00:00:01 John Daub: Greetings everybody. Hello and welcome to the Kochi store. This is Marugoto Kochi in Ginza. This is a prefectural store where you can find all sorts of amazing stuff including what's on the wall here. We're on the second floor. Look at all that sake. We're on the second floor of the restaurant and we have this wide space and what you see in front of you are six Yosakoi dancers. One of them is kicking.

00:00:26 John Daub: Yosakoi is a very special dance, very famous in Kochi Prefecture. It's got a lot of energy to it and I think you're really going to enjoy this because of the pandemic. A lot of events have been canceled so this is sort of a special thing that we're going to be able to present to you. But first, we have our sensei here. Konnichiwa. Yay! So this is the Yosakoi outfit. It's really colorful and bright. And yeah, demonstration.

00:02:14 John Daub: Yosakoi is not that complicated. Anyone can do it. Yeah, once you learn the steps, a lot of people can do it and then you can get fancy with it and come up with different variations. Like Ruth right now is moonwalking. She cannot control her passion. Ruth! Ruth is off the wall unhinged. I love it.

00:02:38 John Daub: So then let's get now sensei. Next up is the set. The people behind us, these people behind our teacher are students. Yay! And they're going to be learning the art of Yosakoi. So go ahead sensei.

00:03:01 Sensei: Please teach us.

00:03:13 John Daub: Please imitate this teacher. Right, left. Right, left. Right, left. Left, right. So you can learn by imitation. One. Right, left. Right, right. Left, right. Left. Right, right. Left, right. Right, right. Left, right. Left, right. Oh, you can sing at home. Your neighbors are going to love you.

00:06:14 John Daub: So this is Yosakoi. The sensei, the teacher is teaching five students how to do Yosakoi, which is a very special dance in Kochi prefecture, high energy. But it's a dance that anybody can do. And once you learn the basic moves of it, you can start to create variations off of it with which young people have such amazing dances with. But it should be colorful and it should be different and very loud and high paced. Very nice.

00:08:03 John Daub: Yosakoi. Yosakoi. Oh, that's it? Do you think you could do this out there? Once you learn those basic steps, which you can learn probably in 10, 15 minutes, we're gonna see if they can perform this.

00:08:41 John Daub: Eh, what is this thing called?

00:08:43 Sensei: Naruko.

00:08:45 John Daub: This is called naruko (Yosakoi clappers). Oh, naruko. It's from America. Wait, is this from America?

00:08:51 Sensei: Yes.

00:08:52 John Daub: Why? This is what Marugoto Kochi prepared for us. The real one is... I'm sorry to say this, but... This is the naruko. Oh, that's the real one. This color is the typical one. This is the naruko that everyone uses. It's a normal naruko. It depends on the costume and the team. There are many different designs. Today, we have a special naruko. Yes, today we have a special naruko. This is the naruko. Japan and America meet. Despite being in election year, no problem at all. Love and peace. Oh, they got one from Germany. That's a great part of Yosakoi. What about Mozambique? Mozambique. I just like their flag because it has an AK-47 on it. It's pretty weird out there. Alright, awesome.

00:09:52 John Daub: So now I think you've learned the basic moves of Yosakoi. Next step is to perform the art, the miracle of Yosakoi. The essence of Kochi Prefecture's amazing traditional high energy dance. Let there be Yosakoi. Nice. That was pretty incredible.

00:13:24 John Daub: So once you've learned the pattern, the baton to it, you just go around the room. I've seen Yosakoi. They're like so cool. It took so long. We took over an entire auditorium. There must have been like 200 people doing Yosakoi. And 99 out of 100 didn't know how to do the dance at that festival. But they had passion. And it's all about having a lot of passion, I think, for this. And eventually you do learn the steps. I still haven't. But my turn. I didn't sign up for that. Jeff Ang is here. He can do it. Jeff can do it. No, Jeff do it. No, Jeff is... Oh, Jeff. Okay. Oh wait, how do I... The audio is with this microphone here. So this button switches the picture. Okay. So just get in there. I don't pay attention to the tutorial. I don't pay attention. Just try. Use your Kochi heart.

00:17:57 John Daub: Kochi means something. Do you have a history of Yosakoi? Is there some kind of history to the Yosakoi sensei?

00:18:08 Sensei: Yes. In Kochi, there are many kinds of Yosakoi dances. But they are called Seichō Odori (fixed-form dance). And this dance is the basic dance. And everyone is doing this dance. And each dance is based on Seichō Odori. We then change the music and drive the dance. Wow. We will show the history later.

