The Japan Society Review 46
Book, Stage, Movie, Arts and Events Review

Issue 46 Volume 8 Number 4 (August 2013)

Two for Tea
Susan Meehan joins in celebrating a sharednational passion
Ramen and the revolution
Sir Hugh Cortazzi explores noodle history with
Barak Kushner

In this sumptuous issue we alter our trajectory a little by adding
some new dimensions to our review offerings. J.R.R. Tolkien,
one of my favourite authors, once observed, ‘If more of us
valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would
be a merrier world.’ Sound advice and in this issue we focus onfood, drink and music to broaden our review menu which willin future offer such articles to our regular mix. Susan Meehangives us her take on the much acclaimed ‘Two Cultures United
by Tea’ event which was held at Banqueting House in Whitehall.
Sir Hugh Cortazzi takes an in depth and fascinating look at

Slurp! A Social and Culinary History of Ramen by Barak Kushner.
We then turn our gaze on this year’s Matsuri in Trafalgar Square,
the biggest annual celebration of Japanese culture, music andfood in the UK. To finish, we have two music related reviews
including an exclusive interview with Taro Hakase about his
new album JAPONISM.
Sean Curtin, August 2013

Contents
1) Two Cultures United by Tea...........................................................

.........................................................­........................................................................................................................................
EditorSean Curtin
Managing Editor

2) Slurp! A Social and Culinary History of Ramen – Japan’s Favorite Jack Cooke
Noodle Soup
Reviewers
3) Japan Matsuri 2013
4) An Interview with Taro Hakase about his new album JAPONISM

Mike Sullivan, Sean Curtin and Lisa Ueda
Special Reviewer
Sir Hugh Cortazzi5) Out of Silence: A Pianist’s Yearbook [静けさの中から ― ピアニスト New reviewsの四季]
www.japansociety.org.uk/resources/the-japan-society-review

Two Cultures United byTea
Sunday 15 September 2013
The Banqueting HouseWhitehall, London
SW1A 2ER
Review by Susan Meehan
Tea is the most widelyconsumed beverage plant in the world and China
one of the earliest countries to produce and use tea,
possibly as early as 2750 BC. The Zen Buddhist ritualof drinking tea before the image of the Bodhi Dharma,
as mentioned by Okakura Tenshin in his much-loved(though unsubtle in its nationalistic bent and a productof its time, in the wake of the surprising Japanese
victory over the Russians in the 1905 Russo-JapaneseWar) 1906 publication, The Book of Tea, developed into
the 15th-century Japanese tea ceremony as perfected
and codified by the great tea master, Sen no Rikyu.
According to Soshitsu Sen XV, a descendant of Sen no
Rikyu writing in his foreword to The Book of Tea thegreat tea master strove to convey the tea ceremony
as being a living synthesis of Asian and Japanese arts.
Yet tea is also quintessentially British. There can be
no better way of bringing the Japanese and British
together than through drinking tea. Soshitsu Sen XV,
writing in his afterword to The Book of Tea, noted thattea ‘transcends the boundaries of nations.’ He also
stated, ‘It has been my conviction that world peacecan be achieved starting with the exchange of tea
between just two individuals.’
It had been at least two hours since my last pot of tea
that Sunday 15 September and I was looking forward
to more at Banqueting House as I stepped out onto
Whitehall in the rain. I was not as enthused by theprospect of those powdery, floury cloying Japanese
tea sweets, which I imagined would certainly beoffered to the guests, and which are eaten before
drinking delicious, frothy, slightly bitter-tasting matcha(powdered green tea).
This tea event was a highlight of the Japan400 Week,
marking the delivery of official letters and presentsfrom King James I of England and VI of Scotland to
Tokugawa Ieyasu and his son Hidetada on 8 and 17
September 1613 respectively, as part of their mission
to set up the first English trading post in Japan. The
bearer of the letters and gifts was John Saris, captain of
the Clove, accompanied by William Adams, the pilot ofa Dutch ship which had been shipwrecked in Japan in1603 and who had stayed on in Japan in the capacityof honorary samurai and advisor to Shogun Tokugawa
Ieyasu ever since.

