Every since I was a child, I've had a passive interest in Japan. I can't pinpoint where or why it started. Maybe because when I was young I thought ninjas were really cool. Or possibly, being a kid in the 80s and seeing those cool Japanese headbands that musicians made popular back then. No matter what planted the seed, Japan was on my radar.

In Prince's 1982 band for the album 1999, Dez Dickerson was rockin' the popular Japanese headband of the 80s.

In 2016 I finally took my first trip to the country. My hotel was in Kawasaki. I also spent a lot of time in Tokyo and Yokohama. Very quickly, that passive interest turned into an active one and I fell hard for the country and culture. Even with the anxiety of only knowing a handful of words, I felt comfortable. While still there on vacation, I got online and registered for Japanese classes at Edmonds Community College because I knew I would be back, and wanted to know more than konnichiwa and arigatou. After I returned home, I continued to learn more about the culture and share my journey with others. So I decided to put it all in one place, and call it Konnichiwa Seattle.

The inspiration for the future Konnichiwa Seattle Dance Company. From the movie Zatoichi (2003)