Bentenya x Route 66

Bentenya, the chindon girls, promote your business while entertaining people, playing music, and marching in the street. That’s their profession. Donning glamorous kimonos and colorful wigs, they debuted in 2021 with a captivating chindon sound that blended nostalgia and modernity. Going beyond the traditional chindon style, they have taken on acting and shows at the Gionza and Nagoya Chukyo theaters. They surprised audiences by making an appearance in The Yellow Monkey's dome tour, and have gained attention for their performances in six overseas countries so far. They have been featured on various media outlets including television and newspapers. Their approachable demeanor is nostalgic to the older generation, refreshing to the younger crowd, and beloved by children. Their unique, electricity-free, and sustainable form involves only voices and live instruments. They possess a portable improvisational quality that allows them to perform without a traditional stage even while parading. Bentenya's triumphant journey of spreading smiles and joy to street corners around the world has only just begun. In 2020, they were appointed as Nagoya Tourism Ambassadors.

TAKASHI HORIE is a New York-based independent filmmaker. Born in Sendai, Miyagi. Horie has been working as a director/cinematographer/editor for numerous music videos and promotional videos in the US, and received multiple international video awards. His short film, Ordinary Days was nominated and screened in multiple Film Festivals. His most recent film The Last Passenger was nominated and won awards in US and European film festivals.

This is a movie that everyone can participate in. Please come and visit us in the cities to where Bentenya goes. You, too, can make your movie debut!

Hiroshi Kono (Producer, Writer), a native of Nagoya, Japan, moved to New York in 1992 and established an entertainment company called Mar Creation, Inc. in 2003. Kono is the co-founder of a film festival, “New York Japan CineFest” (est. 2012), vice president of a 501(c)(3) organization, “Catch Us Performing Arts” (est. 2018), and co-founder of “Chicago Japan Film Collective” (est. 2020). He is currently working on a short documentary film which will premiere this year. He is an advisor for the Kadoma International Film Festival, Outreach Director for the Brooklyn SciFi Film Festival, and Creative Director for the Boston Japan Film Festival since 2021. He also has worked for film screenings with Yale University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Japan Program), Akita International University in Japan, Asia Society Texas Center, San Francisco Public Library, Indie Memphis, Baltimore Japan Art Festival, and so on.

   Born in 1966 in Zushi, Kanagawa and raised in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan. Toshi has been in the U.S. about 30 years, and now residing in Orange County, California. Inspired by the book, "Route 66 - Mother Road" written by Mr. Michael Wallis, a great historian and advocate of Route 66, Toshi’s first ever trip on Route 66 was a reverse route in 1996, starting at the "terminus" in Santa Monica, California. Since then, Toshi has explored Route 66 every chance he gets, exploring each city, each region, each state, and has completed the entire route three times.

   In 2015, Toshi founded the Route 66 Association Japan, and at the same time, he writes a monthly travel article about Route 66 for the Japanese local newspaper "Weekly NY Seikatsu" in New York City. Toshi has been in charge of Route 66 online seminars for two years hosted by a Japanese-affiliated travel agency, and he has also been a speaker at webinars hosted by various Route 66-related organizations in the U.S.

Founder and President, Route 66 Japan Association 

Member of the Route 66 Chamber of Commerce (USA), Route 66 Association of Missouri, Route 66 Association in Kingman, Arizona, California Route 66 Association, Oklahoma Route 66 Association, Texas Route 66 Association, and Route 66 International Advisory Group.