Interview with the dancer Shoji Kojima:

"Flamenco is a combination of all races"

Silvia Calado Olivo. Barcelona, June 2003
Photos: Daniel Muñoz
Translation: Norman Paul Kliman

"Mom and Dad, I'm going to Spain." Shoji Kojima had just finished his musical education in Japan and was hooked on flamenco. The "colorful" content of the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo spurred him on. With maternal approval and paternal reluctance in his suitcase, he left Yokohama in 1966 and headed to the Soviet port of Nakhodka, crossed Siberia in train... and reached Moscow, and Poland, and Czechoslovakia, and Vienna, and Switzerland, and Paris, and finally, the Estación del Norte in Madrid. Nearly four decades later and in a dressing room of that lavish jewel of Catalonian modernism, the Palau de la Música in Barcelona, between rehearsal and performance, the dancer shares with us, in perfect Andalusian dialect, his experiences, philosophy and mastery, a tripod supporting the dedication of his life to an art form that was just a continent-and-a-half away from his cradle.

Shoji Kojima

What was it about flamenco that set you on such a long journey from Japan to Spain?

I was born in a tiny village in Japan. There wasn't any culture there, and I felt like a real peasant. Ever since I was a kid, when there were holiday celebrations-every part of Japan has its own music-, I used to dance and sing. When I was about 15, I started to study singing, sheet music, piano, harmony, the history of music… I enrolled in the University of Music and I started to sing opera: Schubert, Schumann, Mozart... When I was learning my part in "Figaro," one of my teachers told me that I had to learn about corporal expression.

So I immediately started studying ballet, classical, contemporary… everything. At the same time, around 1960, a lot of films about flamenco came to Japan, like "Bodas de Sangre," and 'Los Tarantos,' and the first big dance company arrived, called "Alegría," which was led by Pilar Oro and Alfredo Gil. That same year, Pilar López came with Antonio Gades, and, a year later, I saw Luisillo. That got me hooked on flamenco; there was no denying it. I was into opera, but I kept getting deeper and deeper into flamenco. Apart from that, I didn't have enough of a voice to be a great opera singer, so I decided to concentrate on flamenco.

When you got to Spain, what was it like and who did you learn from?

In Madrid, I learned from everyone: the old maestro Paco Reyes, Antonio Marín, and one of the directors of the Ballet Nacional Victoria Eugenia taught me classical Spanish dance and how to play the castanets. I learned the jota and some regional dance with Pedro Azorín. Tomás de Madrid taught me a few things. José Antonio taught me a few things, too. Let's just say that we studied together.

Shoji Kojima

Did they accept you?

There were all kinds of reactions. You know that there are people here that are so nice that, if you ask them at the entrance to the subway, they'll buy you a ticket and everything; and there are others that say that they won't sing for a Japanese. I don't know about today, but that's the way it was in the mid-70s, and in France, too. Some people call all of us "chinos." Sometimes, it's just the way that well-meaning people speak, but for others it's a derogatory thing. It all serves as experience, as a learning process.

I took my first step toward being a professional thanks to Victoria Eugenia. She got me into an audition for a government project led by María Rosa for a cultural mission of the Soviet Union and Spain. I was chosen, and I left in 1967. I didn't find classical Spanish dance particularly interesting, and I gave it up to focus on flamenco. That was when Rafael Farina named me 'El Gitano Japonés.' I started off in Andalusia in festivals and tablaos. I remember in 1970 they invited me to do a program of Televisión Española that was called "Estudio Abierto," with José María Íñigo, and I did an entire alegrías. I got all kinds of offers after that. Pulpón started contracting me and I worked in festivals and all kinds of places. I was almost getting more work that a lot of Spaniards.

Back in Japan, how did your career develop?

After ten years in Spain, I toured the theaters of Japan with Merche Esmeralda as my partner, Carmen Linares and Chaquetón singing and Paco de Antequera on the guitar. And here I am.

Have you always worked with Spanish artists?

Yeah, always. I'm more of an aficionado than a professional (laughs). I've always wanted to surround myself with what I consider to be the best performing artists. I need solid support.

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