Juggling in Japan

Jyagalingu?

So one of my goals while in Japan is to spend a lot more time on Juggling. Being the president of ICircus last semmester was great and a lot of fun, but I spent a lot less time Juggling and a lot more time managing.

I have a lot of free time, and some idea's for new tricks and variations on old tricks. I'm working on doing under-the-leg and behind-the-back at the same time. It takes some finesse, but it's going quite well. Also a few new starting throws . . . I digress.

I have talked to a few people in Japan about juggling, and in highschool I remember asking Leech-sensei what the word for juggling was. Essentially the Japanese word for juggling is . . . juggling (or Jyagalingu). A borrowed word, for a borrowed concept apparently, because western style juggling was never developed in Japan, nor has it been popularized in Japan.

When I talk to people abot juggling they seem to understand the general concept that it is something Circus related, but they've only heard of it as a foreign concept and maybe seen someone on Television.

I found this interesting because there are a lot of Circus arts that are very popular in Japan, balancing, acrobatics, tumblings, flag-play, and even some poi are widely known throughout Japan, but not juggling. Especially perplexing because juggling is so popular in Russia and to a lesser extent China.

A Foreign Juggler in Tokyo recounts his time forming a club

This guy had a pretty interesting experiance.

Apparently there is a form of circus art that is like juggling, but it is a slightly obscure folk game called Otedama. Known specifically to be done by girls.



This makes it all the more important that I spend time Juggling while I'm in Japan and improve my skills. I remember seeing a juggler in middle school, and watching his antics really inspired me. It's a memory that is very muddled but I remember him saying that

"juggling is a great art, one moment you're a king" he loses control of one of the balls and it lands on his head, the kids watching him erupt with laughter, "the next your a fool, but no matter what your making people happy."