Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

World Shakuhachi Discussion / Go to Live Shakuhachi Chat

You are not logged in.


Tube of delight!

#1 2007-07-19 22:26:00

geni
Performer & Teacher
From: Boston MA
Registered: 2005-12-21
Posts: 830
Website

first western shakuhachi player?

hi guys,

I  have this question:-)
who was  the first(s) western shakuhachi player? (I know I am the first albanian shakuhachi player:-)

Offline

 

#2 2007-07-19 23:04:38

Tairaku 太楽
Administrator/Performer
From: Tasmania
Registered: 2005-10-07
Posts: 3226
Website

Re: first western shakuhachi player?

Henry Cowell.


'Progress means simplifying, not complicating' : Bruno Munari

http://www.myspace.com/tairakubrianritchie

Offline

 

#3 2007-07-20 09:09:25

nyokai
shihan
From: Portland, ME
Registered: 2005-10-09
Posts: 613
Website

Re: first western shakuhachi player?

If by western you mean not of Japanese ethnicity, then as Tairaku points out Henry Cowell is the first commonly known one -- he was studying at least by 1937, and he had gotten John Cage to organize a Japanese music concert in LA (that included shakuhachi) in 1935.

But there were several teachers in LA -- Jozan Tada and Hodo Matsushita, at least, had established dojos and advertised in English as well as Japanese in Rafu Shimpo (the Japanese immigrant newspaper) in the 30's. And there were probably more teachers, with less formal schools, in the Vacaville area. It is important to remember that all the issei shakuhachi teachers, including K. Tamada (Cowell's teacher) had been in the US since 1924 at the latest, since Japanese immigration was closed from 1924-1952. This means that by the time Cowell started shakuhachi, there had been established teachers here for at least thirteen years and probably much longer. It is unlikely that a nisei -- second-generation Japanese, born in the US -- hadn't already taken up shakuhachi well before Cowell.

The issei and nisei of the early twentieth century considered themselves Americans, and therefore "western," even if racists in the United States government were eager to restrict their immigration and later to throw them in concentration camps. So I would say the first western shakuhachi player probably had a Japanese name.

Last edited by nyokai (2007-07-20 12:23:28)

Offline

 

#4 2007-07-20 22:29:32

Kiku Day
Shakuhachi player, teacher and ethnomusicologist
From: London, UK & Nørre Snede, DK
Registered: 2005-10-07
Posts: 922
Website

Re: first western shakuhachi player?

Hi Phil.

I am presently preparing a paper to present at a public seminar at Japan Foundation, Kyoto in September. I have chosen the approach of trying to show how the shakuhachi became the most popular Japanese instrument outside Japan by presenting the history of how it was introduced to the world (first of all US). Then I will turn the presentation towards the ji-nashi boom happening the last 5 years or so, which will enable me to present the results of my research here on ji-nashi shakuhachi construction.

It was therefore very interesting for me to read your post about the Japanese shakuhachi playing immigrants in the 20s and 30s. Do you know if it is possible for me to get hold of Rafu Shimpo, the immigrant newspaper?
Do you know any more?

Best,
Kiku


I am a hole in a flute
that the Christ's breath moves through
listen to this music
Hafiz

Offline

 

#5 2007-07-20 23:49:42

edosan
Edomologist
From: Salt Lake City
Registered: 2005-10-09
Posts: 2185

Re: first western shakuhachi player?

kikuday wrote:

"...the ji-nashi boom..."



Cracks me up  smile


Zen is not easy.
It takes effort to attain nothingness.
And then what do you have?
Bupkes.

Offline

 

#6 2007-07-21 07:15:28

Harazda
Member
Registered: 2007-06-07
Posts: 126

Re: first western shakuhachi player?

