The project to build a bridge between Japan and foreign countries with communication through music and beyond languages. 

We invite young adults living other countries to Japan, and interacting with them and performing together! Finally, we will be real friends and real family.

Why ONIGIRI Friends project? 

Onigiri is one of the most famous Japanese foods, which is popular in Japan and it has become popular worldwide. Onigiri is a rice ball, normally formed into triangular shapes and often wrapped in nori (seaweed) and stuffed with a variety of ingredients and flavors. There is no answer of which shapes you make or of which flavor is the best. You can make your Onigiri as you like.

So this project is like Onigiri. You can put any ideas or any effort as you like in this project.

And also every single cast members have different opinions, different skin colors, different languages, different back grounds....like shapes and ingredients of Onigiri.

Even we have many differences, we can be a family, friends!

We can make something good as a team.

We can make impact of the world together.

The goal of the World Onigiri Friends Project is to acknowledge a sense of individuality, as each ingredient is equal in value.  

Hello, I’m Yuka.

I participated in Up with People (UWP) in 2016. Through traveling around the world, I had lots of opportunities to connect with many people and to learn many things I didn’t know, which really inspired me and open my world. 

It doesn’t matter what languages we speak to understand each other and to connect our hearts. Music has a big power and makes us smile. World history, problems, prejudice, discrimination…there are a lot of things I had never faced in my country. If I hadn’t had a chance to travel in UWP, I wouldn’t have experienced them. 

Therefore, I got a thought that possibilities of our daily lives and way of living which we have never questioned, these could be a big chance for people from other countries to realize other cultures and to open their world.

In UWP, I met wonderful host families and spent time together. It was really nice to stay with them to feel their life and culture more real rather than staying at hotels. While staying with them, there were not only good things but also a lot of challenges for me. For example, sometimes I was confused about the difference in food. On the other hand, I felt happy when communicating with them through dance and music beyond our languages. I became not afraid of the existence of “difference”, rather I enjoyed it. 

Even now I came back to Japan, I feel connected with host families all over the world. When I heard the name of the country, their face came to my mind. It is such a nice connection and hoping to connect you and me as well. 

Everything that I saw, felt and thought in Up with People shaped this World Onigiri Friends Project. I’m really excited about meeting new participants. They will meet wonderful people I’ve ever met in my life for 27 years, and it wouldn’t be nicer if they make connections and it leads to their future!

Exchange through music and culture

Experience Japan with locals

Create something new and produce something good

Know Japan more

Connect with Japanese people like a family

Help Japanese to understand the different cultures

Make oppotunities to touch the world

Remember the time of Up with People by participating in this project and make it useful in future life

Common Beat is the Non-Profit Organization in Japan aiming at a society which accepts diverse values by expressive activities, being oneself, and increasing individuals to live positively.

Their message is “Harmony and Uniqueness” through musical “A Common Beat” which had played as a show of Up With People from 1999 to 2000.  They will celebrate their 15^th anniversary in 2019.