ALT from Awaji appears in a shamisen playing amateur jōruri national tournament after 9 months since becoming a pupil. “The sound is wonderful.”  

A Canadian ALT (foreign Assistant Language Teacher) at junior high and elementary schools in Awaji City, Yeshua Ragbir (33), appeared as a shamisen player at the “Amateur Jōruri National Tournament” held in Minamiawaji City.

Mr. Ragbir, who had been learning for 9 months said, “My performance was about 60 out of 100. I want to practice more and improve my skills.”

Mr. Ragbir majored in music at University of Toronto and works as a guitar player. He has been teaching English since last September. He has been interested in shamisen for a long time, and since November of last year, he has been a disciple of Master Tomoju Tsuruzawa (43) of Nakata, Awaji City.

With the shamisen, beginners take two years to memorize the basics but Mr. Ragbir has been able to play part of a theme in just half a year.

In April of this year, Noriko Kuroda (62), vice chairman of an Awaji Review Board (62), encouraged him to appear, “I will recite, so why not play the shamisen?”

Since April, Mrs. Kuroda began practicing an excerpt of “Hidakagawa iriai zakura”. Master Tomoju simplified the words of the excerpt with syllables and while listening to the sound of Master Tomoju’s shamisen, she practiced the piece that was eventually to be played with Mr. Ragbir.

In the competition, Mr. Ragbir went up to the stage with Mrs. Kuroda in a kataginu and hakama and played the shamisen in harmony with Mrs. Kuroda’s story.

Mrs. Kuroda praised, “It was nice that the reciting and the shamisen matched.”

Master Tomoju said, “He listened to the detailed parts and played it. The fretting hand was also accurate and strong.”

Mr. Ragbir said, “I played a variety of string instruments, but the sound of the shamisen is wonderful. I want to try other excerpts. In the future, I would like to play the guitar and shamisen together and release a shamisen CD.”

Link: https://mainichi.jp/articles/20160831/ddl/k28/040/430000c