Yosoca is a Japanese Yosakoi Dance team representing the Calgary Japanese community and sponsored by the Kaede Cultural Society. They specialize in the Yosakoi dance, a blend of traditional and modern Japanese dance widely performed throughout Japan. The team actively participates in various festival scenes in Calgary, aiming to share Japan’s authentic culture with everyone. Join us and have a great time enjoying the unique charm of Yosoca’s performances!

In 2016, the founder of the dance team, Tomo noticed that there was no Japanese community in Calgary’s one of the biggest festivals, Stampede’s kick off parade.

The dance team was established to participate in the parade, bringing Japanese traditional dance and culture to the event. The dance they perform is called Yosakoi dance, which is the mixture of traditional and modern Japanese dance widely performed all over Japan. Yosoca rapidly gained popularity, becoming a regular performer at various festivals in Calgary.

The traditional Yosakoi dance comes from Kochi prefecture in Japan and has a long history as a cultural dance at festivals. There is still very big competition in kochi every year and enjoyed by all different age groups. Yosakoi is one of the dance families that we can enjoy together. Our team, comprising both kids and adults, practices together to showcase the vibrancy of Yosakoi.

To share our culture in Canada, we made our own Yosakoi dance using popular Japanese songs. We want everyone to enjoy the dance, even if they don’t know the songs. Our dances are fun and festive, and we hope you have a great time watching!