CONTENT
Sanriku International Arts Festival 2023 SHIFT
- 2023
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Sanriku International Arts Festival 2023 SHIFT
The Sanriku International Arts Festival began in 2014 as a result of the encounter between artists who visited the Sanriku coastal area and local folk performing art practitioners after the Great East Japan Earthquake. This is a festival that reaches over 600km as its core location from Hachinohe City, Aomori Prefecture, to Rikuzentakata City, Iwate Prefecture, aiming to realize a sustainable “creative recovery” by communicating the charm of Sanriku, a treasure trove of performing arts, to people in Japan and abroad, and by exchanging with traditional and contemporary performing artists from all over the world, especially from Asia.
Dates|September 2023 – March 2024
Venues|Various areas of the Sanriku coast
SHIFT: What Continues to Survive
What keeps the local traditional performing arts of the Sanriku coastal region alive even in the face of devastating impact from the Great East Japan Earthquake? While various regions in Japan are simultaneously experiencing less local vitality due to population decline and aging, local performing arts and festivals continue to survive in many communities of Sanriku. This is because such things are an expression of the “meaning of life” engraved in the genes of the people of Sanriku. That is what led them to quickly revive their local performing arts after the disaster, which became one of the driving forces for the recovery of Sanriku.
The times are rapidly changing; the Japanese Poplar trees that serve as the raw material for the hair-like bundles of “Kannagara” adorning the head of the Shishi Odori dancers have become difficult to obtain even in the local mountains. Children who planted these trees eight years ago have now grown up and joined the stage, leading the Usuzawa Shishiodori, in which three generations of the local community dance together. The people will pass down their dances this year as well, eliminating boundaries of gender and different backgrounds, and fearlessly adapting while preserving what needs to be protected. We must witness the sight of the people of Sanriku dancing selflessly, transcending time and individuals within the cycle of the region. There lies the resilient passion of human life, striving to continue living towards the future.
Related areas
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Hachinohe City
- 2023
- Hachinohe
- Hashikamicho
- Hirono
- Kuji
- Noda
- Fudai
- Tanohata
- Iwaizumi
- Miyako
- Yamada
- Otsuchi
- Kamaishi
- Ofunato
- Rikuzentakata
- Sumita
- Sightseeing Tours
- suggested-route
- Experience
- Interact
- Appreciation
Hachinohe is a city of dual natures: a port town and an urban city district. -
Hashikami Town
- 2023
- Hachinohe
- Hashikamicho
- Hirono
- Kuji
- Noda
- Fudai
- Tanohata
- Iwaizumi
- Miyako
- Yamada
- Otsuchi
- Kamaishi
- Ofunato
- Rikuzentakata
- Sumita
- Sightseeing Tours
- suggested-route
- Experience
- Interact
- Appreciation
The Strata of Cultures Passed Down from Ancient Times -
Hirono Town
- 2023
- Hachinohe
- Hashikamicho
- Hirono
- Kuji
- Noda
- Fudai
- Tanohata
- Iwaizumi
- Miyako
- Yamada
- Otsuchi
- Kamaishi
- Ofunato
- Rikuzentakata
- Sumita
- Sightseeing Tours
- suggested-route
- Experience
- Interact
- Appreciation
Beautiful life with blessings from the mountains and the sea -
Kuji City
- 2023
- Hachinohe
- Hashikamicho
- Hirono
- Kuji
- Noda
- Fudai
- Tanohata
- Iwaizumi
- Miyako
- Yamada
- Otsuchi
- Kamaishi
- Ofunato
- Rikuzentakata
- Sumita
- Sightseeing Tours
- suggested-route
- Experience
