Two-legged Spider
Four of my eight appendages have been removed,
I sew with two hands,
fabric replacing my silk,
I wear a dress suitable for two arms, two legs,
shamisen my voice.
VIDEO: Sagi Musume, the heron who becomes a maiden.
Bando Tamasaburo V is an absolute wonder to watch . His ‘drunk’ dancing in Fuji Musume is also my favourite interpretation so far.
PHOTO: Practice everyday!
I have just spent the past hour writing my own notations for ‘The Lullaby of Takeda’, and it was the most enjoyable time spent with my shamisen. I’m slowly layering some techniques over the basic notes... (suri, yuri.. etc).
‘The Lullaby of Takeda’ was a song I had desperately wanted to play on a traditional instrument. It was inspired by my uncle, who played it on a bamboo flute once on the rooftop overlooking the village.
PHOTOS: Embroidery on card; front and back. More to come!
A pattern I saw on a kimono using different colours that had been embroiderded onto cards to send off by the end of the year. I'm using up lots of collected threads and hoarded card - there is nothing new at all, and this makes me feel saitsfied.
I've also been unstitching lots of old clothes and keeping the fabric. I've gathered some bags from family and friends that were ready to be disposed.
VIDEO: Fuji Musume (藤娘 , The Wisteria Maiden), a dance that is very dear to Komine Sensei.
P.S. An update!
After watching Bando Tamasaburo V’s performance of Fuji Musume with Sensei, his performance is - for now, the only one that has really moved me. I love the music and listen to it in the background.
Sensei told me that because most of the shamisen players peforming are professionals, they can usually tell if a dancer is new to the stage. As a result, they might play slower to adjust to the dancer's rhythm or assist with the hikinuki (on-stage costume change).
PHOTOS: Just the other day, after discovering a spider moult (left), I was wondering what it would be like to find something much bigger—a size where the details look clearer, like of a huntsman. I have lots of little ones, but sometimes the details are a bit more difficult to appreciate unless I use a magnifying glass.
Oh my goodness, guess what I found today while tending to my dandelions (right)? This is just half of her, but ta-da!
PHOTOS: Yellow sorrel flowers bloom in the light; during the day they become stars on the earth.
And some snaps of a pink-coloured nymph katydid hanging out on a cactus out the back. I did a bit of research and its colour could be a result of feeding on red flowers (we have huge amounts of wild red false freesias—could be from that?).
ABOVE: Teacher showing me a new technique. There’s a lot to practice.
Teacher: Your body should become a part of the shamisen.
Apparently, it’s a rite of passage when a string on your shamisen breaks for the first time.
I was bawling my eyes out the day the san-no-ito (third string) snapped overnight in storage. A thousand thoughts circled my mind. I knew my room dipped into icy temperatures—I didn’t have a hard case at the time, so should I have made another nagabukoro (fabric case) for my shamisen? Should I have placed it in another space? (My studio was already tiny as it was.) Should I have loosened the itomaki even more when packing it up? I should have done this, that, and so on...
I practiced some positioning on the neck but felt too weepy, so I took a break. This broken shamisen’s neck was shorter than the shamisen I played during class, and I’m really hoping the spacing won’t start confusing me. I then listened to Kurokami while tying the butterfly bow with my hanhaba obi over my obi board (minus the kimono).
The worst thing is that Teacher has just arrived in Japan for her three-week holiday so bascially I’ll be waiting for a month until she could come to my aid, and I was planning to practice to impress her...
PHOTO: My shamisen wrapped in its nagabukoro (hoodie). I thought the contrast of textiles look rather nice.
I’ve just returned from dance class and, quite frankly, am not particularly presentable.
Have I ever mentioned being reprimanded for not wearing enough make-up when living in South Korea? I was feeling anxious taking this photo with hardly anything painted on my face.
I’m wearing a black haori with geometric red patterns. One of the girls dropped it off at the studio before returning to Japan. There was also a matching handbag with a glossy, black hair pin and hand mirror inside. I will cherish it with all my heart!
PHOTO: My broken shamisen. For photo purposes; the koma (bridge) is a bit high here.
Before I received the jiuta shamisen that I now use, this (above) was my first shamisen—a broken one gifted to me by Teacher which I cherish deeply. It has a funny story behind it.
After my first lesson, I made a makeshift shamisen at home by looping three rubber bands over a plastic container, then taping it onto a one-metre ruler. This was ‘sort of’ enough for me to learn some positions.
I showed Teacher in my next class. I wasn’t sure if she was impressed; it’s so hard to figure out what she’s thinking. But she did tell me it was very creative, and ended up gifting me her broken shamisen.
It is not a jiuta shamisen; it’s a bit smaller, and Teacher had to re-write the numbers on the neck. I asked her if it was used for Kabuki, but she didn’t give me a clear answer, so I’ll stick to categorising it as a hosozao (thin neck).
The dou was accidentally broken, leaving a large gash across it that we taped up (you can actually see it through the tape). It was unsettling at first, especially since she often reiterated how sensitive shamisens are. She had originally wanted to throw it out, but disposing of an instrument can be complicated. There would also be more disadvantages than benefits if she were to take it back to Japan just to get it fixed.
IMAGE: More notation...ㅏ…. 너무 너무 피곤해요.
SONG: I really enjoy listening to this song —
Teacher: You know, back then if you play the koto you also must learn the shamisen. When I was young, I really didn’t want to (play the shamisen), and I would complain about it all the time. But now I love it.
I laugh when I stumble over the strings.
Sometimes, my mind goes completely blank, and I stare at all the symbols in the notation as page after page becomes more and more difficult.
Once, I even yelled at my index finger to stop releasing itself below the itokura (pegbox) when I have to strum the strings simultaneously (which made Teacher chuckle).
But mostly, I just wish not to waste Teacher’s time. I work much, much harder at home to make up for my time in class.