Constant State of Otherness is a multi-layered performance exploring the impacts of the universal experiences of othering and alienation. Through taiko, Japanese folk dance, song, and personal story, six performers guide the audience through a four-part journey inspired by experiences of isolation and displacement that come from not having an easy sense of home.
Rooted in ancestral wisdom and survival, Constant State of Otherness resists simplistic translations of language, cultural ways, and the complicated emotions that otherness evokes. By allowing their stories to fractally unfold through the resonance of drum, voice and movement, Unit Souzou offers an invitation to locate our shared longing to belong.
Constant State of Otherness is co-created and performed by Unit Souzou Ensemble Members – Ian Berve, Michelle Fujii, Kristy Oshiro, Toru Watanabe, David Wells, and Vicky Zhang.

Unit Souzou was founded in 2014 by Co-directors Michelle Fujii and Toru Watanabe, relentless innovators at the forefront of a growing artistic movement within the taiko community. Fujii and Watanabe met at Warabi-za, Japan’s foremost traditional folk-dance troupe based in Akita, Northern Japan. They have been guest artists and collaborators with many North American and international taiko groups.