Paris Sanshin Club
Paris Sanshin Club is an association aiming to promote the various aspects of Okinawan culture. Whether through the practice of traditional music and dances, or through participation in cultural events related to Japanese culture, Paris Sanshin Club is taking you on a unique cultural journey!
Okinawa is an archipelago in the extreme South of Japan, characterised by its tropical climate and mixed culture, especially its roots and history, linked to China.
It is from this rich culture that folkloric songs and dances accompanying sanshin notes were born. A traditional instrument literally meaning "three strings", the sanshin is a Japanese lute, ancestor of the shamisen, which is extremely popular and widely practiced in Japan. With its distinctive sound that evokes the sea and the sand, the sanshin has a very wide musical range, from formal to festive, melancholic to Pop, reflecting the specificity of Okinawan culture.
Sanshin also guides the Eisa dances, practiced mainly during the "Obon" festival, a tradition well rooted in the island's culture, where dancers and taiko players (Japanese drums) gather to pay tribute to the deceased.
It is all those aspects of Okinawan culture that the Paris Sanshin Club association wishes to promote.
This summer, Paris Sanshin Club will offer you two traditional singing and dancing shows to make you discover this rich culture: one on Saturday 16 July from 5 to 5.30 p.m., the other on Sunday 17 July from 4.30 to 5 p.m. on the Sakura stage of Japan Expo.