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| From
the sleeve notes |
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| Once
during a shakuhachi lesson while on my Tokyo study stay in June 1996, my
teacher Kifu Mitsuhashi began to tell me a bit mysteriously: “Ryugenji,
The Dragon Temple of the Fuke sect, an important centre renowned for Suizen
(blowing meditation) practised by the playing of the shakuhachi. It once
stood directly opposite the well-known Asahidaki waterfall near Shuzenji
on the Izu peninsula. The composition ‘Taki ochi’ - Waterfall - was composed
there. The temple was eventually destroyed, and it vanished without a trace.
Only the composition ‘Taki ochi’, which somebody composed there a long
time ago, apparently inspired by the magnificent view and, directly, by
the sound of the falling water, is still played to this day”. |
| The
idea that something as incomprehensible and ethereal as a musical composition
could be the only ‘material’ remnant of a famous temple was truly fascinating
to me. What’s more, it was a composition, that should sound like ‘wind
blowing through a bamboo grove’. That is how the mysterious ‘blowing Zen’
or ‘blowing meditation’ Suizen practised by the mendicant ‘monks
of nothingness’ of the mentioned Fukeshu sect used to be described. What
an eloquent reminder of the transient nature of our material world! |
| My
teacher then resolutely announced that this was the first composition in
the Fuke style that I would be learning as of today. This piece we would
play together not only at the anniversary concert of all the teacher’s
pupils, but also right at the Asahidaki waterfall itself! It is there that
the teacher and his students set out every year to a sort of ‘Suizen’ meeting,
part of which consists in playing Honkyoku compositions by the waterfall.
‘Wonderful!’, I said to myself, full of enthusiasm. |
| Two
months went by and what had long been a dream came to fruition, though
somewhat differently than I had imagined. ... |
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genji'
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