UTANOWA
UTANOWA began operating in May 2022 as a platform for people to get together and connect through song. Based in Momotose, a traditional “kominka” Japanese house in Higashimurayama, the project centers around Higashimurayama residents and artists Arisa Yokote and　Kazuya Zenzai.
The project offers participatory live music events and song workshops with the aim of enabling participants, principally local residents, to create and enjoy music and the arts together, and to create new connections.
Informed by the way song was a part of people’s lives in the past, UTANOWA’s activities enable people to become familiar with songs in a fun way through a wide repertoire of songs including a variety of local folk songs, work songs, warabe-uta nursery rhymes, original choral works and more.
Another feature of the UTANOWA project is that anyone can come and go as they please, regardless of age or gender. Project organizers hope to carry on widening people’s social circles through song, revitalizing culture and community.