Interview with Ten Jinchi, composer and performer

Ten Jinchi (her professional name: ten derived from the Chinese ideogram for nori, also pronounced ten and jinchi, an ancient name for the so or koto) has been specializing in the performance practice and historical research of traditional Japanese music since her graduation from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. Since her professional debut in 1986, she has specialized in the performance of her original compositions and the ancient repertoire for so that features the gentler sounds and techniques favored by the earliest performers in the Edo Period. Ten's CDs are Memoirs of Memory II (Ebisu-3), Ten Jinchi: Songs From the Sea (TEN-31), and Ten Jinchi: Toki no kioku (TEN-28).

ASIASOUND: How did you begin your career as a koto performer and composer?

TEN: Well, I knew what I wanted to be as a child. I dreamt about becoming a koto virtuoso. It was really funny, so idyllic. You see, I imagined myself playing in the moonlight, beside flowing water. I was a romantic child.

ASIASOUND: You must have been an interesting little girl.

TEN: I began to study koto in elementary school, continued on throughout junior high, and worked hard to make my dream come true. It was frustrating because the first pieces you learn are boring, practice etudes that teach you how to move your hands and create specific sounds. Of course, I learned some of the excellent classical works for koto based on shamisen repertoire but this wasn`t the type of music I was longing to play. The more proficient I got, the more frustrated I became. That was when I decided I had to compose my own works because very little in the traditional koto repertoire was interesting to me. Then I entered Tokyo University of the Arts (Geidai). I had already mastered the entire koto repertoire for the Ikuta School. But the music that interested me most and still interests me today is Yatsuhashi Kengyo`s earliest compositions. They are marvelous. I think his style exists somewhere between gakuso (koto used in gagaku, traditional court music) and shamisen repertoire for the koto. These works were composed in the beginning of the Edo Period and rarely are performed today. These pieces satisfy my ideal image for the koto. The sounds are beautiful, these soft and gentle melodies blending perfectly with the voice. It`s a shame but no one could teach me this repertoire, even at Geidai. I had to teach myself. The main focus at the koto department at Geidai was on Miyagi Michio and modern koto style, not Yatsuhashi`s ancient, traditional kumiuta style derived from shamisen repertoire. Another problem I have had throughout my career was that I was trained in the Ikuta School. Traditionally, when you enter one ie or school, for example the Ikuta School, you`re not allowed to change schools or learn repertoire outside your specific school. I accepted this, although I wanted to be free to perform all types of pieces. This is one of the strict rules in the traditional music world. Tradition is worth preserving, I believe, but this is one part that isn`t. In this case, inflexibility can ruin creativity.

ASIASOUND: What a paradox. The traditional world--already very small--becomes even smaller with rigid rules limiting new developments outside the ie or exchanges with other performers from different schools. Tradition is about preserving, not destroying or denying.

TEN: This is the main reason I began to compose. I believed if I could write new pieces and move on in my own direction without borrowing or exchanging outside my school, I wouldn`t bother anyone or break any rules. That`s how I started to compose and perform my own works.

ASIASOUND: But perhaps a little idealistic? In the traditional koto world, even your independent thinking could be viewed as radical and deviant, couldn`t it?

TEN: It was.

ASIASOUND: You mentioned as a child you had a vivid image of performing koto in the moonlight, beside a flowing stream. It seems that you get many ideas from the strong, visual images characteristic of your original works for koto. What types of images inspire you? Where do you get your ideas?

TEN: Sometimes in my dreams, I hear melodies or get an idea for a new performance technique. When I wake up, I transcribe what I heard or quickly go to the koto and move my hands dictated by my dream. However, most of my compositions already exist inside me. These are closest to my early, romantic image of what the koto should be.

ASIASOUND: Do you notate your scores?

TEN: Sometimes, I`ll notate the main melody in memo format so I won`t lose it. I rarely use Western notation.

ASIASOUND: Do you ever get instant inspirations, like an image that pops into your head and you feel as if you must transcribe it?

TEN: Never a concrete image, more like the personality or basic character of a piece. Sometimes I get a physical feeling in my hands that dictates the way I want to shape the piece. My best works are the ones I compose while improvising. I can feel the motion and shape of the piece in my hands, and begin to understand where the music is going. The feelings or images always come first. Then, if I like the piece, I transcribe it. Usually, when a performer composes a piece, the first concern is to blend the koto, voice and text harmoniously. I never do this. I sing along using syllables while I pluck the strings. These sounds keep me going and inspire me to find interesting, new combinations.

ASIASOUND: That`s interesting but you didn`t compose Glistening, like this, did you? How did you get the idea to compose this work? It sounds like it was written for Western harp rather than koto. Its extremely graceful, yet there is a physical exhilaration unrelated to traditional koto performance.

TEN: Yes, Glistening is a different piece altogether. I composed it one day while improvising. I wasn`t concerned about the sounds but wanted to create a piece based on the physical sensation of moving my hands very quickly across the strings. I thought about it for two years before I composed this piece, but I wasn`t satisfied with my technique. One day, however, when I plucked the lowest string, I instantly understood how to create this work. From there, I improvised while I taped my performance, so Glistening was completed in one day. After that, I reviewed what I had done and fixed a few parts. I wasn`t particularly concerned about composing. That`s how I composed it.

ASIASOUND: I`m very impressed with your research in historical archives and traditional performance practice. Isn`t this unusual for a Japanese performer? Can you tell us a little about how and why you began to study the origins of traditional Japanese music and resurrect ancient compositions for string instruments?

