YuriA & Erika Sisters
ART WORKS
COMMENTS ON SISTERS' WORK
This is a blend of stagecraft, film, art and music. I was fascinated by this three-dimensional poem.
A great deal of thought has gone into the setting of the stage, it was really an avant-garde piece, so I want to compliment Yulia for creating such beauty.
I also want to compliment Erika for her wonderful choreography of the dancers.
It seemed that Yulia and Erika were playing a duet in perfect
harmony.
Thank you so much for inviting my husband and me to witness this completely different world, we had never before seen a performance like this.
-ELZBIETA WOJCIECHOWSKA on the media performance of "Muybridge's Strings and
the Rhythm of Motion"
The Special Jury's Award is presented to a young Japanese director, Yuria
Matsushita, who made this glorious film as if filming haiku. The film is about four sisters and their relationship with their step-mother.
It is filmed in a most delicate way and much is gently unsaid, but obvious.
-Film Director LECH MAJEWSKI on the film "A Story Sewn and Bound With a Red
Thread."
Each of the scenes and their musical transitions are tasteful but wonderfully tense. The ending leaves one with a sad, even fragile, feeing but with a beautiful view of the world.
It says when the inner world opens its eyes, it is all over.
The story closely follows the book, I can only describe it as fantastic.
-Pianist SHINICHIRO SUDO on the performance "I WANT TO DANCE BUT I CAN'T
DANCE".
INTRODUCTION
Sisters Yulia and Erika Matsushita interpreted this story and sewed it
together with a red thread.
It conjures up my own thoughts which are that the story is indeed sewn together with a red thread. I see the following.
They rolled down the hill
They rolled onto a cargo ship in a foreign land
There was a beautiful sailor, just a boy, on the cargo ship
And as he untied the red thread
He imagined the strangest tale
Before he knew it the ship had left the harbour
And sailed out to the smallest sea in the world
It was a sea of tears from the girls
So I will always wonder to where is this story headed
This beautifully innocent yet erotic and mysterious tale.
Professor Emeritus KOHEI ANDO of Waseda University on the film "A Story Sewn
and Bound With a Red Thread."
THEATRICAL WORKS
2008 “Miniature Garden” (Ehime Cultural Center)
2010 “ZANMU 2010” (Kielce Art Festival, Poland)
2011 “I Want to Dance But I Can’t Dance” Based on a story by Shuji Terayama (Za Koenji, Tokyo)
2013 “Stolen Memory” Based on a story by Shuji Terayama (Nakayama Flower House, Ehime)
2014 “I Want to Dance But I Can’t Dance” Based on a story by Shuji Terayama (Japan Media Arts Festival)
2015 “Yellow Ribbon” Based on a story by Shuji Terayama (Nakayama Flower House, Ehime)
2016 Media Performance “Muybridge’s Strings and Rhythm of Motion” Koji Yamamura × TORANOKO P. A. C
(Przemyśl International Art Festival, Poland)
2017 Media Performance “Muybridge’s Strings and Rhythm of Motion” Koji Yamamura × TORANOKO P. A. C
(Etiuda & Anima Film Festival in Krakow, Poland)
2020 Online Performance “Chopin Village Festival in Tobe”
2022 “SCHOOL GIRL” Based on a story by Osamu Dazai (Uchiko Kabuki Theater, Ehime)
At the stage when they develop into adulthood
Some girls vacillate between reality and fantasy
To them it is a bewitching and aesthetic world
Yet to others there is only purity or poison
Emotions unleashed in this dreamlike state
Reflect the freedom and flexibility of their senses
Which are still in the process of adult development.
