Celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Gucci Bamboo Bags，Dentsu Inc. Tokyo, together with Gucci, crafted a contemporary retelling of an ancient Japanese story entitled “Taketori Monogatari” (The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter), with music inspired by the ancient Japanese poetry “Waka” used in the original folklore.

At the 2023 Cannes Lions, “Kaguya by Gucci” won a bronze Film Craft Lion in the category of Use of Original Music. The film also won Grand Prix in Film Craft, Direction at the 2023 Spikes Asia.

The music celebrates a mix of historical Japanese artforms with the latest technology in creativity. 

The music is inspired by the ancient Japanese poetry “Waka” used in the original folklore. The lyrics were co-written with A.I and the android robot sings the song throughout the film. 

This is a creative format of “Kyogen” which is also a traditional theatrical artform in Japan. 

The fantastical story of Taketori Monogatari was written in the late 9th century and is considered the oldest surviving folklore in Japan.

The story depicts that Kaguya, a celestial princess from the moon, was one day discovered by an old bamboo cutter inside the stalk of a glowing bamboo. 

However, Gucci’s creative retelling was set in a dreamlike 21st century Tokyo.

 A girl worn out by modern urban life meets a beautiful woman in a bamboo grove. 

This time, before Kaguya disappeared, she left a Gucci bamboo bag to prove this rendez-vous is not a dream.

The lyrics convey that unlike the characters in the original folklore, we don’t need to obey a pre-written destiny and we have the power to choose how we live. 

There is an irony to it that an android is telling humans that we should celebrate free will and individuality.

Throughout the narrative, Gucci Bamboo 1947 and Gucci Diana bags appear in the modern Japanese setting as past meets present.