Originally Posted by
berner
This a somewhat off topic but here goes anyway. For whatever reason, some Japanese people have an affinity for Spanish flamenco music. This is very surprising because Japanese are restrained people and flamenco is just the opposite. The attraction is strong enough that a replica of a Spanish village (a theme park) has been built. There are also schools that teach Spanish and flamenco dance and guitar with many Spaniards or Gypsy instructors.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyorkfI1sXQ
As I said, Japanese people are highly disiplined except when they are not. For background, the form of dance the woman in the video is performing is called bulerias. It is a burlesque like form, sometimes even a bit raunchy, that mocks something. The movements can be awkward but express something Spaniards find necessary. Notice the very un-Japanese group hug at the end.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGIZvW2FkUk
Cool video! I didn't know that the Japanese had such an affinity for Flamenco but it certainly makes sense and probably flows out of the decades-long association that Japanese luthiers have had with the great guitar makers in Granada. It was to Granada (primarily) that the Japanese came to learn the art and craft back in the 1970s. Masaru Kohno learned in the shop of Arcángel Fernández (Madrid), and Yamaha Guitars sent workers to learn from Antonio Marín Montero (who is 85 and still building world-class guitars!).
Great stuff!