Shamisen / teacher in Chiba/Tokyo area

General
#1

Hi, I’ve had a growing interest in shamisen for probably a year now, but have yet to take the plunge. I’m going to be studying for a semester in Japan starting at the end of March, and I’ll be living in Chiba, just outside of Tokyo.
I was wondering if anyone could point me towards someplace in the area where I could begin taking lessons, and where I might be able to look for a good used shamisen to start out on. Also, would I need to buy a shamisen of my own when starting out as a student, or is it possible that there might be some available for me to use at first?

Thanks

#2

Hi Eric,
Not sure about Chiba (I am sure there are some great teachers there) but if you can get into Tokyo I would recommend getting in touch with someone like Oyama Yutaka. You should also consider visiting Shamisen Katoh. He runs a store and has connections to many of the top Shamisen players/teachers of today.
His store is in Tokyo though but chances are he will know who is in Chiba.

Best of luck to you !

-Kevin

#3

Hi Eric,

Just wondering if you speak some Japanese? If so I imagine it would be easier to find one, especially in Tokyo area. I know someone who could do lessons in Tokyo area ( not sure about Chiba though…) but I know he doesn’t speak much English.

Sayuri

#4

hi Eric

When I lived in Tokyo, I too lessons from Shunsuke Kimura, who lived in Saitama. He tours, so I don’t know if he’s in Japan now, but you can google his name to find his website address. I found him very helpful and the great thing is that he is fully bilingual.

#5

Thanks for the replies, guys. For the record, I’ve taken four semesters of Japanese, so I can get by, but for something like this, a bilingual teacher might not be a bad idea, as I’m not that great.
Anyway, looks like I have a few leads to explore now. Thank you, I’ll update this thread as I start to figure things out.

#6

I forgot to ask something important: does anyone know what lessons might cost? Even a rough estimate. Cost is an issue. I’m trying to budget my trip…

#7

Hi Eric,

Sorry I can’t help you with the cost. I was lucky enough to do a lesson trade in lieu of payment.

#8

Probabaly somewhere from 7000 yen to 10000 yen a month? Seems like it’s common you can have 3 lessons a month, 1/2 hr to 45 mins per lesson.

#9

Sorry to pull this back up from two months ago… Just thought I’d post an update here. I got in touch with Shamisen Katoh, and bought a shamisen from them. Those guys are awesome. My Japanese is not very good at all, but they were very patient with me and very helpful. They put me in touch with Shishido-san (shamimaster), who I’m currently taking lessons from, and I think it’s going well.
I’m having a little trouble finding practice time though. I’m living in a homestay, and sharing a pretty small apartment with a Japanese family, so I have to be considerate to them. I’m at school most days and don’t want to disturb them with a lot of noise in the evenings. Any ideas on what I might be able to do?
Thanks again, and I’ll try to be active around here from now on.

#10

Hi,

You could buy a silencer bridge, they are really cheap and I’m sure Shamisen Katoh will have them. Alternatively you could use an rubber eraser, it works just as well.
Or you could get a good piece of plastic board and put it over the skin (never tried that one myself).

Hope that helps!

#11

I like the eraser idea, that sounds like a good option. The 100 yen store is a lot closer than Katoh’s, though I’ll be going back there at some point. Thanks!

#12

Nice got to try the rubber eraser!

#13

So glad to hear you got in touch with Shamisen Katoh and taking lessons from Shishido San. He is really cool and is a very good musician. Plays koto too if I remember correctly. Be sure to tell him Kevin sends greetings next time you see him.

Well practicing shamisen in a house where other people need to be taken into consideration is always a challenge.
There is a story I remember hearing about John Coltrane the legendary jazz musician.
He was in a similar situation at one time in his life. Battling with his intense desire to practice at night and the grim reality of people sleeping around him drove him to go into his own head for hours to accomplish his practice time. At one point one of the family or roommates recalled a night when they stepped outside and heard what he thought were
The sounds of somebody hyperventilating combined with thousands of little pitter pattering noises. When he went to check he found John furiously running his fingers up and down his saxophone while breathing ever so softly into the mouthpiece so as not to wake anybody.

Of course that is not so easy with Shamisen. But there could be some ideas there at least. One thing I would recommend taking into consideration is mental practice. It is possible to learn entire songs in your head during the night and master them mentally so well that when you go to play your instrument it will be as if you really have played it before.

#14

I found the shinobi-goma (stealth bridge?) to be a not very good solution for Tsugaru practice. The action is much higher than a typical Tsugaru bridge, which throws off your bachi hand, especially for sukui. On top of that, it does nothing to silence the thwacking of the bachi on the skin so that all that’s left is a loud, furious hammering sound. I think it was originally made for other shamisen styles – it might work fine for jiuta players since they use a relatively high bridge and don’t hit the skin a lot.
Some Tsugaru players put a mouse pad over the skin. I’ve tried it a bit myself, and it’s not a bad solution some of the time. The other thing you can do when you need to be quiet is work on your quiet playing, with your right hand pinky on the koma.

But you’ll want to put in a lot of ‘normal’ practice too, so sometimes you just have to make noise. A lot of musicians in Japan seem to practice outside, away from people’s homes. When I lived in Kyoto I used to go play at the Kamo River several nights a week (after I’d already driven my neighbors completely crazy). If there is a river or a train yard or a factory district anywhere near you, that might be the place to try.

#15

I don’t know if my custom made doukake is too high on the sides, but I found that my stealth bridge pushes it upwards. I kind of agree with Gerry about the furiouys hammering sound :smiley: Some days I still feel that it is useful though.

For example, it’s kind of accepted to make noise until 9 PM. I have respect for my neighbours though so I try to finish before 7 PM. But sometimes I feel like playing between 8 and 9, and then I can play with the stealth bridge and decrease the sound for the neighbours.

© 2020 Kyle Abbott