This is a documentary about Minyo starring the band Minyo Crusaders. Minyo is traditional Japanese folk music, a genre at risk of extinction. For many Japanese, Minyo in considered “lost music”.
Minyo Crusaders is a Tokyo-based band that mixes Minyo from all over Japan with Latin and Afro beats in unique arrangements. The band is lauded by the likes of Ry Cooder and Vincent Moon, while they’ve also appeared on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert in 2021. 2019 saw the band tour Colombia, various European cities, Australia and New Zealand. In Colombia they experimented in updating Minyo with local band Frente Cumbiero.
In this film, we take an up close and personal look at Minyo Crusaders, a group of musicians figuring out how to reconstruct Minyo, and the process of their battle to “bring Minyo back” to contemporary audiences. It also explores what Minyo is through interviews with various music critics.
