OKAGE SAMA DE

Go on an epic journey as these five stories explore different aspects of the Japanese American experience of WWII

"Alton Takiyama-Chung's Okage Sama De's story on DVD is about what it is like to 
be sent to an internment camp during WWII and then volunteer to fight for your 
country.  This is an extraordinary work.  Alton Chung is a powerful artist."

HEROES DVD

Caught up in the patriotic fever shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, two brothers from Hawaii join the 100th Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team, the all Japanese-American unit to fight in Europe in WWII.  During their journey from raw recruits to combat veterans they learn about courage and honor, to be part of a team, and the reality of war.  For its size and duration of service, the 100th Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team is the most highly decorated unit in US Military history.

“Good job!  Listening to you, I relived the war all over again.  Thank you.”  – 100th Battalion Veteran

“You were on fire—full of fire and the exploding energy of the story.  I loved the pidgin you spoke, which transported me (and your audience) across the Pacific to Kilauwea and Mauna Loa.  Like a kahuna, you have mastered the art of storytelling.”  --Perii Owens, Ashland Library, Ashland, OR

"Watching Alton Chung in his new production "Heroes" brings to mind  great
monologists such as Spalding Grey. Mr. Chung's storytelling is at its best
as he recreates how it was to be a Japanese American during the WWII. Mr.
Chung effortlessly changes characters with such skill and seamless
transitions that the viewer never notices the absences of curtains or other
such props of the stage. He is truly an engaging one man show!"

David Bunk
ESL Instructor
Portland State University

DVD cost: 20.00
plus 3.00 Shipping

THE SPIDERWEAVER AND OTHER TALES OF ASIA CD

Travel to far off Asia, with ports of call in Japan, Korea, China, and Singapore.  Experience these cultures through their heroes and heroines, through their villains and monsters, through their healing stories and teaching tales.  Hear the strange tale of the mysterious weaving maid, of the man who could turn Winter into Spring, of a tight-fisted farmer and a strange raggedy old man, of a mischievous badger and a thoughtful rabbit, of two brothers searching for the pearl that shines in the night, and of an old man’s care and devotion to a group of statues.  Also included, as a special bonus, is a story of an old man’s encounter with a strange woman deep in the forest late one night, recorded live with piano accompaniment by Les Adam, in the town of Makawao on the island of Maui.  These ethnically diverse tales are told with great respect and deep gratitude for all those who kept these stories alive from generation to generation.

“Can you bear to hear it one more time? Your performance at our library was perfection. With your melodious voice portraying a weary Korean wine-maker, a wise Hawaiian owl, or a busy Japanese spider; with your body language depicting striking snakes, blasting winds, and blooming trees; and with your astute selection and superb

CD Cost: 15.00
Plus 3.00 Shipping

OBAKE!  LAFCADIO HEARN’S STRANGE TALES OF JAPAN

Are you afraid of the dark? You will be after listening to this collection of ancient ghostly tales from Japan.  Hear the legend of a storyteller who tells tales to ghosts, of the man who encounters the supernatural at a midnight funeral, of a ghostly encounter with a woman with no face, of the horrifying consequences of a promise broken, and the unexpected consequences of undying devotion.  These stories are not for the faint of heart.

Turn off the lights, light a candle, and watch the shadows dance across the walls, while you let your imagination run wild listening to these ancient tales of terror from Japan.  See if the shadows begin to speak.

Lafcadio Hearn emigrated to Japan in 1890 and listened to the Japanese storytellers weave their strange obake (ghost) tales, which by that time, had been told and retold for hundreds of years.  He wrote them down and began to publish them in the West around the turn of the last century.

SOME MATERIAL MAY BE TOO INTENSE FOR CHILDREN UNDER 13.

CD Cost: 15.00
Plus 3.00 Shipping