Two Cultures United by Tea succeeded in masterfully
celebrating the 400th anniversary of the exchangeof letters and presents initiated by Kings James I and2

commemorating the historical figures who werevital to success of the East India Company’s efforts totrade in Japan 400 years ago. The event brought theaudience together over tea, that most unifying of all
beverages, under Banqueting House’s magnificent
Rubens ceiling which celebrates the life and ‘wise
government’ of King James. It is difficult to think of amore fitting or beautiful setting.

The Union of the Crowns, The Apotheosis of James I and
The Peaceful Reign of James I are the three canvases
painted by Sir Peter Paul Rubens and installed to decorate
the hall’s ceiling in 1636.
In addition to this appropriate setting, the presence ofMr Akira Matsura, Head of the Chinshin School of Tea
Ceremony and a direct descendant of Lord Matsura,
who ruled the area of Hirado in Japan on behalf ofHidetada Tokugawa at the time of the British ship the
Clove‘s arrival in Hirado on 11 June 1613, made theevent all the more resonant.

‘It has been my conviction that world peace canbe achieved starting with the exchange of tea
between just two individuals’ - Soshitsu Sen XV
Tea refreshes the spirit and, as Okakura Tenshin reveals
in his Book of Tea, it is what keeps the Zen monks
awake during their long hours of meditation.
Taking my seat in the beautiful hall, I also noticed
a half-built gold-coloured telescope on display.
King James I had sent presents to the ruler of Japan,
including a telescope, the first ever to reach Asia. Only
having been invented in the Netherlands in1608, thiswas a precious gift indeed. Sadly the telescope wassubsequently lost and Japan400 has set out to replace
it with this new model, still a work in progress.
Welcoming all to the event, Nicolas Maclean, CoChairman of Japan400, read a short message of support
for this commemoration of the 400th anniversary of
the start of Japan-British relations from the Rt Hon
William Hague MP, Secretary of State for Foreign andCommonwealth Affairs, in which he underlined ‘thevalue Her Majesty’s Government attached to thatpartnership today.’This was followed by opening remarks given by HRH
The Duke of Gloucester, Patron of the Japan Society,who remarked on tea being close to the heart of British
people. If a crisis is brewing, the duke only half-joked,
tea is called upon.
The Duke of Gloucester urged the audience to look at
the breath-taking ceiling painted by Sir Peter Rubens,
who had been Dutch Ambassador to London and thefirst artist to be knighted.
A leading expert on architecture, the duke recounted
that Banqueting House had been conceived by Inigo
Jones, a court designer, who preferred neo-classicism
over the baroque. Jones gave Banqueting House a
Issue 46 Volume 8 Number 4 (August 2013)sense of authority and elegance (its website refers toit being like a piece of ‘Ancient Rome transposed to
Whitehall’) though its tremendous cost led to distrust
between the king and Parliament and the latter’s
discrediting of the king’s architecture.
Following the duke’s welcome, Mr Akira Mastura, the41st-generation head of the Matsura family described
how his ancestor had greeted John Saris and crew at
Hirado, the Matsura’s ancestral land.
On this visit to England, Mr Matsura had already, a few
days previously, offered tea to the spirit of Will Adams
at St Mary’s Church in Gillingham where Adams had
been baptised.
Mr Matsura proceeded to conduct a kencha tea
ceremony, preparing matcha in two cups dedicated tothe souls of King James I and the Lord of Hirado (at thetime of the Clove’s arrival). Mr Matsura related that the
Chinshin School had been developed by the Lord of
Hirado and that he regards the tea ceremony as a wayof cultivating the warrior or samurai’s cultural sensibility
as well as training his mind for military purposes. The
kencha tea ceremony evolved precisely in order todedicate bowls of tea to deities or the spirits of thedeceased, particularly on important anniversaries.
With clinical precision Mr Matsura, clothed in a kimono
and wearing a face-mask, knelt in front of a black
lacquer cabinet which held a container of hot waterand a pot of matcha. Carefully unwrapping a seriesof utensils for adding the powder to a bowl and towhisk the tea, Mr Matsura made a single bowl of tea
in complete silence. When ready, the bowl was carried
by a Japanese teenager (Nanko Suzuki) to a table infront of the throne of King James I. A second bowl was
similarly prepared and set in front of a scroll portraitof Lord Matsura Hoin, by British teenager Christopher
Hyde.
Special guests near the front of the hall were able
to watch proceedings close-up while those sitting
further away could watch the tea ceremony on screens
relaying Matsura’s elaborate rituals. This felt slightly
disjointed; those at the back feeling they were at adifferent event but Mr Matsura graciously apologised
for the silence and long wait.
Mr Matsura had brought thirty tea disciples with himfrom different parts of Japan, all of whom helped
prepare matcha for two hundred or so guests gatheredin Banqueting House. Robin Thompson played the shō,a small, easily portable Japanese musical instrument
consisting of seventeen slender bamboo pipes, while
the audience waited in silence for their bowl of matcha.
As the disciples marched to and fro, I noticed a lovely
touch – one of the kimono-clad women was wearing
an obi with an embroidery of what appeared to be the
Clove.
Just at this point, when I was beginning to think
Issue 46 Volume 8 Number 4 (August 2013)that while united by the promise of drinking tea theaudience might begin feeling fractious at the wait forthe matcha, we had a capella singing by director of
the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation, Jason James,
along with Danae Eleni, Oliver Hamilton and David
Entwistle, who thoroughly enlivened proceedings
through their singing of ‘If ye love me’, ‘You’re getting
to be a habit with me’ and ‘Java Jive’ with the lyrics “Ilove coffee, I love tea, I love the Java Jive and it lovesme!”This was followed by an even livelier set of songs
expertly played by Michael Spencer and BogdanVãcãrescu on violins, Meg Hamilton on viola andAdam Spiers on cello. They began with a tribute to
17th-century music, went on to perform a medley ofJapanese folk songs including the ever-popular Sakura
Sakura, and finished with a variety of tea dance-music
and an assortment of Noel Coward songs.
The musical interlude was followed by selection oflight-hearted readings about tea, reliant on Okakura
Tenshin’s The Book of Tea, poetry, diaries, histories andpieces written by a selection of famed writers ranging
from Dr Johnson to Douglas Adams.