00:18:45 John Daub: Let's translate it. She doesn't understand Japanese. Nobody knows Japanese, so... Yeah, I will do it. So this is the base of the Yosakoi dance. This sort of the very basic dance that they start from and then from that they build upon freely as they want. It's also called the Seichō Yosakoi. And as she is putting here, oh yeah please explain there you go. Um so it's again you have the very base and then you can create freely from there. She also said that the costumes, the music, how they uh sort of decorate right now naruko yeah that is all up to the Yosakoi team. Yeah so here on this list we have number one naruko you must learn what the Japanese clapper is these things are awesome and if you give them to kids they will annoy parents all day long. Number two music creation with various genre and I think that's pretty cool. I've seen some Yosakoi dancing in Kochi where they're so free and the groups have been practicing for months but there's an energy once you've learned the basics costumes can be freely as well. This is what I like so much about it. In Japan you have rules for everything rules dictate life here they could drive you crazy in a good way uh but in Yosakoi once you've learned the basics you can create so freely it's almost like a contemporary sort of a dance. Okay go ahead.

00:20:18 Tia: I want to ask like why did it start in Kochi what is special about it that could get this unique innovative dance.

00:21:04 John Daub: Wow so that's pretty cool so this is something that just happened post-war after World War II a dancer was free and styled to bring back life and fun to every day. So Yosakoi has that kind of a deep history now that we dance that you guys might have some questions for our sensei. You might have some questions for our sensei. I have a question how come none of you are sweating I don't see anybody sweating. I got sweat beads going on and they're all in such better shape than me. You're certainly experts.

00:21:37 Tia: I've been here for a while and it's really tough because like in western countries there's a lot of people do you know about music and things like that for example a lot of people do it for example hip-hop or rock music. Can you see any other things in English if you're interested in the music industry.

00:21:53 John Daub: I was asking about since Yosakoi is so open to different forms of art, music, and costume, I wondered if there was a combination of rock and Yosakoi music or hip-hop and Yosakoi music in the kind of Yosakoi realm. So yes, that was my question.

00:22:25 Sensei: Yosakoi is a team, and we call it a team. There is hip-hop, reggae, disco, soul, and so on. We arrange and create music in various ways. However, we have to make sure that we include some of the current songs of the Yosakoi community. That's the rule. That's the Yosakoi culture. In Kochi, Yosakoi is a kind of...

00:22:55 John Daub: Can we translate? We need one moment for translation. People are going, huh? To answer Tia's question, Sensei was saying that there are all sorts of different kinds of music they put together. They use disco, they use reggae, they use hip-hop. But the rule is that somewhere in that song, you need to have the base of the Seichō Yosakoi, the song that we just heard. It can't be just a different song. So the base is what? You need a hoi hoi moment? So if you have a hoi hoi moment, like a Yosakoi moment, I think that's what you need. Once you learn the base, you can be free with any song. Disco, too? Disco-mo? Disco? Disco-cho. Whoa! Tia didn't finish her question. I was too excited. Part two.

00:23:49 Tia: I have a follow-up question. I'm sorry. Do you have any Yosakoi contests?

00:23:55 Sensei: Yes, we do. There are contests at various festivals. You can choose between winning or losing. There are some festivals that don't have contests. But there are contests in Kochi. There is a Yosakoi competition in Kochi.

00:24:15 John Daub: So there's no global Yosakoi yet. However, Kochi is trying very hard to change that. There could be Yosakoi competitions everywhere. Because what's great about this is once you've learned the base, you don't have to take lessons like ballet lessons for years and years. Even I, which I didn't actually, if you play back the video, I didn't actually do it correctly. But if you were to do it correctly, and you get good at the base, there's no end in possibilities of where you can take this Yosakoi. This thing could change the world. What are you laughing at? They have groups actually. That's true.

00:25:11 Tia: So, my question was, is there any team, since we were talking about these kind of competitions, competitive dancing, is there any team that's really famous for winning?

00:25:58 John Daub: But the groups too, I've been in Kochi at the Sunday market. Do you know that every Sunday in Kochi City, they have this amazing market. It's one of the oldest, if not the oldest market that's continued for 400 years in Kochi. I went there to film at 5 in the morning. By 7 a.m., there were kids that were outside practicing with their groups. And we're putting on, yeah, if you go during the Sunday market, you'll see some Yosakoi groups near the shopping arcade that are practicing. And I thought that that was really unique. But what they were doing wasn't what we saw today. They were doing something that had certain moves to it. But it was so much energy. It was, well, the basic Yosakoi is pretty energetic. But they had added so many elements to it that made it kind of their own. And through the dance, you could feel something special with their creativity. And that's what made the dance very interesting to me. I filmed them a lot. It's a lot of heart.

00:27:15 John Daub: I asked if the different areas within Kochi hold a Yosakoi Matsuri Festival at different times throughout the summer or the year, or if they all happen at the same time every year.

