Thanks Riley,
An incisive, accurate review.
As always your work is most excellent !!
From another (albeit somewhat oversized !) bamboo-playing minnow,
Status: RO
Ronnie
> Greetings
>
> The following is a brief overview of the Tokyo International Shakuhachi
> Summit 2002, followed by some observations regarding non-Japanese
> participation.
>
> The Summit was held over three days, 9-11 August, in the suburb of Mizue,
> about 40 minutes by subway from Shinjuku. The activities on Friday and
> Saturday were held in the "Tobu Friend Hall", a multi-story building with
> meeting rooms, music rooms, and a medium size concert hall on five levels.
> Sunday was spent at another larger concert hall, the Main Hall in the Souai
> Kumin Center, located two subway stops from the Tobu Friend Hall.
>
> The activities on 9 August were as follows:
> Five or six activities ran concurrently all day long, with twenty activities
> all together. This meant that you could only attend at most six of the
> twenty activities, unless you attended only the first half of some
> activities to go the second half of others. A number of people chose this
> less than ideal option.
>
> Morning Workshops:
> Making a Shakuhachi, by Matsumoto Hirokazu
> Contemporary Performing Methods, by Fujiwara Dozan
> Presentation on Komuso, by Makihara Ichiro
> How to Read Western Music Scores, by Kobayashi Jun
> Jiuta (traditional ensemble music) "Nasuno", by Tokumaru Jumei
>
> Afternoon Workshops:
> Shakuhachi Performance with koto and shamisen, by Ikegami Shingo
> Performance of pieces composed by Rando Fukuda, w/piano, by Kakizakai Kaoru
> and Okada Yuko
> How to Play "Meri" and "Kari", by Tanabe Retsuzan
> Making a Shakuhachi, by John Neptune
> How to Make Sounds on the Shakuhachi, by Sugawara Kuniyoshi
> Presentation on Komuso, by Kanda Kayu
> Presentation on Komuso, by Shiratsuchi Koko
> Computer Programming for Shakuhachi Notations, by Simura Satosi and others
> Min'yo (Japanese Folksong) "Oiwake", by Hayashi Seido
> Jiuta "Zangetsu", by Kawamura Taizan
> Honkyoku "Shika no Tone", by Araki Kodo
> Honkyoku "Tamuke", by Yokoyama Katsuya
> Rehearsal of Summit group composition "Bamboo Metamorphose", composed by
> Seki Ichiro
>
>
> In the evening, there was a 90 minute concert, followed by a 180 minute
> symposium.
>
> The concert featured mostly modern pieces for one, two and three shakuhachi,
> performed by people who were not able to play in the Sunday concert due to
> prior commitments. There were no non-Japanese in this concert.
>
> The Symposium, held entirely in Japanese, was a panel discussion on why
> numbers of shakuhachi players had fallen by a third in Japan in the last
> decade. One widely held opinion was that only the number of dues paying
> members of the big shakuhachi organisations, eg. Tozan ryu, had fallen, and
> that the shakuhachi 'scene' was as healthy as it has ever been.
>
> Some panellists thought that young people needed to be encouraged to take up
> the instrument. It was observed that in the USA, Australia, and to some
> extent Europe, the numbers had greatly increased over the past decade. It
> was also observed that the increased numbers overseas was more in terms of
> percentages, while actual numbers remained relatively low. Many (most?) of
> the panellists had no time for the 'iemoto' system and especially the
> selling of licences. The belief was that this money making activity did
> nothing to encourage musical excellence or to attract new shakuhachi
> players. The dissenting view was that the iemoto system helped conserve
> certain parts of the tradition, and the licence selling helped maintain the
> iemoto system.
>
>
> Saturday, 10 August was more of the same, this time with up to seven events
> running concurrently.
>
> Morning workshops:
> Shinobue (traverse bamboo flute), by Toki Tatara
> How to Teach Beginners, by Furuya Teruo
> Techniques of Shakuhachi Performance, by Ishikawa Toshimitsu
> Edo Period 'Ji Nashi" Shakuhachi, by Simura Satosi
> Diagnosis: How is your Shakuhachi?
> Jiuta, "Azuma Jishi", by Kawase Yosuke
> Honkyoku "San'ya", by International Shakuhachi Kenshu-kan
> Movie: "The Singing Bamboo"
>
> Afternoon workshops:
> Performing 'Haru no Umi", by the students of the Yoshizaki school
> Rare Recordings of Shakuhachi Music, by Mori Jun
> Performance of Pieces Composed by Rando Fukuda, w/piano, by Madama Kazushi
> and Isozaki Manami
> Komuso presentation, by Aoki Konamu
> Komuso presentation, by Kosuge Daitetsu
> How to Dig Bamboo, by Obu Jin
> Shakuhachi: the Diameter of the Inside Curve, by Hayashi Masahiro
> Jiuta "Sue no Chigiri", by Araki Kodo
> Jiuta "Mama no Kawa", by Aoki Shoji
> Shigin performance (dramatic singing, usually related to Bushido), by Kouno
> Seimai
> "An Example from a Classroom", by Kosakai Osamu
>
> Also in the afternoon was a two hour (it went overtime!) Fourth Annual
> Contest for the Shakuhachi Rookie of the Year. Each contestant was limited
> to only four minutes. A panel of five or six judges ranked each performer on
> a scale of 0-20. The person with the highest overall score won the contest.
