Shamisen in Tokyo’s shitamachi district

26/11/2010 - [Wa-Fu Arts]

One dream that I had growing up as a Japanese-American in Seattle was to learn about the arts and music of Japan and I was always fascinated to see and watch Japanese culture on tv and in the community.  One specific art form that stood out to me was the shamisen; a three-stringed instrument used with a plectrum to strike the animal skin drum.  The twangy vibrations that laid the background beat for traditional songs sounded so cool to me.  When I was in early high school, my mother took me to see the famous Nakamura Kabuki Troupe perform in Seattle and that is when I got to see the shamisen live for the first time.  It was amazing to watch the master musicians striking in unison with eachother and along with the hand drums and flute that accompany Japanese theater arts. From this day, I decided to make it one of my life goals to learn the shamisen.

Last year when I moved to Japan for study abroad, I was eager to finally have the chance to search for a teacher and starting learning.  After a couple months,  I found out through a friend that there was a young lady who teaches in the old district of Ueno.  I decided to check it out for myself and one day met Ms. Kumiya Fujimoto.  She is a certified instructer in the Fujimoto school of shamisen and is fluent in English.  For years she has taught a wide array of people including exchange students and visitors to Tokyo.  For several months,  I went to practice twice a week and was given a one on one lesson by Kumiya.  Her patience and experience with teaching people who have never played before nor know much about Japanese culture was helpful.  She also helps put on a monthly traditional music lounge night at the Pink Cow in Shibuya.  It’s a free event where traditional music is showcased by English speaking musicians.

It was a lot of fun to finally start learning the shamisen and through my lessons I learned so much about the history of Edo (old Tokyo) and the culture/aethetics of Japanese arts.   Kumiya was a great teacher who initiated my passion to continue studying shamisen.  It’s one art that I hope to master and one day teach to another.

For more information:   http://shamisen-sensei.com/default.aspx