Earth Celebration Archive
TToshio Kawauchi (a.k.a. Hancho) was the founding leader of Kodo and the driving force behind launching Earth Celebration (EC). Hancho loved to travel. In Kodo’s early days in the 1980s, he was honing the concept of Kodo Village with the image of a harbor in mind—a home base that welcomes you back from your travels. The idea for this festival—EC—came to him as he thought about that vision. Hancho wrote:
“I want to invite the people we meet on our travels around the world and introduce them to the people on Sado Island. I want to introduce Kodo’s home, Sado, to people from all over Japan and around the globe.”
Kodo had always set sail from Sado to carry out its activities in far-off places. Hancho had a dream of creating a loop that would bring the encounters of those journeys back to the island. When I look back over its long history, EC has changed and evolved over the years, and it continues to do so. It truly feels like our festival—one that Kodo and Sado Island create and host together each year. This collaborative approach powers the event, and I think that is why it is still going strong. Today, Kodo’s wide-ranging activities take its performers in different directions, so EC has become a special time once a year when the entire Kodo group comes together to create something as a team. And we must not forget that this festival keeps going thanks to everyone who joins us each year to take part, and the supportive locals here on Sado Island who help us put on this event.
I invite you to explore the wonderful lineups that have formed EC’s rich history to date through this archive. We look forward to adding to this collection for many, many years to come.
Atsushi Sugano
Kodo Cultural Foundation Managing Director Earth Celebration Managing Director (1995–2022)
1988
AUG. 14 (SUN)–AUG. 21 (SUN)
Guest Artists: Seitaro Kuroda, Kenji Nakagami, Eiichi Arai (Japan); The Bow Gamelan Ensemble (UK); The Chinese Percussion Ensemble (China); Elvin Jones, Cecil McBee (USA); Yosuke Yamashita, Ryo Kawasaki (Japan); The Drummers of Burundi (Burundi); Yoshihiko Amino, historian (Japan); Shinichi Nakazawa, religious anthropologist (Japan); Junzo Kawada, cultural anthropologist (Japan); et al.
1989
AUG. 23 (WED)–AUG. 26 (SAT)
Guest Artists: SamulNori (Korea), Hamza El’Din (Sudan), Seitaro Kuroda, Toshinori Kondo (Japan), et al.
1990
AUG. 16 (THU)–AUG. 18 (SAT)
Guest Artists: Love, Joy & Peace Ensemble featuring Lecei Wright (USA); Terumasa Hino (Japan); Pung Cholam (India); Shiram Bharatiya Kala Kendra (India); Shuji Murasaki (Japan); Akitoshi Asano (Japan); Shun’ichi Majima (Japan); et al.
1991
AUG. 20 (TUE)–AUG. 22 (THU)
Guest Artists: Milton Cardona & Eyá Aranla (USA), Suar Agung (Indonesia), Aja Addy (Ghana), et al.
1992
AUG. 20 (THU)–AUG. 22 (SAT)
Guest Artists: Doudou N’Diaye Rose Percussion Orchestra (Senegal), Kazutoki Umezu (Japan), Aja Addy & Adjeley Mensah (Ghana), et al.
1993
AUG. 19 (THU)–AUG. 21 (SAT)
Guest Artists: Kangsadan (Thailand), Renegades Steel Drum Orchestra (Trinidad & Tobago), et al.
1994
AUG. 18 (THU)–AUG. 20 (SAT)
Guest Artists: Costa Caribe (Venezuela), Seoul Ka-mu-ak Performing Arts Company (Korea), et al.
1995
AUG. 17 (THU)–AUG. 19 (SAT)
Guest Artists: Bulgarian Voices Angelite (Bulgaria), Babatunde Olatunji (Nigeria), Toshio Sato (Japan), et al.
1996
AUG. 18 (SUN)–AUG. 24 (SAT)
Guest Artists: Dónal Lunny, Marie Brennan, Liam O’Maonlai, Sharon Shannon, Nollaig Casey (Ireland); Kiyohiko Senba, Kazutoki Umezu, Kazumi Watanabe, Kaori Kitsu, Shinichi Kinoshita, Kazunori Sato, Reichi, Kazuto Shimizu, Yoichi Okabe, Bakabon Suzuki, Kenji Suzumoto, Yoshiko Hosaka, Takefumi Kobayashi (Japan); Aja Addy (Ghana); et al.
1997
AUG. 20 (WED)–AUG. 23 (SAT)
Guest Artists: Dónal Lunny Special (Ireland); Renegades Steel Drum Orchestra (Trinidad and Tobago); Yosuke Yamashita, Katsumi Watanabe, Leonard Eto, Steve Eto, Hideo Yamaki (Japan); Suar Agung (Indonesia); Doudou N’diaye Rose Percussion Orchestra (Senegal); Aja Addy (Ghana); et al.
1998
MAY. 14 (THU)–MAY. 16 (SAT)
Guest Artists: Red Willow Dancers (U.S.A.); EPO, Shigeharu Sasago, Ryo Watanabe, Kazumi Watanabe (Japan); Marcos Suzano (Brazil); Hideaki Masago, Masami Endo (Japan); et al.
1999
AUG. 19 (THU)–AUG. 21 (SAT)
Guest Artists: Huun-Huur-Tu (Republic of Tuva), et al.