‘There are few hours in life more agreeable thatthe hour dedicated to the ceremony known asafternoon tea’ - Henry JamesThe choices had been excellently made and wereread with great panache and humour by Jenny Whiteand William Horsley, part of the Japan400 team, andjournalist, Reiko Takashina.
The pieces traced the history and culture of tea andtea-drinking. A quotation from the scholar-monk
Eisai’s eulogy on tea written in 1211 mentioned tea’s
therapeutic properties, ‘Tea is the most wonderful
medicine for nourishing one’s health; it is the secret oflong life. On the hillside it grows up as the spirit of thesoil. Those who pick and use it are certain to attain agreat age.’
William Cobbett, the radical 18th century reformer,
however, decried the evils of tea, ‘I view the tea drinking
as a destroyer of health, and enfeebler of the frame, anengenderer of effeminacy and laziness, a debaucher ofyouth and a maker of misery for old age.’
As Okakura Tenshin includes in his book, the critics
of tea met their match in Dr Johnson who referred
to himself as a ‘hardened and shameless tea-drinker,
who for twenty years diluted his meals with only
the infusion of this fascinating plant; whose kettle
had scarcely time to cool; who with tea amused theevening, with tea solaced the midnight and with tea
welcomed the morning.’
Tea of course has triumphed over its critics.
A more modern icon, Douglas Adams wrote in A
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, ‘Arthur blinked at the3screens and felt he was missing something important.
Suddenly he realised what it was. “It there any tea on
this spaceship,” he asked.’
The cultural significance of tea simply cannot be
overstated. As Okakura Tenshin remarked, ‘If you arecold, tea will warm you. If you are too heated, it willcool you. If you are depressed, it will cheer you. If you
are excited, it will calm you.’
It is difficult to think of a more miraculous, allencompassing drink.
The readings entertained the audience while thematcha made inroads. We were offered a sweet andbeautiful biscuit decorated with the Japan400 dates in
preparation for the bitter tea. The biscuit was waferthin, crispy and delicious, with a hint of molasses while
the sweet was surprisingly nice. The sweet, in the
shape of the Matsura family clan – another delightful
touch – had been made with spices that were traded
400 years ago, including clove and cinnamon. The
glorious matcha was given to us in beautiful ceramic
bowls.
Professor Timon Screech, Co-Chairman of Japan400
gave the concluding remarks and invited the audienceto the undercroft below to take part in an ‘English tea
ceremony’ – not quite the use of the undercroft as
favoured by James I who used it as a drinking den.
Henry James in The Portrait of a Lady said, ‘There
are few hours in life more agreeable that the hour
dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.’With this in mind, as the line had been recently readby Jenny White, we filed downstairs for our scone with
jam and cream and tea. We were spoiled to a selectionof tea provided by the East India Company, relevant as
John Saris sailed to Japan on an East India Company
ship; Birchall Tea, Harneys Tea and Postcards Tea.

