Kumamoto: Meeting Nishimura Koryu
After looking around Shou Fukuji a little more, we all hopped on an
express train from Hakata bound for Kami Kumamoto where we were to meet
Koryu Nishimura, the son of the late Kyotaku master, Nishimura Kokuu.
Next to Watazumi-doso, Nishimura Kokuu was the other great jinashi
shakuhachi player of the 20th century, who passed away in 2002. (Note:
Kyotaku is just another name for jinashi shakuhachi.)
We got to Kami Kumamoto around 2:30 PM and Koryu was at the station to
meet us. We walked to Koryu's home where he was born and grew up in
which was 15 minutes from the station. As we walked we talked. Koryu
was the the only son of Nishimura Kokuu and Tae Nishimura, his mother,
who is still alive. Koryu worked in a company for most of his adult
life and retired recently. All his time now is spent playing and
teaching Kyotaku which was taught to him by his father from age 13. He
also harvests his own bamboo to make flutes in the abundant madake
forests of the Kumamoto region.
We arrived at the Nishimura residence which was a turn of the century
old Japanese-style country house surrounded by other homes. We entered
the genkan, removed our shoes, then entered the house. Koryu ushered us
into the small living room where there was a slender, bearded man
sitting at a low table. He was Kokou-san, a previous student of
Nishimura Kokuu. He was very warm and friendly. Tae-san Koryu's mother
also came in and greeted us with tea and sweets. Kokou-san is very
interesting. He's been playing Kyotaku for the last 15 years and is
also a Buddhist monk and Komuso. He was recently given an old,
abandoned zen temple in Kumamoto which he is in the process of reviving
it into a Komuso temple.
We sat for the next couple of hours talking about Nishimura Kokuu, his
life and great accomplishments as a sculptor, painter, martial artist,
and Kyotaku player and maker. All around his living room were several
of his exquisite wood carvings. I was struck by his great technique and
his refined aesthetic. And of course we got to see and play some of his
flutes. Some of his flutes, all the nodes were filed out. Some had a
few nodes left. All of them had red urushii coated on the inside. To
all his flutes he gave each a special name which he carved the kanji on
the surface of the front on the upper part of the neck. Some of them
he also did exquisite carving inlay on the surface of the entire
bamboo. One particular flute had a dragon twisting all the way around
it.
Before we left, Koryu and Kokou played a piece together on 2.9 Kyotaku
composed by Kokuu himself. Very calm and relaxing. They invited us back
next year to harvest bamboo and tour the excellent onsens (hot springs)
of the Kumamoto area. We will also check out "Reigendo" the cave where
the famous swordsman Miyamoto Musashi spent his last years and wrote
the famous book, Go Rin no Sho (Book of the 5 Rings) which is in their
area, and of course visit Kokou's Komuso temple.
Koryu and Kokou walked us back the the station and saw us off until we
were on our train back to Hakata.
To be continued......
Next: Zazen at Iccho-ken/Saiko-ji, and next destination.......Kokushou
Temple in Aichi, Nagoya
=<+>=<+>=<+>=<+>=<+>=<+>=<+>=
Alcvin Takegawa Ramos
Director
The Shakuhachi Society of BC (Bamboo-In)
=<+>=<+>=<+>=<+>=<+>=<+>=<+>=<+>=<+>=
S9-C3
Madeira Park, B.C.,V0N 2H0
Canada
tel: 604.883.2023
cell: 604.788.0060
MAIL: ramos@bamboo-in.com
WEB: http://www.bamboo-in.com/about-us/ramos.htm
_____________________________________________
List un/subscription information is at:
http://communication.ucsd.edu/shaku/listsub.html
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Jan 06 2006 - 10:00:47 PST