Kids Web Japan

Kawamoto Nozomi

Kawamoto Nozomi belongs to a large family of nine people, including his mother, father, his paternal grandfather and grandmother, great aunt, a younger sister in kindergarten, and two older brothers, one a first-year middle school student and the other a fourth-year elementary school student. His father owns a construction company, and his mother runs a shop selling cosmetics. When Nozomi comes home, there are usually a lot of people in the house, including workers and clients from his father's company, and the atmosphere is always lively.

Nozomi has a big family

Nozomi playing catch with his brother

Nozomi, who is a second-grade elementary school student, began kagura two years ago. His maternal grandfather had performed kagura as well, and he had many grandchildren. Before he passed away, he said to Nozomi's mother, "I wish even one of my grandchildren would learn kagura." Soon after, Nozomi's oldest brother joined the newly formed Hongo Children's Kagura Troupe. Nozomi was too young to join, but his grandmothers made alterations to some old kimonos to make a kagura costume and accessories for him. All of his relatives wanted Nozomi and his brother to learn kagura. Young Nozomi enjoyed wearing the costume while watching videos of kagura, and when he started elementary school, he was able to enter a children's kagura troupe.

When he first joined the troupe, the other kids called him "Non-chan," and he was sometimes mistaken for a girl. Nozomi, however, is a very active boy who plays on the local softball team. At home in front of his house, he can be seen playing catch or jumping rope in the front yard; he always seems to be moving. He goes to the twice-a-week kagura rehearsals on his kickboard.

A kagura costume made by Nozomi's grandmother

After taking up kagura, Nozomi spent the first year as a hayashikata practicing playing the kodaiko and the chochigane. In his second year, he got to play the role of a god as a maikata. Though the dance is long, he says, "I like kagura better than playing softball." Nozomi was able to completely memorize the performance through one month's worth of practicing in the evenings. "Performing kagura, I get to go to different places for performances and receive stuff like balloons and pencil boards," he says. Asked what he would like to do in the future, he replies excitedly, "I'd like to play the role of the demon with the flashiest moves."