ADD Hinode Town
Project nickname
"Hôkago Dance Class"
Area
Hinode Town
Hinode Town, which belongs to Nishitama District, has a population of about 16,500. While forestry and cement manufacturing industries have taken root in the town owing to its rich natural resources, hiking trails and hot springs are popular among tourists. It is also a town of traditional culture, with many local performing arts actively practiced. The Hinode Town Shimo-cho Children's Center was used as the base for the ADD project, and workshops were held to experience various local performing arts, street dance, the basics of ballet, and others.
View of the town from the hillside.
Rokuya Daibutsu.
Hirai Festival.
Base
Shimo-cho Children's Center
1254-1, Hirai, Hinode-cho, Nishitama-gun, Tokyo
Shimo-cho Children's Center is the only children's center in Hinode Town. It is for children up to junior high school age, and has a library, a playroom, and a yard where children can play ball games. It also holds various events such as "Children's Center Festival" and "Christmas Party" as well as various club activities. The second floor of the building is used as the Shimo-cho Hall, where the local Shimo-cho Hayashi performing group practices. Its performance is dedicated at the festival of the Kasuga Shrine, which is located just across the Hirai River.
https://www.town.hinode.tokyo.jp/0000000121.html
Structure
Dispatched Dance Expert
Koharu Sugawara
Dancer and Choreographer
Choreography Assistant: Rio Takanaka
Researcher, Choreography Assistant
Remon Nakanishi
Artist
Music for Showing: Masafumi Saito
Production Manager: Yeoreum Han (Laox Media Solutions.Co.,Ltd.)
Co-organized by Hinode Town
Document of the Research and Workshops Remon Nakanishi and Daisuke Muto
1. Research
Located in the Tama district of western Tokyo, Hinode Town is rich in nature. Through ADD advisor Miki Sato's relative who lives there, we were able to meet with a number of people involved in various dances. Hinode Town is a place where many traditional folk performing arts survive, and we had the pleasure of greeting people at a meeting of the Hinode Town Folk Performing Arts Preservation Society, and observing the occasional events and rehearsals.
Research2. Workshop
It was Chiori Komine, a staff of the Shimo-cho Children's Center, that showed great interest in the project initially, and Kimio Komori, who is in charge of the Center at the Town's Child Care and Welfare Department, provided us with great support. Children gather at the Center after school to play ball games in the front yard, read books in the library, or play table tennis in the playroom. As the ADD researcher, Remon Nakanishi often visited here to play with the children (or be played by them), Before long, he became a familiar face among them, being called out on the street, "Remon! Remon!"
Workshop3. Workshop (Resumed)
When all the workshops were finished and the members to participate in the dance creation phase had just been confirmed, the program was interrupted due to the COVID-19. After a year and three months of inactivity, we resumed online (some members were unable to continue due to various reasons, while those who had moved to Okinawa were able to participate thanks to the online system). A total of 15 children took on the challenge of creating their own choreography.
Workshop (Resumed)4. Showing
Rio took the lead in organizing the motifs from the children into dance phrases, which she and Koharu connected to the music. The music was an original sound source recorded in Hinode Town and remixed by the musician Masafumi Saito based on the performances of Shimo-cho Hayashi, Houou-no-Mai, and Blue Paradise.
ShowingReflecting on the ADD Hinode Town Project
"Cultural Perspectives for Children"
Dispatched Dance Expert
Koharu Sugawara
Researcher, Choreography Assistant
Remon Nakanishi
Assistant to Koharu Sugawara
Rio Takanaka
Experienced Locals Dance Instructors for ADD Hinode Town Workshop
Lokelani Kazuko
Tamanouchi Shishimai Preservation Society
Miki Sato
Houou-no-Mai Preservation Society
Sakuragi Bayashi Preservation Society
FUUMIN / MUSKY Dance Studio
Kazuko Hasegawa
Voices of ADD Participants
"It was a first time experience for me, but I was able to enjoy it, imagining how things would turn out. Our dance is a nationally designated intangible cultural property, so it would be great to have more people know about it. Because of its tradition, we've always taught only to boys, but teaching to girls was a good opportunity also."
Ken'ichi Miyano
(Houou-no-Mai Preservation Society)
"Our Shimo-cho Hayashi Preservation Society were very pleased because our folk performing art form was shared not only to a larger crowd outside of our community, but also to many other children. I'm glad that they were able to discover new dance styles and music. It's different from the so-called "dance" in modern society, but I hope they were able to get a feel for what a traditional culture is like, through this experience."
