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About Kochi・ About YOSAKOI FESTIVAL・About Team CANAVAL ・Interview
Japan Carnival #YOSAKOI 2024
Join us in Japan’s biggest street parade festival, YOSAKOI !!
Watch out for our brand new YOSAKOl team, 「CANAVALAVA」
Please register here for JAPAN CARNIVAL updates !
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Application to join CANAVALAVA 2024 SOON COMING !!
▼CANAVALAVA 2024 Application requirements
https://canaval-yosakoi.com/2024requirements/
About Kochi
Kochi prefecture spreads east to west embracing the Pacific Ocean on the southern side of Shikoku, smallest of the four main islands of Japan.
Kochi is blessed and is famous for its rich nature…green mountains, crystal rivers and wide ocean are found everywhere, some only 30 mins drive from the city area.
You can also enjoy delicious food in Kochi. Fresh local vegetables are always available, and great sea food includes popular ‘Katsuo(bonito)’ that satisfies almost everyone who visits Kochi.
People of Kochi are friendly and cheerful, and as you can guess from the power of Yosakoi Festival, they are very energetic. They love to drink, and `Okyaku’ is one of their important traditions where people all gather to drink for any occasion from wedding to funeral, nowadays literally anything as long as everyone can have fun and feel like one big Kochi family in the end.
Kochi’s summer is a big festival season with the Yosakoi Festival, held every year on Aug. 10th and 11th. Come and witness the whole Kochi city turn into carnival parade!
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About YOSAKOI FESTIVAL
Yosakoi Festival is a summer festival held on August 10th and 11th in Kochi City, first started in 1954 and is now the biggest parade style festival in Japan where people dance passionately to the music at 15 different dancing spots. During this festival, 20000 masqueraders with Naruko clappers in their hands (which is an essential tradition style) parade around the city, performing in full of energy, cheer and colors. Participants are free to choose a team(band) to join, usually making choices by each team’s costumes, music and original choreographs. Each team comes up with their own original styles and this is what makes Yosakoi Festival so unique and appealing when compared to other festivals in Japan.
Additionally, the ornately decorated music trucks called Jikatasha is another fun element of Yosakoi Festival. The whole town turns into a powerful stage with thousands of happy audiences cheering along the streets…a fascinating experience guaranteed!
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About Team CANAVAL (CANAVALAVA in summer 2023)
CANAVAL is a Yosakoi Team founded in 2008 by Selector Hemo, who is known as a pioneer for introducing Soca music to Japan. She was born in Kochi city, where she grew up dancing in Yosakoi Festival. Through her multiple visits to Caribbean islands, she realized that Yosakoi Festival was somehow similar to carnival in Trinidad & Tobago and other Caribbean countries. Soon she came up with an idea to combine Caribbean style carnival with Yosakoi Festival, and after continuous process of trial and error, this one and only team CANAVAL started getting into action.
CANAVAL played Soca music in full volume with masqueraders wearing mas-like costumes jumping and wining, the mixture of Japanese traditional style and Caribbean style parade was so unique that it drew huge attention from the audience. One of the major highlights of CANAVAL is when Machel Montano, the soca king from Trinidad was invited to the team in 2017. This was the last performance for CANAVAL in Yosakoi Festival as Selector Hemo decided to take a break after keeping the team for 10 years.
This year CANAVAL returns, and we’re taking things to a new level, new stage! Now is your chance to be the first to experience her new Yosakoi team in summer 2023.
▼ 「CANAVALAVA」 PRODUCER
Total Produce：SELECTOR HEMO
Selector HEMO: Japan’s Soca Maestro and Cultural Connector. Founder of LIME Records. Renowned DJ, Producer, and Cultural Ambassador. With an impressive 50+ trips to the Caribbean, she has pioneered the fusion of Caribbean vibes and Tokyo beats. Notably, she orchestrated a mesmerizing collaboration, blending the infectious Yosakoi dance with the world-renowned Trinidad and Tobago Carnival, giving birth to the electrifying Yosakoi team CANAVAL. Pushing boundaries, shaping music, and fostering cross-cultural connections, Selector HEMO’s vibrant melodies and rhythmic journeys transcend borders, leaving audiences enchanted and yearning for more. Experience the magic where Soca meets Yosakoi, guided by the visionary selector herself.
http://selectorhemo.com/
▼Interview with Selector Hemo. ↓Click!!
selectorHEMO interview
Choreography：FATIMATA
FATIMATA, a dancer who brings infectious smiles and dynamic dance moves, constantly delivering laughter and vibrancy. With over 20 years of experience in teaching African dance, she has choreographed for members of EXILE and has also had the experience of working on choreography, supervision, and appearances for NHK’s children’s dance program. As a pioneer in spreading the African street dance style “Azonto Afrobeats” to Japan, she conveys joy and exhilaration through her dance performances.
https://fatimata.net/
Choreography：Reiko Hirai
Born in Kochi City, Japan.
