EVENT
【Collaborative Program】Workshop & Open Discussion organized by Asialink Regional // Regional 2025.10.06-2026.3.01
- 2025
- Experience
- Interact
- Appreciation
Since its inception in 2014, the Sanriku International Arts Festival has invited Geinoh groups and artists from Asia and other regions, and has conducted meeting and gathering with local residents, Geinoh groups, elementary and junior high school students, and others from all over Sanriku.
This year, workshops, panel discussions, etc. will be held along with the international meeting (Asialink Regional // Regional Sanriku Gathering) in Sanriku. Everyone is welcome to participate and watch. We look forward to seeing you there.
Dates: 2025, October 6 (Mon.) and 7 (Tue.)
Venue: Rikuzentakata City, Iwate Prefecture
Participating Organizations: Asialink Regional // Regional* etc.
The University of Melbourne, Australia, is the organizer of the Asia Link Regional // Regional…An organization of festival organizers from eight countries in Asia and Oceania, of which is a member of this art festival. The Sanriku Gathering will be held in Rikuzentakata City and other locations in conjunction with the main event of the Sanriku International Arts Festival 2025 to be held this October. For more information, click here Asia Link Regional // Regional (English only)
① Workshop by artists
In conjunction with the international meeting in the Sanriku coastal area, a workshop for local residents and tourists will be held with Ms. Ruth Langford, a native of Tasmania, Australia.
Date: 2025, October 6 (Mon.) 16:00-17:30
Venue: Rikuzentakata Civic Cultural Hall Room 1
Lecturer: Ms. Ruth Langford (Tasmania, Australia)
Fee: Free *No advance reservation required.
② Talk session, panel discussion
International Meeting will be held for open public. In the recovery from the disaster, local Geinoh has become a source of inspiration for the people of Sanriku. Sanriku International Arts Festival started in 2014 and has been working for “creative recovery” in culture and arts with a focus on local Geinoh. We will hear the history of the Geinoh and the voices of Geinoh performers, and discuss them together with the members of Asialink. Come join us and let’s think about the future of Sanriku!
Dates: 2025, October 7 (Tue) 11:00-17:30
11:00-11:30｜Talk Session 1: Theme “Creative Reconstruction and Local Geinoh” Keynote Speech: Norikazu Sato, Producer of Sanriku International Arts Festival
11:30-13:00｜Panel Discussion “Ten Years of Sanriku International Arts Festival,The Role of Culture in Local Cities”
14:00-15:00｜Talk Session 2: Theme “Intergenerational CultureTransmission and the Future of Geinohs”
Guest Speakers: Mr. Chikara Furumizu (Urahama Nenbutsu Kenbai, Kanastu-ryu Urahama Shishiodori performer: Ofunato city, Iwate ), Mr. Sho Yamashiro (Makkaku Kagura performer: Miyako city, Iwate)
15:00-17:30｜Discussion
Venue: Rikuzentakata Civic Cultural Hall Room 1
Fee: Free *No advance reservation required. Come in and out freely
©Phish Creative for Asialink-University of Melbourne
Asia Link Regional // Regional Sanriku Gathering
Organizer: Asialink Arts at the University of Melbourne
Co-host：Sanriku International Arts Festival Promotion Committee
Artists
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Tatsugane Nenbutsu Yoroi Kenbai Preservation Society
In the Tatsugane Kembai, they dance wearing a mask and an armor, while chanting Buddhist sutra. Its origin is said to be the offering by a monk of Zensho-ji temple on Mt. Tatsugane, Otomo town, at an exhibition of Buddha statue in Edo period (1603-1868). After a suspension in Meiji period (1868-1912), brothers from Setamai, Sumita town conveyed dances of the Tsukizawa Kembai from Yokota community in Rikuzentakata city to the youth in Tatsugane community in Taisho period (1913-1926). Every year, the kembai is performed in front of the residents who gathered at Zensho-ji temple on August 17.
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Kanatsu-ryu Urahama Shishiodori
In 2000, 11 people from Urahama went to study the Kanatsuryu Yanagawa Shishiodori (Esashi Ward, Oshu) with the goal of reviving the Urahama Shishiodori, which had died out in the late Taisho period. After undergoing training, they performed the touwatashi-no-gi (ritual handover of shrine-caretaking duties) the following year after seventy-odd years of inactivity, hoping to restore the dance under the name of Kanatsuryu Urahama Shishiodori.
A key characteristic of the Kanatsuryu style is that its performers sing, dance and play the accompaniment all by themselves. A dance that combines a rustic simplicity with dignity and grace, it has been introduced widely at home and abroad as a local folk shishiodori dance. -
Urahama Nenbutsu Kenbai
The origin of Urahama Nenbutsu Kenbai is unknown, but has been handed down as a simple form of folk performing art amongst the locals in the Urahama area, due to its topographic isolation of Okirai in Sanriku Town.
It features masked dancers dancing to a nenbutsu hymn and burning incense, crouching middle section, and then swinging the sword like a stirring Asura in a fierce battle.
They are also active in next generation training programs for young adults and children. -
Makkaku Kagura
The Makkaku Kagura is said to have been imparted to Toyosaka Inaba, a practitioner of Shintoism from Oguni in former Kawai village, by Tsumori Hyogo in 1819. The dance is dedicated to the gods at festivals every year, in August at the Kamo Shrine, and in September at the Niiyama Shrine on Mt. Hayachine. At the first Full Moon Festival of each year, the gongenmai dance is performed as part of a fire festival to pray for fire safety, along with around eight pieces of kagura to bring blessing to the region.
Historically, fishermen who worshipped Mt. Hayachine would call for the dancers to visit settlements along the Sanriku coast, and perform kagura to ask the gods for a rich haul and protection at sea.