- Interact
- Appreciation
A far northern town of ama or female shell divers, rich in underground natural resources. -
Noda Village
- 2023
- Hachinohe
- Hashikamicho
- Hirono
- Kuji
- Noda
- Fudai
- Tanohata
- Iwaizumi
- Miyako
- Yamada
- Otsuchi
- Kamaishi
- Ofunato
- Rikuzentakata
- Sumita
- Sightseeing Tours
- suggested-route
- Experience
- Interact
- Appreciation
A popular destination on the Michinoku Costal Trail -
Fudai Village
- 2023
- Hachinohe
- Hashikamicho
- Hirono
- Kuji
- Noda
- Fudai
- Tanohata
- Iwaizumi
- Miyako
- Yamada
- Otsuchi
- Kamaishi
- Ofunato
- Rikuzentakata
- Sumita
- Sightseeing Tours
- suggested-route
- Experience
- Interact
- Appreciation
A village with a shrine where Minamoto no Yoshitsune is said to have prayed. -
Tanohata Village
- 2023
- Hachinohe
- Hashikamicho
- Hirono
- Kuji
- Noda
- Fudai
- Tanohata
- Iwaizumi
- Miyako
- Yamada
- Otsuchi
- Kamaishi
- Ofunato
- Rikuzentakata
- Sumita
- Sightseeing Tours
- suggested-route
- Experience
- Interact
- Appreciation
The Magnificent Terrain of Geopark -
Iwaizumi Town
- 2023
- Hachinohe
- Hashikamicho
- Hirono
- Kuji
- Noda
- Fudai
- Tanohata
- Iwaizumi
- Miyako
- Yamada
- Otsuchi
- Kamaishi
- Ofunato
- Rikuzentakata
- Sumita
- Sightseeing Tours
- suggested-route
- Experience
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- Appreciation
A scenic town blessed by nature with abundant waters -
Miyako City
- 2023
- Hachinohe
- Hashikamicho
- Hirono
- Kuji
- Noda
- Fudai
- Tanohata
- Iwaizumi
- Miyako
- Yamada
- Otsuchi
- Kamaishi
- Ofunato
- Rikuzentakata
- Sumita
- Sightseeing Tours
- suggested-route
- Experience
- Interact
- Appreciation
A place where the legend of Yoshitsune’s northern escape is alive today -
Yamada Town
- 2023
- Hachinohe
- Hashikamicho
- Hirono
- Kuji
- Noda
- Fudai
- Tanohata
- Iwaizumi
- Miyako
- Yamada
- Otsuchi
- Kamaishi
- Ofunato
- Rikuzentakata
- Sumita
- Sightseeing Tours
- suggested-route
- Experience
- Interact
- Appreciation
Various learning programs that give hands-on experience on the region’s environment and way of life -
Otsuchi Town
- 2023
- Hachinohe
- Hashikamicho
- Hirono
- Kuji
- Noda
- Fudai
- Tanohata
- Iwaizumi
- Miyako
- Yamada
- Otsuchi
- Kamaishi
- Ofunato
- Rikuzentakata
- Sumita
- Sightseeing Tours
- suggested-route
- Experience
- Interact
- Appreciation
A town with marine and mountain sports -
Kamaishi City
- 2023
- Hachinohe
- Hashikamicho
- Hirono
- Kuji
- Noda
- Fudai
- Tanohata
- Iwaizumi
- Miyako
- Yamada
- Otsuchi
- Kamaishi
- Ofunato
- Rikuzentakata
- Sumita
- Sightseeing Tours
- suggested-route
- Experience
- Interact
- Appreciation
City of Fish, Iron and Rugby -
Ofunato City
- 2023
- Hachinohe
- Hashikamicho
- Hirono
- Kuji
- Noda
- Fudai
- Tanohata
- Iwaizumi
- Miyako
- Yamada
- Otsuchi
- Kamaishi
- Ofunato
- Rikuzentakata
- Sumita
- Sightseeing Tours
- suggested-route
- Experience
- Interact
- Appreciation
Shell middens scattered across the city, telling the story of life in the Jomon Period -
Rikuzentakata City
- 2023
- Hachinohe
- Hashikamicho
- Hirono
- Kuji
- Noda
- Fudai
- Tanohata
- Iwaizumi
- Miyako
- Yamada
- Otsuchi
- Kamaishi
- Ofunato
- Rikuzentakata
- Sumita
- Sightseeing Tours
- suggested-route
- Experience
- Interact
- Appreciation
A Treasure Trove of Impressive Wooden Architecture -
Sumita Town
- 2023
- Hachinohe
- Hashikamicho
- Hirono
- Kuji
- Noda
- Fudai
- Tanohata
- Iwaizumi
- Miyako
- Yamada
- Otsuchi
- Kamaishi
- Ofunato
- Rikuzentakata
- Sumita
- Sightseeing Tours
- suggested-route
- Experience
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- Appreciation
A town in balance, where serenity and bustle exist in harmony