Japanese researcher Yoshinari Murakami archives Siirt folk dances and dengbêj culture

Yoshinari Murakami, a Japanese researcher who first visited Turkey in 1994, has spent more than a decade documenting Turkish folk dances and regional music. After a 1.5‑year stay in Turkey in 1996‑97, he travelled to over 70 provinces, recording performances and learning directly from local practitioners.

Working with retired Turkish folk‑dance professor Abdurrahim Karademir, Murakami recently conducted fieldwork in Siirt, where he archived the area’s folk dances and the dengbêj (traditional storytelling) tradition. The material is being exhibited and taught in Japan to promote Turkish cultural heritage abroad.