EVENT
Honestly,
I came for
the events.
Huh? On your way out, you hear a sound. What's about to begin? Take a seat and find out.
■ Music Taiko drums
24 Oct (Sat) 10:00
The curtain rises to the sound of drums.
Azuchi Nobunaga Shutsujin Taiko
Azuchi Nobunaga Shutsujin Taiko is a Japanese taiko drumming ensemble that performs at local festivals and school events, bringing people of all generations together. The festival opens with their powerful rhythms and dynamic performance.
About the performers
This Japanese taiko drumming team is based in Azuchi, Omihachiman City. Members range from junior high school students to adults, and together with a children's team, they enliven local festivals and performances. They support the departure ceremony and warrior procession at the "Azuchi Nobunaga Festival," and have also performed at events such as Sasagi Shrine and "Azu Fest."
At the Jōgon-in Artist-in-Residence program, they interact with international artists and local people through taiko drumming. They create opportunities for participants to enjoy not only the performance but also the chanting and drumming themselves.
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■ Talk Artist talk
24 Oct (Sat) 14:00
At the forefront of Ukrainian art! A city destroyed. People who create.
Nikita Kadan
Since the war began in 2022, Jōgon-in has welcomed the Ukrainian painter Maria Luisa Filatova as a refugee and supported three artist residencies. This year, Nikita Kadan comes to the temple. Bomb-damaged fences, burned roofs, fragments of a destroyed power plant: he is an artist who makes sculptures from the debris itself. Can a work of art serve as evidence of war crimes? Born in Kyiv in 1982, Kadan continues to live and work there. Kadan represented Ukraine at the Venice Biennale; his work is in the collection of the Centre Pompidou; and he has received the Shevchenko National Prize, Ukraine’s highest state honor. In 2025, he was also named among the 100 most influential people in the art world by a British art magazine. This year’s theme is REAL. While the war continues, this is a conversation we need to hear.
About the performers
Based in Kyiv, this artist deals with history, memory, and the traces of war and violence. They choose their method of expression depending on the subject matter, including sculpture, installation, painting, and charcoal drawing.
They collaborate with historians, architects, and human rights activists in their work. Tracing the traces left in documentary photographs, ruins, and architecture, they re-examine the experiences of people overshadowed by official history and ongoing events through their art.
A member of the artist collective "R.E.P." and a founding member of "Hudrada," a group that engages in curation and social practice, they have explored ways in which art can engage with society through both individual and collaborative work.
■ Butoh / Dance Dance performance
25 Oct (Sun) 14:00
Older than words. Newer than anything you've seen.
Two dancers take the stage: Spanish-born HAZAMA, who lives in Japan, and Bangkok-born, Kyoto-based SUZU. HAZAMA sees the stage as a gate to other dimensions, letting other energies emerge and make him dance. SUZU, also an illustrator, feels her way through a world that has always been falling apart.
The festival's first Sunday: two dancers, up close, at the temple.
Performers
HAZAMA
Butoh dancer, physical theatre actor
HAZAMA means "the one who inhabits the spaces in between". He thinks about the stage as a medium to let other energies emerge and make him dance.
Read more
A gate to other dimensions, the appearance of a strange visitor, an instant frozen in time, an emotional wave washing away the audience. As a Spanish performer living in Japan, he is on a quest to reach transcendence through dance.
SUZU
Illustrator and movement artist
Bangkok-born, Kyoto-based illustrator and movement artist. Suzu tends to think about death. The world, her world, seems to be falling apart—has always been falling apart. There is nothing left to do but to feel it out.
Butoh performances sponsored by: Kyoto International Butoh Festival 2026, Arts PLAN DU LLC
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■ Tea Tea gathering
31 Oct (Sat) & 1 Nov (Sun) 12:00 - 15:00
The source. From Nobunaga’s temple, where the way of tea spread across Japan.
Urasenke practitioners under Tange Sōritsu
Nobunaga gave chanoyu new value and changed culture itself. Now, enjoy a bowl of tea surrounded by art in his temple. Nobunaga would probably have found it amusing. That said, you do not need to know anything about tea. Sit down, take a sip, and if it tastes good, that is enough. ¥300 per bowl (Japanese sweet included).
■ Butoh / Dance Butoh + music
3 Nov (holiday) 14:00
Body and sound resonate with each other.
This performance brings together dance and live music. Enjoy the interplay of bodily expression and music within the temple setting.
Performers
Katsura Kan
Butoh dancer / Choreographer
Dancer.
