Director Katsuyasu Nakata, far left, gives instructions to the cast and crew during filming in Shingu, Wakayama Prefecture.
10:57 JST, September 21, 2024
NACHI-KATSUURA, Wakayama — An amateur film crew of volunteers in Nachi-Katsuura, Wakayama Prefecture, has been making independent short films about the Kumano area, which includes the city.
Kumano eiga wo tsukuru kai, a group that aims to pass on the folk tales of the Kumano region through films, was founded in 2010 and consists of about 50 people.
So far, it has produced “The Kumano legend I: Princess Kasu” in 2010 and “The Kumano legend II: The tale of Kumano Bikuni-Orin” in 2012. The group showed the films for free in Tokyo and Osaka Prefecture.
The third film in the group, “The Kumano Legend III: Yunagi,” is a love story set in the mid-Edo period (1603-1867) in what is now Shingu, Wakayama Prefecture. The story centers on Ochizu, a farmer’s daughter, who takes a trip to a shrine in Kumano to make a wish while waiting for her lover, Yoichi, to return from a whaling expedition. In one scene, Ochizu and Yoichi are walking along a beach and are harassed by women looking for clams.
Filming began in late July with a cast and crew of about 60 people and is expected to wrap by late March, with the group set to screen the film in the spring.
The film’s director, Katsuyasu Nakata, 74, said the current film will be their last.
“We want to show the audience the wonders and beauty of Kumano through this film,” he said.
