Hideo

Hideo Sekino was born in Tokyo, Japan. After learning different styles of shakuhachi playing, in 1986 he joined the Komuso Kenkyu-kai (monks of emptiness), a research organization on Komuso monks and their shakuhachi music. He has been performing honkyoku pieces since then in both Japan and the United States. Besides his involvement in the tradition of Komuso music, he has been active in collaboration with performing arts such as Modern Dance, Butoh, Flamenco and Noh dances.

Eon Allum

Eon Allum (they/them) is a queer Asian American dance artist and filmmaker born and raised in San Diego, California. They trained at the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts and are now working towards their BFA in dance at the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University. They incorporate various dance forms into their movement language including hip hop, contact improv, and modern, and are recognized for their fluid and intricate style. They have a love for improvisation and spontaneous composition of stories through movement. They have performed in works by Sorah Yang, Ihsan Rustem, Alex Ketley, and David Dorfman, and have been invited to perform their own works in the American College Dance Association's Mid-Atlantic North Regional Conference in 2022 and 2025 as well as present their dance films there in 2023 and 2024.

FunDad

FunDad is Showa-born, Heisei-grown and Reiwa-weary, playing Japanese tunes that span the gamut between pop and rock. He’s performed in Baltimore since 2012, founding Nippon Motion (a monthly music event: 2012-2014), Deli Fantasy (2015-2017) and A Night of Japanese New Wave & Obscure (2017-2019).

Peaceful Forest

Peaceful Forest is a family taiko drumming group led by Takumi Kato, a Japanese taiko drummer who serves as a Gifu Prefecture Tourism Ambassador and Honorary Director of the Tokiwaza Theater. Kato and his family perform together under the name Peaceful Forest, using the powerful yet warm sound of taiko to share Japanese culture, emphasize the importance of human connection, and promote the value of peace.

Since 2022, the group has been traveling and performing across the United States with the ambitious goal of completing 1,000 performances in all 50 states. As of now, they have completed over 400 performances in 32 states.

Takumi Kato's passion for taiko was recognized internationally when he received the Grand Prize in the taiko category at the International Taiko Competition in 2008—an achievement that continues to inspire the group’s cultural outreach.

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Vendor:

Matcha Time Gift Shop

A Japanese own gift shop at Historical Ellicott City, since 2012.