Seventeen-year-old Nozomu Yamada, a student of Konko Gakuen High School* played the Bitchu-Kagura, (the sacred music and dance performed during festive events at Japanese shrines) at the Rain Forest Station in Kuranda of Cairns during a school excursion.
Mr. Yamada had proposed this plan based on his desire to show the art of his native home district to the Australian people. The result was the realization of a cultural exchange between the Bitchu- Kagura and the Aborigines' dance.
By the end of his performance, two hundred people in the audience, including Aborigines, were gradually drawn to his brave dance, and heartily applauded, saying it was "wonderful!"
Mr. Yamada said, "I am very proud that the Kagura was being applauded by so many people despite the difference of countries. I wish to continue playing the Kagura in the future." As he danced the Kagura with pride in a foreign country, it seems other students felt respect for him and realized how splendid it is to have such self-confidence.

*Konko Gakuen High School is a private junior and senior high school established in Okayama Prefecture based on the teachings of Konko Faith.

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