Indian music, Japanese artist

The superior aesthetics of traditional music from the land of the rising sun came alive at the Japanese Embassy premises in New Delhi on Wednesday evening with solo performances on Tsugaru- Shamisen and Shakuhachi, both instruments of yore that owe their origin to India.

Coming as it did with the fusion of Indian ragas on Sitar played by famous Japanese musician Kenji Inoue, who has performed in India and Japan since 1987, the audience were treated to an auditory feast for more than an hour. With Ambika Prasad Mishra playing the Tabla and Hiroki Miyano the Guitar, it was, indeed, a memorable evening.

Present on the occasion were members of the diplomatic corps and senior bureaucrats and legal luminaries like Mr. Justice B. N. Kirpal, Mr. K. C. Pant, Austrian ambassador, Mr. Herbert Traxl, and danseuse Ms. Komala Vardan. The structure of the concert, dubbed ``Foojean'', reflected predominantly the deep contours of classical music from Northern India.

Derived from two Japanese words, Foojean is the fusion of fushin (a guardian deity in Buddhism) and idenshi (meaning gene). It is believed that fushin in Buddhism is Hanuman's father ``Vayu''. ``Even today the strong influence of Indian music can be felt in Japanese traditional music suggesting that it was originally transmitted from India,'' says Mr. Hiroshi Hirobayashi, the Japanese Ambassador to India.

Consider other well-known facts. Veena came to Japan from China in the 7th Century and came to be known as ``Biwa'' thanks to an orchestra group ``Gagaku''. Veena's characteristic sound ``Juwari'' is still alive with Biwa as ``Sawari''. Another representative Japanese instrument ``Shamisen'' (literally meaning three strings) also has the sound ``Sawari'' and is one of the most widely played instruments at Japanese concerts.

And, of course, there is the Japanese instrument ``Shakuhachi'', earlier considered to be a unique bamboo-whistle, which resembles the Indian ``Bansuri''. Its enchanting and sometimes haunting sound is a pleasure to hear. Indeed, it goes to Mr. Inoue's credit that he has been able to combine traditional and modern elements of Japanese music on the one hand and Indian numbers, on the other as the concert proved in no ample measure.

Reflecting the expression of Kenji's creative urge in the field of music, the concert had him presenting musical numbers based exclusively on Indian ragas. Others composed on the scale of those Indian ragas present in Japanese traditional music were also included in the concert.

The evening's programme began with Bristy, a traditional Japanese number followed by ``Shika-No-Tone'', a solo number on Shakuhachi by Dozan Fujiwara. This was followed by ``Jongarabushi- Kyokubiki'' -- a solo performance by Satoshiro Tsuboi on the Shamisen. Both these traditional instruments are played during Kabuki and Japanese dances.

It was then the turn of the leader of the sitar concert to present ``Yemeni Baglamis''. Kenji went on to play rag Malkauns --a classical Hindustani raga -- along with Ambika Prasad Mishra on the tabla. The programme was rounded off with ``Momoyama- Zakura'' based on rag Bhairavi.

There were two enjoyable interludes, one in the form of Shakuhachi and guitar duet and the other a fusion of Shakuhachi and Shamisen. Top guitarist, Hiroki Miyano's performance had the audience savouring the essence of Latin and Jazz. Towards the end of the programme, Kenji, who has contributed his music and dance compositions to many other programmes and films, expressed his gratitude to the organisers in Hindi -- ``Bahut shukriya, Bahut Danyavad''.

By K Kannan

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