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Todoroki Stuttgart (轟シュトットガルト) was founded in December 2014 by Miyuki Kitano and friends. They attended a yosakoi workshop that did the 'Nanchuu Soran Bushi' dance held by Emiko Tanaka in Germany. Then they decided to start their own yosakoi team in Stuttgart. They grew from five people to around 15 people currently. They want to dance yosakoi and show other people Japanese culture, so anyone is welcome to join!

轟 literally translates to ‘roar’ (轟く= todoroku = to roar). "Todoroki stands for the fact that through the dance the Japanese culture spreads out into the world and pulsates," explained Ayana, "...furthermore, Stuttgart is the city of the automobile, which was another reason for the name choice."

その名の通り日本の文化が広く知れ渡る、世界にはばたけ・轟け！という意味、そしてもう１つ、ここStuttgart「車の街」ならではのイメージで名付けました！

(Photo credits: Todoroki Stuttgart)

One of their members, Nahoko, was fortunate to go to Kochi in 2018 and performed in the festival there. She returned to her team in Germany bringing many photos and videos. That inspired the other members to go to Kochi as well as to meet other yosakoi teams! However, most of their members are students, it is not easy for them to afford the journey.

Marina added: "We want to make our own experience of a real Yosakoi Festival in Japan." To add to this, Todoroki Stuttgart only performed on stage thus far, not in a parade like most teams in Kochi Yosakoi Festival. In my observation, most teams outside of Japan also experience the same.

You can visit their Facebook page, Instagram, and YouTube channel

Special thanks to Marina, Ayana, and Miyuki for providing me the information in this post!

// Daniel