wednesday, September 17, 2003
the university daily kansan 5A
news
Japanese musicians share culture
By Alex Hoffman
ahoffman@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Music evoking the nature of Japan filled Swarthout Recital Hall last night.
A Japanese group played traditional instruments in a program called Michiko Fujimori and the Shouno Kai,Kai in Japanesemeans a group or assembly, and shou is a word describing birds in flight.
Lindsey Gold/Kansan
Michiko Fujimori and four other musicians played music depicting cherry blossoms falling to the ground, peacefulness of the sea and cold winter winds. Their program included music spanning the last 300 years.
Rika Kubota, a member of the Japanese musical group Michiko Fujimori and Shou no Kai, played the koto, a traditional Japanese instrument at Swarthout Recital Hall in Murphy Hall yesterday.
The Center for East Asian Studies co-sponsored the concert with the department of music and dance.
"I think it's nice for people at KU to be exposed to a different tradition of sound, a different way of organizing sound in an artistic manner," said Elaine Gerbert, director of the Center for East Asian Studies.
Center for Music Education It was the second concert in five days that featured non-Western music at Swarthout. Djembe Kaan performed West African percussion music at Swarthout Thursday evening. The smaller auditorium at Murphy Hall usually serves as a place to perform classical and jazz music.
Fujimori has ties to Lawrence because her daughter, Yoko, studied at the University of Kansas. The group was scheduled to come to the University in September 2001 but was sent home from the Tokyo airport because of the events of Sept. 11, Gerbert said.
For the concert, Fujinom played stringed instruments called the koto and shamisen that differ in shape and style of performance. The koto has 13 strings and is typically six-feet-long. It lies on the ground and the musician kneels over the instrument to play it.
The shamisen has three strings and is shaped like a banjo. Again, the musicians kneel to play it, but it is performed like a guitar. Musicians strike the strings with a bachi, the Japanese equivalent of a guitar pick. The result is a sharp, penetrating sound resembling a choked banjo.
An instrument called the shakuhachi completed the ensemble. Held like a clarinet, it is made of bamboo and is known for its soft, wispy tone.
Andrew Tsubaki, professor emeritus of theater and film and event organizer, said the instruments originated in China. The tradition of playing the instruments in Japan began in the late sixth century or early seventh century, he said.
Ryan Carroll, Noel, Mo., junior became interested in the music with the help of his Japanese girlfriend who is also a student.
who is also a teacher.
"I think it's the distinctiveness of it, the difference between the Western cultures and the Eastern cultures, that draws me to it," he said.
Through Tsubaki's interpreting, Fujimori said the audience would appreciate the history of the music and how it is still being played today.
played to us. "That uniqueness being shared here is very meaningful," she said.
Fujimori and two musicians from the group will demonstrate
how to play the instruments at 1:30 p.m. today in 118 Murphy Hall.
Edited by Cate Batchelder
6 'Americans,' 2'Britons reported held by U.S.
ABU GHRAIB, Iraq — Six people claiming to be Americans and two who say they are British are in U.S. custody on suspicion of involvement in attacks on coalition forces, an American general said yesterday. They would be the first Westerners reported held in the insurrection against the U.S.-led occupation.
world
occupation. Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, who
is in charge of coalition detention centers in Iraq, said they were considered security detainees, meaning they were suspected of involvement in guerrilla attacks. She did not identify them .
If Westerners are actively involved in the resistance, it would deepen confusion about what groups are involved. Initially, the guerrilla fighters were thought to be Saddam loyalists, but in recent weeks U.S. officials have said they are being joined
by foreign fighters, possibly members of the Al Qaeda terror network.
London police arrest man for taunting NY magician
LONDON—Police arrested a man yesterday who allegedly tried to cut the water line sustaining an American magician trying to live without food for 44 days in a box dangling near Tower Bridge.
The magician, New Yorker
David Blaine, reportedly was awakened by the suspect but was not injured. Police said they received a report at 4:45 a.m. that a man had climbed on to the water tower near Blaine's box and tried to cut through water and cable lines connected to the tower, but without success.
Stephen Charles Field, 38, was charged with using threatening behavior and causing criminal damage. He was released on bail and will appear in court Sept. 30.
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