Lindsay's World Travels: Japan Bucket List #14 Part 2

So for the past two months I have undergone once-a-week lessons for playing the koto. If you recall my post from earlier in the semester I mentioned going to a workshop to watch the instrument being played and actually got a chance to lay hands on one. Shortly after I learned that Kanda University was holding classes for all who wished to learn. Given my longing to play the violin as I used to in middle school I decided to take the $10 discount I received at the workshop and put it towards learning a new instrument. I would take my class-free Wednesday and put it to some productive use. The layout of the music itself was a challenge at first but my teacher Mamiko Asaka (read last name first in Japanese: 朝香麻美子) was a patient and kind woman who really tried her best to breach the language barrier between me and my fellow student Ammy Sabai (a quiet young woman from Thailand who teaches Thai here at Kanda).

Her song of choice was 四季の日本古謡 for our performance which includes "Sakura", a melody relatively well known even to those who are not classical musicians. Our classes usually consisted of tuning our instruments after the more advanced students (some really awesome older ladies) left, doing a few scales, and then jumping right into the music. The part Ammy and I were to play was of course relatively easy but not being used to playing an instrument on the floor let alone in seiza [正座｜せいざ] or what is considered the proper way to sit when visiting others homes, eating, and playing traditional instruments. It basically involves you sitting directly on top of your legs which are folded beneath you for long periods of time growing increasingly uncomfortable until your legs reach a dull climax of pain and when you try to stand you fall because your legs have become cooked human noodles. But it's not all that bad once you get used to it, I had to develop a system of stopping at appropriate moments during our lessons and giving my legs a good whacking so that they would wake up.

At our 6th lesson I remember arriving just before the advanced students had finished like I usually did and waiting outside the room looking over the music with Ammy. On the attendance sheet I noticed a change on one of the dates - each box where we would put a circle to show we were there had been covered with a message for what would have been our next practice. Before I got a chance to ask the Asaka先生 about it I saw a flyer that foretold of a progress performance [成果発表会 | せいかはっぴょうかい] on the day that had the message on it. Upon asking Asaka先生, she confirmed my thoughts and said that we would be practicing one last time earlier in the morning (several times actually) and then performing for our fellow classmates and a few guests. Much like the workshop this would be recorded. Ammy and I were a bit surprised by this but I knew that we had done so well thus far and felt that we had nothing to worry about. Yes, we were beginners but hey, you have to start somewhere right?

Enlisting the help of my good pal Kyri as photographer and videographer, I embarked on my short journey from my dorm to Kanda that following week [6/19], prepared to have the performance of a lifetime. Of course she had the amazing idea to film my individual practicing which is all too embarrassing and not worth posting here. I must admit I was really nervous leading up to curtain call but our small Japanese style room [和室｜わしつ] provided a cozy atmosphere for our mainly elderly guests and Kyri to enjoy the beauty that is traditional Japanese music. I will not bore you with anymore details but I would like to say that this has been one of my most favorite personal experiences here and I am glad to have lived it. My interactions with Asaka先生, her mother and Ammy reminded me how much I loved learning the violin with Ms. Garcia back in elementary and middle school and how much I miss being where I was in my ability to play that wonderful instrument. Maybe someday I will take up the koto again and learn to love classical music once more.