This 'Photo Report' covers the '2012 ilove.cat Festival'. Held at Fukumori on February 26th, the event featured "Cats, comedy, music and more."
Part 1: Cross-Talk between Creative Cat-Lovers
Illustrator Kuniko Nagasaki and manga artist Machiko Kyo discussed their love of cats. For the second half of the talk, audience members asked questions on a number of themes, including festivals and the Tokyo Marathon. This was followed by a drawing competition between the artists and members of the audience. The event was moderated ilove.cat's very own cat photographer, Shin Suzuki.
Part 2: Rakugo Performance (Traditional Japanese Comedy)
Our festival continued with rakugo artist Momoe Shunputei, who performed his original rakugo comedy sketch titled 'Violence Suko'. Set in Tokyo's Minowabashi area, the story centers around a squabble over feeding grounds between gangs of Scottish Folds and American Shorthairs. To fully understand the core of this rakugo story, you would have to be a cat lover.
Part 3: 'Cats Live' - A Musical Performance
To top off the evening, musician Miu Sakamoto performed live. Accompanied by Nobuyuki Nakajima on piano, Sakamoto performed songs such as 'Prelude', 'Odayakana Kurashi', 'Shiro-neko' ('White Cat') and 'Tora-neko' ('Tabby'), 'The Never Ending Story' and 'Silent Dancer'. In addition, she proposed a lecture on "cat-sucking" (?!).
At the festival, each member of the audience was given a special ilove.cat 'maneki-neko' figure. Designed by Kotatsu Neko, there were four different versions available.
Featuring cat illustrations by Kuniko Nagasaki, our original ilove.cat stickers were available for purchase at the event.
The event also featured the screening of a commercial for Kiku-Masamune Sake Brewing Co.'s that featured the black cat known as 'Kikumasa'. Moreover, participants were able drink an original Fukumori cocktail that featured 'Nigorin' sake, which is known for its cute white cat character. The special cocktail recipe also included fruits such as oranges, bananas, apricots and apples.
Sweets maker cineca unveiled their new crunchy 'kalikali' cat cookies at the event.
Also available were a Fukumori specialty - 'Nikukyu Onigiri' ('Cat Paw Rice Balls'). Made using a base of bonito flakes mixed with rice, these balls featured paw prints cut out of nori seaweed and a choice of fillings - salmon or tuna mixed with soy sauce and mayonnaise.
ilove.cat wants to thank everyone who participated. We are now making plans to hold our next festival sometime around the end of summer. We hope you will be able to join us!
