Japanese street performers brought traditional circus skills to Glasgow recently for a performance to mark the end of a three-month long exhibition celebrating links between Japan and the UK.

Yusuke Ito and Senwaka exhibited their dynamic and artful techniques as they demonstrated some fine examples of Japanese cultural heritage with a performance of Kendama (cup-and-ball) and Edo-Daikagura (traditional circus skills).Senwaka displays the art of Edo-Daikagura.

Yusuke is one of the most skilled Kendama masters in Japan, learning at the age of seven and becoming the first professional Kendama performer in the world, while Senwaka has been studying the skills and art of Edo-Daikagura since 1998 as part of the Maruichi Senoh Troupe in Tokyo.

The men performed in the University Chapel on Sunday 30 August in a show which formally closed the Friendship Beyond Boundaries celebrations at the University, which saw His Excellency Shin Ebihara, Japanese ambassador to the UK, open an exhibition of photographs in the Chapel organised by the Japanese Residents Association.

A panel discussion on social inclusion attended by Prof Tohru Ifukube and Dr Satoko Nakano from University of Tokyo, and an audio-visual presentation celebrating the 30th anniversary of Sony Taiyo, a company in Japan where more than 60% of the employees are disabled, also featured as part of the celebrations.

For more information contact Stuart Forsyth in the University of Glasgow Media Relations Office on 0141 330 4831 or email s.forsyth@admin.gla.ac.uk

First published: 18 August 2009

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