When I listen to shak recordings made by various performers, it seems that
the Japanese players sounds more traditionally Japanese than Western
performers. Even those Westerners who have studied in Japan with Japanese
teachers seem to speak a subtle, but different sound language. Is this my
imagination, or does it simply demonstrate my lack of sensitivity? I know
that unless learned at a very young age, most second language speakers have
an accent - no matter how long they have been speaking their second
language. If I recall correctly, this has to do, in part, because the
speaking organs (mouth, throat, muscles, ligiments, etc.) are shaped by the
unique pronounciations of a particular language. By the age of 6 or 7 these
organs are already pretty much molded. Could it be that the Japanese
language translates in an indirect way into the sounds blown with the
shakuhachi via the physical characterists of the native speaker?
Am I way off based, or have other's speculates similarly?
Cheers,
Brian
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