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BePU started with an idea: people from all around the world can connect with each other through dancing and music. With their musical experience, the group’s members felt they could communicate beyond borders with the world language that is music and dance.

Members include international and domestic students with an interest in music and dance that they all want to enjoy together. Inspired to connect APU with Beppu locals, the group created the Music and Dance Festival featuring 3 players of the Tsugaru-jamisen, a special kind of shamisen, a Japanese string instrument.

Music and Dance Festival

The organizers didn’t want to just show the music to the world, they wanted an event that showcased the local people dancing together. They developed an event to be remembered, one that included something that everyone could enjoy. The group made a song that everyone could dance to and enjoy, and practiced the performance to bring the music from the stage to the local people.
But not everything goes as planned. Sometimes plans hit red lights: the expected people do not show up to an event, even when you’ve booked the venue. But the main event at the Tenku Festival is right around the corner, and we can’t wait to see what they have planned.

Shamisen Session

At a performance in December, a group including an alumna and a current APU student will come together to show off the spectacular abilities and peculiarities of the shamisen to the APU community. This is an excellent opportunity to see the similarities between the Tsugaru-jamisen and other stringed instruments from around the world. At the session, Keisho Ohno, Toshie Suzuki ’09, and APU student Daiki Takano will discuss the beauty of the shamisen. There’s still 2 more months before the December 11 event, and we’ll be sure to report on this unique musical experience.