Learning to Express the Human Heart with a Single Fan and a Single Body in Japanese <i>Kamigatamai</i> Tradition

Abstract This research focuses on the embodied transmission of kamigatamai —a traditional dance genre in Japan known for its subtle minimalist movements that put an emphasis on the inner expression of the practitioners. Primarily based on the researcher’s fieldwork from 2022 to 2023 at the regular classes given by Kyoto-based master Nao Yoshimura, it investigates kamigatamai as a manifestation of the Japanese aesthetic concepts of ma / yohaku —deliberate nothingness created within/via an artwork (emptiness, stillness, silence) so that a clearance is created for the potential emanation of profound senses/meanings—and kokoro —a state of spontaneous becoming experienced via oneness with all.