Other projects
sakura festival
Het Amsterdamse Bos, Amstelveen, The Netherlands
April 2013
Performance by Akira and Kanako at the yearly Cherry Blossom Festival in the Japanese Park (Amsterdamse Bos) in Amstelveen which is home to a community of about 1500 Japanese expats. The 400 Sakura trees in the park were initially planted in celebration of 400 years of cultural ties between Japan and the Netherlands.
Holland koi show
Castle gardens (Kasteeltuinen) in Arcen, the Netherlands
August 2014, 2015, 2016
For three consecutive years Akira and Kanako performed at the Koi show. This Koi show is annually organized by the Dutch Nishikigoi Association in August and is, in terms of size and number of visitors, the biggest in the world.
EAST MEET WEST
Roodkapje, Rotterdam
September 2019
Fusion concert by the Dutch folk punk rock band and Akira and Kanako. The song ‘Ship de Liefde’ about the voyage of the De Liefde (The Love), the Dutch sailing ship that stranded in Japan in 1600, was especially composed for this concert.
bass: Tom (Tomba) Freins, guitar/ backing vocals: Eduard (Edje) van Dommelen, drums: Thom Turkenburg, banjo/ mandolin/backing vocals: Jasper van Duuren, bagpipe/ tin whistle, flute/backing vocals: Marianne Bielderman, Japanese drums: Akira Sakaue, Kanako Otani, shamisen/shinobue: Kanako Otani
MEMORIAL VAN DAMME
Koning Boudewijn Stadium/Roi Baudouin Stadium, Belgium
September 2021
Performance by Akira and Kanako with the Belgium taiko group Feniks Taiko at the annual athletics meeting, the Memorial Van Damme in the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels. During the competition top athletes tried to beat their own personal record on the rhythm and beat of the taiko drum.
MARKT CENTRAAL
Markt Centraal Amsterdam, The Netherlands
September 2021
Akira and Kanako performed at the Markt Centraal, a huge monumental building used as the Central Market Hall at the Food Center Amsterdam. Not only the performance in the hall, but also the sound in front of Keith Haring’s mural further accentuated the oriental sound in Western culture.
TSUNAGARI
LantarenVenster Rotterdam, The Netherlands,
September 2021
Tsunagari means connection in Japanese. Choreographer Joseph Simon explores how musician’s and dancer’s bodies can interlace and merge into both a dance that produces music, as well as a soundscape highlighted by movement.
Tsunagari was performed at the opening of Camera Japan, the Japanse film and Culture festival held every year in Rotterdam and Amsterdam.
Performers: Akira Sakaue, Kanako Otani, Tuan Tran