Author, Researcher and Lecturer with a Passion for History, Music and Japan
In Not by Love Alone I wrote about “the violin’s forgotten cousin” and Japan’s very own bowed instrument; the kokyû 胡弓 (or 日本胡弓). Its origins are disputed. According to the most plausible theory, it was developed in Japan in the late sixteenth century from the shamisen 三味線, a three-stringed plucked…
Birthday violinists in October include SUZUKI Shin’ichi 鈴木鎮一 (1898-1998) on 17 October, Midori (b. 1971, known in Japan as GOTÔ Midori 五嶋 みどり) on 25 October and TAKEZAWA Kyôko 竹澤恭子 (b. 1966) on 30 October. Suzuki Shin’ichi, is of course, best known for his development the “mother tongue” method of…
Birthday violinists in September include, among others, URUSHIHARA Asako 漆原朝子 (b. 1966) on 5 September – the same day as Joseph Szigeti (1892-1973), with whom several Japanese studied at some point in their careers; MORI Yûko 森悠子 (b. 1944) on 9 September, and SUMI Eriko 鷲見恵理子 (b. 1980) on 17 September. Urushihara…