WOAH IT’S BEEN A WHILE.
In any case, are there any teachers of Shamisen (or Koto while we’re at it) by U.C. Berkeley? I’m heading up there in August and I need a new teacher!
Hey Anthony!!
Great to have you back! 
Berkeley, you say? Well, Shirley Muramoto, a good friend of Linda Caplan’s, is a koto player who I believe is based in Oakland, but perhaps Berkeley? She also may know of local nagauta shamisen teachers - Murasaki Ensemble
There’s a potential lead. 
COOL! The hunt is on!
That’s Shirley’s Murasaki Ensemble jazz website. You can also get her thru her koto/shamisen teaching site at http://www.skmkoto.com. Her son Brian Wong teaches shamisen, too. Brian’s site is http://www.bmwkoto.com. They both play jiuta. Brian actually lives in Berkeley (or at least he did till recently. Shirley lives in Oakland.)
If you don’t mind a bit of a drive, I think there’s a nagauta teacher in Orange County area - maybe she travels? Yasofuji Kineya, http://www.ocjaa.org/class2.htm