Slurp! A Social andCulinary
Historyof
Ramen–
Japan’sFavorite Noodle Soup
by Barak Kushner
Global Oriental, Leiden-Boston,2012
289 pages
Review by Sir Hugh Cortazzi
Under the heading ‘Ramen
is Japan’ Barak Kushner asserts: ‘Ramen (regular andinstant) permeates all features of contemporary
Japanese life.’ He goes on to declare that a life-styleinvestigation in 2004 showed that an overwhelming
majority of Japanese prefer ramen to other noodle
dishes including soba, udon or pasta. As someone who
is particularly fond of zaru-soba and who is consciousof the pride of various regions such as Nagano in theirown special varieties of soba and udon, I find thissurprising.
Barak Kushner, who teaches modern Japanese history
at Cambridge University, is a ramen enthusiast who
clearly enjoyed greatly doing the research needed
for this fascinating book. In delving into the historyof ramen Kushner throws light on many interesting
aspects of Japanese social and political history as wellas on Japan’s lengthy and complex relationship with
China.

A committed and enthusiastic tea-drinker, I was inheaven.

‘Where did ramen originate?’ He asks. When he put thisquestion to Osaki Hiroshi who established the Ramen
Data Bank, the answer began: ‘Ramen represents
Japanese culture in that the main pillars of its origin
are Chinese but later, Japan nurtured these elements
for itself and created something completely different
from Chinese culture.’ This is true of many otheraspects of Japanese culture.

I started with Birchall’s Great Rift tea, a deliciously
strong breakfast tea, and made my away around all
the tables, relishing this opportunity to taste tea andto freely chat with audience members who had beenlong-waiting for this opportunity to refresh themselveswith a reviving cup of tea before heading out into thepouring rain. Nothing like a cup of tea to fortify one inanticipation of battling the elements!

In his further investigations Kushner tries to discover
the origins of the term ‘ramen’ and notes that before
the Pacific War peddlers with their food carts used
to call their noodles Shina soba (Chinese soba). One
theory is that the word ‘ramen’ came to be usedbecause Japanese cannot pronounce the consonant L,
which was used in la-mian, the Chinese term for pulled
noodles.

Many thanks to the organisers, speakers and tea
disciples for a fabulous afternoon.

One important post-war development was theinvention of instant ramen by Momofuku Andô [安藤 百福] who apparently found how to develop the productby looking at how tempura is made. ‘The trick is to fry thenoodles quickly enough and in hot enough oil that theyfuse into a hard block.’ Kushner declares that ‘Instantramen helped to spur Japan’s third food revolution.’
Instant ramen is one of Japan’s contributions to theworld’s inventory of convenience foods.

4Issue 46 Volume 8 Number 4 (August 2013)

What is the difference between washoku and Nihon
ryôri? Kushner explains that washoku is used todescribe traditional home-grown cuisine while Nihon
ryôri includes dishes imported from abroad andadapted to Japanese taste. Tempura and sukiyaki
fit into this category. Washoku reflects the austerity,
which Japanese had to endure because of the vagariesof the Japanese climate and the unsuitability of muchof Japan’s terrain to agriculture.
Among the interesting historical facts, which emerge
in Kushner’s survey of Japanese food culture, are hiscomments on the Heian court. The members of thecourt produced fine literature and poetry, but their
quality of life ‘was less than brilliant. They gorged onrice with a few pickled side dishes and rarely exercised. . . The men drank large quantities of a sweet alcoholic
drink and developed a range of diabetic-related
illnesses.’
A modern Japanese would have found Japanese foodand cuisine in all periods up to that of the Tokugawa
shoguns almost unbelievably poor. No meat, limited
vegetables and fish unless you lived by the sea. Rice
was a luxury. Millet, which was turned into soba, wasthe staple diet. In the war years and after even thesweet potato Satsuma-imo was a luxury.
Buddhist precepts forbade the killing of animals. Fishwere not ‘killed’; they died from being brought out of
their natural watery environment. The casuistry, whichallowed such an exception, led in Tokugawa times toinoshishi (wild boar) being referred to as yama-kujira,mountain whales!
Kushner has also much of interest to say about the roleof food in Shinto and in the ritual of Japanese life.
I would have welcomed a comparison between the
spread of ramen culture with the development androle of pasta in Italian cuisine and its spread throughEurope and North America, but this would perhaps
have made the book too weighty a tome.
I also missed any reference to Morioka’s wanko-soba.
How many cups could Kushner manage to consume?
Japanese food in recent years has become hugely
popular in western countries. Paris has even more
Japanese restaurants than London. Sushi, once
regarded as ‘yuk’ is now the luncheon choice of many
western office workers. Kushner’s book should ensurethat ramen becomes equally popular.
This is a book, which anyone interested in Japanese
food, will enjoy. I hope that hotel book-shops in Japan
will make sure that they have copies on their shelves
for visitors as well as for foreign residents.

