Thrilled by Japanese culture

What say you on the issue below?

AN enjoyable hands-on experience of Japanese culture had several hundred Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) students dancing and strumming along with members of the Mugen-Jyuku group from Nagoya, Japan.

The workshop, titled Introduction to Japanese Culture Through the Shamisen — A Traditional Musical Instrument, first acquainted them with one of the oldest stringed instruments in the world.

Learning the basics: Members of the Mugen-Jyuku group teaching USM students how to play the shamisen.

According to the group’s chairman Shoko Nakamura, the shamisen traced its origins to Egypt, before spreading through the Silk Road to China, and then to Okinawa in Japan.

“It has since evolved to become the instrument that it is today, a very important one in Japanese music,” Nakamura explains.

One of the group’s budding shamisen players, Tatsuya Hayashi, 11, first strummed the instrument two years ago, and has since been enamoured enough to harbour ambitions of becoming a professional player someday.

“It was difficult to play at first, but the sounds that came out of it were just beautiful,” he added.

Accompanying the shamisen were the hiradaiko (fold drum) and the shakuhachi (flute), whose combined tones created a melodious ensemble during the event held at the campus’ Dewan Budaya re-cently.

Later, the group — which comprised 42 musicians, dancers and stagehands — joined the students in several rounds of traditional dances, among them the Tanko-Bushi, which originated in Kyushu.

Six lucky students were also called up on stage to try on the yukata, a summer kimono. To their delight, they were then told that they got to keep the gorgeous pieces.

Among them was 23-year-old management student Lee Li Leng, who revealed that she was first drawn to Japanese culture after watching anime. Subsequently, her interest grew.

“It’s only my second time putting on a kimono, and it’s absolutely beautiful,” said Lee.

The workshop was jointly organised by the university and the Consulate-General of Japan, in conjunction with a full performance by the group later that evening.

Soeda Masatoshi, a visiting language teacher with the university, believes such events are a good platform to introduce Japanese culture to locals, and get them acquainted with prevailing traditions from the Land of the Rising Sun.

Vice-consul Eriko Nishizawa adds, “We hope this will foster closer ties and let students feel a closeness to Japan. Even better if it inspires some to study the Japanese language.”