The highlight of the Japan Festival Houston 2023 ANA Matsuri Main Stage was, without a doubt, Minyo Crusaders!
Performing songs sung by fishermen ("Kushimoto Bushi"; "Mamurogawa Ondo"), coal miners ("Tanko Bushi") and sumo wrestlers ("Sumo Jinku"), Minyo Crusaders had the crowd grooving to their unique fusion of Japanese traditional folk songs (min'yō) with various rhythms and beats inspired from Latin, African, Caribbean, and Asian music.
“For Japanese people, min'yō is both the closest, and most distant, folk music” explains band-leader Katsumi Tanaka: “We may not feel it in our daily, urban lives, yet the melodies, the style of singing and the rhythm of the taiko drums are ingrained in our DNA”.
You can catch the group on tour in Europe this summer before a return to Japan for Fuji Rock Festival!
Also, be on the lookout for the release of a new Minyo Crusaders album!
Yoi! Yoi!
-Images courtesy of night.sky.creative
**MINYO CRUSADERS’ appearance at Japan Festival Houston was supported in part by the Japan Business Association of Houston through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Grassroots Projects Grant.