00:27:26 Sensei: Yes. Before Kochi, every year, and from August 9th to December 12th, they're given 4 days. On weekends, in every shopping arcade, a little bit of dance is done. And other days, it's decided. But there are many things from Hokkaido to Kyushu, but every day is decided at the Matsuri. This year, it was cancelled.

00:27:58 John Daub: Go ahead and translate that. Yeah. The big competition for Yosakoi happens, of course, in Kochi City. And the dates for that are set. It is August 9th to 12th. So there's four days of Yosakoi madness. And there are Yosakoi festivals all over Japan. There's actually some very famous ones as far as Hokkaido. They have them in Tokyo as well. But, of course, the big one is Kochi. And there are teams that come from all over the world to participate in this. So not just Japanese teams. I think if Kochi were to lose, this would be kind of a sting, right? It's like if a Japanese team loses at judo in the Olympics. Like, how do you mean Japan lost at judo? Japanese invented judo. It's like England losing in soccer and football at the Olympics, right? It's something that I think, you know, it kind of hurts. It stings when England loses because England invented football or soccer. It's the same with Yosakoi. If Kochi prefecture team loses to somebody from Hokkaido, come on. That can't happen. Kind of a big deal. Maybe.

00:29:14 John Daub: I think we need one more question from Travel Writer Vicky. Hey, Vicky.

00:29:20 Vicky: There are four Yosakoi festivals. Everyone is dancing while playing a parade. Are there any festivals other than Yosakoi that are also held simultaneously?

00:29:37 John Daub: My question is whether when the Yosakoi festival is taking place, it's like a parade through the streets of these groups, teams dancing. Are there other activities that are going on at the same time?

00:29:52 Sensei: Well, Yosakoi is a parade called nagashi (flowing performance). It's called a parade or nagashi. But nagashi is a festival that is held simultaneously. I also do stage dance.

00:30:07 John Daub: So besides the parade style, they also do stage performances as well. Yes. There are other events. And I was addicted to all of them. It was amazing when I went to see it. It's crazy. The organization is particularly interesting. It was in November. There is a festival called Doremosa-ko Yosakoi Festival. This year in November, we will hold the festival in Odaiba, Tokyo. We will hold the festival in Odaiba. That was a good one. I like that one. I'm sure the internet will agree. Look at these. I know there is one in Odaiba in November. Hopefully, the situation is better. I don't see why not. The festival will go on. I definitely want to check this one out. They won't have spectators. No spectators. Just online. 6,000 dancers. That's a lot. I'm going to get a woo out of it.

00:31:38 Sensei: You have traveled in the past all around the world. Unfortunately, because of Corona, they can't do it outside of Japan. This year, Doremosa-ko Yosakoi Festival will have no spectators. They will be doing this completely online. It's safe. You can take place. Wherever you are in the world. You can come and see these amazing dancers.

00:32:13 John Daub: I'll be boogieing in my house. But of course, you can also take video. Good. That's really good. Interesting. People, the media or people like John or bloggers or other people like that. You can record the online. They will also be doing live. But also if you're a blogger or media, you can come and see all these people perform in person. If you, of course, are in Tokyo. Cool. Yeah. A lot of things have changed in the world because of this. And so many events have been canceled. So it's nice to know some of the stuff is still going on through stay at home. You can watch it off of the Internet. And yeah, it's a good thing. I want to see more dancing. I need to feel this energy every year. Yosakoi is one of the big festivals down in Kochi as well. A lot of the other prefectures have one. But for Kochi, this is a big deal. This is something that is spreading globally. Look at that. That's a map of the earth. So we want to get this everywhere. Some Yosakoi passion in November. Going to put that on a piece of bread and eat it.

00:33:30 Guest: And something surprised me earlier, John. Because Sensei had two outfits. And she said, do you want to wear one? And I said, sure. And when I came out with my outfit on, she said, your lipstick is not bright enough. What? How did that even happen? That's never happened to me in Japan before. She was like, I had red lipstick on, but she had her really bright red lipstick. And she's like, you have to stand out in Yosakoi. And how great is that? Like, that doesn't happen in Japan often.

