Sakura Tango Festival

SAKURA TANGO ENSEMBLE is a quartet formed especially for this festival of four promising musicians of the same generation who are expanding their activities in Buenos Aires, the United States, Europe and Japan.

Moeri Kobayashi

Sumire Hirotsuru

Toshitaka Ono

Natsuki Nishihara

Naoko Iwatsu (accordion), Taeko Akimoto (Piano), Aogu Tanimoto (violin)

Since its formation in Fukuoka in 1999, the group continues to thoroughly representing the dynamism and fun of Argentine tango. Every spring since 2002, they held the "Tango no Sekku" along with Tango dancers Kenji & Liliana, including performances in Japan. They performed at the “Tokyo Tango Festival 2012”, “Fukuoka Sakura Tango Festival 2014” (since then, they have performed every spring), “Shanghai International Tango Festival”, and “Nara Tango Festival” in 2015. In winter of the same year, they performed for the first time in Europe such as Luxembourg and Vienna and the fourth time in Buenos Aires, Argentina. They have been described as "A sense of air of Buenos Aires, the home of Tango,", "The unthinkable performance intensity of only 3 persons", and "The first band from Japan that makes you dance".

In 2019, they released the 7th CD "Trio Los Fandangos 7".

Received classical music education from an early age.
In 1997, after experiencing Carlos García’s performance, she has sympathized to the rhythm and sentimentalism of Argentine tango since then, and has devoted herself to tango performances.
In 2010, she studied in Argentina under Horacio Salgán.
Also received instruction from Raul Monti and Eduardo Malaguarnera.
Has done a Tango Duo with guitarist Leonardo Bravo in "TANGO ELEGANTE".
In 2012 and 2015, she performed concerts in South Korea.
In 2017, she performed in concerts held in Taiwan.
In 2004, she performed Chinese music at Carnegie Hall in New York with kokyu player Zhao Guo Liang and koto player Koushu.
Currently, she is active mainly in solo performances. Aiko is especially enthusiastic about playing the hidden masterpieces of Argentine tango.
Graduated from the Faculty of Music, Ferris University. Completed the diploma course at the same university.

Born in Mar del Plata, Argentina. He has been involved with Tiempo Iberoamericano´s project in Fukuoka, Japan since 2002.
He is a key-player in the development of tango in Fukuoka being undoubtedly the local main tango DJ for 15 years.
He is one of the organizers, producer and has played as DJ in Sakura Tango Festival since the first edition.

The floor where DJ TOMO plays always has a good atmosphere.
When asking Tomo what his secret to DJing is, he replied, "When I look at the floor, the air on that floor tells me which song to play next."
In 2002, he studied a number of domestic and foreign dances, including Argentine tango.
In 2003 he started DJing at Yokosuka's long-established Tango Club Manatee.
After that, he was first seen by a famous dancer and advanced to Tokyo, and thus began his nationwide popularity.
He mainly works in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Yokohama. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, he played more than 70 plays a year, and all the floors where he DJed lit up.
During these sad times of the pandemic, Tomo decided to go active online, planning and executing various projects including the "We can support project", "Esperanza", "Tecleando Virtual Milonga", etc., thus connecting Tango artists, organizers and Tango lovers. Moreover, he dedicated all profits raised in these projects to the artists. He has been working with the motivation and goal of preventing the decline of the tango culture during this pandemic period.
In addition to the above, Tomo is often invited to various events such as openings, anniversaries, and other special events.
In recent years, he has been active in "La Milonga" sponsored by JTFA, 2017-2019 Sakura Tango Festival, Tokyo Tango Festival, Kansai Tango Festival, etc.
One special event he participated in was the 2020 Mayday Virtual Milonga hosted by BsAs DNA online. Tomo has also served as the main DJ of many other events.
Needless to say, Tomo is the most extensive and recognized DJ in Japan today.
He is highly trusted by many professional dancers, and they say, "I want TOMO to create the sound of the performance."
The selection of songs is not limited to just the golden era, but includes a wide range of eras and many Orchestras. Music that are easy to dance are selected according to the atmosphere of the place.
He has a good reputation for how to play music , and it is often said that "his music play is different from other music plays that one usually hears because he leads one to hear sounds that one usually does not hear.”
He has fans in a wide range of ages and in many countries, especially from women.
The milonga he plays is never dismissed until the end.

Born in Yokohama and started Tango in Sapporo.
She has taken classes from a number of maestros at Cafetin de Buenosaire in Osaka and has studied under artists including Pablo & Noelia, Jorge Torres, Analia & Luiz, Gabriel Misse, Daniel & Cristina, Ernest Borgonovo, Ernesto & Paola, Roberto & Lam, Yuki & Dani. DJ Fukky started her work as a DJ at Milonga in Sapporo.
She learned piano and was initially attracted to classical music. Since then, she has totally fallen in love with Tango music and has been involved with dancing romantic selections of traditional music from the golden age of Tango. DJ Fukky currently works mainly in Osaka and Sapporo and has participated in this Sakura Tango Festival in both 2017 and 2018.