Engaged in Yosakoi dance since the age of 2.
A passionate advocate of Kochi’s Yosakoi and local culture.
Has choreographed for Yosakoi teams in Kochi Prefecture, Hokkaido, and Ghana.
Sharpening her insights to never miss out on anything interesting or captivating in her daily life.
Choreography:
- Vogue038
- CANAVAL
- JAPAN YOSAKOIREN
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Interview-(1)
| Interview : Rishma Hansil |
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| Interview: 1) How was your YOSAKOI Festival experience? And joining team CANAVAL? It was an amazing experience to feel the vibes and a fusion of cultures from the Caribbean and Japan. 2) What was impressive during the festival? People from all over the world joined the festival, the teamwork and support of all team members made it a memorable experience. 3) Yosakoi parade has a rule to dance holding Naruko in your hands, what did you think about it? And how was the choreography? The Naruko is a perfect instrument to keep the rhythm with the choreography! 4) Would you like to participate in YOSAKOI festival again in the future? Definitely! I had so much fun the first time, I would love to do it again. 5) Please let us know your memories in Kochi. Kochi is a hidden gem in Japan. The true joy is being surrounded by nature and the warmth of the locals. 6) Please let us know if there is anything to be improved on our side. Perhaps the Yosakoi team can have “lines” similar to the “front line” and “back line” in Carnival mas bands. Those at the front know the more complex choreography well and those at the back know a simpler version so that they can participate even though they aren’t great at memorizing the steps. 7) How would YOSAKOI appeal to those who have not yet seen/experienced it? For people who travel to Japan or to Kochi for the first time, Yosakoi is an opportunity to be part of a festival. For those who value community, teamwork and novelty experiences it could be a very memorable event for them. Rishma Hansil  |
Interview-(2)
| Interview : Larissa Hosein |
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| Hello! My name is Larissa Hosein. I’m 26 years old and I’m from Trinidad and Tobago. I currently live in Komatsushima, Tokushima as an assistant language teacher on the JET programme for two junior high schools. I love my country’s culture, especially carnival and I’d like to help showcase it to people in Japan! Interview: 1) How was visiting YOSAKOI FESTIVAL? It was a lot of fun! The dancers were beautiful and I liked seeing the different themes. I really wanted to join and dance at times but it’s more like a parade than something onlookers can join 2) Did you find it similar to carnivals in Caribbean? If so, which part? The processions style is a bit similar but the most similar thing was the music trucks. I loved that they all had huge music trucks, reminded me of carnival back home in Trinidad. 3) How did you like the music? The music was great! The yosakoi melody is fun. 4) What did you think of the costumes? The costumes were very beautiful especially the intricate Japanese style ones. 5)If you were to join, do you think you can memorize and dance to the choreography? Yes, I can! 6) Would you like to join the parade next time? Yes, I’d like to join! 7) Please let me know what you like about Kochi. Kochi is very chill and relaxed and I love that. Every time I go, I visit hirome market (I like to drink and eat there). I think people in Kochi are friendly and kind. Larissa Hosein  |
Interview-(3)
| Interview : AC Christie from Ilovecarnivall |
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| 1) How was your YOSAKOI Festival experience? And joining team CANAVAL? I enjoyed it. Seeing how caribbean carnival is translated in various countries is always interesting to experience. 2) What was impressive during the festival? The commitment to the choreography and the visuals. 3) Yosakoi parade has a rule to dance holding Naruko in your hands, what did you think about it? And how was the choreography? No problem with holding Naruko. The choreography was good but a bit detailed for those of us who do not have to follow choreography during carnival. 4) Would you like to participate in YOSAKOI festival again in the future? Would not mind. 5) Please let us know your memories in Kochi. The parade, seeing all the various costumes and the people were kind. 6) Please let us know if there are anything to be improved on our side. I think if there is choreography, please make it simpler (maybe similar to Tik Tok dance chalkenges) and give more time for foreigners to practice and we would be used to choreographed dances for carnival. 7) How would you appeal YOSAKOI to those who has not yet seen/experienced it? I would say it is for those who would like to experience something different and be ready to participate in something which might be different from what you are used to. AC Christie  |