What an interesting thread.  Firstly, I'm very fond of Nyokai's response, as it seems to throw positive light on the Western-ness of pre-1924 Japanese-Americans, so that their ethnicity as G-2 Japanese doesn't set them outside candidacy for "the first western shakuhachi player" status.  This shows a great openness of mind rooted in universality of the human spirit!

Recently, my parents had genetic work done which reveals their genetic history going back 60,000 years.  What the results taught me is that there is really only one humanity; all supposed ethnicity is only learned behavior and linguistic/conceptual variation.  I, for example, look totally "white" to anyone on the street, yet I have ancestry in Native America, Mongolia, Siberia, China, and even Sri Lanka, though direct and recent ancestry would appear to make me merely English/Polish.

Many of us on this forum share a single African ancestor; in fact, we probably all do!

Many of our ancestors hunted mammoths together.

The shakuhachi belongs to the human spirit, which belongs to all.  Also, the mystical and shamanic elements of our innermost being that the shakuhachi has the power to ignite also belong to all, and there are no real barriers to this spiritual reality.

I guess this is mainly what I wanted to say, though I'd also like to reinforce my post by adding that shakuhachi playing doesn't Nipponify the player; rather it universalizes the player by stirring the ancient universal cauldron underlying acculturated consciousness.

Last edited by Harazda (2007-07-21 07:33:39)

Offline

 

#7 2007-07-21 07:23:12

nyokai
shihan
From: Portland, ME
Registered: 2005-10-09
Posts: 613
Website

Re: first western shakuhachi player?

kikuday wrote:

Do you know any more?

Not much.
(Answered in email, Kiku.)

Offline

 

#8 2007-07-21 10:57:47

dstone
Member
From: Vancouver, Canada
Registered: 2006-01-11
Posts: 552
Website

Re: first western shakuhachi player?

Nicely said, Harazda.

Along with all the wonderful aid to feed, shelter, and rid disease that goes on in the world...  if there was a way to also rub everyone's nose in the fact over and over again that we're all the same dumb animal, from the same muttly stock, wired in the same crazy ways, with a shared fate ahead of us, then maybe there'd be a few less racial, religious, and political wars.  No us.  No them.

Back to early western shakuhachi players...  does anyone know if Canada was home to early shakuhachi activity?  It was certainly a destination for Japanese immigrants, primarily fisherman here on the Pacific coast, in the last 20 to 30 years of the 1800s.

-Darren.


When it is rainy, I am in the rain. When it is windy, I am in the wind.  - Mitsuo Aida

Offline

 

#9 2007-07-21 13:14:08

baian
Member
Registered: 2006-03-28
Posts: 83

Re: first western shakuhachi player?

Also , what about Europe in the late 1860's . I'm curious . Many european enginers, for example, were in Japan then to aid in modernization /westerization, build railroads etc. And lots of them became enanamored with traditional Japanese culture. The game of Go for example came mainly to the western world as a result of this cultural convergence. Is there a parallel tale with regard to Japanese music and Shakuhachi in particular ?

Offline

 

#10 2007-07-22 04:00:58

Kiku Day
Shakuhachi player, teacher and ethnomusicologist
From: London, UK & Nørre Snede, DK
Registered: 2005-10-07
Posts: 922
Website

Re: first western shakuhachi player?

When the shakuhachi was introduced to Europe is less known than in regard to the US - for some reason. There are descriptions of Europeans, who went to Japan and admired the life there and how everybody seemed to have hobbies.... so one could suspect someone got in contact with the music of shakuhachi. However, I have never heard of anything... yet.
It is interesting, though, that the first two 'Westen' PhD thesis on shakuhachi I am aware of are from Europe.
• The first one is by Dr. Ingrid Fritsch 'Die Solo-Honkyoku der Tozan-Schule'. It was published in Studien zür traditionellen Musik Japans, Bd 4. Kasserl; Basel; London: Bärenreiter in 1979.
• The next I know of is Andreas Gutzwiller's 'Die Shakuhachi der Kinko-Schule', published in 1983 from the same publisher as above, volume 5).
• Then comes Riley Lee's PhD thesis 'Yearning for the bell: a study of transmission in the shakuhachi honkyoku tradition' in 1992 from Sydney University.
All the above is according to my knowledge. If there are other PhD thesis out there, please let us know.
But this shows a quite an early interest in shakuhachi from European scholarly front. But it would be really intriguing to know when the shakuhachi was first introduced to Europe both in regards of concerts (perhaps the world expo's???) and teaching.

