Nearly 60 years before the photo above was taken, a American C.I.A. agent; Winston P. Niblo shared the largely European/American activity of square dancing with a Japanese community in the US-occupied nation of Japan immediately following the end of WWII. Times were terrible, tensions were high, and somehow Mr.Niblo knew just the thing to help the Japanese citizens again feel some sense of community and build a simple bond with occupying Americans. As amazing as this fact is, the fact that Japan —60 years later—now has nearly two million registered square dancers—is staggering.
GSI began travelling to Japan in the first part of the new millennium and found lifelong friends.
If you missed the feature story published in Square Dancing Today News in 2010, you really must download the full feature and read it for yourself. We’ve condensed the feature to just the 7 pages for a handy, yet fascinating quick read. Just click the cover down below to read the feature.
You will see more of our interaction with GSI Japan and others across the nation of Japan. Sharing our successes together will make the activity stronger—and yield many, many international friendships.
This year Japan celebrates 50 years of organized square dancing with a super-scale event in Tokyo. Click on the following links for information!
General Convention Information and Dancer and Dance Leader Preregistration Form
Dance with the Ghost Riders!