Du Yufang
Butoh dancer, leader of Butoh Byakko-kei / Arts PLAN DU LLC
Born in Beijing and based in Rakuhoku, northern Kyoto, Du Yufang is a Butoh dancer whose dance grows out of training in both Noh and Butoh.
Read more
Du Yufang leads the Butoh group Butoh Byakko-kei and performs at Jogonin International Art Festival every year alongside Katsura Kan.
Butoh Byakko-kei
A dance group led by Du Yufang
Three performers are scheduled to appear. Individual performer profiles will be posted sequentially.
Christopher Fryman
Musician / Composer / Trumpet player
Musician, composer and trumpet player, providing live music for the performance.
Sponsored by: Kyoto International Butoh Festival 2026
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■ Talk Gallery Talk
7 Nov (Sat) 11:00/14:00
Art makes sense when you ask. Probably.
Artists participating in the art festival
Standing before the works on display, artists will share their thoughts and visitors are welcome to ask questions in this informal time of exchange. Listen to the stories and ideas behind the works, and art will feel much closer—opening up those moments of discovery when you think, “Ah, now I see. That’s fascinating!”
Morning 11:00–12:00
Yukihiro Yoshida ／ Miyaki Inukai ／ Hiroshi Miyaza ki ／ KOSHO ／ Mayako Suzuki
Afternoon 14:00–15:00
Hiroyuki Tanaka ／ Osamu Ishibashi ／ Midori Ozaki ／ Tokio Yamauchi
Tap a name to see the artist's page.
The talks go around the works in the order listed above. The order, dates and times may change.
* Talks may also be held on dates other than those listed above.
■ Workshop
8 Nov (Sun) 10:00–12:00 (about 2 hours)
Make a little yokai stone of your own.
Hiroshi Miyazaki
Draw a face and patterns on a stone to make your own little yokai. Finished works are expected to be displayed in a garden or elsewhere on the Jogonin grounds.
Garden display (concept image)
Yokai stone details (concept image)
For: Local elementary school children (with a parent or guardian)
Capacity: About 15
Fee: Free (parents and guardians need an art festival admission ticket)
Please sign up using the button below. Registration may close once the capacity (about 15 children) is reached.
Read the full workshop description
Round, long, or bumpy stones—what kind of yokai might be hiding in each shape or pattern? Use acrylic markers and other materials to draw a face and patterns, creating a yokai of your own.
Stones will be provided. You may also bring a stone you found or a favorite stone. Where possible, participants may be able to choose a stone from the temple grounds.
Give your finished yokai a story: What powers does it have? What does it protect? When does it get angry?
The children will place their finished works in a garden or another suitable spot on the Jogonin grounds. Hidden among tree roots, moss, and garden stones, the yokai will blend into the scenery and spark visitors' imaginations. The works are expected to remain on view during the festival.
Workshop leader
Hiroshi Miyazaki
About the workshop leader
Hiroshi Miyazaki is an artist and educator from Osaka Prefecture, currently residing in Shiga Prefecture. He creates site-specific installations that deal with invisible phenomena and layers of time, starting from tactile elements such as place, material, and documentation. He has presented his work at various art festivals, including the Nakanojo Biennale and the Sado Island Galaxy Art Festival.
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■ Music Soprano
8 Nov (Sun) 14:00
Shanghai-born. Yet the songs of those days speak directly to the Japanese heart.
Song Qian
A soprano singer from Shanghai, Song Qian studied voice at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and in 1996 became the first foreign national to win the Grand Prix at the 11th National Children’s Song Singing Competition. Since then, she has continued to perform children’s songs and art songs throughout Japan. Her clear voice carries us back to distant memories—to a place the Japanese heart calls home, and to a warmth unforgettable to anyone.
About the performers
After performing extensively in Shanghai, she came to Japan. She continues to perform in recitals and cultural exchange events, focusing on Japanese children's songs and art songs, as well as Chinese songs. In 1998, she released the CD "Sato no Aki" (Autumn in the Village) and appeared on NHK's "Radio Midnight Express." She has also been involved in charity performances and lectures.
In 2022, she held a 30th anniversary concert in Japan, "Years and Months Like Song," sponsored by the Nara Prefecture Japan-China Friendship Association. She performed with Chinese pipa player Ye Weiyang and others. She has also appeared with Ye at the Japan-China Cultural and Arts Festival at Manpuku-ji Temple on Mount Obaku and at exchange events in Nara, connecting people from Japan and China through song and music.
■ Butoh / Dance Dance performance
9 Nov (Mon) 14:00
Made in Japan. Delivered from Latvia. Butoh.