TEN: I love the koto, so naturally I wanted to know all about it. I began to research the koto, kokyu, shamisen and other traditional Japanese strings. I wanted to know the origins, how the instruments were played, who played them, and what the sounds were like long ago.

ASIASOUND: So what were they like?

TEN: Today`s koto is standardized and uses strong plastic or gut strings but the strings on the ancient koto were silk. For example, the strings used by gagaku musicians are thick and made from many strands of silk. The strings used in the Edo Period were much, much thicker than those used today. The main reason this practice changed, I think, is because silk breaks so easily regardless of its thickness. They break in a day. In the Edo period, performers gently plucked the thick, silk strings. I think the sound must have been richly resonant. This is a wonderful way to perform the koto, and I wanted to try it. This type of performance practice accentuates the overtones, the tones are rich and gorgeous, and a joy for the performer. First, I wanted to understand firsthand the richness of the koto performance in the early Edo Period. Today, performance practice, techniques and the instruments are too standardized. I often wonder if performers have any interest in knowing the kotos rich history. If they did, I`m sure performances would improve. Sadly, many performers today want to make the koto sound like a Western harp or play jazz, but if they study the history of traditional music, they can enrich their performances so much more. To try to make the koto into something other than a traditional Japanese instrument is odd, I think. I want to know how to make the koto better, not how to compete with other instruments or make my music more western. I`m still trying to find out all I can about the koto, and that occupies all my time. The koto is my instrument, just like the piano or guitar or any other instrument would be if I played professionally. You should know all you can about your instrument in order to master it. If you don`t, your performance can become stale and shallow. When I began to study koto seriously, I always had a feeling that many performers were mistaken in their interpretations, deviating from the original, intended performances of the Edo Period. It is dangerous for performers not to think beyond technique.

ASIASOUND: Wise advice. Master musicians are intimately acquainted with their instrument, its history, literature and everything else about music. It makes their performances excel. Why aren`t students encouraged to do historical research at music conservatories? Too much emphasis is placed on technique. Musicians are not construction workers. They`re artists.

TEN: There are only a few, true Japanese scholar-musicians who study traditional Japanese music, I'm afraid, but they usually base their studies for the most part on when the koto originated in Japan, not when the instrument was imported from Korea and China.

ASIASOUND: This is revisionism in the worst case. It is almost as if the revisionist interpretations of these historians are meant to obscure important exchanges and contributions from foreign countries. Japanese musical history is modern compared to China and Korea, so why is it that so many of the Japanese scholars begin with modernism?

TEN: Because I think that they don`t want to know the whole of koto history, just the part when the Japanese koto began in Japan. For them, this is koto history. Seen in this insular way, they believe they are studying the whole of koto history because the koto is a Japanese instrument. For example, the koto began in Kyushu with the import of court music and the establishment of gagaku. Then, the koto developed as an instrument independent of court tradition and developed a solo repertoire of its own. Most Japanese scholars study how the koto transformed from an instrument of the court ensemble to an independent genre, while they disregard the effects of the cultural borrowing. I chose to study Kyushu because it was a region where exchanges with foreign countries were promoted and there was a certain degree of freedom from government control, almost as if it was an independent state. Imagine how flamboyant and vital life must have been in Kyushu long ago. It was the center of activity in Japan. The most talented people united in a thriving community. Even today when you look at the ancient architecture, you can feel the excitement of the era. Here, the koto became an independent genre separate from gagaku. Why didn`t the hichiriki become independent? As I began my research, I began to see clearly how society directly affected the music. Studying the social and cultural changes that prompted the development of the koto as a solo instrument such as foreign exchange, political strife, changes in the court life, in economics and in the music is fascinating. It brings a depth to research that you can`t get from facts and dates. The Japanese benefited by all the cultural exchanges in that era, but also wanted to prevent colonization by the greater Asian powers. The resulting tension must have been reflected in the music some way, but we`ve lost it.

ASIASOUND: Speaking of independence, I am impressed you became independent from the Ikuta School. This takes courage, especially when most performers depend upon the ties and traditional teaching system to keep them going. Do you have any students? Have you thought about making your own school?

TEN: I teach some students but I don`t want to become their master as the head of my own koto school. I think the traditional koto teaching system is a rigid social structure that inhibits creativity. It is an unequal, pyramid structure where the teacher is elevated to fame by his or her disciples. If I became head of my own school, I simply would be imitating the social structure I hate. If a student wants to do something outside their school or different from their teacher such as creating new pieces, trying new techniques, constructing a new style of instrument or performing repertoire from another schools, they can`t. The system is too rigid to support change. I honestly think the master teachers only want to make beautiful music but the inflexible, traditional teaching system promotes conformity and encourages imitation. I don`t think the teachers ever intended to do this--the structure limits our possibilities.

ASIASOUND: Perhaps this is why so many concerts of traditional music sound the same to me. I often find them boring, lacking depth or excitement. However, your performance is always different, much freer. I think the excitement you generate is directly related to your independence.

TEN: I'm not the only one to break away. Many younger musicians have also become independent. I think this is a wonderful thing for the traditional music world.

ASIASOUND: I agree, but as many younger musicians mature and become famous, won`t they form their own schools and start the same rigid system again? This happens, with variation, in Western classical music, too. Is creativity temporary? I hope not.

TEN: It's a matter of human nature and economics. I hope performers continue to break away and share new developments. I want to meet people like this. If anyone out there feels the same, I would love to hear from you. I can safely say that I will never create my own rigid school. Perhaps I will be the only one in Japan, but a freer, more creative and interactive traditional music world is what I want to promote in Japan.

You can hear Glistening in our Best Ten selections this month.