Question about... Yoshida.

Notation
#14

Wow! That’s interesting! How did you get to meet him a couple times a month? Lessons or a mutual friend? I met his brother, Kenichi, at the hirosaki taikai in 2010, but that was before Bachido was even thought about :-S.

Please do!! :slight_smile: That would be really awesome if you could ask him his thoughts about it.

I wonder if either of them would be interested in doing a short segment on BachiTV? Considering that they’re probably uber-busy and part of a music company, it would probably be difficult.

Awesome, Norm! Thank you so much!

1 Like
#15

Kudos to you Kyle for trying to get him on the show :slight_smile: I share your beliefs that it will be difficult to get it done, but you never know!

And speaking of that… Recently I’ve been wondering just how popular tsugaru shamisen is today. I know that the Yoshida Brothers are pretty famous and most likely the first band that people who don’t know much about shamisen get in contact with, but does a shamisen player in Japan feel like a pop star? Or are you just a weirdo for everyone except shamisen players and tradionalists?

I hope you have the answers. In any case it could be an interesting topic for BachiTV if you get the Yoshida Brothers for the show or Masahiro to talk about the current state of shamisen music and how they feel about it compared to the opinion of the average Joe.

#16

BachiTV episode with yoshida brothers >:D!! MUHAHA its insanely awesome!
as is the fact that norm knows Ryoichiro. Also it would be awesome if the brothers would be seen here on the forum every once in a while :smiley: or even registered so you could see them from the global ball thingy :smiley:

#17

I think it’s indeed getting more popular around the world (on a small scale, but still…), and I think is still popular-ish in Japan. I mean, no doubt Pop still is big, and I hear African music is actually getting popular there as well, but tsugaru shamisen still is a solid place there.

As for how shamisen players are looked upon in Japan, it depends…
My opinion is that it’s somewhere in between. I mean, like any player, you wouldn’t be perceived as a star until you have recognition (make CDs, or dominate at the tournaments). Even if you weren’t famous, you still wouldn’t be a weirdo for playing shamisen. And though guitar is played far more than shamisen, it’s still common enough that it doesn’t turn heads unless you are famous or at least exceptionally impressive. Of course, there is much more WOW factor if you’re a gaijin playing shamisen there.

Yeah, that’s wild!! What a small world! (especially in the shamisen community :wink: ) Who knows, that would be pretty awesome.

#18

So being a gaijin (which I thought was still a negative word) plus whiskey and a couple of released CDs equals instant fame? :slight_smile:

I’m just thinking about how interested these popular Japanese shamisen players would be with our small community here. If you are releasing CDs and you are popular you need to be a cool and down to earth person to care about such a thing as Bachido.

Hopefully all of them are, but I doubt we can bet on them coming here and participating in the forum. We still have a great community though and imo it’s all thanks to the experienced players who come here and answer our questions. You know who you are and know also that you rock!

#19

Great response :)!

#20

Haha!! Well, like anyone who reaches fame, it’s all about being in the right place at the right time. (probably more important than raw talent) Being gaijin can just potentially give you a little advantage. :wink:

Ah, it really depends on the person. Some players aren’t concerned about the spread of shamisen overseas, and others want to see it happen and may help if there is opportunity to do so. That’s why I think Masahiro is a very special person. Not only is he a very successful shamisen player, but he also has a dream about shamisen getting popular across the globe.

As you say, if they come, they come and that would be awesome. If they don’t, it doesn’t really matter because our community is very strong and active! Huzzah!! :smiley:

P.S
I think gaijin can be negative but it’s also rather neutral, just depending on context. Gaijin (外人 outside person) is short for Gaikokujin (外国人 outside country person) which is formal and not offensive. Gaijin is shorter, so it’s used more often for convenience, not with any negative connotation in mind. Just my opinion. I may be wrong.

