In Japan, Western music such as Bach and Mozart are always taught in school. Therefore, studying Western classical music is usually for the privilege of educated people.

In my school years, music was always learned using five lines and notes. We learned a lot about how to read and play music but almost nothing about how to enjoy, create and feel it.

My grandmother never understood what it meant, "to study music". She couldn't read or write but remembered all the melodies and lyrics so well and always made up new songs. All of her songs, which she clapped her hands and danced along to. She was a great musician and a real music teacher who taught me how to enjoy music.

My father is a calligrapher, and I have followed in his footsteps as you can see by some of the characters to be found on this website. It was from him that I first learned the importance of silence, space and simplicity. Even more than the actual meaning of what is written, it is the form of each brushstroke and the balance found in the interplay of positive and negative space that matters most.

When I play music, I do so with the same sense of discipline and aesthetic understanding that I developed from working with the brush. The space between each note becomes as important as each note itself, perhaps even more so. Posture, grip and breath all work together to shape each sound.

Currently I have been teaching shamisen+voice and taiko privately or as group for many years. I still think that I am not really 'teaching'. It is my pleasure to share the music and instruments with others. And I would love to give lots of opportunity to play and enjoy Japanese music together with people who have never experienced before.