Special feature: FLAMENCO IN JAPAN

Fifteen thousand kilometers around the corner

Kyoko Shikaze. Seville, June 2004

If there's one foreign country whose flamenco following stands out from any other, it has to be Japan. The fifteen thousand kilometers that separate the land of the rising sun from Andalusian soil are no barrier at all to the thousands of Japanese who’ve fallen in love with the flamenco arts. From the time La Argentina danced there in 1929 up until the present day, hardly a single big name flamenco artist has neglected to visit Japan. And this is a country, too, which is increasingly self-sufficient in the provision of flamenco, as local artists - especially dancers - meet the needs of audiences. And thanks to hundreds of dance academies dotted around the country, as well as courses in cities like Madrid and Seville, they just keep coming. And among those responsible for this to-ing and fro-ing two names stand out: Yoko Komatsubara and Shoji Kojima, the driving force behind flamenco on the island. Little by little, flamenco is forging its own history in Japan.

	Shoji Kojima (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

And Japan isn't just around the corner. But to the thousands of Japanese who've fallen into flamenco's grasp, distance is no obstacle. Nor did it stop San Francisco Xavier, who arrived in Japan in 1549, nor the first Japanese to reach Spanish soil - at Sanlúcar de Barrameda to be precise - in 1614, long before the birth of flamenco. It would be a long time before an ‘ole’ was to be heard in the land of the rising sun. Flamenco arrived in Japan during the 1920s. Initially it was brought over by the Americans, but flamenco artists soon began to take it there themselves. In January and February 1929, La Argentina visited Japan with a program including the productions ‘El Amor Brujo’ and ‘Andalucía’. In the thirties some flamenco 78s began to appear on the market. Around the same time, a Japanese who'd been the finest flamenco guitarist Japan had to offer arrived in Seville, to fulfill his dream of becoming a bullfighter. He never made it out into the bullring, but he did enjoy his evenings at Seville's Alameda and in Granada's zambras.

After the defeat of World War II, more Spanish artists began to arrive in Japan. One such example was the Compañía Flamenca, who arrived in 1955, and whose members included bailaores Manolo Vargas and Roberto Ximénez, and cantaor Rafael Romero. The Pilar López company landed on Japanese soil in 1960, with Antonio Gades in tow. A following for the flamenco arts was gradually swelling in numbers back then, and slowly but surely Japanese flamenco students began to arrive in Spain. Yasuko Nagamine, Yoko Komatsubara, Masami Okada, Shoji Kojima, Akio Mizusawa... these were some of the first bailaores who were put through their paces in Spain. Later on, they began to perform in companies like that of Rafael Córdova or of María Rosa, and at tablaos like Los Gallos de Sevilla.

Then came the time to open venues dedicated to flamenco on home turf. The tablao El Flamenco in Tokyo opened its doors in 1967, with performances by Spanish artists. Many leading flamenco figures have graced the venue with their presence, including Cristina Hoyos, Manolete, Manolo Soler, Joaquín Grilo, Sara Baras, Javier Barón, Eva Yerbabuena, Belén Maya, Rafael Amargo, Pepe Habichuela, Enrique de Melchor, Jarrito, José Mercé and Enrique Ortega.

Flamenco developed such a following that in 1984 a magazine devoted to flamenco was launched in Tokyo, entitled ‘Paseo’ (now ‘Paseo-Flamenco’). This monthly publication began life with a circulation of two hundred copies, and today sells fifteen thousand. But the real flamenco boom in Japan was yet to come. It came in 1986, when the Antonio Gades company brought ‘Carmen’. It was an astounding success. As a direct result, student numbers soared, as did the number of academies, the number of artists and the number of performances; flamenco discs and videos began to fill the shelves, and flamenco dress and dance shoe shops opened up. This following has continued to grow slowly but surely right up to the present day.

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