Hi all:
Not a Tsugaru issue, but wondering if anyone can help me. I’m trying to find shamisen music for any of the following. (Koto music would work, too, if it exists.) I believe these are either nagauta or kouta, according to my friend:
Kotobuki 寿
Hakusen no 白扇の
Fuji no gensō 藤の幻想
Hana no kokoro 花のこころ
Any idea where I can purchase these? Or does anyone have them in their personal collection and feel like sharing?
Thanks in advance for any help!
Maybe you can search on Japanese sites, but it depends, because maybe these pieces are rare
I have already done that without success. That is why I am asking for members if they can help/have information.
I checked in the 14 volumes of the fujimoto min’yo books and there is nothing here… But If it is kouta or nagauta, ii is not a surprise.
Patrick, merci d’avoir essayé de m’aider! I shall live in hope that someone else here might know something for me.
Thanks for the french, Linda… Did you check in the nagauta or kouta fujimoto books ?
Hi Linda,
Hope all is well. I know 寿 as a Yamatogaku piece. I will look to see if I have the music, otherwise the only way to purchase the books is through the iemoto. I’m cannot remember if this number was published or not. I will look into it.
For fun, here’s a list of the Yamatogaku repertoire.
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~ue1k-ootn/021dento.html
I scanned through for the others, but I know that Hakusen is a Kouta number and can probably be found in the bunka-fu. I have one kouta compilation book. I will look to see if it is in there.
I’ve never heard of Hana no kokoro or Fuji no Genso… Fuji no Genso sounds like Fuji Musume with added koto for ultimate pop-like effect!
Patrick - I only have about three of the Fujimoto books myself and about six nagauta pieces. I also have three volumes of both kouta and hauta. I checked all of those, as well as Yahoo Japan auctions, before posting here, but no luck.
Hi Joseph – thanks for your reply. These are pieces that the newly-arrived local kabuki dance teacher has suggested that we collaborate on for some live performances. As far as I know from the recordings she has sent me, they are either for shamisen or for both shami + koto.
I don’t have koto score for any of them (and I have a collection of ~800(!) pieces of koto sheet music). I did check my own shamisen sheet music collection (which is nowhere near as extensive 
), including the hauta and kouta compilations that I own. But I’m having no luck so far, and the dance teacher has said she has no idea where to get sheet music.
I’m still hoping someone here might have any of them or have a suggestion as to where to get them. Failing that, I guess I will have to wait until I’m in Japan later this year, and then maybe Katoh-san or a dealer I use in Kyoto (who deals with the geiko community) might be able to help me…
Joseph: thanks for sending that link, but I haven’t been able to open it in either Safari or Chrome so far. (Its coding returns just a page of gibberish 
)
Yahoo auctions would have been my next suggestion, so…
Hey y’all,
My own collection isn’t turning up much, but I’ll be happy to put a bug in the local shop’s ear next time I head into town.
In the mean-time, I’ll message a friend who plays kouta. She might have an idea about those.
I’ll post when I get some replies.
Edit:
My friend who plays Kouta recognized 白扇 as a very popular kouta piece that is usually performed in concerts.
She thinks that 寿 is a Nagauta piece.
Although she recognized 藤の幻想 and 花のここ, she said they probably weren’t kouta, but are perhaps 舞踊, which makes sense considering your source, Linda.
I’ll check in at Muramatsu-ya this weekend and Seki-ya in a week or two.
Hey Christopher - thanks for your sleuthing so far and for the extra information! And thanks in advance for your efforts in checking those two stores - much appreciated, and I will wait to hear if you get any results.