Kiku


I am a hole in a flute
that the Christ's breath moves through
listen to this music
Hafiz

Offline

 

#11 2007-07-22 04:12:43

Priapus Le Zen M☮nk
Historical Zen Mod
From: St-Jerome, Quebec, Canada
Registered: 2006-04-25
Posts: 612
Website

Re: first western shakuhachi player?

I do have in my collection a very old  Japanese booklet written in English in the 30’s about Japanese music that shows a picture of a gaijin fully dressed in Kimono/Hakama and Haori playing Shakuhahchi. From his face he looks quite German. Let me know if you want to get a hold of this booklet there is a lot of nice old pics in there and is quite rare considering the age and fact it was written in English by the Japanese Board of Tourism in those days.


Sebastien 義真 Cyr
春風館道場 Shunpukan Dojo
St-Jerome, Quebec, Canada
http://www.myspace.com/shunpukandojo

Offline

 

#12 2007-07-22 11:17:57

Tairaku 太楽
Administrator/Performer
From: Tasmania
Registered: 2005-10-07
Posts: 3226
Website

Re: first western shakuhachi player?

Gishin wrote:

I do have in my collection a very old  Japanese booklet written in English in the 30’s about Japanese music that shows a picture of a gaijin fully dressed in Kimono/Hakama and Haori playing Shakuhahchi. From his face he looks quite German. Let me know if you want to get a hold of this booklet there is a lot of nice old pics in there and is quite rare considering the age and fact it was written in English by the Japanese Board of Tourism in those days.

I'd love to see that, sounds incredible!


'Progress means simplifying, not complicating' : Bruno Munari

http://www.myspace.com/tairakubrianritchie

Offline

 

#13 2007-07-23 00:08:29

Priapus Le Zen M☮nk
Historical Zen Mod
From: St-Jerome, Quebec, Canada
Registered: 2006-04-25
Posts: 612
Website

Re: first western shakuhachi player?

Tairaku wrote:

Gishin wrote:

I do have in my collection a very old  Japanese booklet written in English in the 30’s about Japanese music that shows a picture of a gaijin fully dressed in Kimono/Hakama and Haori playing Shakuhahchi. From his face he looks quite German. Let me know if you want to get a hold of this booklet there is a lot of nice old pics in there and is quite rare considering the age and fact it was written in English by the Japanese Board of Tourism in those days.

I'd love to see that, sounds incredible!

The pic will be on my site in the morning when I get back home.


Sebastien 義真 Cyr
春風館道場 Shunpukan Dojo
St-Jerome, Quebec, Canada
http://www.myspace.com/shunpukandojo

Offline

 

#14 2007-07-23 10:25:10

Priapus Le Zen M☮nk
Historical Zen Mod
From: St-Jerome, Quebec, Canada
Registered: 2006-04-25
Posts: 612
Website

Re: first western shakuhachi player?

As promised here is the link to the pic of the mistery Gaijin and his teacher Yoshida Seifu.

http://shunpukandojo.zaadz.com/photos/v … 8#comments


Also here is some Komuso pic from the same book.

http://shunpukandojo.zaadz.com/photos/v … 2#comments


Sebastien 義真 Cyr
春風館道場 Shunpukan Dojo
St-Jerome, Quebec, Canada
http://www.myspace.com/shunpukandojo

Offline

 

#15 2007-07-23 11:29:19

nyokai
shihan
From: Portland, ME
Registered: 2005-10-09
Posts: 613
Website

Re: first western shakuhachi player?

