Nagauta shamisen is a traditional Japanese musical instrument that originated as an
accompaniment to Kabuki music. The Nagauta Shamisen circle has performed at APU in
addition to various other places in Oita Prefecture. It is a circle where students from various
countries gather and enjoy the traditional music of Japan by playing shamisen. We meet every
Wednesday during 4 th and 5 th period in APU’s Japanese style room and are taught by a
professional shamisen teacher from Oita City, however, the number of our members has
decreased significantly due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Most of our members who performed
in the May 22nd opening ceremony of the "East Asian Culture Capital 2022 Oita Prefecture"
hosted by Oita Prefecture have graduated. Only our new members who joined from early June
are performing today.
We will be playing five famous songs: Sakura, Osaru no Kagoya (the Monkey Basket),
the Tanabata Festival, the Tanuki Festival of Shijo Ji Temple and Araki no Ochi. The music is
arranged by our advisor. We hope that you can enjoy these traditional music pieces, enjoy the
beauty of Japanese classical music, and feel the history and culture behind it. We plan to hold
a traditional nagauta shamisen performance at APU this winter together with professional
players of the "ozashi (accompaniment)" composed of small drums, big drums, Tai drums,
and flutes. We hope to use our meager talents to enable students from all over the world to
appreciate the beauty of traditional Japanese music. Please enjoy our performance.