A Quest to see Stars

"Gift from Angel" by KAGAYA

Unlike some people who wish to go to Japan at some point in their lives to be surrounded by those who are a part of the Anime and Lolita/Cosplay community along with checking out popular sites, I've always wanted to check out 3 things: cultural centers (for my own research on local lore and symbolism), meet with the friends I've made thanks to the deviantART community, and a chance to see the works of the graphic fine artist Kagaya Yutaka (1968 -). For as long as I remember, I have always been a fan of Kagaya's work. Full of detail and grace, his mythology inspired pieces are always eye catching along with being able to tell an entire story without a single word. I believe that I had discovered his work back in high school and have always found inspiration in his beautiful pieces. I must confess that I have actually wanted to actually purchase a piece of jewelry that was inspired by one of his images but unfortunately his website only sells his products to customers in Japan. So while I keep the hope that I will be able to travel overseas at some point to actually get a chance to purchase something of his, I continue to visit his websites KAGAYAstudio.com and Aquarius-Stage.com (for minerals & accessories) to see what new pieces he has done or events he has been apart of. 

Last year or so I had discovered that he had created a show dealing with the star constellations with his art titled A Starry Tale. At first I was super excited at the possibility of seeing it then quickly became disheartened when at the time, the show was only being shown in various locations in Japan and maybe 2 or 3 other countries. The show itself, from what I can understand, tells the history of how the constellations came to be how we know them now and the mythology behind them. This visual story telling has music created by the Japanese New Age music group Himekami. Since I hadn't checked in sometime, I was curious to any updates that Kagaya had on his website. Wandering my way to listings of locations playing A Starry Tale, I was surprised to discover that not only the number of places had increased to include Greece, Ukraine, New Zealand, and 3 locations in the United States! I couldn't believe my eyes but indeed the US was finally presenting the show, with a 4^th possible location in the future. One of the 3 locations however only showed this visual presentation earlier this year (March 2012). So for my fellow fans here in the US who may or may not have heard about the show, check out the following locations for more information to see show times and dates to make sure for yourself that the location is still playing it: 

Muller Planetarium - 210 Morrill Hall, University of Nebraska-Lincoln – Lincoln, Nebraska 68588

Texas A& M University-Commerse Planetarium - 2201 W Neal St. - Commerce, Texas 75428

For those of you who may not be familiar with the group Himekami, here is an example of one of their pieces. From their 1989 album titled Moon Water, this is the piece Earthflame.