ABOUT TORANOKO P.A.C→
 2022SCHOOLGIRL｜Uchikoza |  2020Hide & Seek｜Chopin Village Festival |  2017Muybridgw's Strings｜Etuda & Anima Film Festival |  2015Yellow Ribbon｜Flower House, Nakayama |  2014Stolen Memories｜Flower House, Nakayama |  2011I want to dance but I can't dance｜The Koenji |
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FILMS
2001 Independent Film “TUTU” (Pia Film Festival: Official Selection)
2009 Short Film “Miuro” (Shimokitazawa Film Festival: Official Selection)
2010 maxell Hi-Vision Theater “Canna Lily”
2019 Feature Film “A Story Sewn and Bound with a Red Thread” Inspired by Shuji Terayama
NNW International Film Festival, Poland “Special Jury Award”
Canadian Cinematography Award “Best Cinematography”
NY Cinematography Award “Finalist”
LONDON BEST Film Awards: Feature Film “Best Actress” (Chisato Kameoka)
Global Indie Film Festival, Scotland “Official Selection”
Paris PLAY Film Festival: Best Feature Film “Finalist”
ECU - European Independent Film Festival “Official Selection”
Ramsgate International Film & TV Festival “Official Selection”
Cannes Film Awards “Best Feature Film”
Wallachia Int'l Film Festival : Feature Film “Best Supporting Actress” (Rii Ishihara)
Sydney Women’s International Film Festival “Official Selection”
2021 Short Film “FLASHBACK BEFORE DEATH”
[Directors: Rii Ishihara & Hiroyuki Onogawa, Art Director Yuria Matsushita, Costume Designer: Erika Matsushita]
Sitges Film Festival “BEST SHORT FILM NEW VISION”
2022 JAPAN FILM COMMISSION PV “33 Thirty three”
2023 Short Film “THE TREE OF SINNERS”
[Directors: Rii Ishihara & Hiroyuki Onogawa, Art Director Yuria Matsushita, Costume Designer: Erika Matsushita]
2024
2024 Short Film "MEAN ANGEL" Inspired by Osamu Dazai
ABOUT A Story Sewn and Bound with a Red Thread→
The feelings that are released in this dreamlikeworld, reflect the freedom and flexibility of senses that are still in the process of development. -Ramsgate International Film & TV Festival
 2024俗天使｜MEAN ANGEL |  2024THE TREE OF SINNERS |  202233 - Thirty three |  2022FLASH BACK BEFORE DEATH |  2020赤糸で縫いとじられた物語｜A Story Sewn and Bound with a Red Thread |  2008CANNA LILY |
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OUR STORY
Eyes and gazes represent human emotions and sometimes eloquently reflect the fear and madness hidden in the hearts, and even in the eyeballs themselves.
YURIA MATSUSHITA
JOINT DIRECTOR OF TORANOKO PERFORMING ARTS COMPANY
Film Director, Scriptwriter, Hair and Makeup Artist
ERIKA MATSUSHITA
JOINT DIRECTOR OF TORANOKO PERFORMING ARTS COMPANY
Photographer, Costume Designer, Choreographer, Vocal Artist
YURIA MATSUSHITA is now recognized as one of the world’s finest up and coming young film directors. Born in Ehime, Japan in 1977, her travels to study a variety of different art forms in many parts of the world have given her a global perspective which is readily apparent in her work. Yuria’s father Bunji is Japanese and has been recognized as one of Japan’s earliest and most important advocates of international understanding. Yuria’s mother Elzbieta is Polish from a family of artists, architects and stage actors.
Yuria learned classical ballet from the age of four. As a young adult she graduated from the London College of Fashion in 1998, specializing in makeup and hair for performing arts, then in 1999 she studied sculpture at the Academy of Fine Art in Poznan, Poland before moving in 2000 to Thailand, where she studied classical art and began to compose poetry and scripts for film and stage performances. In 2001 her independent film “Tutu” was nominated for the PIA Film Festival.
ERIKA MATSUSHITA is a multifaceted artist whose journey spans ballet in the UK, acting in Australia, and costume design in Thailand. In 2002, she co-founded the TORANOKO Performing Arts Company in Ehime, Japan, with her sister Yuria, offering lessons in vocal performance, art, and creative expression while producing internationally recognized stage and film projects.
Erika has collaborated on innovative multimedia works like Koji Yamamura’s The Cord of Life, performed at international festivals, and has received accolades as a producer and designer for award-winning films such as A Story Sewn and Bound with a Red Thread and Flash Back Before Beath. Her work includes 33, featured at Cannes, and earning the Aesthetica Art Prize 2024 alongside Yuria.
As a vocal coach, Erika blends Broadway-style techniques with a focus on unlocking confidence and joy in singing. Her teaching philosophy, inspired by William James’s words, encourages students to discover their unique voices and embrace the transformative power of music.
CONTACT
Tel: 090-8287-4210
Email: toranoko_p.a.c@toranoko-performing-arts-company.com
2-7-5 Yogo-Naka Matsuyama Ehime Japan
TORANOKO PAC