Issue 46 Volume 8 Number 4 (August 2013)

Japan Matsuri 2013
Trafalgar Square, October 5 2013
Review by Sean Curtin
The 2013 Japan Matsuri was held on Saturday 5th
October in Trafalgar Square, its second year at theworld famous venue. The dynamic annual event brings
the Japanese community and Londoners together toenjoy an amazing day of Japanese culture, creatinga genuine Matsuri festival-like feeling. As in previous
years the public were treated to fantastic food, live
performances, martial arts, dance, arts, crafts, family
activities and much more. Huge crowds thronged
Trafalgar Square, literally filling it with people fromnoon until the Matsuri ended at 9pm. The amazing
spectacle is probably the largest annual gathering ofJapanese people in the UK.
This year’s colourful opening ceremony highlighted
two important anniversaries, the 400th anniversary of
the first official contacts between Japan and Britain,
known as Japan400, and the 150th anniversary since
the first Japanese university students came to London,
known as the Choshu Five. These trailblazers from the
Choshu domain, which is today called Yamaguchi
Prefecture, returned to Japan and all made asubstantial contribution to the creation of modern
Japan. One of their number, Hirobumi Ito, became
Japan’s first Prime Minister and is often referred to as
the ‘father of the Japanese constitution.’ To celebrate
this milestone, the current Japanese Ambassador
to the UK, Mr Keiichi Hayashi, along with four fellow
colleagues from Yamaguchi Prefecture dressed up
as the intrepid five for the opening ceremony. The
quintet were also accompanied on stage by their top
hat wearing professor, Alexander Williamson (Martin
Barrow) and key costumed figures from the Japan400
narrative including Captain John Saris, William Adams
and Lord Tokugawa. Deputy Mayor of London Victoria
Borwick also joined this dazzling gathering of historicalfigures who kicked off the day by cracking open a sakebarrel. After the ceremony, all the historic characters
descended into the crowd and paraded around the
Square.
From its opening at 11am, the large performancestage conjured up a continuous feast of absolutely
brilliant entertainment ranging from traditional
Japanese music to electrifying modern performers.
During the day, family-oriented acts dominated thestage and entertained the large numbers of children
in the audience, making it a great family day out. In
the afternoon the ‘Nodojiman: The J Factor’ Japanesesong competition was as popular as ever with some
top class performances by contestants battling to
win the first prize London-Tokyo return plane ticket.
The event’s ever cheerful presenters, the energetic
Simon Wright and the multi-talented Naomi Suzuki,
also deserve a mention. They skilfully navigated the5Taro Hakase on
his new album
Japonismaudience through the various acts and entertained thecrowds in the spaces between. Naomi also sang anddanced on stage in the late afternoon.
As the evening crept over the Square, the tone of
the Matsuri performances changed, generating an
exhilarating matsuri-type feeling. The final few acts
created a brilliant finale sensation for the enthusiastic
audience. The lively crowds were treated to themesmerizing moves of Siro-A, the amazing electricguitar of Hotei and the wonderful sound of Joji Hirota
London Taiko Drummers.
Delicious food and drink could be purchased
throughout the day which really enhanced the festive
feeling. There were also many fascinating arts and crafts
stalls as well as a host of free family activities ranging
from origami to traditional Matsuri games as well as
amazing opportunities to try on exquisite traditional
Japanese armour and colourful yukatas. The Martial
Arts stage was also a strong crowd-puller as was theenormous Manga Wall, where members of the public
could draw their own comic creations.

