Development

From the time of its opening in 1993, the Kokusaimura aimed to enhance 'projects in which the townspeople can participate', and actively provided opportunities for townspeople to come into direct contact with professional talent, such as performing with Eio Kanze as an outdoor performance choros and exchange parties with the artists.

The programme that the village has been particularly focusing on is the "Shichigahama Kokusaimura Exclusive Chorus", led by Mr Noriyoshi Shimose of the Niki Kai Chorus, which sings, dances and performs on stage together with the Niki Kai soloists. The 'Musical for Townspeople's Participation' started in November 1993 with 'My Fair Lady Highlights' and continued to be performed at the Kokusaimura Hall every November until 2000, with a wide range of townspeople, from children to seniors, men and women, taking to the stage at the Kokusaimura Hall.

The percussionist unit OCHI Brothers and Kokusaimura staff met and held an original Kokusaimura workshop and concert in 2000. The following year, 2001, the percussion ensemble group Groove7 was formed from the Kokusaimura Kids Ensemble formed at that time.

Groove7, which is descended from the Ochi Brothers' primitive and futuristic sound that makes full use of ethnic percussion instruments and their rhythms from Africa and around the world, has had marimba player Ritsuko Hoshi as its musical director since 2007, and its members, ranging from primary school students to university students and adults, continue to search for dynamic and new words using djembes, marimbas and other percussion instruments.

He has had many opportunities to appear on TV and perform in Sendai and other prefectures, including a performance with saxophonist Sadao Watanabe in 2012.

NaNa5931 was formed in April 2001 as a musical company with a theatre in the Shichigahama Kokusaimura, and was launched in November 2002 with Nana, followed by a performance of MEGURU (2005) at the Miyagi Prefectural Hall, the final production of the trilogy "UMI, HITO, MACHI", a catchphrase for Shichigahama Town. The company has presented 19 highly acclaimed productions, including the musical KAIRI (2006), the final production of the trilogy, and Re:born (2008), a musical commemorating the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the town of Shichigahama and the 25th anniversary of the opening of the Shichigahama Kokusaimura. (as of 2023/10).

The 2011 production of Go Ahead, based on the Great East Japan Earthquake, was staged at Nagoya University's Toyota Auditorium and the Nissay Theatre in Tokyo in August 2012 and at the Kamakura Arts Theatre in Kanagawa Prefecture in March 2019, as part of activities to convey the message from the affected areas of 'preventing the disaster from fading' and 'gratitude for the support received from across Japan', and was met with a great response.

The group currently has about 30 members, ranging from primary school students to adults. The group has been studying physical expression mainly through regular lessons (every Thursday) under the guidance of Chizuko Kajiga and Jun Hirose, who have remained unchanged since the group was formed.

The Shichigahama Ohariko-zu, a volunteer group of mothers from Shichigahama, are responsible for making the costumes for the performances.

A team playing the marimba active from 2016 to 2019. Every year in March, members are publicly recruited, and under the guidance of Ritsuko Hoshi and Kyoko Nuda of Marimba Fantasy, the team has been taking lessons with the aim of performing with Groove7, and after about six months of lessons, the team has performed with Groove7 at the Kokusaimura Hall in the summer.

The NaNa Kids Class opened in 2016 and is a musical lesson class for children aged 3 to 12 years old living in the town. Lessons are held every Sunday morning with the aim of promoting mental and physical growth as well as teaching them how to enjoy musicals.

Instructors include Miyu Takahashi (NaNa5931's first student), SCS Musical Institute instructors and NaNa5931 members. Participants learn simple dance, vocalisation and rhythmic variations, and those with a further interest in musicals work hard in lessons with the aim of joining NaNa5931.

Recruitment was suspended after 2020 due to the Corona disaster, but was officially reopened in September after a free trial lesson was held during the summer holidays in 2023.