Katsuyuki Aoki
(Shimo-cho Hayashi Preservation Society)
"This was a great program, and I think the experience will become a great asset to the children. I think it would've been nice to have a larger-scaled program with children participating from all areas of the Town, and not just those who are near the venue, but unfortunately we weren't able to find a facility big enough. For Hinode Town, I thought it would've been interesting to utilize the rich nature, and hold the sessions outdoors, or on a soccer field with natural grass, but COVID-19 didn't allow this to happen. I also wanted to do a barbeque after the session, but it's truly a shame that things became remote with the pandemic. I'm hoping that there will be someone young and fitting for this program joining us in the future, so that it will continue to be held again."
Kimio Komori
(Shimo-cho Children's Center)
"It was fun. I liked Koharu Sugawara's session. Difficult, but the content of the dance was fun."
"It was fun to experience different dances like hayashi, and Koharu Sugawara's fierce dance. I felt the loose, relaxing elements with hula."
Children
"At first, I was anxious wondering how it would turn out, but as we went through the sessions creating dance with the cultural aspects of Hinode Town, I was able to gradually see what was coming together. I'm very grateful for holding this program because it allowed me to see the rich facial expressions of the children that were completely different from their usual. All sessions were memorable, but the one that stood out was Koharu Sugawara's session, with her talented ability to attract the children's attention."
Chiori Komine
(Shimo-cho Children's Center)
Project Overview
ADD Hinode Town logo
Venue: Shimo-cho Children's Center and Yamabiko Hall
Participants: Elementary and Junior High School Students Living in Hinode Town
Tuition: Free (Pre-signup required)
Call for Participants:
Here comes Koharu Sugawara! Call for participants in the dance class!
Let's learn various dances from professional dancers and experienced locals!
After-school Diversity Dance will start an ADD Hinode Town workshop "Hôkago Dance Class". People involved in various dances in Hinode Town (experienced locals) and Koharu Sugawara, a dispatched dance expert, will serve as instructors to teach dance to local children. It is open to those with and without dance experience. Plus, participants can also challenge themselves to create a dance piece with Koharu Sugawara based on their experience in the class!
Flyer calling for workshop participants
Research
From April to September, 2019
Workshop
#1 Thursday, October 3, 2019
Instructors: Koharu Sugawara (Contemporary Dance) and Lokelani Kazuko (Hula)
#2 Saturday, October 26, 2019
Instructors: Tamanouchi Shishimai Preservation Society
#3 Saturday, November 16, 2019
Instructors: Remon Nakanishi (Bon Dance) with Nyantoko
#4 Saturday, November 30, 2019
Instructor: Miki Sato (Contemporary Dance)
#5 Saturday, December 14, 2019
Instructors: Koharu Sugawara (Contemporary Dance) and Houou-no-Mai Preservation Society
#6 Saturday, December 21, 2019
Instructors: Sakuragi Bayashi Preservation Society
#7 Saturday, January 18, 2020
Instructor: FUUMIN / MUSKY Dance Studio (Hip Hop)
Extra Wednesday, January 22, 2020
Instructor: Kazuko Hasegawa (Ballet)
#8 Saturday, February 1, 2020
Instructor: Koharu Sugawara (Contemporary Dance)
#9 Saturday, February 8, 2020
Instructors: Shimo-cho Hayashi Preservation Society
Workshop Resumed (via ZOOM)
#1 Sunday, May 23, 2021
Instructor: Rio Takanaka (Contemporary Dance)
#2 Saturday, May 29, 2021
Instructor: Koharu Sugawara (Contemporary Dance)
#3 Sunday, May 30, 2021
Instructor: Koharu Sugawara (Contemporary Dance)
Dispatched Dance Expert
Koharu Sugawara
Dancer and Choreographer
Koharu Sugawara started modern dance training in her childhood and became a famous teenage champion winning at a number of renowned dance competitions. She went to study in the U.S. in 2010 and developed her career, with a unique dance style highly acclaimed, as a back-up dancer for top artists such as Rihanna, which led her to international recognition. After a successful collaboration with Stevie Wonder in a TV commercial in 2015, Sugawara directed her own show "SUGAR WATER" in 2016 and 2017. She also performed at Kohaku Utagassen, with Fuyumi Sakamoto and Mika Ninagawa in 2016, and with Kenshi Yonezu in 2018. She co-choreographed with Tomohiko Tsujimoto for Paprika, NHK's cheer song for the 2020. In 2018, she played the lead in Last Pie, a dance piece choreographed by lkuyo Kuroda, and started her career as an actress with appearance in Idaten, an NHK period drama, in 2019. Having traveled to more than 35 countries so far to conduct workshops and to perform in shows, she has been featured in commercial films, radio programs and fashion media as well.
