{"id":10733,"date":"2018-09-04T14:45:34","date_gmt":"2018-09-04T21:45:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/?p=10733"},"modified":"2018-09-04T14:45:34","modified_gmt":"2018-09-04T21:45:34","slug":"letter-from-tokyo-the-international-careers-kiyoshi-shomura-and-shin-ichi-fukuda-have-led-them-back-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/letter-from-tokyo-the-international-careers-kiyoshi-shomura-and-shin-ichi-fukuda-have-led-them-back-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Letter From Tokyo: The International Careers Kiyoshi Shomura and Shin-Ichi Fukuda Have Led Them Back Home"},"content":{"rendered":"
BY MARK SMALL | FROM THE FALL 2018 ISSUE OF CLASSICAL GUITAR<\/a><\/h6>\n

During a recent visit to Japan, I met with two of Japan\u2019s most prominent guitarists: Kiyoshi Shomura and Shin-Ichi Fukuda. Each has had a brilliant career performing, teaching, and recording. Together and separately they have greatly raised awareness of classical guitar in the Land of the Rising Sun and championed guitar music composed by their countrymen on stage and on record. Toru Takemitsu dedicated three significant works to Shomura. And Fukuda has also been the dedicatee of new music and is currently documenting works by top Japanese composers in a series of albums for the Naxos label.<\/span><\/p>\n

Shomura became a familiar face to TV viewers across Japan back in 1974 through a weekly program that featured him teaching a half-hour lesson to a young student and closing each episode with a performance. He has concertized extensively in Asia and Europe and records for the Toshiba EMI label. Fukuda built an international profile by winning numerous guitar competitions\u2014including the esteemed Paris International Guitar Competition\u2014and being featured on some 90 albums on various labels. His discography includes solo projects and a range of ensemble recordings featuring repertoire from all style periods. He has also mentored a number of prominent young Japanese virtuosi including Kaori Muraji, Daisuke Suzuki, and Yasuji Ohagi.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sailors and Statesmen<\/span><\/h5>\n

Upon returning home, I studied up on the history of classical guitar in Japan to trace the progression to the instrument\u2019s current state there. According to a 2003 doctoral dissertation by Daniel Quinn, in the 16th century, lutes and vihuelas were first brought to Japan\u2019s shores by Portuguese sailors and Jesuit missionaries. The appearance of the guitar in Japan in 1854 is documented in a contemporary sketch by Bunsen Takagawa depicting minstrels among Commodore Matthew Perry\u2019s crew accompanying themselves on guitar and banjo. Hiroshi Hiraoka (1856\u20131934), who had lived and worked for a time in America, is credited with introducing both the modern guitar and<\/i> baseball to Japan. According to Quinn, Kenpachi Hiruma (1867\u20131936) became in 1905 the first Japanese guitar teacher to hang out his shingle.<\/p>\n

During the Japan modernization campaign begun under Emperor Meiji (1852\u20131911), Japanese educators started teaching Western music to school children. In the 1920s, the country\u2019s first classical guitar recitals were given by Fuku-ichiro Ikegami and Yoshie Okawara. The latter performed his own music, in addition to pieces by fellow Japanese composers. Ikegami\u2019s recitals tilted more toward European composers such as Sor, Giuliani, T\u00e1rrega, and Mertz. In 1929, Segovia made his debut in Tokyo, where, according to Graham Wade, he performed Manuel Ponce\u2019s Sonata Rom\u00e1ntica<\/i>. Segovia\u2019s appearance in Japan spurred great interest in the maestro\u2019s repertoire as well as his aesthetic of sound and music. Segovia visited Japan many more times and his influence remains palpable. In conversation, both Shomura and Fukuda spoke with great respect of Segovia\u2019s contributions.<\/p>\n

Today, Shomura is considered the elder statesman of Japan\u2019s guitar scene. Now 71, he gave his debut concert in Tokyo in 1969, and will mark the 50th anniversary of that event in 2019 with a concert in which he will front an orchestra in a program that will include the Concierto de Aranjuez<\/i>, Tedesco\u2019s Guitar Concerto No. 1 in D<\/i>, and a new concerto that Shomura will commission, perhaps to Turkish pianist and composer Fazil Say.<\/p>\n

Shomura began studying guitar with his father at age nine. \u201cMy father\u2019s dream was to be a professional guitarist, but at that time it was too hard to make a living as a classical guitarist,\u201d Shomura told me. \u201cHe chose a more secure job and started to teach me. Every day we had a one-hour lesson before he went to work. On days when I didn\u2019t play well, he was angry. At that time, [Japanese] fathers were very strict.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>The young Shomura later studied with Yasumasa Ohara after his family moved to Gifu City. \u201cOhara was also stern,\u201d he relates. \u201cLike a samurai!\u201d Shomura had built a solid technical foundation by the time he met Narciso Yepes when the Spanish virtuoso played in Japan. \u201cHe said if I came to Spain he would teach me,\u201d Shomura recalls. \u201cMy father always thought it would be best for me to study guitar in Spain. He had prepared financially and had me start learning Spanish when I was 13. I went there in 1964.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Yepes took a softer approach in teaching Shomura. \u201cI studied with him from 1964 to 1968,\u201d he says. [Shomura studied further with Yepes from 1978 to 1981.] \u201cI learned many things from him. When I came back to Tokyo and gave my debut concert in 1969, it was technically almost perfect, but not very expressive. I\u2019d been practicing ten hours a day and hadn\u2019t experienced much of life.\u201d Shomura decided to put his guitar down for six months and began reading books, going to movies, and socializing more. \u201cI figured that if I learned to enjoy life more, I would learn to play with more expression. When I came back to the guitar, I enjoyed it more.\u201d<\/p>\n

After his instructional show aired on TV from 1974 to 1975, the number of concerts Shomura played tripled and he performed throughout Japan. In 1977 he signed with Japan\u2019s top classical management company, Hajimoto, and he has remained on their artist roster for more than 40 years. They have booked him in a variety of settings, from solo recitals to collaborations with flute, violin, mandolin, voice, or piano, as well as with full orchestras. Shomura shared that he has played Concierto de<\/i> Aranjuez<\/i> more than 100 times.<\/p>\n

Among his collaborations with Japanese composers, Shomura\u2019s work with the late Toru Takemitsu stands out. \u201cI asked him to write a piece for me and went to his house five times before he agreed to write one,\u201d Shomura says. \u201cHe asked me what my favorite [Japanese] baseball team was, and I said I liked the [Tokyo] Giants. He said, \u2018Then I won\u2019t compose for you. I like the Osaka Tigers. I hate the Giants!\u2019 So I told him that I liked the Tigers, and he wrote Folios<\/i>, his first solo guitar piece, and dedicated it to me.\u201d Takemitsu dedicated two other pieces to Shomura. The second is Equinox<\/i> from 1994.<\/i> The last piece Takemitsu wrote before he died in 1996 was In the Woods. <\/i>Its three <\/i>movements are dedicated to John Williams, Shomura, and Julian Bream, respectively. \u201cI was in good company,\u201d Shomura says. \u201cI really appreciate that he wrote music for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shomura\u2019s career continues to thrive. He plays some 50 concerts annually. \u201cThe guitar is my life,\u201d he says. \u201cEach year I feel more for the music than I did when I first started. When I was young, I only wanted to play perfectly and was fighting with the guitar. Now it is my friend and the best [means] for me to express my feelings.\u201d<\/p>\n