A founding member of Sankai Juku, Semimaru has participated in all Sankai Juku activities since its founding in 1975. In 1985, he began his solo career, often performing outside of the theater. In 1990, he launched Kokutoin. The group continues to gather an unspecified number of members for each performance and continues to create works. From 1987 to 1996, he held dance workshops every summer at different locations in the form of training camps, and since 1999 he has established an atelier in the Kurobe River basin in Toyama Prefecture, where he holds training camps and performances every summer, and teaches younger dancers. He generally performs outdoors and creates works that are appropriate to the location, calling it "dialogue with the magnetic field," and likes to observe the connection between the space, the body, and the spirit.
