Linking Pinkies at Kurdish Newroz: Kurdish Festival Practice, Anti-Racist Performance, and Public Space in Contemporary Japan

Rieko Tanaka

doi:10.17613/99vvt-wdx48

June 27, 2026Open Access

Linking Pinkies at Kurdish Newroz: Kurdish Festival Practice, Anti-Racist Performance, and Public Space in Contemporary Japan

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Key Points

This essay examines how Kurdish Newroz festivals in Japan can serve as a form of anti-racist expression and shared community space.
Analyzed the Kurdish Newroz celebration in Akigase Park, Saitama, Japan.
Focused on the govend dance and the symbolic gesture of linking pinkies.
Compared experiences with pungmulnori performance in Kawasaki.
Demonstrated that music and dance create a sense of community and resistance against discrimination.
Highlighted the importance of public performances in making shared spaces livable and audible.
Found that small gestures, like linking pinkies, were significant in maintaining connection during disruptive events.

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Implication

Essay explores Kurdish Newroz performance fostering connection in public spaces amidst discrimination.

Abstract

This essay reflects on Kurdish Newroz held at Akigase Park in Saitama, Japan, on March 22, 2026. Focusing on govend, a Kurdish circle or line dance, and especially on the small gesture of linking pinkies, it considers how music, dance, and bodily connection can hold a place against discriminatory disruption. Reading Newroz in Akigase alongside the author's experience with pungmulnori in Kawasaki, the essay asks how performance practice can make public space livable, audible, and shared under pressure.

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Rieko Tanaka (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a420b51f91bb43ea91926ff https://doi.org/10.17613/99vvt-wdx48

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Linking Pinkies at Kurdish Newroz: Kurdish Festival Practice, Anti-Racist Performance, and Public Space in Contemporary Japan

Key Points

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Linking Pinkies at Kurdish Newroz: Kurdish Festival Practice, Anti-Racist Performance, and Public Space in Contemporary Japan

Key Points

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Implication

Abstract

Discussion

Cite This Study

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