Bicchū Kagura & Kapa Haka Exchange Project 2023

Project Title

Bicchū Kagura & Kapa Haka programme: How to pass on the traditional performing arts to children.
Rongona me Kōrerotia

Estimate  period

from August  9th to August 16th

Location

Canterbury , New Zealand

Content of the project

A Bicchū Kagura group is coming to Aotearoa to share their traditional Japanese performing arts with some Kapa Haka groups including Te Pao a Tahu in person.

1. Both groups will be performing at a venue together in a joint perfmance with adults and children. The aim of this event is for some kapa haka groups including Te Pao a Tahu to host and for the kapa haka people to learn from the Bicchū Kagura group by performing and experiencing the Japanese cultural aspects and language, they will be able to gain something similar and new.

2. The Bicchū Kagura group will join a wānanga of the kapa haka to share children’s games and performance with each other. This main aim and purpose is for the Kagura group to experience how a wānanga is run and how this traditional form of learning nutures positive relationships between adults and children. By learning through “Rongona and Kōrerotia (hearing and talking)”everyone is involved together. The Kagura group will be able to be inspired and realise connection and commonality by the similar way of raising children through tradiitonal arts and will be able to relate to how adults pass on traditional knowledge through verbal means, passing on the stories through the games. It is “rongona (hearing)” and “kōrerotia (talking, conversation and narrative)”, but not reading or writing like recent way of learnings. Also the Kagura people will share their children’s games with Māori children and adults at the wānanga, and have a chance to discuss the experience as well.

3. In Rolleston, the Kagura group will perform Kagura and have a workshop with Selwyn people at Te Ara Ātea (where the Selwyn District Council have suggested).

4. If possible, the Kagura group will attend and maybe be involved with the secondary school kapa haka event that is being held around this time.

Who is intended audience and how will they benefit from the project?

The immediate intended audience is the kapa haka people, their whānau and friends, and Kagura people and family. During the public events there will be chances for the general public, school children and so on to watch and be involved as well. 

How will you measure the success of the project?

Success will be measured by the degree of mutual understanding and positive relationships formed by both groups through this event.

How the project will deepen understanding between Aotearoa and Japan on a broad educational and cultural basis?

Kanohi ki te kanohi (face to face) is the key for this project.

And Rongona and kōrerotia (listen and talk).

Because of the disruptions from covid, face to face events between Aotearoa and Japan were not able to be done for the last three years. This programme aims to connect both cultures in person so both can experience and learn traditional cultural heritage that has been passed down the generations for a long time. It is naturally passed on by hearing the narrative stories from their ancestors.

We expect that the Kagura people would feel the same sense when they join the kapa haka wānanga as they do the similar events “gasshuku” which is a learning system staying overnight with the group which strengthens their bonding like eating together and helping each other. The education from learning the traditional way of learning is not written but hearing the narrative stories.

This way of learning enables a different level of understanding / knowledge (mātauranga). By the Kagura people vising Aotearoa to share their performing arts and their traditional way of raising children with the Kapa Haka people, both people would realise that they can feel the similarities between the two cultures, and inspire further connections with each other, then they would be able to get more confident about their own cultural values.

Normally Japanese language and Te Reo Māori are well-known for the pronunciation being similar. This might be just a coincidental phenomenon, but when both peoples contact in person, they would be able to just feel the similarities through their traditional performing arts.