-----------------------
To feel the awe of the shakuhachi, following its roots
reaching deep into Japan and our souls.
-----------------------
We spent an extra night in Matsumoto to rest and visit the
impressive Matsumoto Castle, one of the most well-preserved
and beautiful fortresses in Japan.
The next morning we were on the Shinkansen to Kyoto and
arrived at our hostel by 3 PM. We had planned to attend a
secret ceremony commemorating the famous zen priest, Ikkyu,
at Ikkyu-ji in Kyoto, but our timing was off that day. That
evening we met with
Kurahashi anyway and had a lesson in the honkyoku
Daiwagaku and Banji at his house. Although his style of
playing is very different that what I and my students are
used to, I feel it is very important to taste other styles
of playing other than your own. It is also a gesture of
respect for his lineage of shakuhachi. After all, we are all
part of the family of shakuhachi players. We met his 13 year
old son who debuted recently with his first shakuhachi
performance, the piece, Kurokami. He is a very mature and
well-mannered young man.
The next day we went to Nara, the ancient capital of Japan
to
meet the shakuhachi maker, Yamaguchi Shugetsu at his
Shingetsu workshop. We had a grand time playing his various
flutes. I also played a few pieces with his wife Tomoko, who
is a wonderful koto and shamisen player with a superb
voice.　We agreed that next year when we visit Japan
again we would have a concert with her students and mine.
Yamaguchi treated all of us to lunch at a famous soba
restaurant then dropped us off at Todaiji where we finished
the day visiting the Daibutsuden and surrounding area.
The next morning we visited Meian-ji. Kurahashi-sensei was
so kind to arrange for us to enter the temple again as that
day it was actually closed. We played Honshirabe and Tamuke
in front of the statue of Kyochiku Zenji and Fuke Zenji in
the honden and took lots more photos of the temple. This
time, Hirazume-san, the head monk of the temple had a little
more time to spend with us answering more questions we had
about the history and meanings of the kanji and scrolls on
the walls.
The rest of the day was spent visiting Kinkakuji (Golden
Pavillion), Ryoanji, the famous dry rock garden, and
shopping for samue (monks work clothes) at Hakuba on
sannenzaka. We ended the day with a delicious dinner of
okonomiyaki (grilled Japanese omlette) at Kana, a little
hole in the wall restaurant just off of Sannenzaka.
Our next desination: Mie Prefecture--Tsubaki Jinja
To be continued.........
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