Winner of a 2009 Parents" Choice Award! CHIEKO AND THE PINE is a beautiful story of magic, mystery, and music. Adapted from the book of the same title, the DVD features wonderful Japanese art and the Japanese koto as it tells the story of Chieko ("child of a thousand branches"). In this moving Japanese folktale, Chieko lives in a remote mountain village and plays the koto. One night she is accompanied by a mysterious flute player from the forest. For many nights Chieko and Matsuo play together, but when a great pine tree is needed to rebuild the village bridge, Matsuo disappears. After finding his flute where the tree was felled, Chieko begins to play her koto on the new bridge...their music is, once again, heard throughout the village. The video also features a Japanese koto demonstration by renowned koto player Reiko Obata, a discussion of Japanese bonsai with the curator of the Japanese Friendship Garden in San Diego, a demonstration of Japanese traditional dance (Nihon Buyo), and a sumi-e demonstration by the illustrator for the book and DVD, Takashi Ijichi. A DVD that can be enjoyed and watched by the whole family!