Gishin wrote:

As promised here is the link to the pic of the mistery Gaijin and his teacher Yoshida Seifu.

Thanks, Gishin! What a fantastic photo!! It would be incredibly cool to find out who that student is.
What is the booklet it is from?

Offline

 

#16 2007-07-23 11:30:58

Tairaku 太楽
Administrator/Performer
From: Tasmania
Registered: 2005-10-07
Posts: 3226
Website

Re: first western shakuhachi player?

nyokai wrote:

Gishin wrote:

As promised here is the link to the pic of the mistery Gaijin and his teacher Yoshida Seifu.

Thanks, Gishin! What a fantastic photo!! It would be incredibly cool to find out who that student is.
What is the booklet it is from?

Seifu came to America and performed so it's possible this photo was taken in the States.


'Progress means simplifying, not complicating' : Bruno Munari

http://www.myspace.com/tairakubrianritchie

Offline

 

#17 2007-07-23 11:37:19

Priapus Le Zen M☮nk
Historical Zen Mod
From: St-Jerome, Quebec, Canada
Registered: 2006-04-25
Posts: 612
Website

Re: first western shakuhachi player?

This boolklet was printed in the 30's by the Japanese board of tourism. As far as where the pics was taken I feel it was taken in Japan since this is a tatami room etc.. and it has other pics showing Yoshida Seifu playing on stage in Japan etc. I will post the whole booklet a bit later today.


I also have a bunch of other wartime pics in my collection that have not been shown as far as I know. So if people are interested just let me know.

Last edited by Gishin (2007-07-23 11:38:41)


Sebastien 義真 Cyr
春風館道場 Shunpukan Dojo
St-Jerome, Quebec, Canada
http://www.myspace.com/shunpukandojo

Offline

 

#18 2007-07-23 11:56:58

nyokai
shihan
From: Portland, ME
Registered: 2005-10-09
Posts: 613
Website

Re: first western shakuhachi player?

Gishin wrote:

I also have a bunch of other wartime pics in my collection that have not been shown as far as I know. So if people are interested just let me know.

Absolutely!

Offline

 

#19 2007-07-23 12:28:30

Priapus Le Zen M☮nk
Historical Zen Mod
From: St-Jerome, Quebec, Canada
Registered: 2006-04-25
Posts: 612
Website

Re: first western shakuhachi player?

nyokai wrote:

Gishin wrote:

I also have a bunch of other wartime pics in my collection that have not been shown as far as I know. So if people are interested just let me know.

Absolutely!

There it is more to come later when I find them in my pile of junk.

http://shunpukandojo.zaadz.com/photos/v … 9#comments


Sebastien 義真 Cyr
春風館道場 Shunpukan Dojo
St-Jerome, Quebec, Canada
http://www.myspace.com/shunpukandojo

Offline

 

#20 2007-07-23 13:30:31

dstone
Member
From: Vancouver, Canada
Registered: 2006-01-11
Posts: 552
Website

Re: first western shakuhachi player?

Awesome historic photos!  Something like this would be excellent in Volume 3 of the Annals.

Nobody can resist romancing over pieces of a puzzle several generations later.  So don't forget...  Our forums and mailing lists today are documenting early internet shakuhachi culture for future historians.  Laugh if you want, but a century from now I can easily picture a researcher compiling the origins of the remarkable shakuhachi culture that only the internet could give rise to...  "for the first time, such a wonderful but veiled instrument was discussed without limitations of ryu, travel, politics, where information was (mostly) free, and where non-experts could rattle the properly trained by questioning sacred traditions and assumptions."

-Darren.


When it is rainy, I am in the rain. When it is windy, I am in the wind.  - Mitsuo Aida

Offline

 

#21 2007-07-23 16:18:29

Tairaku 太楽
Administrator/Performer
From: Tasmania
Registered: 2005-10-07
Posts: 3226
Website

Re: first western shakuhachi player?

dstone wrote:

Awesome historic photos!  Something like this would be excellent in Volume 3 of the Annals.

