Yan An, an overseas Chinese in Japan: "My hometown will always be my poetry and my distant place"

　　China News Service, Chengdu, October 6th, title: Yan An, an overseas Chinese in Japan: "Hometown will always be my poetry and distance"

　　Author Yue Yitong Chen Xuanbin

　　"It has been more than 3 years since I last returned to the motherland. I miss my hometown and my relatives very much." During the National Day holiday, Yan An, president of the Japan Chinese Language Education Association, was at his home in Tokyo, Japan, and connected with his relatives in Yibin, Sichuan through video.

He said affectionately, "It's another year of National Day. I sincerely wish the motherland more prosperity and prosperity. My hometown will always be my poem and distant place."

　　Yibin is located at the junction of Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou provinces, where the Jinsha River and the Minjiang River converge. In 1959, Yan An was born here.

Twenty years later, he joined the General Political Song and Dance Troupe and became a dancer; in 1988, he went to Japan to study at Tokyo Gakugei University, opening a new chapter in his life.

Yan An is at Tokyo Gakugei University.

Photo courtesy of the interviewee

　　In 1990, Yan An adapted his memory of growing up by the Jinsha River into the dance "The Tracker", which was presented in the Japan International Dance Competition.

The sounds of the rapids and the horns of the river that accompanied him throughout his childhood contained symbols of the times. Through physical performance, he conveyed strong feelings, stunning the Japanese dance circle, and successfully won awards.

　　Over the past 34 years, as a well-known stage producer, Yan An is still active in major performances and community celebrations in the Japanese Chinese society.

He has planned and directed hundreds of art exchanges and performances, most of which contain Chinese elements.

"Propagating Chinese culture in Japan through innovative methods and telling Chinese stories well is a belief and a mission that I have never changed."

　　Promoted the musical epic "Along the River During Qingming Festival" to be staged at the New National Theater in Tokyo; the beautiful scene of the stage play "Mirror Flowers and Water Moon" amazed the Japanese audience and Chinese compatriots; the Sino-Japanese cooperative stage play "Mulan", which integrates cultural elements of the two countries, even invited Japanese Actors, including Japanese drums in the soundtrack, impress the Japanese people deeply...

　　On the road of pursuing art, Yan An gradually took the promotion of Sino-Japanese cultural exchanges as his responsibility.

In his view, culture has the power to directly point to people's hearts and is an important carrier of exchanges between the two peoples.

In 2016, he participated in the planning and holding of the first Tokyo "China Festival", which attracted more than 150,000 Chinese and Japanese people to participate, not only to understand the homesickness of overseas Chinese in Japan, but also to open a window for local people to understand Chinese folk culture.

Yan An (right) has a video call with his younger brother Yan Yuan (left).

Photo by Chen Xuanbin

　　Although far overseas, Yan Anxin always misses her hometown.

When making videos with his siblings, he often sees the changes in Yibin through the camera.

The increasingly clear Jinsha River, the spacious and flat concrete roads, and the high-rise buildings all affected his heart.

"No matter where I am, every time I see the development and changes of my hometown and motherland, my heart is moved like turbulent waves."

　　"Art works should be of the times. Now let me tell the story of my hometown through creation. It will be completely different from "The Tracker". It will present a brand-new Yibin and a brand-new development." Ann still didn't stop.

"I hope to create more works that keep pace with the times and tell the Japanese people about the new developments and changes in China."

　　"When I was a child, I wanted to go to big cities and to go farther places. But more than 30 years later, the sound of the Jinsha River and the roar of the train still echoed in my ears. Those deepest memories of my hometown have never faded, and they are also my forever. 'Poetry and distance'." Yan An said.

(Finish)