IN-PERSON LECTURE

Matsuri Across the Ocean: The Harmony of Nikkei Bon Odori and Traditional Japanese Festivals
Nanase AIKAWA, Rock Singer and Researcher

7:00 - 8:30 pm, Tuesday, November 17, 2026

RSVP HERE
Free, RSVP Required

Nanase Aikawa is a rock singer active on the front lines of the music industry who is also a researcher of Shinto culture and folklore.

This lecture will focus on the “matsuri” and “Bon Odori” that took root in Southern California through Nikkei immigrants who crossed the ocean and blossomed in their own unique way through events such as the “Nisei Week Festival.” She will discuss traditional Japanese prayers, the spirit of community, and the evolution of these celebrations nurtured in a foreign land from the dual perspectives of a performer and a researcher.

LECTURER

Nanase AIKAWA
Singer / Researcher in Folklore and Shinto Culture.

She made a striking debut in 1995 with “Yumemiru shōjo ja irarenai,” and her total sales to date have reached 12 million copies. In 2025, she will celebrate her 30th anniversary and continues to lead the Japanese rock scene. While continuing her musical career, she has deepened her interest in traditional culture and local beliefs across Japan, enrolling in the Deapartment of Shinto Culture at Kokugakuin University in 2020. After graduating, she entered the university’s graduate school, where she is engaged in research on folklore and Shinto culture. She has made it her life’s work to investigate and study the festival culture and oral traditions alive in shrines and local communities throughout Japan, and she is actively involved in regional preservation efforts and the promotion of local culture.

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