In Limine is a live encounter between body, movement and sound. Through Butoh, embodied presence and live music, Simona Orinska (Latvia) and Akie Doi (Japan) explore the fragile boundaries between the sacred and the profane, the visible and the invisible, the inner landscape and the outer world. The female body becomes a site of memory, transformation and ritual.
A work on the threshold of the sacred and the profane, performed in a real temple.
Performers
Simona Orinska
Performance and Butoh artist, choreographer, dance movement therapist (Latvia)
One of Latvia's most renowned performance artists.
Read more
She is a founder and artistic director of the Riga Performance Art Festival STARPTELPA and the performance art company BUTŌ Lab, among others, and has also worked as a choreographer at the Latvian National Theatre and elsewhere.
Akie Doi
Performance artist, musician, yoga teacher (Japan)
Supported by the State Culture Capital Foundation of Latvia
Butoh performances sponsored by: Kyoto International Butoh Festival 2026, Arts PLAN DU LLC
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■ Butoh / Dance Dance performance
13 Nov (Fri) 11:00/14:00
This is not the dance you know. Or so we hear from America.
At 11:00, Fugue for Shadow and Bone (22 min), a work for a New York choreographer-dancer and a bassist playing live. It premieres in Kyoto the evening before.
At 14:00, two dancers based in New York and Seattle each perform their own work. Seattle's Joan Laage performs Hikari, inspired by how artificial light affects animals, insects and humans.
Three works from New York and Seattle, all in one day.
Performers
Chia-Ying Kao
Choreographer and dancer | 11:00
A Taiwanese-born choreographer, dancer and dance educator based in New York.
Read more
Her work explores how identity and cultural memory are carried in the body, often in dialogue with live sound and film. She was an artist-in-residence at the Oishida International Dance Residency in 2025.
Giacomo Merega
Bassist and composer | 11:00
An Italian-born bassist, improviser and composer based in New York, and a longtime collaborator of Chia-Ying Kao.
Scoop Slone
Butoh dancer | 14:00
A New York–based Butoh artist whose practice crosses Butoh, garment-making, drag, installation and experimental music theatre to explore individual and collective identity and memory.
Read more
This is Scoop's fourth visit to Japan.
Joan Laage
Butoh dancer | 14:00
Studied with Kazuo Ohno and Yoko Ashikawa in Tokyo in the late 1980s and founded Dappin' Butoh in Seattle in 1990.
Read more
She has performed at Butoh festivals around the world and creates new work each year for Japanese gardens in Seattle.
Butoh performances sponsored by: Kyoto International Butoh Festival 2026, Arts PLAN DU LLC
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■ Talk Gallery Talk
14 Nov (Sat) 11:00/14:00
Art appreciation, right? Hearing it straight from the artist — isn't that cheating?
Artists participating in the art festival
Standing before the works on display, artists will share their thoughts and visitors are welcome to ask questions in this informal time of exchange. Listen to the stories and ideas behind the works, and art will feel much closer—opening up those moments of discovery when you think, “Ah, now I see. That’s fascinating!”
Morning 11:00–12:00
Eiichi Yokoyama ／ Nonki Nishimura ／ Daisuke Yoshikawa ／ Suzume Bachiko ／ Ma saki Fujiwara
Afternoon 14:00–15:00
Jun Matsuyama ／ Kiyoji Haji ／ Miyuki Yamada (remote) ／ Gadou Rei ／ Jun Matsuyama
Tap a name to see the artist's page.
Jun Matsuyama will speak at two places: the Shoin and the Imperial Envoy Gate.
The talks go around the works in the order listed above. The order, dates and times may change.
* Talks may also be held on dates other than those listed above.
■ Music Chinese pipa
15 Nov (Sun) 14:00
Encountering the sound of the Chinese pipa.
Ye Weiyang
The pipa that gave Lake Biwa its name traces its roots to the Chinese pipa. Its sound may seem to come from a distant land, yet somehow feel familiar. Through pipa performance, Ye Weiyang has long served as a bridge between China and Japan and now serves as president of the Japan Federation of Chinese Literary and Art Circles. Immerse yourself in the luxury of simply listening to this ancient sound resonate through the main hall.
About the performers
Born in Hangzhou, China, she began studying the biwa (Japanese lute) at the age of 10 and came to Japan in 1992. Based in the Kansai region, she has given numerous recitals, performing a wide range of pieces from classical to contemporary with delicate fingerwork. She leads the Great Wall Orchestra, bringing Chinese traditional instruments to schools and community events.
She has released the CD series "Yuyu Gen'in" (悠悠弦音). She collaborates with her daughter, biwa player Sakura, and also dedicates herself to teaching, receiving the Hong Kong International Arts Festival's "Gardener Award" and the Dunhuang Cup's "Outstanding Teacher Award."
In 2025, she appeared on BS TV Tokyo's "Ongaku Kousaten" (Music Crossroads), performing the ancient Chinese piece "Ryūsen" (Dragon Boat) and showcasing a collaboration with a violinist.
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■ Butoh / Dance Dance performance
21 Nov (Sat) 11:00/14:00
A conversation between two bodies. Very quiet. Very loud.
At 11:00, a solo by Vinci Mok from Hong Kong, whose dance has drifted through 31 cities across Eurasia.
At 14:00, Bai Chi-Hao and Lee Chi-Chen speak through their bodies in Bridge of the soul (白虹, White Rainbow): a misty white arc where heaven and earth converge and light meets darkness, countless souls descending, the endless wheel of rebirth.
Morning: a solo that has crossed 31 cities. Afternoon: two dancers in conversation beneath a white rainbow.
Performers
Vinci Mok
Butoh dancer and sound healer (Hong Kong) | 11:00
A Hong Konger who has performed, shared and drifted with Butoh through 31 cities across Eurasia, carrying her social concern and support for the disadvantaged.
Read more
Founder of Moving Arts Hong Kong and Hurtling Calves Butoh Dance Theatre, she creates work spanning Butoh, modern dance, theatre, performance art, film, sound and poetry, incorporating body-healing practices. She has long exchanged ideas and performed with masters active in Japan's Butoh scene since the 1970s and 80s; Yukio Wakuri and Atsushi Takenouchi are the mentors who have inspired her most deeply. She is also a sound healer and yoga therapy teacher.
Bai Chi-Hao
14:00
Lee Chi-Chen
14:00
Butoh performances sponsored by: Kyoto International Butoh Festival 2026, Arts PLAN DU LLC
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■ Performance
21 Nov (Sat) Around 11:30 (after the dance performance)
The place, the work, the performance — a time when everything breathes.
Miyaki Inukai
Artist
Miyaki Inukai
Exhibiting artist Miyaki Inukai, who has long performed at performance art festivals in Japan and abroad, gives a performance in front of the work Inhale, Exhale 2026 — Garden of Breath: Borrowed Scenery —. It begins right after Vinci Mok's dance performance, which starts at 11:00, so the 11:30 start time is approximate. The work is located beyond the pond and the shrine. Look for No. 9 on the venue map.
About the artist
Born in Nagoya in 1972. Working across painting, installation, and performance art, Miyaki Inukai expresses emotions and the felt experience of being alive. Since 2003, she has continued to participate in performance art festivals in Japan and abroad.
■ Talk Gallery Talk
21 Nov (Sat) 14:00
Art can't be put into words. We'll put it into words anyway.
Artists participating in the art festival
Festival artists talk about their own works as they move from space to space through the grounds of Jogonin. Drop in or leave at any time, and feel free to ask questions.
Afternoon 14:00–15:00
Aki Saeki ／ Hiroko Sato ／ Nobutaka Katsuyama
Tap a name to see the artist's page.
The talks go around the works in the order listed above. The order, dates and times may change.
■ Talk Gallery Talk
22 Nov (Sun) Time to be decided
For an artist, there are words the work alone cannot hold.
Artists participating in the art festival
Shikoh Kuramochi will give a talk at the venue during the day (the time will be decided on the day). The order, dates and times may change.
Time TBA
Shikoh Kuramochi
Tap a name to see the artist's page.
■ Music Jazz
22 Nov (Sun) 14:00
Let the beat of jazz reach your heart.
BumblebeeJazz — Bass: Takuya Oku; Piano: Takashi Saito; Saxophone: Junpei Ikegami; Drums: Kaname Sakamoto
Sultry, sophisticated jazz resonates through the main hall of Jōgon-in. From tones that slowly sink in to beats that set your body swaying. Bumblebee means the fuzzy bumblebee. Let its jazz beat buzz its way into your heart.
About the band
A jazz quartet consisting of saxophone, piano, bass, and drums. They perform at live music venues such as the Glover Garden in Osaka and ALWAYS in Itami, as well as the Takatsuki-Tomita Jazz Street.
They also engage in activities with different collaborators and lineups, such as "BumblebeeLucy" with vocalist Lucy, and "BumblebeeJazzDX" with vibraphone. They also conduct jazz workshops at community centers and hold sessions where audience members can participate, expanding opportunities for people to enjoy music in a more accessible way.
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