Tag: Barbican

Now the main stage, “Shunkin”. It was just fantastic. Probably I can say one of the best stages I’ve ever seen. The story is based on a novel called “Shunkin sho”, written by Junichiro Tanizaki. It’s a story of a blind shamisen player “Shunkin” and a man who takes care of her, “Sakuke”. On this stage, story goes with the narrator who is recording the story for “NHK” programme in the current Japan, and the man in the narrated story who is visiting the grave of Shunkin and Sasuke, and the old Sasuke who talks about his memory of Shunkin […]

Okay, the first writing after the re-launch is about the stage “Shun kin” which was performed at Barbican. And this entry is about its pre-show concert by Hidetaro Honjo. I’m afraid I didn’t know his name…but seems he is such a famous Shamisen player. He started it by learning “Nagauta” and “Minyo”. This time, he played some graceful pieces and sang some “Minyo” too. It was very delicate, beautiful tune. There is a lot of different types of Shamisen, but…for example, the powerful sounds of “Tsugaru-shamisen” always gives me energy. And gentle pieces make me remember the cities like Kyoto […]