#21

Wow lol so… A lot happened while I was asleep haha~

ok… so, as for how I know Ryoichiro, he is a friend of a friend.
And he is a very nice guy. But as a general rule, I try avoiding acting too “fan”-ish or making requests. So while I can bring up the idea of how many people would love to see him on BachiTV, if he doesn’t volunteer for it himself, it would be wrong of me to push it too much.
So I guess that one is up to fate~ (^_-)

As for the view of Shamisen players here in Japan, Kyle pretty much hit the nail on the head. The famous ones are very famous, but not seen as super-stars. They are more seen as a cultural treasure. Japanese are very culturally strong and love Japanese culture in itself. So the more famous Shamisen players are highly respected, but the average person admits that “I have seen them on TV, and Youtube, and I know of them very well, but I have never seen them live”.
It’s very much like Sumo in that manner. Everyone knows, and everyone respects and appreciates, but there is a definitive gap between those who know and those who love. (hope this description makes sense lol)

Actually, even throughout the Tokyo area, there are certain Shamisen players that can be seen performing at different venues, or even on the streets from time to time.
3 that have really impressed/interested me are:

輝＆輝
Website: http://kiki-teruteru.jimdo.com/

Tokyo Ghetto Shamisen
Website: http://tokyo-ghetto-shamisen.com/

Seshami Street
http://www.shamisen.jp/seshami/index2.html

To the people who know them, they are all fairly well known~
But to the general public, people may have seen them in a street performance, or at a cool restaurant, etc… but not really know who they are~

Ok… Well this post seems to have gotten considerably longer than I originally expected to make it. So I will stop here for now~

#22

Thanks Norm!

I’ve already seen a lot of clips of the two women and Seshami Street, but not Tokyo Ghetto Shamisen. I’m going to work now but just a slightly off topic question. When I visit Seshami Street the text is all jibberish to me. It has happened to me at another website as well, but otherwise I have no problem viewing Japanese websites. What kind of encoding are they really using? Are there multiple Japanese language packages that I need installed?

#23

Late response, but the seshami street site is using “shift-JIS”
I use google chrome and can’t view it either.
In cases like these, I open up internet explorer and when the site loads with funny characters, right click on the page and go to encoding>more>japanese (Shift-JIS)

#24

This thread is pretty old, but I think my teacher is working on some Yoshida tabs to publish sometime in the not too distant future, if anyone is interested.

#25

Ah yes. Toshi san was telling me about that. :slight_smile: Agatsuma tableture as well, right? I was discussing that with Masahiro. He’s quite busy recently, but I’m sure it’ll be discussed when I head over there in July. :slight_smile:

#26

I’m not sure, but I can ask him this weekend when I see him.

#27

Hello everyone!
Talking about ki ki 輝＆輝、I am excited to go to their concert in Nagoya this coming September!
They produced their first CD named 「two girl shamisen」 which is a pun for tsugaru shamisen. I listen to the CD every day.
Shamisen girls are Kanami Takeda and Hikari Shirafuji. Kanami is usually on the left when you face to them. They recently graduated from college, last march, in Japan April is the new term beginning.
I hope this could help to draw your attention to ki ki 輝＆輝！

#28

They are really great I watch them on youtube all the time. Very talented! Enjoy the concert!
By the way I’m sure you have all seen this, but I hadn’t actually seen it myself until 3 weeks ago.
Mr. Kinoshita - Manz got a wrist of STEEL!

#29

Lol kiki is great
I see them almost every month!!

I have seen them in every park in Tokyo, and from time to time they play in Asakusa, so I like to go~

They have just graduated university and the CD is actually their debut album! They have officially decided to go pro! And that… is great!

#30

Does anyone know how I can get a copy of Ki & Ki’s album? I tried to order it on the site they tell you to go to… but it’s for Japan only.

#31

I got KiKi’s first album by snail mail in Japan so I know Kiki’s email ad and shall I ask them how you can get one from the US? I guess they are happy to know people outside Japan are interested.
By the way, I went to see Nagoya Tsugaru Shamisen Taikai today, and KiKi played as a Duo section and Hikari (one of KiKi) was also in other group. The Nagoya taikai was so exciting and later on I am happy to report on NAGOYA TAIKAI ON Bachido.

#32

I could ask Masahiro if we can order one for you. Some extra shipping costs would get tacked on (from getting it shipped to his office, and such), but it’s still doable.

Kyoko: If you wouldn’t mind, it would be great if you could ask them if they can ship to the US. I’m sure they’d be happy to know they have fans all over the world. :slight_smile:

Were they happy to see all the foreign shamisen players in their audience at Ueno?

Cool!! How did KiKi do in the taikai? Did you take any pictures? :slight_smile:
I’ve only been to the Hirosaki and Kanagi shamisen taikai. It would be fun to go to more and see how they differ.

#33

Kyle, no problem and my pleasure emailing Kiki.
Yes, at Ueno I saw they were talking with Norm and Kevin, maybe with some others.
At Nagoya tai Kai, I did not take any photos. Sorry.

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