Shamisen from Edo Hauta to Contemporary
Arguably the most popular instrument during the Japan's Edo period, the shamisen, with its simple three-stringed construction, was on the edge of the contemporary trend in the performing arts milieu of the 19th century Tokyo. Hidejiro Honjoh, this year's Japanese Cultural Envoy, interweaves Hauta short song repertoire from the Edo period with the contemporary works written by Lou Harrison, Dai Fujikura, Hiroya Miura, and Yuji Takahashi, as he takes us to the journey of re-discovering and renewing the past.