Born in Japan in 1939, Shoji Kojima is the example that flamenco is indeed a World Heritage Site. His life has been fully dedicated to flamenco and his love for this art has been rewarded by the public, critics and numerous awards.
Shoji Kojima dejó todo por el flamenco.
As a young man, he saw a performance by Pilar López Júlvez and Antonio Gades while they were touring Japan. It changed his life. He was fascinated by flamenco and decided to leave his home in Tokushima to enter this world that had conquered him forever. A tireless worker, ambassador between Spain and Japan, in love with and grateful to Jerez, he is a flamenco artist in his own right, just as he had dreamed.
An intense career
The Japanese-born dancer studied vocal, piano and classical ballet, because he originally wanted to be an opera singer. He studied flamenco in Arte de Musashino Academia Musicae. He was always determined to become a flamenco dancer, so in 1966 he set out on a journey to Spain with the Trans-Siberian to achieve his goal. He started at the Amor de Dios school in Madrid. Two years later, he became first dancer in the company of the flamenco singer Rafael Farina.
He was a member of the Spanish National Ballet in 1967. He became even better known thanks to his participation in the programme Estudio Abierto on Spanish television in 1970. Three years later, she danced for the princes of Japan in the Alcázar of Seville at a reception organised by the Spanish Royal House.
Returns to Japan after a decade in Spain in 1976. In his native country, he founded his own studio in 1980 and since then he has premiered his own show almost every year. He has counted on the experience of Chicuelo as musical director of his productions.
His connection with Spain is still latent and he has performed on numerous occasions at events such as the Festival de Jerez and the Bienal de Flamenco de Sevilla. A recent show is LorcaxBach, with Javier Latorre as musical director. It is a dreamlike biography of Lorca with music by Bach, two of Kojima’s cultural icons.
In 2023, as part of the XXVII Festival de Jerez, he makes his world premiere, Toda una vida. With this show, the Japanese dancer takes us on a generational and geographical journey in which, as an eyewitness and master of ceremonies, he accompanies us through the dance of four different generations.