WARIKI is a combination of 2 young Japanese traditional folk entertainers, KATOGI Akira and KIMURA Shunsuke.



KATOGI Akira was born in Akita, 1967. As a child, he was trained as a traditional Japanese dancer. He later joined Dengakuza and took lessons from the masters there. He established himself as a traditional Japanese folk entertainer in 1999. In 2002, he visited Paris, and performed in the collection for Christian Dior.



KIMURA Shunsuke was born in Saitama, 1969. He plays traditional Japanese instruments, including shamisen. He is also a composer in his own right, and his works have been broadcast on NHK educational TV and NHK FM. In 2002, he was awarded the grand prize in the ADD Shamisen contest in Hirosaki. In 2003, he visited Australia, and performed on the Wanooto concert tour. He has also performed in the East & West Concert in New York.



WHAT WE AIM FOR (by KATOGI Akira)

We appreciate your visit and interest in our homepage. We at Wariki aim to play traditional folk entertainment as a theatrical art.  Our art is based on Japanese tradition, and every tradition has had its beginnings. There are primordial forms and spirits.  These forms and spirits combined, have built the tradition gradually.  Our pioneers have refined these forms, so now it is referred to as  the tradition. The tradition is not only made up from  the essence of experiences and arts , but you have to understand how to use the arts effectively, and what the tradition itself is.

 

Wariki is a flexible unit. Even the number of members is not fixed. We are searching each world, but at the same time, we are looking for what we cannot accomplish when we perform solo - so Wariki is a kind of symphony.

 

Improving one's own art, feeling other's power, and appreciating each other - here appears Wariki (the power of harmony).

 

We hope you enjoy the world of Wariki - the art of Japan (Wa), and the harmony (Wa) of sounds and spirits.

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