Interview by Mike
SullivanYoung children perform at Japan Matsuri 2013This year’s Matsuri was a superb festival and brilliant
fun. 2013 marked its fifth year and its first since itchanged its status from a company to a charity. Japan
Matsuri is organized by dedicated volunteers from theJapan Association in the UK, the Japan Chamber ofCommerce and Industry in the UK, the Japan Society
and the Nippon Club as well as strong support fromthe Embassy of Japan and the logistical managementof the commercial company Éclat. These organizations
and their army of energetic volunteers all deserve ourthanks for arranging such a fantastic day.

The violinist andcomposer
Taro
Hakase was bornin 1968 in Suita
City, Osaka, and hehas been releasing
albumsandperforming at concerts for over twenty years. For thelast few years he has called London home, regularly
performing at Cadogan Hall in Chelsea. After the 2011
Tohoku Earthquake he held seven concerts in five days
across London to raise funds for the people affectedby the disastrous earthquake and tsunami that hit
Northwest Japan. This year he released his latest
album, Japonism, and to launch it he completed anamazing live broadcast of a climb up Mt. Fuji followed
by a performance on the summit. He took time out
from his busy world tour to talk with Mike Sullivan.
Please tell us about your world tour: Japonism.
This project is a tour made up of 45 performances, there
will be five performances in five countries around theworld and 40 performances in Japan. Since I moved
to London in 2007, I have performed many concerts
there, but this time I will show a London audience thepopular music style that I have always performed inJapan. I have performed for over 200,000 people in myhome country using a concert style developed overthe span of 23 years.

Dressed to kill – Beautiful traditional Japanese Armour

Looking good at 150 years – The Choshu Five withProfessor Williamson
The Chronicles of Matsuri: The Lion, the Wisteria andthe Geisha

What does ‘Japonism’ mean to you?
The word ‘Japonism’ represents an art movement thattook place in the centre of Paris at the end of the 19th
century. In world fairs and international exhibitions
European artists could touch the culture of Japan for
the first time; in particular the art of Ukiyoe and Edo
was incorporated into the European consciousness.
Artists like Monet, Van Gogh, Degas, Lautrec, were all
influenced by Japanese paintings and a new era ofglobal arts practice began. This album marks the firsttime that the music and culture of my country has
been the central theme of my own work. At forty-five
I have come to realise how beautiful my homeland
really is. This is my Japonism, to show this feeling to
the world through music, the aesthetic sense whichflows through every Japanese. It is my way of restoringa pride and confidence in Japan as a nation and a callto everyone that I want to make music with all of myheart.
What kind of feeling did you put into the music?

music. I really engage with the Japanese sense of
beauty; such as the moment the cherry blossom
blooms in spring. To us beautiful flowers are symbolicof our country.
On the release date of the album Japonism you sentout a live music broadcast from Mt. Fuji, what inspired
you to do such an event?
For the album release date I wanted to do something
active and, during the summer we were discussing it,
Mt. Fuji was registered as a World Heritage Site. Just as
the album is titled Japonism, The Tokyo radio station
J-WAVE helped us to plan the ascent; a symbolic
mountain to fit with a symbolic album.
How did you feel afterwards?
It took nine hours to climb to the summit and it was
extremely cold at the top, with a temperature of justtwo degrees. I felt that it was only through sheer
will power that I managed to complete the live
performance. It was very difficult but this ultimately
led to a greater sense of accomplishment shared withthe whole team.
How does it feel to hold the record for most concerts
held in Japan?
The number of people I have performed for reached200,000 a year ago. However, this number only includes
audience members since 2000; it doesn’t include
the people I have performed for since 1990 when I
had my debut with Chrysler & Company or as a solo
artist. In recent years I have done performances witha classical theme in the spring, from my own albums
in the autumn, live outdoor performances known as
Passionate Continent [jounetsu tairiku -情熱大陸] inthe summer and, since 2008, I have managed to stage
around 100 performances altogether in London.
What did you think when you heard that Japan had
been chosen for the 2020 Olympics?
As a Japanese national I was very proud and felt very
happy.
It was very inspirational when you completed sevenconcerts in five days across London after the 2011
Tohoku Earthquake, it really felt like you represented
Japanese spirit at that time. However, it must havebeen very hard?
As a Japanese musician living in London, I had to dowhat I could to help my homeland to the furthest
extent possible.
When you reflect back on your amazing career, which
moments stick out for you?
Everything that I have done has been a precious
experience, but the three years I toured the world with
Celine Dion was a treasurable experience that left mewith a lasting impression.

