What we do

"Connecting Three Cities of the World by Shakuhachi" Project
~Shakuhachi depicted in Ukiyo-e~

  • Organization : The Shakuhachi 5
  • Section : Project on artistic and creative focus
  • Type of Grant Program : Long
  • Art Forms : Japanese Traditional Art

Outline of the project

Over the course of three years, the group will research Ukiyo-e prints depicting the shakuhachi which can be found in New York, Prague, and Tokyo. The group will stay in each city, and as well as conducting field research at local art museums, group members will have face-to-face meetings with composers and filmmakers living and working in each city, with the aim of creating music and video works based on Ukiyo-e prints depicting the shakuhachi in each city. The group will undergo a creative process involving the connection and development of works from all three cities, and premiere works created in New York and Prague in those two cities. For the final performance in Tokyo, the Tokyo work will be premiered, and the two works from New York and Prague will be performed again, connecting the three cities through sound and Ukiyo-e.
In addition, the group will produce a compendium of shakuhachi playing methods and a glossary for composers (a shakuhachi instrumentation guide) and make it available for free on its website. The Japanese version will be completed in the first year of the project, and an English version will be created in the second year. In the third year, text and video footage for the guide will be integrated to make the contents easier to understand.


【First year】
The group will contact Ukiyo-e experts in New York, Prague, and Tokyo, and conduct research on Ukiyo-e prints depicting the shakuhachi which can be found in each city. Results from the first year of the project will be reported at a lecture performance about Ukiyo-e depicting the shakuhachi to be held in June 2024. Thereafter, the group will gather information on candidate composers/videographers in each city, make its selection, commission works, and conduct negotiations. The Japanese version of the shakuhachi instrumentation guide will also be completed.

Research on Ukiyo-e collections in the three cities
The group will contact Ukiyo-e experts in each city and begin its research. These experts are Akane FUJISAWA, director of the International UKIYO-E Society; John Carpenter, a curator at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; and Jana Ryndová, a curator at The National Gallery Prague.
Planning and research results for this project were reported at a lecture performance (talk and performance) on Ukiyo-e prints depicting the shakuhachi held on June 9, 2024. An edited version was later released online. The venue was the Ota Memorial Museum of Art, with Akane FUJISAWA as the talk guest.
Performance program
1.Sakura 2. Koden Sugomori 3. Talk1 (Akane FUJISAWA) 4. Kinuta Sugomori 5.Tsuru no Sugomori 6.Talk 2 (Akane FUJISAWA) 7. Tsuru no Sugomori (Tozan School) 8. Sokaku Reibo 9. Talk 3 (The Shakuhachi 5) 10. Shakuhachi Five
* Ukiyo-e prints linked to each piece were projected behind the performers.
Date/time: August 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024
Venue: Ota Memorial Museum of Art

Selection of/negotiation with composers/videographers in each city
The group gathered information on candidate composers/videographers introduced by the Japan Society in New York and NEIRO in Prague,
made a careful examination and selection and conducted negotiations.
The final decision was as follows:
(New York) Composer: Lisa Bielawa/Videographer: Tei Blow
(Prague) Composer: Miroslav Srnka/Videographer: Marek Matvija
(Tokyo) Composer: Keiko HARADA/Videographer: TBC
Note 1. The new piece by Lisa Bielawa in New York was ultimately jointly commissioned with the Japan Society.
Note 2. The group looked into several videographers for the Tokyo performance but did not come to a decision.

Date/time: August 1, 2023 – May 30, 2024

Production of guide to shakuhachi instrumentation (Japanese version)
The group produced a new shakuhachi instrumentation guide (Japanese version) relevant to today and made it available for free on its official website. It comprised basic knowledge of the shakuhachi – the instrument’s history and structure – followed by a Fingering Chart and a Range Chart. It then looked at the neck techniques “Meri/Kari’” and “Yuri (vibrato),” techniques which are unique to the shakuhachi. It also explained the breathing techniques Muraiki/Kazaiki. The guide also makes reference to techniques used in classical music, techniques unique to each school, and other special techniques. The addition of a Harmonics Chart showing the overtone structure of the instrument makes it a unique guide.

