Daily Times

Consulate-General of Japan organised “Japan Fest 2018” in a hotel in the metropolis on Friday.

The event was attended by leading political, business, cultural and diplomatic figures. In his opening speech, Toshikazu Isomura, the Consul-General of Japan appreciated the cultural interaction between Pakistan and Japan and wished that the audience enjoyed various aspects of Japanese culture and traditions.

Various cultural exhibitions including ikebana (Japanese art of floral arrangement), origami (Japanese art of folding paper into decorative shapes and figures) and ju-jitsu(Japanese form of martial arts) were set up during the fest. The Japan Fest 2018 started with songs and a stage play by students of Karachi Grammar School (KGS). The play was followed by dance performances and Japanese pop songs played by local Japanese cultural groups “Shonen”.

Some of the activities in the fest included infinity cosplay contest, Soran Bushi dance by Karachi Japanese School, fashion shows presented by Indus University students. Various activity booths were also set-up to showcase the Japanese culture. The ambiance was exquisitely decorated with Japanese floral artifacts of ikebana displays, which were extremely appreciated by the audience.

The climax of the evening was the enthralling Koto and Shamisen performance by Japanese artist Sumie Kaneko, who is currently on a world tour for playing this unique Japanese traditional music.The audience was captivated by the fascinating diversity of Japanese traditional music and memorable fusion of Japanese and Pakistani compositions.

The Koto is a traditional Japanese stringed instrument with thirteen strings that are strung tautly across 13 movable bridges along the length of the instrument. It reached Japan in the 8th century and was initially played only in the Emperor Court or aristocrat palaces. The Shamisen is a three stringed instrument and introduced in the 16th century through the Ryukyu Kingdom (now Okinawa) to Osaka. Shamisen is widely played in folk and art music as an accompaniment to lyrical and narrative-oriented songs and in the orchestras of Bunraku (puppet) and Kabuki dramas.

Sumie Kaneko is an accomplished Koto and Shamisen player, Jazz singer and songwriter who had studied at prestigious Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. She then studied Jazz vocal at Berklee College of Music. Kaneko started playing Koto when she was five years old. She was the first Shamisen player who won Pulitzer Prize Paula Vogel’s “The Long Christmas Ride Home” and has collaborated with many of world instrumentalists.

Published in Daily Times, October 13^th 2018.