All Work And No Play
Compared to my father, I got a late start—17 years had passed before I picked up the shakuhachi for the first time. In comparison, my dad would have already been a seasoned veteran musician by that age. Before I started taking lessons from my dad, I had hobbies, but nothing I would have been able to make a career out of. I really wanted to be a comic book artist but frankly, I sucked at it. Music came completely out of left field.
Music as a career presents particular challenges because it’s considered by most to be a hobby, and not, you know, work. So what do some of those hobbies look like for me and my ancestors?
My dad did not enjoy his life as a musician. His first loves were botany and astronomy. Growing up, he would spend much of his free time gardening. One summer, he build an amazing pond that we stocked with goldfish. They didn’t grow to be koi sized, but they got pretty darn big. He also made a beautiful rock garden with a maple.
Building a rock garden, Bainbridge Isl. WA, c. 1978
He could also still name every constellation, and knew which planets were where, any time of year. He was also a voracious reader.
The fact is, he was unparalleled as a shakuhachi player. That is my subjective opinion, but not one based on any familial loyalty. We are not likely to hear his kind again; selfishly, I’m glad I got to experience his music.
Araki Atsumu
Though he barely knew his father, my grandfather was by some accounts an avid horseback rider. We do know he was infatuated with the West, manifested in his love of western music and clothing. He became an accomplished pianist and violinist, and when his student, Baron Kishichiro Okura developed the orkualo—a concert flute with a shakuhachi mouthpiece—my grandfather performed its debut.
Baron Okura (center); my grandfather is top right.
My great-grandfather very nearly didn’t become a shakuhachi player, instead favoring painting. He was quite good, I must say—if I had a fraction of his talent I might not have been so quick to give up on my dreams of comic book art. I’ve never seen his works in real life, only photos, but they are impressive to me.
painting by Kodō III
my great-great grandfather, Hanzaburo, left
Less is known about my namesake, Hanzaburo I’s hobbies. I could believe that, given he was the first in his family to study as a komuso, shakuhachi could well have been seen as his hobby. The fact that he was a gifted player and skilled and innovative shakuhachi maker was not likely a path laid out for him. I also imagine it is unlikely he thought about how much this decision to follow his passion would affect the generations that followed him.
Ukulele = hobby
As for me, I enjoy my coffee roasting. Giving in to the American propensity to monetize everything would be the most surefire way for me to exorcise any joy I get from doing it. But come by sometime and I’ll be happy to make you a cup.
@twisteddoodles
More anon,
Hanz