About

Wotagei USA

Wotagei USA is an English-language wotagei community here to make wotagei approachable for everyone, whether you want to perform, compete, learn, or simply watch.

For a long time, getting into wotagei outside of Japan has been difficult. Many of the best resources are in Japanese, and not everyone has access to a local team or community where they can learn and practice. We want to change that.

Our goal is to make wotagei more accessible by breaking down both language and location barriers. We provide quality English-language resources, connect beginners with experienced players, cultivate local communities, and create opportunities for collaboration between teams in North America and Japan.

We work with wotagei players and organizations in Japan to bring knowledge and experiences to the English-speaking community through tutorials, workshops, performances, and international events. At the same time, we want to help people build connections locally, even if they don’t live somewhere with an established wotagei scene.

And you don’t have to be a performer to be part of the community. If you simply enjoy watching wotagei, you’re welcome here too. Come talk about cool moves, amazing videos, inspiring players, or whatever made you fall in love with wotagei in the first place.

Whether you’re picking up a lightstick for the first time or you’ve been doing wotagei for years, there’s a place for you here.

Whatever brought you here, welcome. We hope you enjoy being part of the community as much as we do.

Watch on YouTube

Wotagei USA Community Celebration Video 2025

When we launched in December 2025, teams from across America sent us footage from their year, and Japanese wotagei players sent messages congratulating the new community. A snapshot of where American wotagei stood at the end of 2025, and of what we set out to build.

Wotagei Culture Council

Wotagei Culture Council (WCC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (EIN 42-3166240) dedicated to promoting and supporting Japanese popular culture and performing arts. While wotagei is at the heart of our work, our mission also extends to related subcultures and art forms, including chikagei, anikura, and more.

We pursue these goals through educational events, performances, workshops, anikura events, and cultural exchanges with performers and practitioners from Japan.

Wotagei USA is a program of Wotagei Culture Council.