Great news!
Go get yourself a copy of the Tokyo Notice Board, free English magazine available in Tokyo right now!! It’s only available for one week, from major record stores like Tower Records and HMV, and other locations all over Tokyo where you can find free English magazines.
GBC Japan has a two page story with a photo in the magazine.
Read the full article
Published in Tokyo Notice Board - 11 November, 2005.
I’ve really come to appreciate this country for some of the great things it offers. I live in a city where people work long hours and usually don’t even get paid overtime, they pay steep rental costs, and dwell in tiny apartments mere centimeters from their neighbours. Yet, it’s amazing the crime rate is so low and the general feeling of safety is so high.
I’ve seen fashion conscious men walking carefree on the streets of Tokyo with their oversized wallets poking out from their back pockets, and I’ve bumped into little old ladies leaving the ATM counting their money out loud, oblivious to their environment and the people around them. People fall asleep on the train with their mobile phones in their hands and their bags open beside them on a daily basis, naive yet content.
Trust is taken for granted in Japan.
On a six-month journey around South America not so long ago, my eyes were opened. I visited department stores guarded by men armed with automatic machine guns, yet in Tokyo, items are displayed in front of the shop, with not even a security camera to watch over them. I always had a lock on my daypack, but was never robbed. I was lucky enough to visit the favelas (ghettos) of Brazil and was greeted with generosity and hospitality. In a country made famous for its violent lifestyle and high crime rate by the film City of God, I never once was affected by crime.
That was until recently I fell innocent victim of a crime perpetrated onto a close friend and mentor of mine.
So anyway, now would be a good time to introduce myself. My name is Caçapa, actually that’s my capoeira nickname. “What’s capoeira?”I hear you ask. Created in Brazil, with deep African roots. Capoeira unites dance, fight, music, game, and ritual into one amazing art form. Capoeira changed my life, and I’ve been leading our non profit capoeira group in Japan since November 2004. The name of our group is Grupo Bantus Capoeira, and just like all good capoeira groups, we have a Mestre (master or leader), called Pintor. Mestre Pintor is well known and respected in his home country of Brazil and all over the world. He founded Grupo Bantus in 1991, and has since sent instructors to all reaches of the globe, often from extremely low-income earning familles. Some of our success stories started out technically homeless, sleeping on the concrete floor of our academy in Brazil. Now they are respected around the world and known for their prowess and knowledge of all aspects of the art.
Coming over to Japan like many other green, 20-something Gaijin before me, I had plans to teach English and see the sights of Japan. I actually wanted to go to festivals, climb Mt. Fuji and take baths with naked old men!
However, I brought with me something most other English teachers don’t bring. I brought my berimbau and my passion for capoeira. My berimbau is the single-stringed, bowed instrument that travelled with me from Brazil, across South America, North America, Europe and finally to Tokyo, Japan. Whenever the berimbau is played, a capoeira player’s heart skips a beat. Capoeira also makes use of the Afro-Brazilian drum known as the Atabaque, the Brazilian tambourine (Pandeiro) and other lesser known percussion instruments.
So, back to trust. The mentor mentioned above is of course Mestre Pintor. I sent him money to buy much needed capoeira instruments for our group. Pintor trusted in a skilled craftsman in another city to make the instruments. After being paid in advance however, the dubious character disappeared, uncontactable, and more concerned with the money he just made than the good reputation he lost.
And that brings me back to Japan, with no money, and no instruments and wondering if this would ever happen here, where reputation and service is of the utmost importance. My goal is to make a strong, successful group, a place where people can share in the amazing experiences that this culture provides. A group of people spreading the positive aspects of a healthy lifestyle through this Brazilian art form. Once you fall in love with capoeira, it infects your blood, and pumps that blood through your body 24/7.
Right now we’re looking for new students of all ages, races, male and female and sponsors to join or help our (unofficial) non profit group. Capoeira is the ideal form of exercise for the body, soul and spirit, so why not check out our homepage, and come along to a class soon. Or help us out with a donation and we’dl be more than happy to spread the message of other likeminded individuals or groups.
For more info, email bantusjapao@hotmail.com (E/J/Pt/Sp), or go to www.bantus.asn.au/j (E/J) or call Marcello Pietrantonio (E/Pt/Sp) on 090-5406-7806.
By the way, you can read about what happened to our instruments here.
great article man!