PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT
How often these kids rehearse, and how their efforts are appreciated.		  
           
           
        The Crowd Settles In
        It's time now for a tsugaru shamisen performance at Yamauta. Mr. Yamada and his apprentices perform here almost daily, playing the shamisen and singing local folk songs. Yamauta serves food and drinks, so people who come to listen can also get a taste of the local cuisine.

All 90 seats fill up within about an hour after the club opens at 5 p.m. Everyone who comes here seems to be rushing their orders. No wonder, for come 7 p.m., all the waiters and waitresses put down their trays and pick up their instruments. At Yamauta, almost everyone who works is student of Mr. Yamada. As soon as the performance starts, therefore, there aren't any people around to take your orders!

 
       
 
       

Mr. Yamada steps up to the microphone, and the chattering stops. People put down their tableware and turn their attention to the music. "Is everyone ready?" he asks. "All right, let's go!" With this cue, all his apprentices begin to play in an ensemble. In the back row is fifth-grader Yusaku Shibutani. He's not a professional apprentice, but he's been performing the opening number for about a year. Next to Yusaku is his uncle, Kazuo Shibutani, who has won the national tsugaru shamisen contest held every year in Hirosaki five times--including three years in a row. "I'm glad Yusaku has decided to take it up," his uncle says. "It gives me an incentive to keep trying harder."

The ensemble piece comes to an end, and now three players take turns playing improvised solos. After that, a female vocalist comes on stage to sing folk songs of the Tsugaru district to a shamisen accompaniment. Solo performances and folk songs follow in turn, with particularly skillful or rousing performances bringing the house down. The concert lasts for 80 minutes, and the crowd filters out, satisfied with the exciting and deeply stirring recital.

 
         
 
          Yamauta is a club where Mr. Yamada's apprentices learn "on the job," and the training is very hard. There are only one or two days off a month, and they must perform twice a day. But this is an excellent way to improve one's technique. The training and the opportunity to play in front of people have paid off; quite a number of students here have won the national tsugaru shamisen competition. Mr. Yamada is stern with the students, saying that it takes at least three years of intensive practice before one is considered good enough to strike out on one's own.

Yusaku began studying shamisen after attending a performance at Yamauta and being overwhelmed by it. Next year, he'll be entering the national contest in the junior division. Is he interested in starting serious training at Yamauta to become a professional? "I haven't really thought about it, but I'll probably make up my mind before I graduate from middle school.

 
   

Photos (from top left): Yusaku, looking a little nervous just before the show; The audience's eyes are glued to the stage; Yusaku playing next to his Uncle, Kazuo.