My Path to Learning Japanese Culture (Pure and Simple)

Hello Tadoku Festival visitors!

My name is Paul. I live in America near Seattle, Washington. I am a Chemical Engineer and I work for a large company.

I love to learn traditional Japanese language and culture!

So you might ask me: "Paul, how did you become interested in Japanese language and culture?". Well....here is my story.

I AM an Engineer, but I also am a musician, mountain climber, and I write English language engineering books for workers.

I have played American guitar for many years. I play "Blues" style music. I learned the music made by old masters who lived in the 1920s. Music of the old masters was pure and simple. This is the best music to learn.

In January 2008 I came to Japan for 1 year to work for my company. I worked in Yokosuka and on weekends I traveled to Yokohama, Tokyo, Hakone, and many other places.

While still in Japan I wanted to learn to play a traditional Japanese musical instrument. I found koto teacher Hiroko Kodama in Yokohama and she began to teach me lessons for Ikuta-ryu koto music. I found shamisen teacher Makoto Nishimura in Setagaya-ku, Tokyo and she began to teach me lessons for Nagauta shamisen music. This music is pure and simple and the best music to learn (for me).

Next, I wanted to speak to my Japanese music teachers so I needed to learn Japanese language - this was very difficult for me. I began taking Kumon Japanese language writing lessons in a classroom with little children; this was a good beginning. I also bought many "Learn Japanese Language" books. Lessons in these books were very difficult and tedious. I also tried to read Japanese language Manga, watch anime, and watch old Japanese movies (Toshiro Mifune). Of course the old Mifune-san movies are the best!

Still, there were so many words to learn and it seemed not enjoyable.

Then I asked myself, "What is simple, pure, taught by old masters, and is written in Japanese language?".

Haiku! Only 17 hiragana characters. Waka! Only 31 hiragana characters.

The haiku and waka poetry are beautiful and are a pleasure to learn. The Japanese poetry always includes seasons of nature and it sometimes reminds me of the mountains I climb.

I tried to translate the haiku and waka from Japanese into English. I read many translations written by famous scholars. I began to read classical Japanese literature like Genji Monogatari (in English) since it has poems. Since these are ancient poems, I began to learn about Heian period art and culture.

Then I visited a Japanese museum in Seattle and discovered haiga. The haiga was wonderful! Haiga combined three beautiful arts: poetry, painting, and calligraphy.

Today the Japanese language is still very difficult for me to read. But....learning simple, beautiful Japanese music, art, and poetry has made my Path to learning the Japanese language rewarding and enjoyable!

Thank you for allowing me to participate in this Tadoku festival from so far away in America. Special thanks to my friend Mrs. Malone for inviting me to the festival.

Respectfully,

Paul

PS, I invite you to visit my blogs and to visit me on Facebook; here are the links:

http://haigaobsession.blogspot.com/
http://newsfrompaul.blogspot.com/
http://paulonjapan.blogspot.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/AcousticSummit
http://www.facebook.com/paulwilliams4