The syamisen performers

The woman who is on the right in this photo is my best friend.
Her name is Tetsuroku Matsunaga and her partner's name is Tetsukoma Matsunaga.
Both of them are pupils of Tetsukuro Matsunaga.

They perform the nagauta syamisen and the name of the unit is "Sukui-zu and Haziki-zu".
The name comes from 'Sukui' and 'Haziki'.
Both 'Sukui' and 'Haziki' are names of execution of the Syamisen.

They are accredited masters of the nagauta syamisen.
Therefore, they are not only performers but also teachers.


"Syamisen" is a stringed instrument peculiar to Japan.
It was born from Sanshin transmitted to Japan from Ryukyu(Okinawa) in the latter half of the 16 th century.
Then it became a musical instrument of the main current of Japanese music.

"Edo nagauta" is a long song chanted to the accompaniment of syamisen, often with drums and flutes added.
Nagauta music developed as accompaniment music of the dance of the kabuki, and came to be called nagauta music at the beginning of the 18th century.
It spread to the ordinary family after the Meiji era.

If you go to see Japanese traditional performing arts such as the kabuki, the Rakugo (a comic story), you will listen to the timbre of the syamisen.

****************
28/4 draft
10/5 revision (2 spelling, 1 grammar, 1 tense)