Tsugaru shamisen is a traditional Japanese instrument originating from Aomori prefecture in the northern part in Japan. I have interviewed Hibiki Ichikawa, who is a Tsugaru Shamisen player in the UK.
Hibiki is the only professional player of Tsugaru Shamisen in the U.K. In 2015, Hibiki has qualified to perform under the "Tier 1 Exceptional Talent Visa" that is granted to only limited honors artists and he is now officially recognized as a world-leading talent of Tsugaru shamisen.
Since his arrival, Hibiki has performed on many occasions, including the Japanese Emperor's birthday event at the Japanese Embassy, the Japan Matsuri in Trafalgar Square and Hyper Japan. He has been teaching over 20 students in the U.K how to play the instrument, and his lessons are becoming increasingly popular.
- http://www.hibikishamisen.com/index.html
↑Hibiki Ichikawa collaborating with a Popping dancer Jamie Gong
- When did you start playing shamisen?
I used to play the guitar when I was a student. When I was 20 years old, I became interested in playing other instruments. One day, I happened to find an advertisement of shamisen lesson. This made me think that “I want to learn how to play the shamisen”.
The first shamisen which I played was hosozao. Hosozao is one of the styles of shamisen and refers to the thin neck size of this instrument. I now use tsugaru shamisen, which is hutozao. This refers to the thick neck size and makes a powerful and strong sound compared with other styles of shamisen. When I was learning playing hosozao, I met a woman who was playing tsugaru shamisen. She invited me to a lesson of tsugaru shamisen and I got an opportunity to listen to tsugaru shamisen music.
When I listened to the music for the first time, I was really amased by the powerful sound of tsugaru shamisen and fell in love with it. And I decided to change my instrument to learn hutozao. It was an awesome event for me, and I might not have played the shamisen now if I had not known the sound of tsugaru shamisen.
- Why did you come to the UK to play shamisen?
In 2007, I had an opportunity to have a shamisen concert with my master in Porland. Although it was the first time for us to play the shamisen over the sea, our concert was very successful. The audience got much more excited than I had expected, and I felt “It is very fun to play the music in other countries”. This incident let me have a dream to become a shamans player outside Japan. Since I had loved the fashion and music in the UK, I decided to come here.
- What do you think about the cultural difference between Japan and the UK?
The biggest difference which I struggled with was the language difference. I had to learn English hardly because I teach shamisen in English in a lesson or workshop. However, I got used to it and I don't feel so hard to speak English now.
The cultural difference has a possitive effect on playing the shamisen here, because so many people become very interested in shamisen which is from a different country and has different culture.
There are some examples. Some of the audience often approach me after the concert and say, “I was very impressed by your performance, and I’d love to learn how to play the instrument”. Besides, other people ask me to play in other concerts because they were moved by shamisen music.
We were invited to the pub in south London to play shamisen on the other day. Surprisingly, there were lots of rock band groups apart from us. At first we were nervous if our style and music would be accepted by the audience. However, once we began playing it, many people became interested in our music and came to listen to it. Finally, the audience really enjoyed our performance clapping their hands. I think they liked our performance because they had not known such kind of music.
- You have been collaborating with a dancer and DJ. Do you prefer modern style music to traditional Japanese music?
I am often asked to play the shamisen with dance or DJ music. Although this kind of music has been popular recently, I always take care of traditional Japanese music such as minyo (Japanese folk song). Shamisen was originally used as accompaniment for minyo and not a main instrument. My master has especially considered this role very important and taught me about it. So I don't only play modern music but also traditional music.
- How does the audience react to minyo?
In HYPER JAPAN (an event held for introducing Japanese culture), everyone looked so excited with our performance. Honestly, this was unexpected to me because the audience in Japan is not excited so much! In Japan, young people don't have an interest with minyo or shamisen music since these music are "old" and "uncool" to them. However, foreigners do not have such a thought and they embrace our performance as "new" and "cool" music. I'm glad that foreigners like traditional Japanese music.
- Do you have any new projects now?
