Opening Festival

Kinjogakuin University – calligraphy show
These artists play special performances of calligraphy to promote shodo, the Japanese traditional culture calligraphy in schools and other places. During the Japan Week, the art of shodo – usually associated to strict and stiff rules – will be combined with music, dance and calligraphy. The artists will be very happy to make the public interested in their performance.

Kottsu Japan – Japanese drums
Group of Japanese drummers, founded in 1996 and currently counting 30 members. They perform Japanese drums in theatres, nursery schools, elementary and junior high schools, as well as in festivals. Their tradition is greatly appreciated by both performers and the audience, and they would like Torino citizens to enjoy their lively performances.

Samurai Artists Kamui – samurai show
Samurai artists group formed in 1998, continuing to promote the samurai Japanese culture and art worldwide. They perform mainly in Europe but also in the USA, Asia, Middle East and South America. Their leader, Mr Tetsuro Shimaguchi, choreographed and played a role in the movie Kill Bill vol.1. In 2012 they established their own dojo and they are currently promoting dojos in Japan, Italy, Poland, the Czech Republic and Lithuania.

NPO Taiko no Gakkou One Taiko Family – Japanese drums
Group of Japanese drummers from the Tokushima Prefecture, located in the western part of Japan. They aim to create an environment where people can enjoy local arts through Japanese drums with no age, sex or disability barriers. They perform at events, festivals and concerts, and also carry out workshops at elementary and junior high schools. They play drums with joy and hope both players and audience will enjoy their performance.

Odorinchu and Cocoroiki – yosakoi dance
Odorinchu, a yosakoi dancing team, is a group of dancers from over 50 universities in the Kanto area, located in the eastern part of Japan. Each yosakoi team has its own costume. They dance at festivals and events all over Japan. This time they decided to leave Japan to share their art with people in Torino.
Cocoriki is a yosakoi dancing team located in Kyoto exhibiting at festivals and events all over Japan. During the Japan Week they will perform the yukari dance telling the story of Sugawara Michizane, a famous scholar and poet who lived 1000 years ago. The Kitano Tenmangu shrine in Kyoto was built to honour his memory. The team will do their best to show yosakoi dance fun and joy hoping to grab the hearts of the audience.