2000
AUG. 17 (THU)–AUG. 19 (SAT)
Guest Artists: Kazumi Watanabe and The Drumsco, Kazumi Watanabe (Japan); Jacky Micaelli (France); Shuichi ‘Ponta’ Murakami, Kozo Suganuma, Akira Jinbo, Tetsuo Sakurai (Japan); Kim Duk Soo’s SamulNori (Korea); et al.
2001
AUG. 16 (THU)–AUG. 18 (SAT)
Guest Artists: The Zakir Hussain TAAL Ensemble (India), et al.
2002
MAY. 9 (THU)–MAY. 11 (SAT)
Guest Artists: Vozes da Percussao (Brazil, Puerto Rico), et al.
2003
AUG. 21 (THU)–AUG. 23 (SAT)
Guest Artists: Badenya les Frères Coulibaly (Burkina Faso), et al.
2004
AUG. 19 (THU)–AUG. 21 (SAT)
Guest Artists: Fanfare Ciocarlia (Romania), et al.
2005
AUG. 18 (THU)–AUG. 20 (SAT)
Guest Artists: Carlos Núñez (Spain), Koji Kakinuma (Japan), et al.
2006
AUG. 17 (THU)–AUG. 19 (SAT)
Guest Artists: Tamango’s Urban Tap (USA), et al.
2007
AUG. 16 (THU)–AUG. 18 (SAT)
Guest Artists: Zakir Hussain, Dilshad Khan (India); Ryukyu Geino-dan, Yosuke Yamashita (Japan); Giovanni Hidalgo (Puerto Rico); Tamango (French Guiana/USA); Mio Matsuda (Japan); et al.
2008
AUG. 21 (THU)–AUG. 23 (SAT)
Guest Artists: Olodum (Brazil), et al.
2009
AUG. 15 (SAT)–AUG. 17 (MON)
Guest Artists: BLØF (Netherlands), et al.
2010
AUG. 19 (THU)–AUG. 21 (SAT)
Guest Artists: A Filetta (Corsica), et al.
2011
AUG. 18 (THU)–AUG. 20 (SAT)
Guest Artists: Ranaei Family (Iran), Konokai (Japan), et al.
2012
AUG. 16 (THU)–AUG. 18 (SAT)
Guest Artists: Hiromitsu Agatsuma (Japan), et al.
2013
AUG. 22 (THU)–AUG. 24 (SAT)
Guest Artists: Hiromitsu Agatsuma, Takuro Iga, Harei Aine (Japan), et al.
2014
AUG. 21 (THU)–AUG. 23 (SAT)
Guest Artists: BLUE TOKYO, DAZZLE, Tetsuya Kajiwara (Japan), et al.
2015
AUG. 20 (THU)–AUG. 22 (SAT)
Guest Artists: Leonard Eto (Japan), Suar Agung (Bali, Indonesia), et al.
2016
AUG. 25 (THU)–AUG. 27 (SAT)
Guest Artists: Bac Ha Traditional Music and Performing Arts Ensemble (Vietnam), et al.
2017
AUG. 17 (THU)–AUG. 19 (SAT)
Guest Artists: BRAHMAN, Tetsuya Kajiwara, EIJI SUZUKI (Japan); Drums & Voices (Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand, Japan), Masakatsu Takagi “Yama Emi” (Japan); et al.
2018
AUG. 16 (THU)–AUG. 18 (SAT)
Guest Artists: PInO, TATSUO (Japan); Tatsuya Hasegawa, Shinji Arai (Japan, DAZZLE); Takaya Sato, Haruki Matsuda, Yusuke Ishii (Japan, BLUE TOKYO); Michael Schack (Belgium, Roland); Chitose Hajime, Anna Sato, Arisu Sato, Dr.kyOn (Japan), et al.
2019
AUG. 15 (THU)–AUG. 17 (SAT)
Guest Artists: Kim Duk-Soo SamulNori (Korea), YPY (Japan, Koshiro Hino), et al.
2020
AUG. 20 (THU)–AUG. 22 (SAT)
Guest Artists: Red Willow Dancers (USA); Marcos Suzano (Brazil); Carlos Nuñez (Spain); BLØF (Netherlands); PInO, TATSUO; Tatsuya Hasegawa, Shinji Arai (Japan, DAZZLE); Takaya Sato, Haruki Matsuda, Yusuke Ishii (Japan, BLUE TOKYO); Michael Schack (Belgium) All artists appeared in video collaborations with Kodo
2021
AUG. 20 (FRI)–AUG. 21 (SAT)
Guest Artists: Miyake-jima Geino Doshi-kai, Shuichi Hidano, Issai (Japan), et al.
2022
AUG. 18 (THU)–AUG. 20 (SAT)
Guest Artists: MIYAVI, Hiromitsu Agatsuma (Japan), et al.
2023
AUG. 17 (THU)–AUG. 19 (SAT)
Guest Artists: Shuta Hasunuma, Manami Kakudo (Japan); The Voices of South Africa (South Africa); et al.
2024
AUG. 15 (THU)–AUG. 17 (SAT)
Guest Artists: NAKIBEMBE EMBAIRE GROUP (Uganda); Hiroyuki Hayashida, Ryutaro Kaneko, Yasukazu Kano, Masayuki Sakamoto (Japan); et al.
2025
AUG. 21 (THU)–AUG. 23 (SAT)
Guest Artists: Aly Ndiaye Rose (Senegal); Ben Aylon (Israel); Baye Dame Bou Yaye (Senegal); Choi Jaechol (3rd generation Zainichi Korean—Korean living in Japan); Dourfal Ndiaye Rose (Senegal); el tempo (Japan); et al.