MayuttoNanbu Arts.

An invitation to musicians and dancers.

With the spirit of Nanbu,
bring the world into harmony.

NANBU · AOMORI

NANBU ARTS Association

NANBU ARTS Association

AOMORI, JAPANFOR MUSICIANS & DANCERS.

Explore your expression

Awakening the heart of Japan. Bringing people into harmony.

Washibito
Sanja

和し人三者

Together with the spirit of Nanbu.

Dance. Sing. Play.

With the spirit passed down through Nanbu,
rediscover the heart and soul of Japan we may have forgotten,
and connect with the world in harmony.

Dance, song and shamisen — the Japanese three-stringed instrument. Experience the spirit of Nanbu culture through your own voice and body, and carry it into the next generation.

Our guiding idea, wa suru, means coming into harmony: resonating together while embracing our differences. Through this spirit, we connect across genres, generations and borders.

With the spirit of Nanbu,
rediscover the heart of Japan,
and connect with the world in harmony.

01

About us

OUR INVITATION

Let Nanbu become part of your expression.

Into the world you have built,
bring Mayuko’s living tradition.

About NANBU ARTS Association

Our association welcomes musicians, dancers and others whose work has primarily focused on cultures and arts from outside Japan, as well as those who have recently discovered the appeal of traditional Japanese culture. We deepen understanding of Japanese culture and open up new possibilities for creative expression and activities.

For vocalists, Japanese folk song.
For dancers, Nanbu teodori — a traditional dance rich in hand gestures and expressive movement.
We invite you to explore the song and dance Mayuko shares,
and make them part of your own artistic voice.

Our work reaches beyond the established folk music community.
Across genres, we open new possibilities for voice and body.
NANBU ARTS is your way in.

Find your way in
A dancer in a kimono holding a Nanbu dance pose with a red parasol behind her
MayukoNANBU SOUL Evangelist南部手踊り名人位Sharing the living spirit of Nanbu through song and dance.

All that you have become.
A new place to take root.

02

Your expression

OUR EXPRESSION

Begin exactly where you are.

For those who sing.
For those who dance.

声

VOCALISTS

Bring the breath of folk song into the music you already sing. Explore local language, melodic ornament and the emotion within a voice. Through Mayuko’s singing, listen more deeply to your own.

Vocalists × Nanbu folk song

身

DANCERS

Discover the individuality of the dancer beyond the choreography. Through the forms of Nanbu teodori, explore your centre of gravity, your breath and the expression in your fingertips. Give your experienced body a new way to feel.

Dancers × Nanbu teodori

創

CREATORS

The groove of Western music meets the songs, dances and shamisen of Nanbu. When the art you love encounters a living tradition, you can begin to create something that does not yet have a name.

Your sensibility × Nanbu culture

NANADO / SEVEN DOORS

NanadoSeven Doors

Through song, dance and music,
return to your true self.

“Nanado” is a name born from Nanyadoyara.

The songs, dances and instruments we have inherited over generations carry more than form. Within them live ways of moving and breathing, prayer, harmony and human connection, cultivated through life with nature in Japan.

In the myth of Ama-no-Iwato, the heavenly rock cave opens as the deities sing, dance, laugh and resonate together.

Song and dance can move the heart and open doors that have been closed. Nanado explores this power through seven doors.

  1. 01

    Connecting life

    Voice

    The voice is the breath of life. Bring your own voice into the world.

  2. 02

    Reaching the heavens

    Dance

    Go beyond form. Let the body carry your intention toward the heavens.

  3. 03

    The earth that supports us

    Sound

    A resonance that supports song and dance, connecting people with the earth.

  4. 04

    Living in harmony

    The landscape of Japan

    Live together within nature, rather than seeking to conquer it.

  5. 05

    Finding your center

    Tanden · Inner harmony

    Return to your own center, rather than searching outside yourself for every answer.

  6. 06

    Resonating together

    Resonance · A home for the heart

    As each life resonates, people connect with one another and with nature.

  7. 07

    Returning to oneness

    The cosmos · Fulfillment

    Feel that you, others and nature already belong to one greater whole.

What we seek
is already within us.

These seven doors are not about acquiring something entirely new.

Nanado does not seek to teach that essence into you. It helps gently remove what obscures it, so that you can discover it for yourself.

Rather than rescue, resonate.
Rather than instruct, draw forth.
Rather than become someone new, return to yourself.

Safeguarding highly developed traditional arts is only one part of passing them on.
We also believe in opening the essence our predecessors carried through song, dance and music to people living today—and passing it to the next generation.

03

Watch the dance

MOVING PORTRAITS

Discover a moment of connection.

Movement unfolds
from stillness.

Gestures that follow the song.
A body breathing with nature.
Experience Nanbu through film.

04

Student voice

STUDENT VOICE

An encounter with Nanbu.

Beyond the form,
I found myself.

Translated excerpts from a dancer studying with Mayuko.

As a dancer, I have always been moved by the humanity and distinctive character a person brings to choreography. At my core, I want to become that kind of expressive artist through dance.

I had neglected my desire to spend time reaching and exploring what lies deeper within me. For a long time, I struggled with that on my own.

That was when I encountered Mayuko’s Nanbu dance and singing.

I can always catch up with the trends later.

Read more of the reflection

Deep down, I am thrilled by the possibility that something extraordinary could emerge from blending the beauty and strength of Japan with the brilliance and coolness of Western music.

I would love to study with Mayuko and become one of those helping to lead us towards that harmony.

Washibito Sanja, together with the spirit of Nanbu.
Through your own expression, connect with the world in harmony.

Mayutto Nanbu Arts.

Begin with song and dance

Nanbu teodori

Watch the original on Facebook ↗