Another side of 『Kinoshita Circus』you cannot know just by watching!

Have you ever visited “Kinoshita Circus”?

“Kinoshita Circus” is internationally recognized and has a firmly rooted popularity since olden days but behind the scenes of its magnificent and dynamic show there is strict training …
We have talked with the performers about these hardships and introduce “a story of the other side you don’t know by just watching the show”!
Even those who have already watched the show will remember it and once again feel how amazing Kinoshita Circus is!

A beautiful flower blooms on top of a solid root
“Katagei”, one of the classical arts adopting Japanese style

In one of the classical arts “Katagei” (shoulder arts) a ladder is placed on the artist’s shoulders and another artist demonstrates their skills at the top of the ladder, one part of the program which requires extraordinary balance skills.
To facilitate the artist’s performance at the top the artist at the bottom has to be a solid foundation.
You will be surprised by the way the artists practice to acquire this stability!
They fill a plastic fuel tank (18l) with sand and use them as weights to train their shoulders.
These tanks weigh more than 40kg!

According to the artists even lifting them up was difficult in the beginning but they trained their shoulder muscles continuously. One of the reasons why they can continue even in tough times is the surprised reactions of the doctors “these are strangely developed muscles!” when they go to the hospital which are very funny and motivate them.

The main attraction of the program is the artist performing at the top but the beautiful flower (performance) can only bloom because the artist at the bottom is a solid base.

Spectacle show of white lions and humans resulting from trust and respect
For him the lions are “everything”!

The popular program of Kinoshita Circus “Miracle white lions  world-famous show of fierce animals”.

Usually lions might have the image of being fierce.
But the lions of Kinoshita Circus are clever and lovely.

These fierce animals which do amazing performances …
We have asked Mr. Michael who is an artist and the trainer of the lions various questions including how much practice is needed and how old the performing lions are!

The youngest lions which perform are 10 years old (around 40 human years), the oldest is 18 years old … around 70 years for humans.
And according to the trainer the lions all have different characters and strengths just like humans and in addition their characters vary from show to show.

Depending on the lion the training starts 15~18 months after birth it takes a period of around 2 years until they can participate in a show.

As everybody can imagine the training with the lions is dangerous and at the risk of one’s life.
Nevertheless the trainer understands the lions well, extends each of their abilities and practices with them daily so that they can perform on the show.

Mr. Michael says that although they are lions called kings of the beasts they are his family, his friends, his co-workers and his “everything”.

Even though they cannot communicate with words they communicate with feelings and they can accomplish such a magnificent show thanks to mutual trust and respect.

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