La Yunko, Dancer of the Rising Sun

She has made history, but not without controversy. Junko Hagiwara, known as La Yunko, is the first non-Spanish dancer to win El Desplante, an award that, with some exaggeration, can be likened to the Nobel Prize of flamenco dance, although it carries a prize of only 6,000 euros instead of nearly a million. It is the highest honor granted by the Murcia-based Festival de las Minas, and La Yunko claimed it last Sunday amidst boos, whistles, and applause. This is not the first prize for this dancer from the Land of the Rising Sun, born in Kawasaki (Japan) 48 years ago and an adopted Sevillian for the past 22 years. She discovered flamenco as a child through rhythmic gymnastics and has spent two decades seeking the elusive "duende" as a professional.

The jury's decision in favor of La Yunko provoked jeers and cries of "rigged" from some fans who packed the old market of La Unión, the festival's venue. The audience favored another winner, María Canea from Huelva, whose performance they cheered and whom they considered a sure winner since the semifinals.

Hagiwara took advantage of not traveling to Japan this summer to enter the competition without expectations. "I didn't think about winning the prize," she admitted. It seemed "impossible" to her due to not feeling comfortable on stage, being Japanese, and facing high-level competitors.

"Flamenco is deep, which is why it appeals to Japanese people," said the Japanese artist last year at the Guirijondo festival in Palomares del Río (Seville). This event features foreign flamenco artists, where La Yunko shared the stage with Japanese dancer Hiroshi Koyano, Marseille singer José de la Negreta, Dutch guitarists Tino van Der Sman and Yus Wieggers, and Japanese students of dance and guitar from the Cristina Heeren Foundation, Kotoha Setoguchi and Andi Hido.

Hagiwara believes that "great external beauty" helps Japanese people "express feelings that we often keep inside." This was something she experienced firsthand. Her parents taught her as a child that she couldn't show her emotions. "I couldn't laugh or cry in public; I always had to hold back," she recounted. This contrasts with how much she expresses on stage when she dons a flamenco dress. "Dancing flamenco helps me express myself," she rejoices.

She discovered flamenco in an unusual way. As a child, she loved dancing but never learned any specific dance style. At three years old, her parents enrolled her in rhythmic gymnastics classes. She would then watch all the competitions she could on TV. In one of them, she saw a Spanish gymnast competing with flamenco guitar music. That strange music and the word flamenco stuck in her mind.

"I knew I had to learn more, even though I had only heard the guitar and not the singing; but since I had a vivid imagination, I started learning," she explained. She began her flamenco training in Tokyo in 1994, first with Kiyoko Kiotani and then with dancer Atsuko Kamata, known as Ami.

With limited internet access and few opportunities for better training at home, she decided to fly to Spain. She landed in Seville, where she has lived since 2002. There she received a scholarship from the Japanese government at the Flamenco Art Foundation and furthered her studies with José Galván, El Torombo, Milagros Menjíbar, Carmen Ledesma, La Debla, Soraya Clavijo, Rafael Campo, Yolanda Lorenzo, and Úrsula López.

She has participated in master classes taught by Sara Baras, Belén Maya, Hiniesta Cortés, Alejandro Granados, Matilde Coral, Angelita Vargas, Currillo de Bormujos, Eva Yerbabuena, Rafael Estévez, Javier Latorre and Manuel Betanzos. Today she teaches classes herself and performs professionally in Spain and Japan.

She understands flamenco as "a way of life" and a means to express all her emotions on stage. "We might be attracted to what we were not taught," said Hagiwara who is not surprised that so many Japanese people love flamenco. She believes they value its depth: "Flamenco is a very deep culture; it's very internal and not superficial," she affirms.

She puts all her energy into any stage performance—whether at a peña (flamenco club), a grand theater or an event like the Bienal de Sevilla. She has danced at Teatro Central and Lope de Vega in Seville; Teatro Madrid with Yoko Komatsubara's company—the most recognized among Japanese dancers and choreographers—at Expo Zaragoza; and countless flamenco clubs.

Between 2007 and 2008 she performed before an informed audience at Tertulia Flamenca Badía de Sevilla and at Peñas de Guardia cycle at Bienal de Sevilla. She participated as a soloist in XXXIII Festival Flamenco Juan Talega sharing billing with El Cabrero, Arcángel and Jesús Méndez.

She has won several awards including Premio Sarmiento Flamenco al Baile for best dancer at Peña La Parra Flamenca de Huétor Vega (Granada), second prize at Concurso Nacional de Arte Flamenco Ciudad de Ubrique in 2009 and first prize at XVI Concurso Nacional Cante Baile y Toque Aniya La Gitana de Ronda in 2010. In XIV Concurso Nacional de Baile por Alegrías she won fourth prize along with best choreography award.