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Esplanade launches new Super Japan festival in May

SINGAPORE — The Esplanade is turning Japanese — we really think so.

SINGAPORE — The Esplanade is turning Japanese — we really think so.

To mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Singapore and Japan, the arts centre is launching a unique 10-day arts and culture festival in May called Super Japan.

The event, which runs from May 13 to 22, will feature 25 ticketed programmes and over 60 free shows that will range from contemporary acts to traditional ones, and will also see some collaborations between Japanese and Singaporean artists.

Among the highlights of Super Japan are a concert by “Harajuku pop princess” Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, who’ll perform as part of her fifth anniversary world tour; internationally renowned butoh theatre company Sankai Juku, who returns to the Esplanade with its latest show Meguri: Teeming Sea, Tranquil Land; and Himiko — Memories Of The Sun Goddess, a show that brings together some of Japan’s top music and theatre artists.

Other performers in the line-up are post-rock trio Mouse On The Keys, who had also performed at the Mosaic Music Festival in 2013; shadow puppet troupe Silhouette Theater Tsunobue; and shamisen musician Hiromitsu Agatsuma, among others.

Some shows will also feature collaborations between Singaporean and Japanese artists. The Finger Players’ Chong Tze Chien, who had collaborated with a Japanese cast in last year’s Seed, is teaming up with director Shigeki Nakano for Drum, an interpretation of the modern noh classic The Damask Drum by Yukio Mishima.

Meanwhile, homegrown band Aspidistrafly will perform with indie artist Haruka Nakamura and his piano ensemble, while Nathan Hartono will have a guest spot during the Blue Note Tokyo All-Star Jazz Orchestra gig.

While Super Japan is held in connection to the anniversary of the two country’s diplomatic relations, it’s also in line with the arts centre’s new thrust of presenting a new arts festival every three years, which focuses on a region or a country that the centre — as well as Singapore artists and Singaporeans — have strong ties with.

“Building on the friendships that Esplanade has fostered with Japanese artists such as Sankai Juku and Mouse On The Keys through the years, the ever-growing interest in Japanese culture in Singapore, and the many exchanges Singapore and Japaneses artists have had, Japanese arts and culture was selected to be the first focus of our cultural festivals outside of our annual roster of cultural festivals at the centre,” said Esplanade producer Sara Fang.

Aside from the shows, there will also be an exhibition of nine Japanese artists, a kimono parade, a spread of Japanese street food, taiko drum performances, a night of enka and anime music, and a tribute concert for the late composer Toru Takemitsu.

Super Japan — Japanese Festival Of Arts runs from May 13 to 22 at the Esplanade. Tickets on sale now for Esplanade&Me Black Cardholders, and from Feb 19 for the public at the box office and SISTIC. For more info, visit http://www.esplanade.com/superjapan.

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