Jo Kondo (b. 1947) is one of the most interesting contemporary composers in Japan. His music is created from intuition, while at the same time, seeming abstract. The music has no clear direction and yet it is not without form. It sounds “western” to Japanese audiences and in the West, it’s perceived as “Japanese”. It’s music that is hard to categorise. Like Kondo’s music, this film changes place and direction – a concert at Amsterdam’s Muziekgebuow, an exclusive sushi bar in Tokyo, a radio production in broadcaster WDR’s studio in Cologne and the Zuisenji temple in Kamakura near Tokyo. Kondo wants his music to be played in “normal” circumstances, without extravagant superficialities or narration. “A Shape of Time” follows Kondo at rehearsals, concerts and lessons, and bears witness to his slow process of composition – in clear images edited tightly.