2017 Entertainment
A full day of music, dance, martial arts, a roving Japanese Candyman, and Taiko.
Emcee
John Gale
John Gale
Performance Schedule
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Welcome to the Festival! – Jim Duncan Stage
Daikin Taiko Drum Team – Jim Duncan Stage Bunraku Bay Puppet Theater – Jim Duncan Stage Kent Family Magic Circus – Jim Duncan Stage Kyudo – Kyudo Range Daikin Taiko Drum Team – Jim Duncan Stage Mid South Aikido – Martial Arts Stage Bunraku Bay Puppet Theater – Jim Duncan Stage Fudoshinka Dojo – Martial Arts Stage Kent Family Magic Circus Trapeze – Jim Duncan Stage Lawn United States Naginata Federation – Martial Arts Stage Daikin Taiko Drum Team – Jim Duncan Stage Racquetclub Shotokan Karate – Martial Arts Stage Musesouth idols - Jim Duncan Stage Greetings from Special Guests: – Jim Duncan Stage Mr. Arnold Perl, City of Memphis, Mayor Mark Luttrell, Jr., Consul-General Masami Kinefuchi University of Memphis Japanese Dance Circle – Jim Duncan Stage Mid South Aikido – Martial Arts Stage Daikin Taiko Drum Team - Jim Duncan Stage United States Naginata Federation – Martial Arts Stage Kent Family Magic Circus Trapeze – Jim Duncan Stage Lawn The Maguires – Jim Duncan Stage Kyudo – Kyudo Range Bunraku Bay Puppet Theater – Jim Duncan Stage Kent Family Magic Circus – Jim Duncan Stage Festival Concludes |
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Performers
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Martial Arts
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Masaji Terasawa, the Candyman, is coming to the Memphis Japan Festival! The Candyman is a traditional street performer and a one-man-show from Japan. After he moved to the United States, the Candyman began entertaining at Disney World's Epcot Center and now travels to Japanese festivals throughout the country. The Candyman is said to be the only person in the U.S. practicing the ancient Japanese art of amezaiku, sculpting hot taffy into shapes of animals, and he will also keep us entertained with magic tricks and stories.
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The Daikin America taiko group from Decatur, AL will open the Festival at 10:00 a.m. Daikin is the largest producer of air conditioners in the world. They will perform four times during the day, sharing Japanese culture with taiko drumming and authentic Japanese bon-odori dancing. Be ready to dance with the Daikin group. They love for the audience to join them.
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Bunraku Bay Puppet Theater will be performing at the Festival. They will also host a puppetry workshop and stroll around the Festival with their puppets. Bunraku Bay Puppet Theater is the only theater in the United States that performs the traditional Japanese puppetry known as “ningyo joruri” or Bunraku.
The performers of the Bunraku Bay Puppet Theater have been trained in Japan by artists from the 170-year-old Tonda Puppet Troupe of Biwa-cho in Shiga Prefecture, northeast of the old capital of Kyoto, and the Imada Puppet Troupe and Kuroda Puppet Troupe–both more than 300 years old–of Iida City in Nagano Prefecture in central Japan. Under the direction of Prof. Martin Holman of the Japanese Studies Program at the main campus of the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri, Bunraku Bay Puppet Theater offers performances of pieces from the traditional Bunraku repertoire. |
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The Kent Family Magic Circus is a mixture of circus, theater, and vaudeville, with a sprinkle of side-show. All put on by the Kents, a family of nine that travel and perform all over the United States. Victor Kent received his first magic kit from his grandmother at the age of seven and it wasn’t long before he was entertaining family and friends. Victor and Mami Kent traveled and performed in Japan for several years before returning to the United States and are performing now with their seven wonderfully talented children, all beginning their career in magic at the age of three as magician’s assistants, then moving on to their own area of interest. As you can imagine, this adds a lot of variety and fun to the show! |
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