Canadian Spirit Holiday Services: Japanese Performing Artists Blog, Penticton, Canada - Japanese Koto

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Japanese Koto:

During my discovery of traditional Japanese culture my wife Atsuko started playing the Japanese koto. When Atsuko first told me she was thinking of picking up the koto I was very happy and encouraged her to do so. However, not knowing anything about Japanese traditional music, I thought the koto was the shamisen! You can imagine my surprise when she walked in the door with the 2 metre long instrument and began to set it up! However, when she first plucked those strings I recognized the sound instantly and I loved it. I mean I really, really loved it! It was so elegant, so soothing, so beautiful, and so very relaxing. In fact, it reminded me of the atmosphere and feelings I had when I visited the ryokans, temples, castles, gardens and other traditional places. We had a tatami mat room in our apartment in Osaka and when Atsuko put on her kimono and played the koto in the tatami mat room, well, it was wonderful and I was so happy she decided to learn this beautiful instrument.

I was even happier when I learned Angela would also start playing the koto and their teacher would be Matsumoto Sensei. I would often go to Matsumoto Sensei's music studio and pick up Atsuko and Angela after practice, and sometimes she would come to our home and give Angela private koto lessons. Matsumoto Sensei and I soon became fast friends. She was a dedicated teacher and an excellent koto player, and the more I got to know her the more respect I had for her, the koto, and traditional Japanese music. My discovery of the koto added to my love of traditional Japanese culture, and I think Atsuko and Angela were so lucky to have met Matsumoto Sensei. Honestly speaking, I could not think of a more perfect koto teacher for them.

Playing the koto in Matsumoto Sensei’s music studio and in our apartment was terrific but it was nothing compared to the first koto concerts I saw at Osaka Castle Park. In the spring of 2006, Matsumoto Sensei organized two traditional Japanese music concerts in March and May at Osaka Castle Park. There on the stage sat Matsumoto Sensei, Atsuko, Angela, and the other koto and shamisen players all dressed up in their kimonos and the concerts were wonderful. With Osaka Castle lying behind us it was a terrific setting and the concerts were a huge success.

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