koto interlude
Mar 31st, 2021, 09:07 AM
#1
Original Poster
koto interlude
Waiting for Japan to reopen
It is cherry blossom (sakura) season in Japan. This is the folk song Sakura, Sakura played on a koto:
Here is another tune, video posted 9/11/14
It is cherry blossom (sakura) season in Japan. This is the folk song Sakura, Sakura played on a koto:
Here is another tune, video posted 9/11/14
Aug 10th, 2021, 05:31 PM
#3
Join Date: Apr 2009
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Love the koto
I first heard the koto and saw it being played when I took my 14 yr old son to Japan. It was March and we went to the Sakura celebrations in Kyoto. There was one special night in the old area of Kyoto, it was a “light up” festival.
There were ichibana fresh flower minimalistic but incredibly lovely lit up displays in a small park. There were geisha being taken around on hand hoisted carriages that were lit up.
There were stages set up, where Japanese traditional musicians played. At one of those stages was a beautiful Japanese woman in a kimono, playing the koto. It was mesmerizing. I’ll never forget the sound of her playing the koto. It was unforgettable.
I just asked my son, who is now 30 yrs old, if he remembered that night and the koto. He literally teared up. It made that much of an impression on him too.
There were ichibana fresh flower minimalistic but incredibly lovely lit up displays in a small park. There were geisha being taken around on hand hoisted carriages that were lit up.
There were stages set up, where Japanese traditional musicians played. At one of those stages was a beautiful Japanese woman in a kimono, playing the koto. It was mesmerizing. I’ll never forget the sound of her playing the koto. It was unforgettable.
I just asked my son, who is now 30 yrs old, if he remembered that night and the koto. He literally teared up. It made that much of an impression on him too.
Aug 13th, 2021, 07:14 AM
#7
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Thank you Bill and Mara. I’ve missed you guys. I can not travel alone anymore, or much at all really, as the rare muscle deterioration disease I’ve developed has taken my mobility. But I still travel virtually and vicariously! I hope you all are well. Keep traveling.
Aug 14th, 2021, 11:26 AM
#8
Original Poster
Missed you, too. Japan has gotten better for visitors with limited mobility.
There certainly a lot of opportunities for "armchair travel" these days. I learned that term when I was a kid listening to international shortwave radio stations. I would mail a listening report to the stations to get back a confirmation card (QSL card) usually in an envelope with other info about the country I got mail from Ghana, Ecuador, and a couple dozen other countries.
These days it is youtube on a smart TV. For a while I was watching rail videos, mostly in Japan, where the camera was pointed out the front of the train, sometimes with the driver in view.
One video had a Japanese title but it didn't take me long to decide that it must be in Kyushu. It was along the coast and you could tell by the vegetation. Somehow, I figured out that the train was headed south, so east side of Kyushu, Eventually, it kinda looked familiar, then really familiar and as the train was pulling into the station I realized that I had been there before, just as I heard the announcement "Obi, Obi desu". I visited Obi once on a day trip from Miyazaki.
IRL, I visited the ruins of Obi-jo and then had lunch. I looked at the bus schedule posted in the restaurant and decided to take a bus to a different JR station than Obi. The lady at the restaurant walked me out, across the street and down a bit and pointed to where I should stand for the bus. The bus arrived less than a minute later and I hopped on. Then I changed my mind and decided to just walk to Obi eki to wait the couple hours for the next train. I waited until the bus went around the corner before I got off so that the lady wouldn't see.
There certainly a lot of opportunities for "armchair travel" these days. I learned that term when I was a kid listening to international shortwave radio stations. I would mail a listening report to the stations to get back a confirmation card (QSL card) usually in an envelope with other info about the country I got mail from Ghana, Ecuador, and a couple dozen other countries.
These days it is youtube on a smart TV. For a while I was watching rail videos, mostly in Japan, where the camera was pointed out the front of the train, sometimes with the driver in view.
One video had a Japanese title but it didn't take me long to decide that it must be in Kyushu. It was along the coast and you could tell by the vegetation. Somehow, I figured out that the train was headed south, so east side of Kyushu, Eventually, it kinda looked familiar, then really familiar and as the train was pulling into the station I realized that I had been there before, just as I heard the announcement "Obi, Obi desu". I visited Obi once on a day trip from Miyazaki.
IRL, I visited the ruins of Obi-jo and then had lunch. I looked at the bus schedule posted in the restaurant and decided to take a bus to a different JR station than Obi. The lady at the restaurant walked me out, across the street and down a bit and pointed to where I should stand for the bus. The bus arrived less than a minute later and I hopped on. Then I changed my mind and decided to just walk to Obi eki to wait the couple hours for the next train. I waited until the bus went around the corner before I got off so that the lady wouldn't see.
