Japanese Men’s Rhythmic Gymnastics

The Japanese really excel at men’s rhythmic gymnastics and this video shows it. The video shows the performance of the team from Aomori University at the 2009 All Japan Rhythmic Gymnastics Championship. With this wonderful routine, Aomori received 1st place on the university level at the championship.

The routine is a great example of synchronization and precision, but it is also enormously artistic. It’s filled with tumbling, but it seems more like an emotive dance routine than just a display of athleticism.

Men’s rhythmic gymnastics in Japan has both individual and group competition. The individual routines use apparatuses (sticks, rings, rope, clubs) while the group routine does not. The group routine is free exercise done by a six member team on a spring floor.

Aomori University is a private school located in Aomori, Japan, which on the north end of the main island of Japan (Honshu).

Besides the physical performance of the athletes, an essential part of the overall beauty of the routine is the music that accompanies it. The song is “Blue”, by the five woman group D.F.O. (Digital Future Orchestra), from their album “Runner”. That group later became a duo, retaining the initials D.F.O., but changing it to stand for Double Female Orchestra.

The song and album are not available in the U.S., but can be downloaded from iTunes Japan (if you have an account on iTunes Japan). The song was also used in a commercial for Japan Airlines.

Same performance, but different view and in high definition: