Popular and Unpopular Music From Around the World (Visit homepage.)

November 16, 2019:
Bentenya: All-Women's Chindon Street Band From Japan


Listen to this show: MP3 - 128K |  Pop‑up player! | Add or read comments

Chindon is a uniquely Japanese street music tradition. It began over 150 years ago when shopkeepers started hiring musicians to march through the streets to promote their shops.

Ubiquitous in mid-20th-century Japan, it's now less common, but groups like Nagoya's vibrant - and very colorful - all-female chindon outfit Bentenya carry on the tradition.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Bentenya's website with tons of images: https://bentenya.jp/en

Like (love) Bentenya on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bentenya

Check out their blog with great photos from their trip to New York: https://ameblo.jp/bentenya/

Every year Bentenya presents a gala concert / event in their home city of Nagoya, Japan. You can see videos from the 2019 event here and from 2018 here, and more videos of Bentenya's annual shows in Japan and more from Hoshino1625 on YouTube here.

Bentenya also has their own page on YouTube with highlights from their international travels - including footage of Bentenya live on the pier at Exchange Place in Jersey City! - and much more, here.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Images of Bentenya in NYC and NJ by Makoto Matsuo and Niklas Moller. Huge thanks to Hiroshi Kono of Mar Creation - http://marcreation.com/ - for bringing Bentenya to the US and to WFMU! And of course massive thanks to our illustrious engineer, Irene Trudel.