Author, Researcher and Lecturer with a Passion for History, Music and Japan
Musical instruments from Japan – Yamaha grand pianos and wind instruments come to mind, or Suzuki violins; or else traditional Japanese instruments, of which the large taiko drums and the shakuhachi flute are probably most familiar in the West. Occasionally one can also hear other instruments in Europe, such as…
Even after finishing Not by Love Alone, I still wonder at the rapid spread of Western music in 19th– and early 20th-century Japan. Like others writing about the history of Western music in Japan, I made much of the Japanese pioneers who studied in the West or had Western teachers….
Established in 1895 by Shikama Totsuji 四竈訥治(訥堂、1853 – 1928), this youth band was one of the first of its kind. A few years later several department stores founded youth bands. They performed publicly and were important for making Western music more widely heard. The following year Shikama Totsuji moved back…