requires Flash support, so IE browser), uses traditional materials (ink, brush, washi Japanese paper)  for today's themes with her dancing sumi-e brush performance event - meaning very large pieces of Japanese paper and live music to motivate the artist - note that she paints with left hand but later was writing address information with right! Among the collected video clips, below, the last one with Tibetan singing bowls is particularly riveting.

*Performance 2017-02-19, preparing the way - https://vimeo.com/204826192 

New Sumi-e, Ueda Miyuki prepares brushs and ink for performance 2-19-2017 vimeo.com For more than a decade Miyuki Ueda has combined live music and innovative visual art made from traditional materials (Japanese washi paper, ink and brush; surfaces…

*Performance 2017-02-19, first ink - https://vimeo.com/204826215 

*Performance 2017-02-19, autobiography installation, https://www.flickr.com/photos/gpwitteveen/32159822604 

*Performance 2017-02-19, completing the details - https://youtu.be/OU_klPZ4PF4 

*Performance 2017-02-19, adding red details - https://youtu.be/-PRRiTj0g94 

*Performance 2017-02-19, after the performance, https://www.flickr.com/photos/gpwitteveen/32849421332 

*Performance 2017-02-19, Temple (Shokaku-ji) sutra and Singing Bowls - https://youtu.be/XtDW1UdUUhs 

Sound recordings bring listeners up close to the immediacy of the context and events at hand. The Sonic Japan project has collected a variety of settings to let you explore the many cultural places around the society and language of the Japanese islands. Thanks to the initiative of colleagues in Australia, Japan, and the USA, this project has taken full form. Details of method, funding, contributors and links to follow via Twitter, Facebook, or the collection itself at Soundcloud can be found at http://sonicjapan.clab.org.au/about and this website also groups the recordings to browse by map, by places list, and by cultural theme. The soundcloud address is https://soundcloud.com/sonicjapan/

sonicjapan | Free Listening on SoundCloud soundcloud.com Sonic Japan is a collection of sound recordings made in Japan that enables listeners to traverse an array of themes pertaining to everyday life through a ...

documentaries in Japan, Kazuhiro Soda's filmography

The current scholar-in-residence this year at U-Michigan is Kazuhiro Soda. His Feb. 9, 2017 lecture will probably be video recorded (in English mostly).

Commonly these days the events are recorded and can be viewed online in 2-3 weeks.

=-=-=-=-= Excerpt from announcement link, https://www.ii.umich.edu/cjs/news-events/events.detail.html/38037-6859806.html
The Power of Observation: How and Why I Make "Observational" Documentaries
Kazuhiro Soda, Toyota Professor in Residence
[guiding principles]

1 No research.
2 No meetings with subjects.
3 No scripts.
4 Roll the camera yourself.
5 Shoot as long as possible.
6 Cover small areas deeply.
7 Do not set up a theme or goal before editing.
8 No narration, title, or music.
9 Use long takes.
10 Pay for the production yourself.

His filmography includes "Campaign" (2007), "Mental" (2008), "Peace" (2010), "Theatre 1" (2012), "Theatre 2" (2012), "Campaign 2" (2013), and "Oyster Factory" (2015).