Comme ça du Japon

Photo: Leon & Mae
License: Creative Commons
This is your 16th french stereo trip for Japan ! Your destination is 佐原の大祭 (SaWara No TaiSai) “the Great Festival of Sawara”. The singularity of this festival lead to the attribution of the title of 国指定重要無形民俗文化財 (Kuni ShiTei JûYô MuKei MinZoku BunKaZai) “national important cultural heritage”. This podcast invites you to experience the Great Festival of Sawara.

This is the 14th episode of Comme ça du Japan’s french podcast, your stereophonic trip for Japan. In this episode, I invite you to discover 三味線 (ShaMiSen) “Shamisen”, a traditional japanese instrument in-between a guitar and a lute. This episode contains 津軽三味線 (TsuGaru ShaMiSen) “Tsugaru Shamisen” performances, published with the authorization of brother and sisters 柴田 (ShiBata) “Shibata”. You will find a video of a third music piece recorded during the same mini-live event that took place in my neighborhood. I also invite you to compare 津軽三味線 (TsuGaru ShaMiSen) “Tsugaru Shamisen” with Okinawa’s 三味線 (JaMiSen) “Shamisen”. You can also observe that even the prononciation is different in Okinawa : JaMiSen. The sound Ja is used because of the 蛇 (Hebi / Ja) “snake” skin used for the Shamisen of Okinawa.

These young artists are from Miyagi, nearby Sendai. They won lots of prizes and 全国大会 (ZenKokuTaiKai) “national competition” and they even got 日本一 (NiHonIchi) “the first prize”. If you enjoy their music, you will be delight by the mini-album 大地の詩 (TaiChi No Shi) “the poem of the meadow” at Vanilla Sky records (1500 Yens), which is a great collaboration between 太鼓 (TaiKo) “japanese drums” and shamisen. You can listen to some samples on the website of the band 閃雷 (SenRai) “thunder” and take a look at the japanese blog of the band. Take also a look at brother and sisters Shibata’s main website. Last, I will offer the first mini-album of 閃雷 (Senrai) to one subscriber of the podcast. You can subscribe for free with iTunes, Podemus or by using the feed.

The mini album of 閃雷 (Senrai) “Senrai” is also available on the japanese iTunes Store for only 600 Yens. If you want to be able to buy on the japanese iTunes Store (prepaid cards) or if you want to buy the CD (1500 Yens), feel free to contact me (you will find the contact link at the top of the website under the logo). Have a nice listening experience and thanks so much to the brother and sisters Shibata for their collaboration.

On April 1st, I said that this blog was over. For those who care, that was probably the longest april fool I have ever made. Anyway, I will try to continue updating the english version as well in the hope that english readers find it interesting. What I am trying to do is share some japanese knowledge with you. This includes japanese language (by including some japanese words or expressions), japanese culture and news. I will be glad to know if you enjoy it as much as I do. If you want to check the french podcast (subscribe with iTunes or RSS), the last one features a live performance of Okinawa traditional songs by Mister
Kayamoto and his students. Mister Kayamoto is from 波照間島 (HaTeruMa Jima) “Hateruma Island”, the southernmost island of Japan. He is the owner of the restaurant 島唄 (ShimaUta) “Island Songs” in downtown Sendai where you can taste Okinawa’s fine dishes and enjoy his performance.

Address : Miyagi Ken, Sendai Shi, Aoba Ku, KokuBun Chô, 2-8-11, Pine Garden, 2F. Tel : 022-268-6091.
Map[GoogleJP]。