Bentenya x Route 66
Route 66 Centennial - U.S.-Japan Cultural Project
From Aichi to Route 66: Bentenya Brings Chindon to America
Aichi, Japan—widely known as the home of Toyota—is also the birthplace of a very different cultural export: Bentenya, an all-female chindonya troupe bringing vibrant Japanese street performance to the world.
Chindonya blends music, movement, and theatrical flair, with performers in colorful costumes playing instruments as they parade through streets. Bentenya has reimagined this tradition for modern audiences, creating performances that are both rooted in history and highly engaging.
The group first toured across the United States in October 2019. After the pandemic, they returned in September 2023 for a 17-day journey along Route 66. That tour was filmed and is now being developed into a documentary, with production nearing completion and a premiere expected soon.
Since then, Bentenya has continued performing across the U.S., building a growing audience along Route 66 and beyond.
They will next appear at the Route 66 Centennial kickoff in Springfield, Missouri, taking part in a series of community events:
Bentenya 2026 Spring Tour (Springfieled, Missouri)
Thu, April 30 – Centennial Kickoff Concert
Fri, May 1 – Classic Car Show & Parade
Sat, May 2 – ArtsFest
Sun, May 3 – Gigs in the Garden Performance
Mon, May 4 – Springfield Public Schools Classroom Visits
From Japan to America’s most iconic highway, Bentenya continues to connect cultures through music, color, and live performance.
Bentenya Embarks on 2025 Summer Tour Across the Midwest and South
The all-female Japanese chindon group Bentenya is bringing their vibrant blend of traditional street performance and modern flair to the U.S. this summer, with a multi-state tour spanning Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri. Known for their colorful costumes, infectious energy, and nostalgic-meets-contemporary sound, Bentenya promises a lively celebration of Japanese culture that’s sure to captivate audiences of all ages.
Bentenya 2025 Summer Tour (Indiana-Kentucky-Tennessee-Missouri)
8/20 JASI GALA at Indiana Roof Ballroom in Indianapolis, IN
(5:00PM–9:00PM)
8/21-22 NAJAS Annual Meeting in Lexington, KY (TBA)
8/23 Knox Asia Festival - VIP Sushi + Sumo Event in Knoxville, TN
(6:00PM–8:00PM)
8/24 Knox Asian Festival in Knoxville, TN (10:30AM – 6:30PM)
8/30-9/1 Japanese Festival at Missouri Botanical Garden in St Louis, MO
(8/30-31: 9:00AM–9:00PM, 9/1: 9:00AM–5:00PM)
9/3-4 Bentenya show in Springfield, MO (TBA)
9/5-7 Japanese Fall Festival at Mizumoto Japanese Stroll Garden in Springfield, MO (9/5: 5:00PM–10:00PM, 9/6: 11:00AM–10:00PM, 9/7: 11:00AM-6:00PM)
Bentenya is coming to celebrate Hinamatsuri at DIA.
Bentenya has been invited to perform at the Hinamatsuri event Detroit Institute of Arts Museum.
This will be the beginning of our 2025 Midwest Tour which will take place in Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio.
The tour schedule is:
Sun, March 2 Hinamatsuri(Japanese Girls Day) @ Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (10:00am-4:30pm)
Sat, March 5 Stanley Coulter Hall | Purdue University (West Lafayette)(4:30pm)
Thur, March 6 Bentenya Concert / Chindon Lecture @ The Studio Theater at Allied Solutions Center for the Performing Arts, Carmel, IN (7:00pm)
Fri, March 7 Library Concert @ Deer Park Branch Library, Cincinnati,OH (4:00pm)
Sat, March 8 Library Concert @ Cincinnati Public Library, Main Library, Cincinnati,OH (10:00am)
Sat, March 8 Bentenya Concert @ Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati,OH (1:00pm-2:30pm)
Bentenya Route 66 + Beyond – Arizona Tour 2024
Bentenya Route 66 + Beyond – Arizona Tour 2024
A Japanese all-female chindon group, Benteya from
Nagoya, Aichi in Japan, will be coming to the U.S. and kick off “Route 66 + Beyond – Arizona Tour 2024” with Kingman I ❤️ Route 66 Fest in Kingman, AZ on October 11 and continue the road trip en route of Flagstaff, Holbrook and end in Phoenix on October 20. Benteyna made their debut at Japan Festival Houston TX on September 7-8.