In the album Japonism there is some hana (flower)
6

Issue 46 Volume 8 Number 4 (August 2013)

Issue 46 Volume 8 Number 4 (August 2013)7

Please tell us about the origin of your trademark hair.
At the time of my debut, Sauvage [hairstyles] had
become very popular amongst young women. Since
then the curly hair of a violinist has become my own
personal thing, and now as part of my work I continue
to perm it.
What are you looking forward to most when you are
in London for your concert at the O2 Shepherds Bush
Empire on Monday 25 November?
I am looking forward to being able to communicate
the cool side of Japanese culture to the people ofLondon.
This time, you will tour five countries outside ofJapan, but are there any differences between a British
audience and those other audiences?
British audiences are very warm. In the world, theirapplause and cheers are the loudest, and so I lookforward to this every time I am on a London stage.
Since I moved to London in 2007, I have done many
classical concerts around the UK, but this time I want
to show everyone in London my popular music style
from Japan. On 25 November I would like as many
people as possible to experience this side of my musicat the O2 Shepherds Bush Empire.
I want to celebrate with everyone my first world tour
London concert! Get ready to enjoy it!
Finally, what is your favourite thing about having
concerts in the UK?
It has been 7 years since I started to live in London andI would be very happy if I could perform a classicalconcert every year in this city that I love. That I havecontinued to do this is really thanks to the audience
members who have always encouraged me with theirconstant support. For me, London is my second home.

Out of Silence: A
Pianist’s Yearbook
by Susan Tomes
Shunjusha, June 2012448 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0593066829
Review by Lisa Ueda

Out of Silence traces a year in
the life of a classical pianist in
the form of a blog. Each entry
develops a theme that has inspired her interpretationof a score or her performance of a piece of music. The
essays are short, thought provoking, informative, andinteresting.
8

Although my own instrument is different, as a musician
and performer I felt such a strong identification
with this book that as I read on from page to page,
I found myself ‘nodding vigorously,’ as the translatorsays in her afterword. The essays in it describe frankly,
unpretentiously and straightforwardly the thoughts
and feelings of a globe-trotting performer in responseto her daily life and experiences, and are short enoughfor even busy modern people to read.
In reality, performers are constantly plagued by worry
and unease. But we hide all that when we’re on
stage, and radiate confidence, or at least we try to.
Performers are human too, so we naturally have ourups and downs. This book is honest about everything,including that worry and unease. Tomes simply says
‘this is how I am,’ and writes exactly what she feels;
you end up admiring her as a performer, or rather asa person.
As an abstract art form, music is often very difficult towrite about in words, but Tomes’s writing weaves aspell. I also take my hat off to the translation by Noriko
Ogawa, a pianist on the same global concert circuit –it’s immediately obvious that she’s not just translating
the material literally.
To translate this book required the ability to see
deeply and accurately into the linguistic and culturaldifferences and nuances not only between Japan andthe UK, but also between their respective musicalworlds. I think only Ogawa, with her deep knowledgeof both cultures, could have managed it.
I read the book from a variety of perspectives – as aperformer, as a Londoner, as a Japanese person, as
an audience member, as a music-lover . . . Ogawa has
rephrased the sometimes distinctively British idioms,
phraseology and metaphors of the original text so thatthey are easily understandable in Japanese, and don’tinterrupt the flow of the text.

Out of Silence: A Pianist’s Yearbook is shot throughwith Tomes’s humanity. I identified with her as afellow-performer, but she also made me think. She
made me see things from a new perspective, opening
my eyes to some things I hadn’t noticed, and making
me rethink others I thought I already knew about.
A further aspect of the book that anyone can enjoy isthe exclusive peek it gives you at what life is like behindstage for a world-famous pianist. It made me want
to attend Tomes, members of the trio, and Ogawa’s
concerts.
In the afterword, Ogawa writes that ‘she couldn’t
stop thinking ‘Thank you, Susan!’ – After reading theJapanese translation of the book, I feel it is my turn tosay ‘Thank you, Noriko!’Issue 46 Volume 8 Number 4 (August 2013)