The Japan America Society of Minnesota Is Bringing Award-Winning Shamisen Music to St. Paul

People in the Twin Cities have more opportunities to experience Japanese culture than anime conventions and sushi restaurants. That’s in part because of the Japan America Society of Minnesota (JASM) and its various collaborations with other organizations, through which we’ve been able to taste sake, attend the annual Obon festival in Como Park, and experience traditional Japanese dance and martial-arts demonstrations. Thanks to JASM’s dedication to authenticity, we can get a taste of Japanese culture without paying the exorbitant prices needed to travel to the Land of the Rising Sun.

Among the organization’s annual events is its Harukaze (“Spring Wind”) concert, which this year is happening July 28 and will showcase shamisen music. Since its debut in 2014, Harukaze has served as a demonstration as well as a celebration of Japanese music of yesterday and today.

Japan America Society of Minnesota

This year’s concert will honor the memory of the late Takuzo Ishida, JASM’s former president and emeritus director, who sadly passed away from lymphoma in April of this year. The star of the show, Momokusu Iwata, will be performing both traditional and contemporary music on the elegant shamisen.

The shamisen (whose name means “three strings” in Japanese) is a guitar-like instrument descended from the sanxian, a similar instrument of Chinese origin. Unlike most string instruments, it is played using a bachi, which is more fan shaped than a standard rounded-triangle guitar pick. There are multiple variants of the shamisen, each having different purposes and producing different sounds, but they all have a long neck and a square-shaped body. Today, the shamisen has seen lots of use in both traditional and nontraditional music, including rock, bluegrass, jazz, and even heavy metal!

JASM notes that Iwata emerged victorious from the 2017 Tsugaru Shamisen World Championship. However, he received criticism from more old-fashioned musicians who felt his handling of the instrument was “too delicate,” telling him, “Your shamisen is not Tsugaru shamisen. Your shamisen is Tokyo shamisen.” Not wanting to limit himself to playing songs of old, Iwata stayed true to himself, and thus his album Shamisen Tokyo was born. Up-and-coming pianist Ayatoshi Oikawa will be accompanying him.

The Harukaze concert will take place at the Sundin Music Hall at Hamline University in St. Paul on Sunday, July 28, 2019, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. Tickets must be purchased via PayPal through the event page on JASM’s website. Prices vary: $25 for general non-JASM members, $20 for members, $10 for students (with ID), and $5 for children six and under. JASM does not mail out tickets but keeps a list of reservations of those who have purchased them; guests must check in at the reservation table at the event. Those who have purchased student tickets must present a valid student ID card in order to receive their discounted tickets.

If you’re looking dip your toes into Japanese culture, Harkaze may be just what you’re looking for. You can keep an eye on JASM’s events page as well—the organization is always coming up with new and exciting ways for us to experience Japanese culture, and its staff is always looking for volunteers!