[Tour schedule in October]
Fri-Sat, 11-12 I ♥ 66 Fest @ Lewis Kingman Park, Kingman, AZ (F:2-9pm/S:10am-9pm)
Mon, 14 Lecture/Concert @ Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ (5-6:30pm)
Wed, 16 U.S.xJapan Cultural Exchange Prgoram feat. Holbrook Summer Dance Group @ Downtown Square, Holbrook, AZ (TBA)
Thu, 17 Performance @ Japanese American Citizen League (JACL) | Glendale, AZ (10:30am-1pm)
Fri, 18 2024 JFFA Reception @ Taliesen West | Scottsdale, AZ (5:30pm-9pm)
Sat, 19 Japanese Film Festival of Arizona @ Phoenix Art Museum | Phoenix, AZ (11am-)
Sat-Sun, 19-20 Otsukimi Moon Viewing Exhibit @ Japanese Friendship Garden of Phoenix | Phoenix, AZ (5-9pm)
Sun, 20 Special Cultural Event @ Holistic Healing & Meditation Center in Scottsdale, AZ (1-2pm)
U.S. – Japan Cultural Film Project
BENTENYA x Route 66
An adventurous road movie featuring Japanese Chin-don Girls, BENTENYA, from Aichi, Japan, will meet people, introduce Japanese culture, and perform both Japanese and American music as a new way of nurturing 150 years of Chin-don culture while on the historic Route 66 (2,448 miles) in the United States. This is the first project of the Route 66 series towards the centennial in 2026!
CAST・STAFF
Main Cast
Bentenya
Bentenya, the chindon girls, promote your business while entertaining people, playing music, and marching in the street. That’s their profession. Formed in 2008, they don glamorous kimonos and colorful wigs, with a captivating chindon sound that blends nostalgia and modernity. They released a debut album Senkyakubanrai in 2021. 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.
In September 2023, Bentenya traveled the entire length of Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica to shoot the documentary film. Since then, they have revisited Route 66 towns and expanded their journey to cities beyond the Mother Road, including Phoenix, Houston, New York, Detroit, Carmel, and Cincinnati. The film is slated to complete in 2026, the Centennial of Route 66.
Director
HORIE Takashi
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.
Cast
Route 66 Friends
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!
Producer
KONO Hiroshi
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.
Associate Producer
GOTO Toshiyuki
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.
Introduction
"Bentenya x Route 66" is a Japan-U.S. cultural exchange project for Route 66 which will celebrate its centennial in 2026. We are embarking on a film production as the first step to sow the seeds of Japanese culture and lay the foundation for a Japan-U.S. exchange. This is meant to be a road movie that tells the story of our interactions with people, as well as a documentary that captures the history of Route 66 on film. Once completed, the film will become available for viewing at film festivals, screenings, theatrical screenings, and online.
Bentenya is chindonya, a unique Japanese street performance with 150 years of history. They are professional agents who play music in gorgeous costumes and promote various businesses, events, and cultures while entertaining people on the streets. The purpose of the project is to create a new era and sustainable activity with locals for the Centennial—a huge milestone—by following the same great path established by our predecessors under the pioneering spirit in the U.S.
Interactions are born wherever Bentenya visits, and people who visit Route 66 from all over the world will bring those connections to the next city and/or back to their home country, making them blossom even more. Bentenya will also carry the legacy of Route 66 to Japan and create a new road. Route 66 will never end, and each and every one of us will find a new goal and create a path to the future that stretches forever.
We hope to meet and work with any of you who can support this project. Together, we will create a new era. We sincerely appreciate your cooperation.
Hiroshi Kono
Producer
Bentenya x Route 66 Film Production Committee
Please support us for production!
Funds will be used for film production and promotions for this Bentenya x Route 66 Centennial project.
Please note that our partner, CATCH US PERFORMING ARTS (CUPA),
will issue tax-deductible receipts for donations as per your request.
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