THE ARTS
What youngsters go through to master a traditional craft or art.		  
           
           
        Interview with young performers
        16-year-old Takuma Yokouchi

Question: Why did you start learning the tsugaru shamisen?
Answer: My mother bought an electric guitar for me when I was in middle school, but since there wasn't anyone to teach me, I couldn't play very well. There were a number of people offering shamisen lessons, though, and so I decided to give it a try. Mr. Yamada happened to be visiting my grandmother, a chiropractor, and so I asked to be taken on as a student. I've been going to Yamauta for lessons since October 1999. My grandmother is a big fan of folk singing and had a shamisen, but since she wasn't using it, she gave it me.

 
       
 
        Q: What do you like most about the shamisen?
A: The powerful, booming sound. It's a stringed instrument like the guitar, so I had an interest in it for a long time. It was fun from the beginning, but holding the strings down on the neck was really hard. It's still not that easy.

Q: How do you practice?
A: I go to Yamauta every Saturday. I commute to school on my bicycle, but a shamisen is too long to lug around on the bike, so my mother drives me there. It's about a 30-minute drive from the house. I belong to the boxing club at school, and I usually don't get home until around seven in the evening. Because the shamisen is fairly loud, I can practice only once every three days or so.

 
         
 
          Q: What do you think of Mr. Yamada as a teacher?
A: His lessons are very easy to understand. It's hard to keep up sometimes, though, since there's no written score.

Q: Has learning the shamisen changed you in any way?
A: It's hard to say since I've only been studying it for half a year.

Q: What are your future goals?
A: I don't have anything specific in mind right now. I have to learn how to play a little better before I can think about goals.

 
   

Photos (from top): Takuma has been playing for less than a year. He says it's hard to hold the strings down; There is no score, so you just have to watch and remember.