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Just as breakdancing was in the spotlight at this summer’s Olympics in Paris, Japan’s dance scene is now shining brighter.
In June, Kadokawa Dreams won their second consecutive title in the 2023-24 season of the D.League professional dance championship.
After years spent in obscurity, this diamond in the rough team is aiming for the 2024-25 season to become its third consecutive championship.
The D.League is a professional league established in 2021 to develop and popularize street dance, among other forms, in Japan.
The contestants perform on a stage where they can combine entertainment, art and competition. The performances, mainly street dances, are scored on a point system.
The 24-25 season kicked off in Tokyo on Oct. 13. Fourteen teams, including List::XX which joined the league this season, are competing in 14 rounds of regular season matches, with the six highest-scoring teams advancing to the championship.
Powerhouse Kose 8Rocks has recruited Shigekix, who made a name for himself in the men’s breaking at the Paris Olympics.
Major publisher Kadokawa Corp. owns Kadokawa Dreams, which was established in 2020.
In 2021, the team established a base in Nakahara Ward, Kawasaki, and started participating from the league’s first year. However, because the members were relative unknowns, they were unable to get as much of the audience vote as more popular teams. In its first two seasons, the team narrowly missed getting a spot in the championship battle.
However, in the 22-23 season, the team made great strides, with all members becoming great at skills like acrobatics. They have also continued to grow their fan base through activities including local cleanup campaigns and dance lessons for children.
The team currently has 33 members from across the country, many in their teens and 20s, who make a living through dance.
The pieces they perform in the D.League are all original, including the music, choreography and costumes. Each member has their own specialty and unique style, such as hip-hop, breaking, ballet, Afro dance and others. Minami, for example, is an all-rounder who handles a lot of the choreography and composition, and Satsuki is a genius performer who specializes in doing the robot.
Looking back on last season
The Yomiuri Shimbun Kadokawa Dreams Director Keita, right, and Leader Kisa. Keita, or Keita Tanaka, began dancing on his own in his first year of junior high school, and he was in charge of choreographing dances for the singer Misia when he was 23. He was a dancer for the band Dreams Come True for many years.
Kadokawa Dream Director Keita and Leader Kisa shared their thoughts on their back-to-back wins and the upcoming competitions in an interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun ahead of the new season.
Kisa: At first, it was hard to get the results [we were looking for] even though our ranking was good [compared to our opponents]. In Round 8 and Round 9, we were able to show our strengths in hip-hop and Afro dance. In Round 14 [the final preliminary round] we were on the verge of being unable to progress to the championship battle.
Keita: To be honest, it was really hard. The judges and the members of the other teams had changed so much, we felt like we were playing a different game. We had to use all our physical and artistic skills.
The Yomiuri Shimbun: Kisa, you took over the leadership position from Ryo, and as the new leader you had to fight, didn’t you?
Kisa: I felt that everyone was pushing me to do my best. My hope was that I could bring the members together by respecting their opinions.
Yomiuri: Which performance left the biggest impression on you?
Keita: “Gift”— a performance we did in the opening round. The lyrics said, “Once you climb the 12 steps, you’ll get a gift.” The gift here means the prize you get at the top of the stairs after beating 12 teams. It’s a moment like the “zone” that marathon runners enter, which suddenly comes just when they think they can’t go on. That moment came when we tried our own style of hip-hop for Round 14, the final.
Kisa: In Round 2, I was surprised, then thrilled by the piano piece. But it was difficult to coordinate the timing of the movements and synchronize our feelings. Satsuki was unable to move his legs after having had surgery, so he spun a box in the middle of the stage. We were able to sweep [the votes] by creating a rare combination of music and perspective on the world of dance.
Yomiuri: What are your goals for the new season and what are you excited about?
Keita: Soon after we won our second consecutive championship, I told the members that we were all outdated already. We needed to reinvent ourselves. We needed encouragement to create different music, costumes and dances, to expand our range of expression.
Kisa: In Vietnam and Indonesia this summer, I felt the strong energy and power of the people and the cities. I want to take the impressions of Japan as seen from overseas and incorporate them into my work. I’m keeping my eyes and ears open. I want to work hard both in Japan and overseas while aiming for our third consecutive D.League championship.
Keita: Even though we won the championship twice, we want to win it again, but it’s almost impossible. We have interacted with kids from all over the world because we thought, by realizing our dreams, the dreams of these kids would grow, and because I thought that they needed something concrete. We also took part in local events, even small ones, in Kawasaki. The world and the local community are both important.
