Day 1: Grand Hama Morris at Beer1 Grandprix Festival

Today marked the first day of the Performing Englishness in Japan project—and my first full day in Tokyo! I spent it—ever so aptly—at a beer festival in Kinshicho, with Grand Hama Morris.

Somewhat implausibly for a morris dancer, I have attended relatively few beer festivals in my life to date. Despite this, my (limited) experience recalls summer evenings in a pub garden, under a marquee in the shadow of a brewery and once, in Delft, by the side of a canal. Today’s event, at the Sumida Industry Hall stands apart from these open-air occasions in that it took place atop a sprawling department store, Marui (think Debenhams or House of Fraser in the UK) in Kinshicho, one of the largest commercial districts east of Ueno. A vast, brightly lit auditorium lined with tables selling merchandise and snacks—with a bar at the centre—shoppers on the floors below could have had little idea of the cheerful Bacchanal happening a short distance above their heads! All-inclusive passes offered visitors a ‘bottomless’ glass for the four-hour duration of the festival and there were more than 80 beers available for the tasting from breweries across Japan.

Being a bit of a philistine when it comes to beer (I prefer a nice cool Sauvignon Blanc, if I’m honest)—and of course, as a dedicated researcher—I was in attendance first and foremost to see the morris dancing! Grand Hama Morris are based in Yokohama and specialise in the Cotswold style of morris performance. A recently-formed team who are already very recognisable to many UK-based morris dancers because of their striking red and green costumes and active social media profile (see https://www.facebook.com/groups/hamamorris/), co-founder, Maki Koizumi explained that the idea for Grand Hama Morris emerged in 2015 after watching Hammersmith Morris Men during a visit to Sidmouth Folk Week (https://sidmouthfolkweek.co.uk): ‘We asked the members, “can we found a morris team in Japan?”; they said, ‘no problem, do it!’. The group started with the Koizumi family; Maki and daughter, Tomo, dance, and husband, Masayoshi plays the melodeon, but is now seven members strong and demonstrates an enviable knowledge of morris traditions and as well as an ace set of tunes in the Anglo-Irish vernacular.

[Maki and Masayoshi]

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Here are some photographs that I took over the course of the afternoon...

I even had the opportunity to join the team for one of my favourite dances, ‘Valentine’, from the Fieldtown repertoire. There were a couple of pesky stylistic differences in the choreography compared to the version performed by my own side, Waters Green Morris from Macclesfield, but after a quick run-through backstage, I hope I gave an adequate account of myself. It was such a pleasure and an honour to be invited to dance. (I made the hankies myself!).

Nobody could say that Grand Hama didn’t offer excellent value for money at the festival. After a gruelling programme of six highly energetic dances—performed without a break—the members then assembled on the stage, picked up their instruments and played a lively forty minute set. Each member of Grand Hama Morris performs at least one instrument, including fiddles, melodeons and a concertina. It felt just like being back at home in the Waters Green Tavern!

In addition to Grand Hama Morris, the festival was also attended by the Kinshicho mascot, Kinburi, who struck me as looking like a South Park creation, but apparently is supposed to be a detective (note the Sherlock Holmes cape and deer stalker, although I’m not sure why he’s only wearing underpants).

[Kinburi and friends] 

Finally, and in contradistinction to my 'Performing Englishness in Japan' theme, the final act of the day was Gareth Burns, a wonderful shamisen player originally from the US, who now runs the Be Easy Brewery in Aomori (see: http://m.beeasybrewing.com).  

All in all, it was an excellent day. I will be visiting Grand Hama again later on during my travels, attending a team practice in Yokohama and can't wait to get to know the dancers better. Watch this space for more details!