i have realised that i know so little about tsugaru shamisen history and present… thus i spent searching on internet for a while and came across mike penny’s old video recommending some books on tsugaru music…
they seem to be very good but also very expensive… was wondering if anybody here knows a net-link to a good source of info???
even-though i prefer books, perhaps somebody has some good books here on bachido and would be willing to share…??
Thanks for bringing this up, Sid, I’ve been meaning to write about Groemer’s book here for the last month. The Spirit of Tsugaru has been released in a new edition with something like 60 new pages of material. This is the best book on Tsugaru shamisen written in any language (including Japanese), and I can’t recommend it enough.
I just checked Amazon, and the old edition from 1999 is going for 400 dollars right now! This is what happens when a book with a good reputation gets scarce. The new edition is still a bit pricey, at $60 US, shipping included, but if you are interested in Tsugaru shamisen, and want to know more about the history, it’s necessary reading.
It is available on an English Website:
http://www.geocities.jp/tsugarusyobo/tsugaruE.html
The book is really two books in one: The first part covers the history of the music, and the second part is Groemer’s translation of Takahashi Chikuzan’s autobiography, with added explanatory notes. It’s a great story, and Groemer has done a great job putting it in to readable English. Before the Yoshida Brothers came along, Chikuzan’s name was synonymous with Tsugaru shamisen, but this book would stand up on its own, even if no one knew who he was, as a fascinating account of the life of a blind musician in prewar Japan. I’ve re-read this section many times over the years, and drew inspiration from it to keep pushing my shamisen playing further.
The autobiography runs about 100 pages. The contents other 250 pages of the book can be gleaned from the chapter headings:
If you haven’t heard Chikuzan’s playing, and you want to play Tsugaru shamisen, the first thing you need to do is get some of his recordings (I recommend King Record’s Chikuzan Takahashi - Minyo Meijin Series Chikuzan Takahashi KICH-244, since it’s available at Amazon.com), and the second thing you need to do is get this book.
Gerry ,
thanks for the info and the link. i have just ordered the book so hope will have it soon… i am really looking forward to the notations of chizukans music, eventhough i dont play shamisen from music notation, have always played from the shami tabs. i play piano thou so will be able to read it put it onto shamisen…
i have also ordered a CD of chizukan’s music from bachido store so should have that soon too. i guess its different one you recommended but sure will be great…
i was reading you profile info and i am quite interested in the dissertation work you did…i would like to read it… is there any internet link to it??
by the way, when you were studying nagauta shamisen in tokyo, wasn’t it by any change from Makoto Nishimura sensei???
i had a few lessons from her as well few years ago and remember her showing me a dissertation work of her student with very similar content…???
Hi Sid,
Yes, Nishimura Sensei was my first shamisen teacher! She’s been so generous with her time over the years trying to develop international interest in Japanese music.
I don’t have a link where you can find my thesis, but it is available through ProQuest for anyone with access to that service (through a university library, for example). You can search for it by the title (“The Tsugaru-jamisen: Its origins, construction, and music”).
I have it on pdf (7.5 MB), and could send it to you if you send me a message with an email address.
The new edition is still a bit pricey, at $60 US, shipping included, but if you are interested in Tsugaru shamisen, and want to know more about the history, it’s necessary reading.
Oh snap! You encouraged me to write him to make connections and inquire about a wholesale price for Bachido. I still need to write him! (I must admit that I’m a little intimidated)
Kyle ,
You mean Groemer San (author of Spirit of Tsugaru)?
Oh man, don’t be intimidated. He is like the friendliest
And most supportive and kind hearted guy. I met him a few years ago when I was asked to play at the Tsugaru Shamisen symposium in Hirosaki. He was a guest speaker. I also have interacted with him off and on while my Mom was trying to finish up that translation from Satoh.
Anyway nice guy so no worries mate!
I’m glad this topic was brought up. I’m planning to do an independent study on shamisen this coming semester for college credit, and need as many academic resources as I can get my hands on. Probably going to end up purchasing a copy of this book. If anyone has any more leads, I’d greatly appreciate it.
Hey Eric,
my girlfriend bought me this book for my brithday last year, it’s pretty kool
Kevin: Thanks Kevin. 
What can I say, I’ve never seen a picture of him (my fault, as I’ve never looked 
), so the mystery is daunting! But after the mon 'n stuff gets finished, I’ll shoot him a message.
Henry Johnson! He wrote the Koto book, didn’t he? Linda recommended it to me when I was thinking about building a koto (just after I made the first homemade shamisen, I think). The Koto was really great. I’d be inclined to get my hands on The Shamisen Tradition. Does he discuss construction, like he did in The Koto?
Thanks Liam, I saw that book on Amazon the other day. Pretty pricey. I’m going to have to see if any of this stuff is available through my school. Probably not…
@Kyle - yes, this is the same Johnson as the Koto book and he did this book sort of along the same lines. It’s a good resource for shamisen types.
You can see the table of contents here (turns into English about half way down the page): The Shamisen : Tradition and Diversity / Johnson, Henry - 紀伊國屋書店ウェブストア｜オンライン書店｜本、雑誌の通販、電子書籍ストア
Interesting… that would be a lovely read. Maybe I can find a way to request it at the library, like I did for The Koto.
A few years ago, I used their “inter-library loan” to try getting about 20 shamisen CDs, (I’m cheap, what can I say?) but then the library got denied public funding and ended that service. However, last week, the library hired The Abbott Brothers with more cash than I’d pay to hear myself play, so perhaps I should see if that service is back. 
Eric,
As I said above, I can’t recommend The Spirit of Tsugaru enough. As for the other books, if your university library doesn’t have them, try interlibrary loan (from Kyle’s post, it sounds like some public libraries don’t do this anymore, but Universities should).
The bibliography of my MA thesis contains every book related to the shamisen that I knew of in 2004. If you are interested, send me a message with an email address and I’ll email it to you.
Other newer books that I would recommend are David Hughes’ Traditional Folk Song in Modern Japan, mentioned by Sid at the top of this thread, and *The Ashgate Research Companion to Japanese Music * by Alison Tokita and David W. Hughes.
My school has inter-library loan. I’ll give it a shot when I head up there later this month. I don’t know how many of these books will be available though. We’ll see.
That’s very generous of you, Gerry, I’ll take you up on that offer.
I do think I’ll be buying my own copy of The Spirit of Tsugaru though, it looks pretty awesome.
Anyone have a source to buy the English language version of this book?
You can find it on Amazon.co.jp. Just search by the book title in English and it should pop up. It’s expensive, but worth it if you are interested in really digging into the topic.
I contacted a seller on Abe books and got this response:
ISBN on the Abe books listing was the same as this listing on Amazon that says the language is Japanese:
Apparently many of the resellers of this book say it is written in Japanese rather than English.
I went ahead and ordered it. I will let folks know if I receive an English or Japanese version…
That looks the the right one. It’s the revised edition, which has a lot of extra information that Groemer uncovered after writing the first. It is in English, but was put out by Tsugaru Shobo, a local press in Aomori that rarely handles English books, so that might be the confusion. If it was in Japanese the cover would almost certainly be in Japanese too. Also, I don’t think it’s been translated into Japanese, but even if it has, they wouldn’t likely include his English translation of Chikuzan’s autobiography in the package, which is already a stand-alone book from another publisher, and continues to sell to this day. I forgot that the autobiography is included in this book, which makes me recommend it even more. You are in for a treat!