> The judges had a very difficult time, for among the 30 players or so, many
> performed to very high standards. Also, it would have been challenging for
> any judge to compare performances of honkyoku with those of modern
> compositions, a bit like comparing apples with oranges. There was only one
> non-Japanese in this concert, who happened to win it.
>
> This concert was followed by a 90 minute presentation by Tim Hoffman on
> Indian Classical Music on the Shakuhachi.
>
> Saturday evening featured a Shakuhachi Enko (popular Japanese songs) Party,
> another concert in the main hall, again mostly modern pieces, performed by
> those who could not be accommodated in the Sunday concert, as well as a
> second rehearsal of the group piece "Bamboo Metamorphose". Of the six pieces
> in the concert, three were performed by non-Japanese.
>
> Here is a question for you: With the idea that the workshop presenters
> represent a large proportion of the principle proponents of the shakuhachi
> tradition, how many of them have you ever heard of? Just one, maybe?
>
> Sunday, the final day of the "Summit" began at 9am in the larger hall two
> subway stops away, with the final rehearsal of "Bamboo Metamorphose". The
> concert began at 11am and finished at 7pm.
>
> The concert was divided into four sections, with intermissions between each
> section.
>
> The first section had solo Chinese traverse bamboo flute music, the folksong
> "Oiwake", and the honkyoku "Tamuke" performed by most of the participants,
> and conducted by Yokoyama Katsuya.
>
> The second section presented five groups or bands that featured the
> shakuhachi. One of the bands featured a non-Japanese
>
> The third section had seven performances of honkyoku. Interestingly, of the
> seven, three were versions of the same piece (Saji, Sashi, also known as
> Jimpo San'ya), and two were versions of Nesting of the Cranes. The other
> two pieces were Mukaiji Reibo, and Shin Kyorei. One of the pieces was
> performed by a non-Japanese.
>
> The fourth section featured ten modern compositions, including pieces for
> one to nine shakuhachi players, for shakuhachi and voice, shakuhachi, tabla
> and tamboura, shakuhachi and biwa, shakuhachi and bass koto, and shakuhachi,
> koto and shamisen. Four of the pieces were performed by non-Japanese.
>
> The final piece, or eleventh piece in this last section was 'Bamboo
> Metamorphose", for four solo shakuhachi, taiko, marimba, and mass shakuhachi
> choir (four parts), a very interesting piece, worthy of further
> performances.
>
> After the concert, a buffet party, with speeches, many toasts, etc, was held
> in a banquet hall within the same building as the concert hall.
>
>
>
> The following are some observations:
>
> Though one might have had the idea that there was a large non-Japanese
> component of the "Summit", as one can see by the names of the presenters of
> the workshops, this was not the case. Though 'foreigners' were represented
> in the Saturday and Sunday concerts, the vast majority of the performers
> also were Japanese.
>
> Furthermore, all six of the non-Japanese in the Sunday concert have studied
> in Japan for a number of years. In fact, only two 'second generation'
> non-Japanese, that is those who had not studied extensively in Japan with
> Japanese teachers, featured in the entire Summit.
>
> I spoke to few non-Japanese who participated in the Summit, but didn't
> perform or present a workshop, and who understood little or no English. All
> seemed contently satiated with shakuhachi 'stuff', even though none of the
> workshops were presented in English. There was enough non-verbal stimulation
> to suffice, it seemed.
>
> Several points here. Firstly, the overwhelming majority of shakuhachi
> activity probably still occurs in Japan. Technical performance skill,
> academic and intuitive understanding of the repertoire, including honkyoku,
> jiuta, min'yo, modern compositions, and instrument making all appear to be
> of a higher level in Japan than elsewhere, so much so as to hardly warrant
> comparison.
>
> Japan is still where it is at in terms of the shakuhachi tradition. Though
> this event was called an "International Shakuhachi Summit", the
> international element was minimal at best.
>
> Where does that leave us folks who live outside of Japan? I suppose we are
> where we have always been, muddling along with our very limited knowledge,
> limited experience, and limited understanding of the shakuhachi tradition,
> sometimes reinventing the wheel, but also adding our little contributions to
> that tradition, and having a grand time while doing so.
>
> One lesson from the 'Summit', if there has to be one, is that most of us
> reading this are swimming in extremely minuscule ponds, whatever size fish
> we might think we are.
>
> Your humble, bamboo flute playing minnow,
>
> Riley
>
> --
>
> Dr. Riley Lee
> Sound of Bamboo
> PO Box 939 Manly NSW 1655 Australia
> Tel: +61 02 9976 6904 mobile: +61 0414 626 453
> www.rileylee.net
>
>
>
>
> ____________________________________________________
>
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