Started tango in 2008 while stationed in Europe. Due to his deep devotion to tango music, he started DJ activities after returning to Japan. He values music and selects a wide range of songs from the 1920s to current orchestras and plays the songs he wants to dance at the right time. Having over 10 years of DJ experience, he has had an average of over 150 DJs per year.

"Even from a distance, I can tell that is IKE’s work.", "Just listening to his music makes me happy." are some of the compliments from his DJ followers. In addition to his DJ activities, he also organizes events and distributes music videos so that more people can enjoy tango. In recognition of his contribution to the tango world during the corona outbreak, he won the 2022 FJTA Japan Tango Grand Prize in the DJ category.

Michel started DJing in 2019 and has had the opportunity to musicalize at various milongas in Tokyo (DobleA, RADA, Milonga De Paris, Caminito, Melodia, ...)
As a dancer himself, he always emphasizes music selection that makes everyone want to dance, and he balances the latest orchestras with classical ones.
When the venue allows it, he will use the screen to display information about the song currently playing (orchestra name, song title, singer, year of composition) and a video of famous dancers to accompany the song.
He has regular opportunities to travel to Europe and tries to bring back new ideas and trends from local milongas and festivals.

10 years of experience as a tango DJ, 20 years of experience as a milonguera. She actively participates as a regular DJ in several important milongas in Tokyo. Since 2017, she is the official DJ of the World Tango Championship in Asia and has a strong presence as one of the most prominent tango DJs in Japan. She has been invited as a DJ at many events of overseas such as Argentina, Europe and Asian countries.

Shinji has lived in Argentina for 5 years since 2009 and spent most of his time for Tango Guitar, Composition, Percussion and more. Later, he became a professional dancer. Currently, he is based in Tokyo as a dancer and teacher at Tango Sol, Nipponbashi. His unique workshops combined with music build global reputation, which are held in Italy, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia and many places. His selections with essence as a musician and dancer, his fans are all around the world. October 2013 DJ in La milonga "Divertango" in Buenos Aires. Since January 2015, in House DJ of "El Arrabal" Osaka April 2015, in "Milonga Arte" y "El Arrabal" in Roma, Italy. Since June 2015 in House DJ of "Tango Sol Nihonbashi”, January 2016 New Yeah Tango Festival in Taipei. September 2016 Ibiza Tango Festival in Espana.2017 korea intarnacional festival 2018 Manila tango festival , Tango paradise in Bali.In 2020, Shinji had been invited to the Singapore Tango Festival in New Zealand, but cancelled por COVID.I'm looking forward to interacting with you this year as a new start.

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, he began to dance tango in 1997. Among his most important teachers are Gabriel Angio and Natalia Games, Mingo and Esther Pugliese, Raúl Bravo, Néstor Ray, José Vázquez Lampazo, El Gallego Manolo, Vanina Bilous, Fernando Galera , Vilma Vega, Natalia Hills, Gabriel Misse, Petaca, Jorge Dispari and María del Carmen, Damian Esell and Nancy Louzan among others. Since 1999 he has been dedicated to the teaching of tango. In 2001 he settled in Japan where he has his own academy "El Porteño", and he is the organizer of one of the oldest milongas of that country (La Típica de Kitano) where he is also a DJ. In 2002 he starred in the tango documentary "Nosotros" along with other great dancers like Petaca and Hernán Álvarez Prieto. Since the fundation of the Tango Ensemble Coqueta has been performing as a principal dancer for 10 years, in his numerous concerts and shows.. He is also invited to teach in China and other Asian countries for 15 years. Lately he is tempted to teach and give demonstrations in various cities of Europe. He is also the organizer of major tango events and festivals in Japan.

• Argentine tango music lover, DJ and instructor since 2012
• Won a special award, DJ of The Year (2019) given by Korea Argentine Tango Association (KATA)
• Regular DJ and musicality instructor for IGNOX Argentine Tango Club
• Conducted lessons for Surya Amusement Tango (SAT) as a director.
• Regular DJ and instructor for Gurisi Argentine Tango Community, Beyond Age Tango (BAT)
• Selected brief experience of Tango DJing
Specially invited DJ for WeDance Festival hosted by Seoul City Foundation (Conducted joint DJing together with live milonga orchestra, Tierra Tango Band)
Special DJ and Co-Organizer for CITA Milonga
Specially invited DJ for Solo Tango Club Milonga
K-Pop Tango Music Video Celebration Milonga
Others:
Dulce Milonga, Bundang Silhouette Milonga, Jam’s Milonga, Noble Milonga, Ssom Milonga and so on.