Today, we’re talking about shamisen tournaments with my special guest, Grant ‘Shamisensation’ Reimer! Grant and I met in 2006 through Kevin Kmetz when we both started learning tsugaru shamisen. Both shamisen novices, we motivated each other to keep practicing while sharing exciting adventures in the pre-Bachido shamisen oasis that was Santa Cruz, California!
In this episode, Grant shares his experience of his very first shamisen tournament in Japan, which was also his first trip out of the US!
Check out Grant’s picture-filled blog about his 2009 trip to the Tsugaru Shamisen Taikai in Hirosaki!