Portraits & practices
The SETOUCHI CIRCUS FACTORY introduced its “Associate Artist” system in 2020. Under this system, a small number of artists whom SETOUCHI CIRCUS FACTORY wishes to encourage — as a general rule, artists based in Kagawa Prefecture — are selected and supported through priority access to training facilities, creative support, and performance or workshop job opportunities.
The official website presents their profiles, individual numbers and links to videos of their work. Technical riders are prepared in Japanese and English with the cooperation of SETOUCHI CIRCUS FACTORY to support their activities overseas. Associate Artists and SETOUCHI CIRCUS FACTORY are partners who promote projects together and collaborate in the development of contemporary circus.
01
Aki Yoshida
Drawing on her experience in gymnastics from childhood, Aki Yoshida studied aerial performance, dance, theatre and other forms of physical expression. Fascinated by art circus, she also travelled to Europe and America for aerial training.
She moved her base to Kagawa in 2019, where she explores her own style and focuses on contemporary circus. Her past appearances include artist concerts, national cultural festivals, expositions, theatre and Bunraku productions, the Para Triennale and contemporary circus performances.
She now creates original circus apparatus and has presented contemporary circus works in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, France and Guadeloupe. Alongside performing, she works in aerial direction, choreography and instruction, and participates in the interdisciplinary RUTeN project.
Photography: Shintaro Miyawaki · Costume design: Yuko Hasegawa
02
Kai Taniguchi
Kai Taniguchi directs the contemporary circus company Gokko and graduated from Sawairi International Circus School. His main disciplines are Cyr wheel and hand balancing. He also performs as White Asparagus, a duo with juggler Takehiro Nagaoka.
His credits include work with Nagamekurashitsu, Hiroshi Koike Bridge Project and Kaiji Moriyama. Through ideas that move freely between disciplines, he explores the possibilities of the circus body. He moved to Kagawa in 2020 and has since worked as an SCF Associate Artist.
Photography: Shintaro Miyawaki · Costume design: Yuko Hasegawa
03
Mizuki Noseyama
Born in Niigata Prefecture, Mizuki Noseyama began classical ballet in early childhood and joined the ABC-Tokyo Ballet Company after high school. She later studied for a year at the Performing Arts Institute and has performed in works by numerous choreographers and contemporary dance companies.
She is now expanding her practice into contemporary circus, with Cyr wheel as her main discipline, and seeks a distinctive form of expression at the intersection of circus and dance.
Photography: Shintaro Miyawaki · Costume design: Yuko Hasegawa
04
Kojiro Meguro
Kojiro Meguro entered Sawairi International Circus School at the age of 18 and spent four years in physical training. Since graduating in 2019, he has appeared in many contemporary circus productions in Japan, including work with Nagamekurashitsu and Setouchi Circus Factory.
Combining a supple, highly trained body with self-made objects and steel structures, he creates a performance space charged with poetry and intensity. In 2021, he was selected among the TOP 100 of the 2nd Online Circus Festival and won the Fukuyama International Street Performance Grand Prix together with the German and British special prizes. He received the CoRich Performing Arts Festival acting prize in 2024.
Photography: Shintaro Miyawaki · Costume design: Yuko Hasegawa