Japan’s Junko Hagiwara has made waves in Spain’s traditional flamenco scene by becoming the first foreigner to win the prize for best dancer at the country’s top flamenco festival. The 48-year-old, known on stage as “La Yunko,” was honored at the closing ceremony of August’s “Cante de las Minas” festival in La Union. The announcement was met with both applause and some dissent.

“I was incredibly surprised; I could hardly believe it,” Hagiwara told AFP from Seville, where she has lived for over 20 years. She admitted that the jeers went unnoticed because she was overwhelmed when her name was announced as the winner.

“When I dance, I don’t think about being a foreigner or being Japanese. I don’t consider that at all. I’m just on stage, listening to the guitar and singing, and expressing what I feel through my dance,” she explained. The “Cante de las Minas” festival, established in 1961, is renowned as one of the most prestigious annual flamenco festivals worldwide. It awards prizes in singing, guitar playing, and other musical performances, in addition to dance. Critics have universally praised Hagiwara.

“I preferred her over the other competitors for three reasons: her classical style, the fact that she danced sincerely rather than for show, and her solid training,” wrote flamenco critic Manuel Bohorquez in the online newspaper Sevilla Info.

Hagiwara’s fascination with flamenco began at age 14, when she saw a Spanish gymnast perform to flamenco guitar music. “I was captivated by the guitar’s sound, melody, and rhythm,” she said. Lacking internet access at the time, she borrowed the only flamenco CD available from a record shop. “It turned out to be just singing, without guitar,” she recalled, laughing about her initial disappointment.

She went on to study pedagogy at Waseda University in Tokyo, where she joined a flamenco club and took lessons. Feeling the need for a deeper immersion, she moved to Seville in 2002, despite her parents’ objections. “In Japan, you can learn technique and choreography, but flamenco is also a culture and a way of life,” she said. Her father was very upset and did not speak to her for three months, while her mother was deeply dismayed.

In Spain, Hagiwara devoted herself to flamenco, studying with top teachers, becoming fluent in Spanish, and marrying an Andalusian from Tarifa. She gradually established herself as a performer in Seville and has also taught flamenco. Initially, she was surprised by the animated way locals communicated. “I thought everyone was arguing!” she said. She also noted cultural differences: “In Japanese culture, we value hiding our feelings, but in flamenco, you need to express them. In Japan, it’s internal, but in flamenco, it’s external.- AFP