When I was 18 years old, I moved to Japan and spent the next 18 years as a member of the Taiko group Ondekoza that connected me with Yokoyama Katsuya. Very limited information was to be found on Shakuhachi, even in Japanese, as we did not have internet yet.
I lived in Nagasaki prefecture and would travel to Tokyo once a month to take Shakuhachi lessons. I was not allowed to practice indoors in Ondekoza, I needed to be able to project and play without amplification when we played in large concerts halls. I…
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