The “Yugen” tour began in Tokyo on May 16 and we gave performances in Tokyo, Niigata and Nagoya on the first leg of this tour.
For this production, the performers and Kodo staff were supported by a numerous people from a wide range of professions.

Amongst all these people from different backgrounds, I found something that six of us have in common.

Front row (from left): Tsunahito Hanayagi, Yuichiro Funabashi
Back row (from left): Erika Ueda, Takefumi Noguchi, Yosuke Kusa, Yusuke Ishikawa

The six of us pictured above all graduated from the same university! Hanayagi-ryu dancer Tsunahito Hanayagi, stage set staff Takefumi Noguchi & Yusuke Ishikawa of Tatsuta Stage Co., Ltd., Kodo performers Yuichiro Funabashi and I, and Kodo publicist Erika Ueda.
There are approximately 780 universities in Japan, so it was quite a coincidence for us all to come together to work on the same production and find that we had all studied at Kyoto University of Art and Design. As the days went by on our tour, we discovered this connection and we were so happy about that. I am still buzzing about it so I thought I would share it on the Kodo Blog.

▲At Shunjuza in Sep. 2016, warming up before our performance.

By the way, Kodo will perform “Spirited Summer” at the theater at Kyoto University of Art and Design, Shunjuza, on July 2.

• July 2 (Sun), 2017 Kyoto Performing Arts Center Shunjuza, Kyoto City

Also, the Yugen tour will resume on Sep. 2 in Fukuoka and then travel to Kyoto for performances from Sep. 21 through 23.

• Sep. 21 (Thu)–23 (Sat/Public Hol.), 2017 ROHM Theatre Kyoto Main Hall, Kyoto City

▲　In the Yugen performances, Yosuke Kusa performs the snake dance.

The path that led me to my current job began in Kyoto, so I know that performing these programmes in Kyoto will have special meaning for me. Please come along to see “Spirited Summer” and “Yugen” in Kyoto!