FUNDED: Support Cross Beat 2026 : Japanese Instrument X Yosakoi Soran Dance

This Summer, the Kids Take the Stage

Furano is a small town in central Hokkaido. To outsiders, it’s known for ski slopes and lavender fields. Behind the postcards, it has the same quiet problem as small towns across rural Japan: an aging population, a shrinking school-age cohort, and young people who grow up sensing that the future lives somewhere else.

This is our sixth crowdfunding campaign, and like the ones before it, it’s part of a long-running effort to invest in the town’s young people, along with our food security initiatives. Last year, we arranged for kids to stay at an Airbnb in town so they could experience the festival from a new viewpoint, as participants rather than spectators. This year, we want to go further.

This summer, we’re trying something new. Cross Beat 2026 is a collaboration between FURAPERA, NPO Miraito, and the Furano Wagakki Band, built around Heso Matsuri, Furano’s signature festival, held this year on July 28 and 29. It comes in two parts. First, the Furano Wagakki Band, a live ensemble of Japanese traditional instruments, taiko, shamisen, and shinobue, performs on the festival’s main stage. Second, we enter a team of up to a hundred local elementary, middle, and high school students into the Heso Odori, the festival’s parade and dance competition. Our team brings Sapporo-style yosakoi soran and naruko clappers into the parade, in full costume, and we hope to weave in the band’s traditional instruments too.

This isn’t a performance kids watch from behind a barrier. It’s the kind they lead. The instruments are decades old. The kids are the ones who’ll carry them next.

Everything for the kids is free: costumes, naruko, instructors, training, and the stage itself. The only thing they have to bring is themselves. We’ve kept the rehearsal commitment light. Most of the learning happens at home with short instructional videos, with just three in-person sessions before the show. We want every kid who wants to be on that stage to be on it, regardless of whether their family has the time or money for a year-round program.

What your donation pays for

+ Costumes and naruko clappers for every performer
+ Music support and performance-related costs
+ Travel support for kids from surrounding rural areas who want to take part

This event isn’t just a performance. It’s a quiet rejection of the story small towns tell themselves about their own future. The kids onstage this summer are the same kids who’ll decide, a few years from now, whether Furano is a place they stay or leave. If we want them to stay, the easiest place to start is by letting them be the ones the town gathers to watch.

We’d love to have you with us, in spirit, in money, in the shared belief that the festivals worth holding are the ones with the next generation at the center.

Thank you for visiting my fundraising page. I hope you’ll support the cause. Donating is simple and secure, and the money goes directly to Tokutei Hieiri Katsudou Houjin Miraito.