Touyoukoi - bringing smiles through every dance

Touyoukoi – Oriental Carp

When it was first established around February 2009, the yosakoi team of the Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Social Sciences and Humanities was called the Oriental Yosakoi Team - Humanities. However, when the team members were no longer limited to the Faculty but expanded to include students from other faculties, or even other schools, this name was no longer suitable. Therefore, since 2011, the team has changed its name toTouyoukoi(in which)Touyoumeans East, andkoican be understood as both carp (鯉) and love (恋). Explaining the choice of this name, H. Linh, a member of the team, from the Oriental Studies department, said: “Our team uses carp as a symbol with the meaning of “carp turning into dragon”, hoping that the team will develop and improve more and more. As for the second meaning, it is our love for yosakoi dance as well as for each other and for everyone.”

Touyoukoi was founded and managed by Mr. Pham Hoang Hung - a Japanese lecturer at the Faculty. He invited seniors with "experience" in yosakoi to teach the team to participate in the Cherry Blossom Festival (Sakura Matsuri) held in April 2009. The dance named Nana marked the first year the team participated in the festival.

In the following years 2010, 2012, 2014 the team participated in the Cherry Blossom Festival. Each year the team brought a new performance, the number and quality of members were increasingly improved. Most notably, in the 2015 festival, Touyoukoi was more complete than previous years when the performance was supplemented with flags and lights, contributing significantly to the success of the performance.

Touyoukoi at the 2015 Cherry Blossom Festival. (Photo: Touyoukoi)

Just "want and passion"

Currently, Touyoukoi has about 20 members, both male and female. However, the number of male members is only a few. When I asked whether this difference in the number of men and women is the model of a traditional yosakoi team, Linh laughed:“Yosakoi does not have any special requirements in any aspect, not just gender. In fact, almost anyone who wants and is passionate can come to yosakoi. But I don't know if it's because the boys are shy or because they see too many girls in the team and think the team is only for girls, so the number of men in the team is a bit modest, but we also expect many more men to appear."

With a high sense of teamwork, almost all Touyoukoi activities involve all team members. Members often watch Japanese yosakoi teams perform, collect the songs they like, discuss and choose the most suitable one. After that, the team leader will have the task of contacting the Japanese team to request copyright for the performance, and at the same time learn the movements to teach the whole team. Team members also help each other, the fast learners teach the slow learners to create uniformity among members, while saving practice time.

Normally, the team maintains 2 practice sessions per week, however, when the “festival season” comes, the team will practice a few more sessions, sometimes even a whole week. During peak times, the team practices until 8pm every day. Practice times are agreed upon by all members to suit each person’s schedule.

Current members of the team. (Photo: Touyoukoi)

Difficulties and Team Spirit

As a free club, Touyoukoi has encountered many difficulties, especially in financial matters. The team fund (used to pay for performance costumes, accessories, etc.) is mostly contributed by members, and partly thanks to the "compensation" the team receives when performing at festivals and events. Touyoukoi performs at almost all the festivals it is invited to. These are usually Vietnam - Japan cultural exchange festivals. The biggest festival every year is the Cherry Blossom Festival held around March - April. Besides that, there are smaller-scale festivals, held throughout the year at many different locations. Occasionally, the team also accepts to perform for some events of the School, Faculty or some other side events.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Dung, K53, Faculty of Oriental Studies, one of the first members of the club, recalled: “In the beginning, the club had a lot of difficulties, and the teachers lent us clothes. In the second season, the club received a little bit of money to dry clean and iron. But it was really fun back then and we didn’t think about anything but team spirit. Fun and trying together.”

The second difficulty that you guys encountered was the problem of arranging time. Since almost all the members of the team were students, and some members were working, it was quite difficult to arrange a common time frame for everyone to meet and practice together. Despite the difficulties, the members of Touyoukoi united together to overcome them.

Not just a club, it's the best memories of student life

Coming to yosakoi, Linh not only gets to practice physical strength and relieve stress after stressful study hours, but also learns how to always keep a smile on her face. She also added: “I also learn how to work in a group, learn how to balance between studying and practicing, and be more responsible for myself and others.” For Japanese students like Linh, club activities are also study hours outside the classroom. Through dance, they “absorb” Japanese culture more deeply and become more attached to their major.

Talking about her most memorable memory with the team, Ms. Dung shared: “It was on the last night of the Cherry Blossom Festival in 2010. It was raining heavily but everyone still danced together. Sweat, tears of happiness, the spirit of friendship and camaraderie all blended together. That was one of the most beautiful memories of my student life.”

Perhaps, for the members of Touyoukoi, this club is no longer just a club but has become their family. Talking about her team, Linh could not hide her pride: “Every festival season, I love the team more, seeing the results of the team's training, I am really happy. Every time I see the team's photos or performance clips, I feel very proud to be a part of this wonderful group.”