{"id":6612,"date":"2026-05-14T11:57:36","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T02:57:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wmdf.org\/?post_type=artist&#038;p=6612"},"modified":"2026-05-14T14:18:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T05:18:09","slug":"019-saito-retsu-atsuma","status":"publish","type":"artist","link":"https:\/\/wmdf.org\/en\/artist\/019-saito-retsu-atsuma","title":{"rendered":"Saito Retsu, Atsuma"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/wmdf.org\/wpms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Artist-018_0000s_0030_JPN-saito.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5372\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wmdf.org\/wpms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Artist-018_0000s_0030_JPN-saito.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/wmdf.org\/wpms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Artist-018_0000s_0030_JPN-saito-630x354.jpg 630w, https:\/\/wmdf.org\/wpms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Artist-018_0000s_0030_JPN-saito-960x540.jpg 960w, https:\/\/wmdf.org\/wpms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Artist-018_0000s_0030_JPN-saito-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/wmdf.org\/wpms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Artist-018_0000s_0030_JPN-saito-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/wmdf.org\/wpms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Artist-018_0000s_0030_JPN-saito-624x351.jpg 624w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Japanese art of kendama from a professional educator<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As you see in the photo, &#8220;Kendama Ken-chan&#8221; often sports a kendama around his neck.&nbsp;As both a kendama master and an educator, he established a kendama club in his home town of Atsuma, and is working to form a new community from infants to the elderly with the generation-spanning policy of &#8220;no crying, be kind to others, and no farting&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He has participated several times in the &#8220;Kendama Guinness Record Challenge&#8221;, which has become a tradition at the Kohaku Uta Gassen every year, and gives lectures and workshops on kendama about 70 times a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He is a Coordinator of the Social Education Group, Lifelong Learning Division, at the Atsuma Board of Education, wher he mainly functions as a coordinator to connect the community and schools.&nbsp;He spent a year-long working holiday in Australia learning about pesticide-free agriculture, natural farming, and permaculture, returning to Japan to work in non-profit organisations providing nature experiences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","class_list":["post-6612","artist","type-artist","status-publish","hentry","artistscat-artists019"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wmdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist\/6612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wmdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wmdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/artist"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wmdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}