Lights, Camera, Onigiri!

This morning we had a guest speaker, Dr. Jim Doering, Professor of Music at Randolph-Macon College. He talked about music’s role in movies, especially Japanese movies, and the tradition of narrators (benshi) for early Japanese silent films. We then got to watch a Japanese silent short film called “A Straightforward Boy,” for which Dr. Doering played the piano soundtrack live, and Kyle-sensei narrated, whipping out his incredible voice acting skills. 
In the afternoon we decorated uchiwa (fans), which brought out everyone’s personality and creativity. 
In the evening we watched Spirited Away, or Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi, a classic Studio Ghibli film. Kyle-sensei shared facts throughout the movie, including hidden symbolism. During the scene in the movie when the main character receives an onigiri (rice ball), Rie-sensei and Emily-sensei surprised us with homemade onigiri! We loved the movie, and highly recommend that everyone watch it.