Nobody can resist romancing over pieces of a puzzle several generations later.  So don't forget...  Our forums and mailing lists today are documenting early internet shakuhachi culture for future historians.  Laugh if you want, but a century from now I can easily picture a researcher compiling the origins of the remarkable shakuhachi culture that only the internet could give rise to...  "for the first time, such a wonderful but veiled instrument was discussed without limitations of ryu, travel, politics, where information was (mostly) free, and where non-experts could rattle the properly trained by questioning sacred traditions and assumptions."

-Darren.

Sounds good Darren, but there are some people who think that accessibility is bad. I can understand that too. And I definitely don't think this forum should be a substitute for traditional study. It should be more like a pub we go to after school.


'Progress means simplifying, not complicating' : Bruno Munari

http://www.myspace.com/tairakubrianritchie

Offline

 

#22 2007-07-23 17:29:49

dstone
Member
From: Vancouver, Canada
Registered: 2006-01-11
Posts: 552
Website

Re: first western shakuhachi player?

Tairaku wrote:

And I definitely don't think this forum should be a substitute for traditional study. It should be more like a pub we go to after school.

Heheh, yeah, conversations in the pub after school is a very good analogy.  Informal, edgy, argumentative, playful, etc.

Now who wouldn't enjoy the ability to do some full-text or keyword or author searches of Meiji era pub conversations between shakuhachi players!?

-Darren.


When it is rainy, I am in the rain. When it is windy, I am in the wind.  - Mitsuo Aida

Offline

 

#23 2007-08-11 07:51:04

Kiku Day
Shakuhachi player, teacher and ethnomusicologist
From: London, UK & Nørre Snede, DK
Registered: 2005-10-07
Posts: 922
Website

Re: first western shakuhachi player?

CORRECTION:

• The first one is by Dr. Ingrid Fritsch 'Die Solo-Honkyoku der Tozan-Schule'. It was published in Studien zür traditionellen Musik Japans, Bd 4. Kasserl; Basel; London: Bärenreiter in 1979.
• The next I know of is Andreas Gutzwiller's 'Die Shakuhachi der Kinko-Schule', published in 1983 from the same publisher as above, volume 5).

This is not correct.
Dr. Fritsch emailed and told me that, in fact, Dr. Gutzwiller's PhD is from 1974, submitted at wesleyan University! It just got published later.

He is early out, Gutzwiller.
Sorry to give you the wrong information!

Blow in peace,
Kiku


I am a hole in a flute
that the Christ's breath moves through
listen to this music
Hafiz

Offline

 

#24 2007-08-19 07:27:42

James Nyoraku Schlefer
Dai Shihan
From: New York City
Registered: 2005-10-07
Posts: 104
Website

Re: first western shakuhachi player?

nyokai wrote:

Gishin wrote:

As promised here is the link to the pic of the mistery Gaijin and his teacher Yoshida Seifu.

Thanks, Gishin! What a fantastic photo!! It would be incredibly cool to find out who that student is.
What is the booklet it is from?

I think this photo is great. Thanks for posting it. One question. Which one is the student?

Offline

 

#25 2007-08-20 04:17:50

Priapus Le Zen M☮nk
Historical Zen Mod
From: St-Jerome, Quebec, Canada
Registered: 2006-04-25
Posts: 612
Website

Re: first western shakuhachi player?

The one on the left that has the notation and the teacher appears to be Yoshida Seifu on the right.


Sebastien 義真 Cyr
春風館道場 Shunpukan Dojo
St-Jerome, Quebec, Canada
http://www.myspace.com/shunpukandojo

Offline

 

Board footer

Powered by PunBB
© Copyright 2002–2005 Rickard Andersson

Google