Spark Artist

Michelle Fujii is a taiko artist, co-director of Unit Souzou, and teaching artist, creating contemporary work centered in the art forms of taiko and Japanese folk dance. Michelle’s work navigates the multifaceted complexity of identity in our communities, a constant excavation to claim her own identity story as a 4th generation Japanese American. After graduating with a UCLA ethnomusicology degree, Michelle studied in Japan with foremost theatrical folk dance company, Warabi-za through a Japanese Bunkacho fellowship. Michelle has been a guest artist and collaborator with numerous North American and international taiko groups. In 2014, Michelle with her partner Toru Watanabe, fused their unique skills to build Unit Souzou, a Portland-based taiko ensemble creating an expressive blend of taiko and Japanese folk dance, reimagining new traditions for evolving communities. 

Michelle has been awarded individual artist fellowships from the Lilla Jewel Award for women and marginalized genders, Oregon Arts Commission Joan Shipley Award, and the Jubilation Foundation teaching artist fellowship. Her most recent work, Constant State of Otherness, is a National Performance Network, MAPFund, and New England Foundation for the Arts funded project, which centers on the historical and divisive ways that othering has pervasively affected our communities.