Happy Year of the Tiger!

Happy New Year and hello from Japan! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Lola the Cow has embarked on a new adventure and crossed half the planet to report from flamenco’s home away from home.

According to an article in Dance Magazine, there are 80,000 flamenco students in Japan’s 600 dance schools and studios, a fact from which we can infer that flamenco is more than just a passing trend on this archipelago. In turn, the Spanish should accept a full blown cultural exchange and adopt and assimilate Kabuki. We’ll wait and see what happens.

Upon learning of my trip to Japan, the magnificent flamenco dancer from Madrid, Concha Jareño, told me that whilst in Tokyo, I’d have to visit the El Flamenco tablao, and the very nice and efficient workers at the Narita Airport Tourism Office told me to visit the La Familia tablao. However, New Year is taken very seriously here, and a lot of businesses close their doors until the 4th of January. Ha! The Japanese know how to do things right!

But worry not. I’ll be traveling through the Land of the Rising Sun until January 17th, so I think I’ll have plenty of time to discover Japanese flamenco. In the meantime, if you have any suggestions regarding where to go or what to see or who you’d like to hear about, please email me at justine@flamencoexport.com.

-Justine Bayod Espoz