We’re doing it again this year!
POLEPOLE TALK & LIVE 2026 NAGASAKI
Muziki ni Dawa za Binadamu
Music is medicine for human beings.
Tuesday, October 6, 2026
6:30–8:00 PM
Campus Mall, Bunkyo Campus, Nagasaki University
The open-air space next to the University Co-op
Admission Free
In case of rain, the event will be held at the Yeh Kuo-Shii Global Friendship Center on the Bunkyo Campus.
Come and join us for an evening of music, stories, and encounters connecting Nagasaki and Africa.
Performers
Chiaki Hayakawa
Vocal / Chorus
Chiaki Hayakawa has lived in Kenya for 37 years. While still a university student, she set off on a journey around the world and eventually settled in Kenya, where she began working alongside marginalized ethnic groups and communities in disadvantaged areas.
She works as a writer, interpreter, film and photography coordinator, and guide, organizing cultural and study tours that promote a deeper understanding of Africa. Together with Kibera resident Lillian Wagara, she has established and supported numerous community initiatives, including Magoso School for orphans and children in difficult circumstances, scholarship programmes, support for children with disabilities, and the Magoso Community Center for youth empowerment.
Her many honours include the Japanese Ambassador to Kenya’s Commendation (2013), the Social Contribution Award (2021), and the Japanese Foreign Minister’s Commendation (2023). In 2018, she was appointed a “flag bearer,” a custodian of Duruma tradition.
Masaya Onishi
Vocal / Guitar / Drum / Kayamba
Masaya Onishi studied under Swale Matela Masai, a custodian of traditional culture in a Duruma community in Kenya. After eight years of intensive musical training in Kenya, he returned to Japan.
His distinctive live performances combine a unique percussion setup based on the ngoma nne, the traditional drums of the Duruma people, with his own instruments, as well as acoustic guitar infused with African musical styles.
In 2018, he was selected as one of the 14 flag bearers of Sengenya, the traditional music of the Duruma people. In 2024, following a traditional Duruma ceremony, he was formally recognized as a Sogora, a bearer and transmitter of traditional music.
Ken Masuda
Keyboard
Born in Yokohama, Ken Masuda has lived in Nagasaki since 2004. His fields include social anthropology, global health, and tile archaeology.
He dropped out of high school in 1986, but passed Japan’s university entrance qualification examination and somehow managed to earn the equivalent of a high-school diploma ahead of his former classmates. He later worked arranging music for brass bands and in the construction industry before enrolling at Seijo University, largely because he wanted the title of “university student.”
After entering graduate school to study anthropology, he began long-term fieldwork among the Banna people of southern Ethiopia in 1993 and received his PhD in Social Anthropology in 2003.
Today, alongside teaching medical anthropology and fieldwork methods, he organizes events and works as a jack-of-all-trades in web and poster design, online broadcasting, photography, and video production. His official title, for appearances’ sake, is Professor in the School of Tropical Medicine and Global Health at Nagasaki University. His weakness: Huddled Social Raptures (HSRs).
Event Information
POLE
POLE TALK & LIVE 2026 NAGASAKI
Date: Tuesday, October 6, 2026
Time: 6:30–8:00 PM
Venue: Campus Mall, Bunkyo Campus, Nagasaki University
Rain venue: Yeh Kuo-Shii Global Friendship Center, Bunkyo Campus
Admission: Free
Organized by: Beyond Borders
Nagasaki University Global Alumni Network
Contact:
Ken Masuda
ken-m@nagasaki-u.ac.jp
今年も演やります！ 長大ポレポレ！
10月6日（火）
18:30-20:00
長崎大学文教キャンパスのキャンパスモール
生協横の青空スペースです
※雨天の場合はキャンパス内の葉國璽交流会館で開催します
入場無料
