J-POP SUMMIT 2017 Guest Interview : ZOOMADANKE Kendama Flow Masters at J-POP!

| Others | Posted by TokyoGirls'Update on Sep.08.2017

Sponsored Links

J-POP SUMMIT 2017 takes place on Saturday and Sunday, September 9th and 10th at the Fort Mason Center for Arts and Culture located in San Francisco’s Marina district.

Attendees will experience this year’s theme ARTS, EATS, and INNOVATIONS; a vibrant celebration of Japanese pop culture featuring live music, Japanese food and travel attractions, and interactive technologies.

This year, J-POP SUMMIT is proud to present a potent line up of music and dance artists that represent the wealth of cutting-edge talent emerging from Japan. Live concerts will be held on Saturday and Sunday nights.

Zoomadanke is one of the most famous professional kendama performers in Japan. The duo consists of Takeshi Kodama (Kodaman) and Hiroki Iijima (Easy). They are pioneers who blended the elements of Kendama, which is a traditional Japanese wooden toy, dance and music together to create a new style of performance.

The two have become an icon for kendama fans in Japan. Their stylish and acrobatic performances have captured the interests of many people outside of Japan as well. Kendama has recently been recognized as a new style of entertainment globally because of them, and they now get invited to events and TV shows not only in Japan but also overseas.

Contributor Wanted!!

With J-POP SUMMIT close at hand, Zoomadanke has delivered a message.

How the current global kendama scene is? And is there anything you look forward to when you do a performance overseas?

I think it’s a very delightful and joyful thing to evolve globally with the times. And I don’t think this movement will stop at all, nor do I think it should. The number of people overseas who know kendama are overwhelmingly few compared to Japan, so performing overseas allows me to meet many people who are getting their first taste of kendama.

What sort of things do you want everybody coming to J-Pop Summit 2017 to feel through kendama?

It’s wonderful and fun how anyone, regardless of their language, race, or age, can play with this. I also hope this will trigger a liking for Japanese culture.

Please let us know if you have any thoughts like “I want you to enjoy Japanese culture in this way” on spreading Japanese culture abroad, not just kendama.

I guess I want people to play freely in the way they like without being bound by certain techniques or methods. I think it will be more interesting if this form of Japanese culture acquires the colors of various regions and countries.

Lastly, to all those attending J-POP SUMMIT, please leave the message.

Anyway, do come see our live performance. And if you’re interested, feel free to experience and play kendama. I’m sure it will be an enlightening encounter. I look forward to seeing you!

◉ J-POP SUMMIT ◉
September 9th (Sat) & 10th (Sun), 2017
Fort Mason Center For Arts & Culture MAP
Door Opens at 10am for VIP, 11am for General Admission
Ends on 8:30pm (Sat) & 9pm (Sun)

J-POP SUMMIT official website : http://www.j-pop.com/
J-POP SUMMIT 2017 Guidebook (PDF) : http://www.j-pop.com/2017/JPS17_GUIDEBOOK.pdf
Zoomadanke official website : http://zoomadanke.com/

Author

TokyoGirls'Update

We bring the latest news of Japanese girls' culture from Japan to all over the world! Here are hot topics about KyaryPamyuPamyu, AKB48, Hello!Project, and other cute Jpop artists. Everybody wanna be KAWAii, and wotaku in whole world, cheeeeeeeer UP!