00:33:59 John Daub: No, that's really interesting. In Japan, what is it, the expression? The nail that stands up gets hammered down. You want to be in unison with everybody else. And this is sort of a unique thing where you actually are to stick out and be different. Yeah, it's very empowering. And when I see the Yosakoi dancers dance, I feel that they're empowered to be themselves and to be part of the team and to be unique in all their outfits and the music. It's a wonderful, wonderful dance. Daddy like the pants. Yeah, the freedom of it. The freedom to create within that. The dance, I think, is really, really great. And again, like if you go to Kochi to some of the festivals, even the Sunday Market, and you see the younger people who are doing Yosakoi, you'll see that they've kind of like, I don't know, scribbled outside the lines a little bit, but there's a beauty in it, almost like a wabi-sabi kind of a feeling to it that I think, when you see them because they've been practicing for months on the same dance in this free format, it really is a thing of beauty, especially with like hip hop music. I remember that there was a team performing it too. It wasn't something that I expected this to be Japanese, but they had taken an element of Japanese tradition and put that into like a hip hop dance. And I thought that that fusion of it is something that invites people in, right? Yeah. It invites people in to try it. So you can like any kind of a music, but you can fit an element of Japanese tradition into it. And that makes that super Kochi. It does because Kochi is famous as Kochi-kei (Kochi style), which is Kochi family. So it's kind of like, it's very inclusive. Yeah. And everybody tries to bring you in and welcome you. So Kochi-kei, Yosakoi, it's a really beautiful part of the aloha spirit of Kochi. Aloha spirit. This is Kochi-kei. That means Kochi family. This is house, Kochi, high intelligence house. Welcome to the Kochi family. Yeah, the Kochi house. And, yeah, Yosakoi, once you can do this, you are, that's how you get your Kochi citizenship. You have to perform Yosakoi, right? So let's do it. Do it. All right. Are you dancing too, John? I think I broke the internet with the last dance. Somebody's got to film. All right. Let's be honest here. All right. Bring your A game. They're going to be doing some more. It is pretty neat to see this hip hop and, uh, R&B and heavy metal. I heard somebody had something like a Metallica song going on, and they were doing this, and they were rocking. And I, to see like an element of Japan fused in with other kind of music, it's pretty cool. All right. Now the teacher is now instructing them to do some sort of other dance. I'm somebody who cannot be taught anything, so it's better I just stay to the side. Mood says do it. Michael Lim says aloha. So once you can master the basics of Yosakoi, you start to color outside of the box, and you can make something really beautiful with it. For those that are dancers, Yosakoi is one of the dances of Japan. And I think it's like, you know, ballet. Once you learn, ballet is so strict in the motions that are required, the positions that are needed in order to do ballet. But a good ballet dancer, once they've learned these, they take the elements of ballet and can turn it into something really beautiful and contemporary. Yeah, Mood says just said something interesting. Imagine this with thousands of dancers. So we just had a comment. Somebody said, imagine this with thousands of dancers. Imagine what it's like if you have so many dancers. It really is. It's amazing. I think I'm sure on YouTube, you'll be able to find some examples of that. But there are, when they have it during the festival time, they have thousands of people in the streets doing this. And they're all, when they're in coordination, that's sort of the beauty of it too. The groups can create outside the lines, but the groups usually are quite coordinated. And that is such an amazing thing to see. Wow. Is there anything we want to add here?

00:40:33 Sensei: Hi. Yeah, come here. Sensei is saying that there's this wonderful place where you can enjoy all the tastes and all the, like the tea and the activity and the restaurant in Tokyo itself, right in Ginza. But then, you know, that's also great. But even more than that, please come to Kochi. Please come to Kochi itself and join us in our family and have fun in Kochi. So she's welcoming everybody to come. Awesome. She's waiting for you and so am I. Please come. Everyone is waiting in Kochi. Nice. Please come to Kochi too. So please go to Kochi. Anything else that we want to show for this? Is it cool? I guess we can end with you just dancing. Okay. Just keep on dancing. Make it a dance revolution.

00:42:00 John Daub: I think it's really great. This is a map of Kochi Prefecture right here. And this is the entire country of Japan with Hokkaido. His head was chopped off. Usually Hokkaido is up here. But Aomori, Akita, Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima, Yamagata, Niigata, I know all the prefectures. I can do this. And then this is Kochi down here. So we have Kagawa, Tokushima, Ehime, and Kochi. Kochi is where this dance comes from. And look how it just hugs there on the Pacific Ocean. This is where Yosakoi dance originates from, this part of the island on the Pacific. And I like to see John dance once more. Shina! You don't want to see that. You think you do, but you don't. Follow my eyes, Shina. That means no. Follow them. Hypnotized. Don't do it. So if you do get a chance and you do come to Japan, maybe put Kochi on your itinerary. Maybe. I think that it is a good place because it's so off the beaten path. This is so far away from Osaka, Kyoto, Nagoya. It's really separated. And this, I think, really is what makes it pretty unique. To be different. To be a natural area. And again, the people are pretty friendly because they're so separated. And you feel... What can I say? Yosakoi. So I hope that this information was useful and you learned something new. Tomorrow, I'm going to be back here. I'm going to be back here tomorrow to drink some sake with Master and an expert. And also eat some of the cuisine from Kochi Prefecture. I thought it would be pretty neat. And I'm having a lot of fun for these two days of streams. Feel the rhythm. Feel the passion. Feel Kochi. Let's do it.