Date/time: August 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024


【Second year】
The group will visit art museums on the ground in New York and Prague to see actual works and proceed with research on depictions of the shakuhachi in Ukiyo-e as conducted in the first year. It will also conduct meetings with the composers, videographers, and performance organizers who will be co-creating the works. Finally, performances will be given in New York and Prague, and the new works premiered. In addition, an English version of the finished shakuhachi instrumentation guide in Japanese will be created and made available for free on its official website.

Overseas performances (New York, Prague)
New works combining music and video on the theme of depictions of the shakuhachi in Ukiyo-e, which the group has been working on since the first year of the project, will be performed in New York and Prague, laying the groundwork for the Tokyo performance in the third year of the project. The work by composer Lisa Bielawa and videographer Tei Blow will be premiered at the New York performance. The Prague performance will feature the premiere of the work by composer Miroslav Srnka and videographer Marek Matvija. Other works slated to be performed include “Shika no Tone (Quintet version)” arranged by The Shakuhachi 5 from the Koten-Honkyoku traditional repertoire for shakuhachi; “Sara Soju” by Akira NISHIMURA; “Kannon Anatomy” by Misato MOCHIZUKI, and “Five” by John Cage.

Production of guide to shakuhachi instrumentation (English version)
Based on the finished Japanese version of the guide, the group will
ask an expert specializing in music and sheet music to produce
an English translation (currently in the selection process for a
translator). Elements emerging from exchanges with the commissioned

composers will be proactively incorporated into the English guide.


【Third year】
Based on Ukiyo-e depicting the shakuhachi held in Tokyo, the group will jointly create and premier a work with the selected composer and videographer. At the Tokyo performance in March, the three works from New York, Prague, and Tokyo will be performed side by side. In addition, the group will create and link videos of the finished shakuhachi instrumentation guides in Japanese and English.

This performance will be the culmination of three years of research and
creation. Ukiyo-e collections in each city will come together in one performance
as three new music and video works. Part 1 will comprise a selection including a
piece from the shakuhachi repertoire developed over time, “Shika no Tone
(Quintet version)” (Koten-Honkyoku piece arranged by The Shakuhachi 5);
“Shakuhachi Five” (Dai FUJIKURA); “Sara Soju” (Akira NISHIMURA); “Kannon
Anatomy” (Misato MOCHIZUKI), “Five” (John Cage), and others. Part 2 will
feature repeat performances of the works presented in New York and Prague.
The new work by Keiko HARADA and the finalized videographer will also be
premiered.

Production of video for “Shakuhachi instrumentation” guide
To explain the playing techniques included in the finished shakuhachi instrumentation guide (Japanese/English) in video form, the group will film and edit individual playing techniques. To complete the project, the video (YouTube) will be linked with the group’s web page.

Profile

The Shakuhachi 5
A shakuhachi group transcending the tradition of shakuhachi schools, The Shakuhachi 5 was formed by Akihito OBAMA, Kizan KAWAMURA, Reison KURODA, Akihisa KOMINATO and Ken-ichi TAJIMA, musicians who pursue contemporary expression as well as the classics in their ongoing activities. In 2020 they recorded and released an online performance of the work “Longing from afar,” which they worked on remotely together with the work’s composer Dai FUJIKURA, who conducted the online performance. The performance represented the group’s debut in a real sense. In the same year, the group was featured on the cover of the magazine “ Hogaku Journal “with an interview at the beginning of the magazine. The group subsequently commissioned and premiered pieces of music by Dai FUJIKURA, Akira NISHIMURA, and Misato MOCHIZUKI. In 2024 the group released its first album, featuring these compositions.

Contact

The Shakuhachi 5
theshakuhachi5@gmail.com