No Sleep ‘Til Tokyo

My last Japan tour was way back in November of 2019, which feels like a lifetime ago. In many ways, it is. For the most part, my Japan experience has been through the lens of Irish music. This year, I’m very excited at the chance to play a bit of shakuhachi again as well.

My first time in Japan playing Irish music was back in 1999 as part of a trio called Setanta, with Dale Russ on fiddle, Finn Mac Ginty on guitar and vocals, and myself on flutes and vocals. Over the years I would go back in different combinations, but certain venues have remained part of my tour schedule for all these years.

One such place that is very near and dear to me is La Caña in Shimokitazawa, Tokyo. La Caña is a basement live music house that caters to acoustic music—folk, traditional, jazz, and blues. Every square inch of the place sings with the kind of character and vibe that can only come from years upon years of carefully curated music. All that music has seeped into the walls giving the room a pleasant buzz, something you can feel the moment you step inside. The sound is exquisite, with the owner, the inimitable Iwashita-san engineering.

22 years ago, on March 2nd, Molly Malones opened their doors in Hiroshima and Setanta was lucky enough to be there. At the time, their head chef was a young man named Miyazaki Takashi. Miyazaki-san went on to marry a woman from Cork, where he opened a restaurant and has since earned a Michelin Star for his extraordinary Japanese cuisine using all Irish products. (Seriously, if you’re in Cork, make a point to visit here or here—it’s some of the best Japanese food you’ll find anywhere in the world.) Molly Malones has been a regular tour stop every year, and it’s where I’ve met some amazing people I’m lucky to count as friends.

Congratulations on 22 years, by the way!

There will be some new ground for us as well. I feel so honored to be collaborating with superb Noh actor Takao Yukinori in Fukuoka. Something I’m really hoping becomes part of my second act is combining my shakuhachi playing with other Japanese traditions. May this be the first of many meetings of its kind!

I can’t say enough about our friend and long-time musical compatriot Fukue Genta. Genta joined us last-minute in Kyoto in 2014 and calmly knocked it out of the park after a mere 30-minute run through of our set. He’s been family ever since, with tours in Japan, New England, and the Pacific Northwest in the books—we recorded an album called The West East Road along with our dear friend Elly Marshall in 2018. In addition to being a phenomenal guitar player, he’s just an all-around swell guy evidenced by the company he keeps.

He’s introduced us to some truly inspiring artists. People like the Matsumoto family in Ōita.

The Matsumotos are the force behind Catherina Early Musical Instrument Work Shop, an almost fairytale existence in the midst of bucolic forests and rice fields. Siblings Maika and Mirai are the musical duo baobab and you should immediately stop what you’re doing and listen to / fall in love with them because that’s just what we all do. Their songwriting is sublime and their musicianship unimpeachable; it’s truly otherworldly.

Like I said, this is our first trip back in over four years so we weren’t able to go everywhere. With any luck, next year we’ll get back to our other favorite haunts, Hibari Kōbō in Kumamoto, Mito Kells, and Art Space Yosuga in Kyoto. I can hardly wait…

More anon,
Hanz

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