Choreography Assistant: Rio Takanaka
Researcher, Choreography Assistant
Remon Nakanishi
Artist
Remon Nakanishi's projects include fieldwork about bon dance, exhibitions and performances. His current interest is in migration and transformation of culture, with emphasis on songs, dances and iconography. In 2002, he gave an exhibition "Kakeuta" to show his drawings of traditional performing arts. From 2004 to 2014, he organized a performance series "Tatami Hanjo". Since 2015, he has served as the coordinator for "Monogatari Universe", a remote learning course of the Goshu Ondo (vocal music for bon dance originated in Shiga prefecture) conducted by Tadamaru Sakuragawa I. Since 2016, he has co-organized a study meeting "Kaiengafu" with painter Kenshi Takamura to practice drawing technique imported from China in the Edo era. Since 2017, he has organized another study meeting called "Shomin no geinoh wo yomu kai" to research old popular songs spread via news-sheet. He has been participating in "Narai ni ikuze! Tohoku e!! Same Kagura wo narau" (Let's go learning to the Northeast!! - Focusing on Same Kagura) project since 2017. He has edited Interviews and Documents: Teshima's Bon Dance Ondo published by Teshimanomado, 2014.
Lokelani Kazuko
Lokelani Kazuko is born in Hinode Town. She took up hula, something she had been interested in since earlier, as she wanted to do something for her health and the community. After attending classes and inviting acquaintances to join her, she is now the leader and instructor of a local hula team, Lei Nani Lehua Hinode, which performs mainly in her hometown with a local Hawaiian band Blue Paradise.
Tamanouchi Shishimai Preservation Society
Tamanouchi Kazematsuri Shishimai is a three-piece shishimai (lion dance) widely seen in the Kanto region, in which each dancer wears a lion headdress and a drum strapped to the abdomen. They are the only group in Hinode Town that preserves this style. In the past, the dance was dedicated as a prayer for rain and others, but currently it is dedicated on the second Saturday of August every year at the annual festival of Mishima Shrine in Tamanouchi district. It is designated as an important intangible folk cultural property by the Town.
Miki Sato
As a dancer and choreographer, Miki Sato has been involved in many projects in Japan and abroad, including Canada, the Netherlands, and Hong Kong. Based on those experiences, she has been working diversely as a producer, facilitator, and coordinator while focusing on contemporary dance. She has a grandmother who lived well until the age of 103 in Hinode Town.
Houou-no-Mai Preservation Society
Houou-no-Mai (phoenix dance) of Shimohirai district is a unique folk performing art consisting of the Yakko-no-Mai performed by children dressed as yakko (valet) with fans and wooden swords, and the Houou-no-Mai, performed gallantly with a drum. In the past, this dance was practiced to pray for rain. Now it is a nationally designated important intangible folk cultural property.
Sakuragi Bayashi Preservation Society
Sakuragi Bayashi was started in 1986 when local volunteers received coaching from the Nukui Hayashi Preservation Society from Koganei City. It is the only Meguro-style hayashi (festive music) in Hinode Town, and has a pleasant and relaxed style of music that integrates children's songs and dancing with kendamas.
FUUMIN / MUSKY Dance Studio
FUUMIN started dancing in her hometown of Fukuoka when she was in high school, and won a contest three months later. Since then, she went on to win numerous contests and was chosen to represent Fukuoka in the biggest dance battle in Kyushu. Later she moved to Tokyo and trained under hip hop legends, and is now giving lessons at various studios in the Kanto area.
Kazuko Hasegawa
Kazuko Hasegawa is a member of the Japan Ballet Association, the organizer of the Petite Etoile Ballet, and a former member of the Star Dancers Ballet. After opening the Petite Etoile Ballet Studio in Kokubunji City, she has been teaching also at a studio in Oguno district, Hinode Town, since 1981. She loves cats.
Shimo-cho Hayashi Preservation Society
In the Edo period, matsuri bayashi (festive music) was invented in current Katsushika-ku and spread around Edo (present-day Tokyo). Jumatsu Furuya initiated the Juma Bayashi in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, as one of such musical styles. Shimo-cho Hayashi began in 1885, when Jumatsu stayed at Shimo-juku post-station in Hirai district and introduced the music to the local youth. Jumatsu-style matsuri bayashi is designated as an intangible folk cultural asset by the Town, and the Shimo-cho Hayashi Preservation Society is the authorized organization.
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