Traditional Japanese music.
Posted on February 20th, 2009 in Japan | Comments Off
It’s been a while since I posted. My last update was about Sake. I can’t exactly say I don’t like sake but since I hardly drink alcohol these days my tolerance has gone way down and I’m having a hard time getting used to the “alcohol” flavor of it.
They are about as strong as a potent wine, about 13% alcohold or so and all I seem to taste is the harsh alcohol. I feel like such a wimp. I used to love very strong beers and wine but not now.
I have been getting into other areas of Japanese culture. I’ve been a musician most of my life, thought I don’t play as often now, but I’ve been playing the guitar since I was about 15 years old. I’ve started looking at YouTube videos of traditional Japanese instuments and I’ver really taken a liking to the Shamisen. It’s basically like a 3 string banjo/guitar from japan. It has a very unique and Japanese sound that I’m really enjoying.
The following video is a duet with two very talented musicians. The first is the Shamisen player and he is playing with a Taiko drummer that also sounds great. I don’t see myself going out and learning to play the Shamisen though I did quickly price how much they cost. haha
**James