Events

Time and Location

March 2-8

March 2: 10:30-10:50am, 12:20-12:50pm, 2:30-3pm, 4:15-4:45pm
Rivera Court at the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, MI)

March 6: 7-8pm
The Studio Theater at Allied Solutions Center for the Performing Arts (Carmel, IN)

March 8: 1-2:30pm
The Fath Auditorium at the Cincinnati Art Museum (Cincinnati, OH)

About

3/2

Celebrate Hinamatsuri (Japanese Girls Day) at the DIA! Enjoy beloved traditions like the tea ceremony, a display of hina dolls, Ikebana flower arrangements, and soothing koto music, along with a special performance by Bentenya, a lively music group practicing the 150-year-old street art of Chindon.

For more info, please visit the DIA’s website.

3/6

An exciting evening with Bentenya, a renowned Japanese chindon music troupe direct from Nagoya, Japan! Chindon is the lively and bright tradition of “street performers”, the original advertising style in Japan, where eye-catching entertainers parade through the streets with wild and colorful costumes playing musical instruments.

Bentenya bridges tradition, playing Japanese folk songs alongside J-Pop and Anime songs. They have performed around the world and have been featured on television and in magazines. Bentenya has won the National Chindon Competition, and its performers have been appointed as Nagoya Tourism Ambassadors.

The program also welcomes Professor Yasue Kuwahara of Northern Kentucky University with a short presentation on the history and traditions of chindon.

Enjoy this rare opportunity to experience a colorful and entertaining tradition from Japan! All ages welcome!

For more info, please visit the Japan-America Society of Indiana.

3/8

From festival dancers to Kabuki, Japan has a rich tradition of street performance. Explore this world through artworks in the Cincinnati Art Museum’s collection and a colorful performance from Bentenya, a Japanese Chindon music troupe from Nagoya, Japan. Learn about the ways that street performance is reflected in Japanese art with a brief talk from Helen Rindsberg, president of the Cincinnati Asian Art Society. Then, enjoy the sounds of Bentenya as they perform live. You may even get to join in!

About Bentenya and Chindon:

Chindon is a Japanese form of advertisement where eye-catching performers march through the streets playing unique musical instruments. Bentenya brings nostalgia as well as modernity to the art form, playing Japanese folksongs alongside J-Pop and anime music. Donning glamorous kimonos and brightly colored wigs, their unique, electricity-free, and sustainable art form involves only voices and live instruments. Betenya has traveled internationally to six countries, been featured in television shows and magazine articles, and in 2020, its performers were appointed as Nagoya Tourism Ambassadors.

For more info, please visit the Cincinnati Art Museum’s website.

This event is supported through the JFNY Grant for Arts and Culture.