It was interesting to hear your comments about busking in the Tokyo area,
and what you said about police crackdowns on buskers, Al. Perhaps some of
your buskers have migrated to Kochi as the main outdoor covered shopping
arcade in town here is full of buskers now once it gets dark, and it seems
as if the number of buskers has increased quite dramatically in the last
few years. Several of the old-timers have complained that it is
difficult to get their own quiet spot now on the weekends. That is after
the arcade shops close. There are occasionally buskers on the main
drinking street which runs parallel to the arcade but that is yakuza
territory and they will require a monthly payment if you are a regular
busker there; at least that was the experience of a British folk guitarist
who had did played there for several years. I sometimes play on the
grounds of Kochi castle, and used to play at an outdoor booth at Kochi's
Sunday Market, probably Japan's largest outdoor market,, but was never
asked to move on. I did try practicing on the grounds of Higashi
Honganji, one of the larger temples in Kyoto, and was trying to be as
inconspicuous as possible but was asked to leave by security guards there
after just a few minutes,, though I have played in their gardens
(Kikokutein?) several times without incident. One of my older
acquaintances has reminisced on seeing basket hatted komuso playing for
money during his childhood in Kagoshima, on the island of Kyushu, back in
the early 1950's; now may be the time for some adventurous shakuhachi
player to try the same thing along the 88 temple pilgrimage route in
Shikoku.
Cheers,
Dan
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