I am trying to spread Japanese music all over the world. I also hold workshops in Berlin and have a concert in Praha. I am getting more opportunities to play shamisen outside the UK.
In addition, Mochizuki Akari (a Japanese blues "Enka" singer) and I have started "Traditional Japanese Music Show & Workshop" recently. In this project, we visit schools and introduce traditional Japanese music to children. I hope many people understand what the traditional Japanese music is through this workshop.
Website of Hibiki Ichikawa
→ http://www.hibikishamisen.com/
- When did you start playing shamisen?
I used to play the guitar when I was a student. When I was 20 years old, I became interested in playing other instruments. One day, I happened to find an advertisement of shamisen lesson. This made me think that “I want to learn how to play the shamisen”.
The first shamisen which I played was hosozao. Hosozao is one of the styles of shamisen and refers to the thin neck size of this instrument. I now use tsugaru shamisen, which is hutozao. This refers to the thick neck size and makes a powerful and strong sound compared with other styles of shamisen. When I was learning playing hosozao, I met a woman who was playing tsugaru shamisen. She invited me to a lesson of tsugaru shamisen and I got an opportunity to listen to tsugaru shamisen music.
When I listened to the music for the first time, I was really amased by the powerful sound of tsugaru shamisen and fell in love with it. And I decided to change my instrument to learn hutozao. It was an awesome event for me, and I might not have played the shamisen now if I had not known the sound of tsugaru shamisen.
- Why did you come to the UK to play shamisen?
In 2007, I had an opportunity to have a shamisen concert with my master in Porland. Although it was the first time for us to play the shamisen over the sea, our concert was very successful. The audience got much more excited than I had expected, and I felt “It is very fun to play the music in other countries”. This incident let me have a dream to become a shamans player outside Japan. Since I had loved the fashion and music in the UK, I decided to come here.
- What do you think about the cultural difference between Japan and the UK?
The biggest difference which I struggled with was the language difference. I had to learn English hardly because I teach shamisen in English in a lesson or workshop. However, I got used to it and I don't feel so hard to speak English now.
The cultural difference has a possitive effect on playing the shamisen here, because so many people become very interested in shamisen which is from a different country and has different culture.
There are some examples. Some of the audience often approach me after the concert and say, “I was very impressed by your performance, and I’d love to learn how to play the instrument”. Besides, other people ask me to play in other concerts because they were moved by shamisen music.
We were invited to the pub in south London to play shamisen on the other day. Surprisingly, there were lots of rock band groups apart from us. At first we were nervous if our style and music would be accepted by the audience. However, once we began playing it, many people became interested in our music and came to listen to it. Finally, the audience really enjoyed our performance clapping their hands. I think they liked our performance because they had not known such kind of music.
- You have been collaborating with a dancer and DJ. Do you prefer modern style music to traditional Japanese music?
I am often asked to play the shamisen with dance or DJ music. Although this kind of music has been popular recently, I always take care of traditional Japanese music such as minyo (Japanese folk song). Shamisen was originally used as accompaniment for minyo and not a main instrument. My master has especially considered this role very important and taught me about it. So I don't only play modern music but also traditional music.
- How does the audience react to minyo?
In HYPER JAPAN (an event held for introducing Japanese culture), everyone looked so excited with our performance. Honestly, this was unexpected to me because the audience in Japan is not excited so much! In Japan, young people don't have an interest with minyo or shamisen music since these music are "old" and "uncool" to them. However, foreigners do not have such a thought and they embrace our performance as "new" and "cool" music. I'm glad that foreigners like traditional Japanese music.
- Do you have any new projects now?
I am trying to spread Japanese music all over the world. I also hold workshops in Berlin and have a concert in Praha. I am getting more opportunities to play shamisen outside the UK.
In addition, Mochizuki Akari (a Japanese blues "Enka" singer) and I have started "Traditional Japanese Music Show & Workshop" recently. In this project, we visit schools and introduce traditional Japanese music to children. I hope many people understand what the traditional Japanese music is through this workshop.
Website of Hibiki Ichikawa
→ http://www.hibikishamisen.com/
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