MEISOU (めいそう)
A short film by Vincent A. Pace & Joseph P. Laird
An Albeca Media Film · © 2026 Albeca Media LLC
Press & festival enquiries: info@albecamedia.com
Web: https://albecamedia.com/film/meisou/
日本語版: Meisou_press_notes_ja.txt

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TAGLINE
Some legends linger. Best that you don’t.

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LOGLINE
A solo hiker sets out to summit Tokyo’s highest mountain, but with each
footfall, the dark legend of a warlord’s last stand grows harder to dismiss,
and the way down harder to find.

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SHORT SYNOPSIS (50 words)
On the second day of a hike to Mt. Kumotori, a vlogger films his route, a
protection charm, and a story he read online: Taira no Masakado, seven shadow
warriors turned to stone, and the boy who made their last stand possible. Then
he goes looking for the stones. What he sees there, and what he only thinks he
sees, the camera can’t tell apart.

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LONG SYNOPSIS
On the second morning of a hike in Okutama, a cheerful vlogger sets out from
the Sanjou no Yu hut for Mt. Kumotori, the highest point in Tokyo. He names
his route, shows his camera a small wooden omamori and tucks it into his chest
pocket “so it can do its job,” and laughs at a hand-painted warning sign with
a ghost on it. The weather turns. He keeps thinking he hears animals, just out
of sight.

That night, in a mountain hut, he whispers a story he learned online: a
warlord who rose against the emperor, seven shadow warriors turned to stone,
and a boy that made their last stand possible. In the morning he walks on,
along a trail the local village has signposted as Masakado’s meisou, his
“wandering route.”

Told entirely through the hiker’s own camera, with no score, Meisou is a
found-footage short that unfolds like a mugen nō, one of Noh’s dream plays,
until it breaks the form.

Something keeps appearing at the edge of the frame, or he thinks it does.
Whether it’s the legend, the mountain, or his own mind, the camera can’t say.

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DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT
Meisou began as a hike. Joe Laird and I planned three days on the trails
around Mt. Kumotori, the highest point in Tokyo, and packed a shot list, a Noh
mask and a black poncho. We had no script and no crew; we were the crew.

The trail gave us the story. Tabayama Village has signposted part of the route as Taira no Masakado’s 迷走ルート, his “wandering route,” and that word, 迷走, became the title. Written in hiragana, めいそう can also be meditation or delusion. The film passes through each of them.

My hiker is an outsider. He retells a story he read online, half-remembered,
on the very ground where that story is told. I wanted to make a film about a
stranger borrowing a story that isn’t his.

Meisou unfolds like a mugen nō: a traveler, a place, a story, a night. Then it
breaks the form. It doesn’t explain itself. I hope people leave arguing about
what they saw.
— Vincent A. Pace, co-director

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DIRECTORS
Vincent A. Pace is a writer and filmmaker based in Northbrook, Illinois, and
the founder of Albeca Media. His work includes the outdoors channel Prepared
for Outdoors and the novel Annihilation in the First Degree, now in final
editing. He plays the hiker in Meisou.

Joseph P. Laird co-directed and co-produced Meisou with Vincent A. Pace.

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CREDITS
The Hiker ........................ Vincent A. Pace
The Figure ....................... Joseph P. Laird, Vincent A. Pace
Directed & produced by ........... Vincent A. Pace & Joseph P. Laird
Dōji “Boy” Noh mask by ........... Takao Inoue (Inoue Corporation, Fukuchiyama, Kyoto; nohmask21.com)
Noh percussion samples from ...... Sonica Instruments (Kabuki & Noh Percussion; sonica.jp)
Production company ............... Albeca Media LLC

Special thanks
Keiji & Tomoko Hashimoto · Liviana M. Pace · Felicia Y. Pace · Albert M. Pace · Cecilia L. Pace · Isabella Castillo · Andrew Gray · Danielle Gray · Stephanie Howell · Anthony E. Pace
Sanjou no Yu · Kumotori Sansou · Nanatsuishi-goya · Tabayama Village · Uenohara Police Station, Yamanashi Prefectural Police · Masakado-zuka Preservation Society · Nanatsuishi Shrine

An Albeca Media Film · © 2026 Albeca Media LLC

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TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Running time ... 9:22
Genre .......... Horror / found footage
Country ........ USA
Shot in ........ Japan: Tokyo, and Okutama / Mt. Kumotori
Language ....... English (title cards and signs in Japanese)
Subtitles ...... English, Japanese
Format ......... 1080p, 16:9, color
Sound .......... Stereo
Completed ...... 2026
Premiere status ... World premiere to be announced

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FILES IN THIS KIT
Meisou_still_*.jpg ........................ 16 stills (16:9, full resolution). Credit: Albeca Media.
Meisou_keyart_3840x2160.jpg ............... Key art
Meisou_poster_2000x3000.jpg ............... Poster (English)
Meisou_poster_ja_2000x3000.jpg ............ Poster (Japanese)
Meisou_title_bone-white_transparent.png ... Title treatment, bone white #EDEAE0, transparent
Meisou_title_black_transparent.png ........ Title treatment, black, transparent
Meisou_press_notes.txt .................... Press notes (English)
Meisou_press_notes_ja.txt ................. Press notes (Japanese)
