Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia 2020 in ACHI Report 2
Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia 2020 in ACHI
Achi-Village, Nagano Prefecture
Day 2, Monday Aug. 10:Another excellent day in Achi.
The day started with a trip down the street to the early morning farmer’s market. We got there at 7AM & things were already in full swing. Just picked corn, apples & shiitake mushrooms among other fresh veggies were on display.
After a full Japanese breakfast, we gathered at 10:30 for a soba noodles making experience. As with most anything cultural in Japan, it’s a lot harder than it looks but we managed to make a semblance of soba noodles which we were able to eat as our lunch right away. Definitely the freshest soba we’ve ever eaten even if the noodles were of different thicknesses & consistency, all from the same batch!
The afternoon began with a 30-minute ride down the Tenryu River in a traditional Japanese river boat. The water level was higher than usual as a result of the longer than usual rainy season this year. In the hot weather the cool, crisp river water was very refreshing.
After a short break we were treated to a traditional Japanese “irori” style dinner. Very fresh meat, fish & vegetables are cooked over an open hearth on a latticed cooking grill. The invited creators couldn’t believe there was so much food to eat but by the end, it was all gone & we were all quite full.
After dinner we headed up another mountain to “Namiai Park” for another starry night sky experience after a screening of sports themed shorts from our festival.
We were very very fortunate to have clear night skies to see the absolutely stunning star-filled sky complete with the Milky Way right above our heads.
The Achi⭐️Hirugami Tourism Board has done an amazing job putting together all their resources & making the whole area a truly wonderful Japanese mountain area experience. Also, a huge thank you to the Agency for Cultural Affairs and the Japan Arts Council for collaborating with us once again to bring the world of short films & this area together for another successful festival experience.
A brilliant day in the mountains of Nagano under a star-filled sky & all the wonderful Japanese hospitality, cuisine & art!
Stay tuned for our final Day 3 update tomorrow.
See-ya,
DJ John