Japanorama

INTRODUCING: TRIO EN

JAPANORAMA is proud to present TRIO EN

A small group of musicians, composed of three Japanese women, who are in some way connected to Serbia and the former Yugoslavia. For many years, we have seen them separately or together, in Belgrade, where two of them lived longer or shorter, or in Japan, their homeland, where they do their best to connect the two peoples, the Japanese and the Serbs, through music and musical tradition.

Ms. Etsuko Tsunozaki is, of course, the driving force of this trio, who has inspired many musical events with her inexhaustible energy. We remember her solo concerts, but also a very fruitful cooperation with the famous Barili Choir from Požarevac, which was a frequent guest of the Embassy of Japan in Belgrade. Fumiko Takeshita has been living in Belgrade for a long time and is present in the social life of the city and as a performer within KUD „Gradimir“, but also in highly watched TV shows in which she was always invited primarily because of her ability to perform melodies on the accordion, but also because of her personal charm and cheerful performance, which always enchants the audience-. The biggest secret for us at the moment is Tatara Toki, whom some of us have had the opportunity to see and hear, but whose mysterious artistic nickname says a lot about her approach to the Japanese tradition. Shinobue has been heard by some in Serbia only in some old black-and-white films, often related to the samurai era, and her spirit is certainly a latent explosion, as she took for her artistic name the ancient medieval blast furnaces made of special clay, in which in some parts of Japan people still makes steel and famous Japanese swords – which was also recognized by UNESCO.

We want this to be just the first presentation of this trio, and for these texts and photos to be just a starting point for us to follow their activities and achievements.

TRIO EN

EN is a trio of Japanese musicians who play various artistic tunes from Japan and Serbia. It consists of Tatara, expert of shinobue (Japanese bamboo flute), Fumiko, accordionist and a member of award-winning orchestra KUD Gradimir in Belgrade, and Etsuko, violinist and the representative of „Association for promotion of music exchange between Serbia and Japan“.

EN performed in Japan including Serbian Embassy in Tokyo and produced the CD „Serbian & Japanese Music“ in 2018.

Tatara TOKI (Shinobue Player)

Her music life activity is based on the pursuit of potentials of shinobue, which is somewhat nostalgic and resides in the souls of Japanese people, with a theme of how to reflect them in the hearts of this generation. Having cultivated techniques with Japanese traditional style as well as Western classical music, her advanced performing style has been received highly in every aspect. Her artist name „Tatara“ is derived from the shocking impression she felt from iron making techniques from the Middle Ages of Okuizumo. Representative of „Tokikai“, Director of „The Japan Shinobue Association (Institute)“.

Fumiko TAKESHITA (Accordionist)

Studied accordion with an eminent accordion master Slavko Cale Mitrovic in Serbia. Member of the award-winning orchestra KUD Gradimir (Belgrade). Fumiko took part in various concerts and TV shows in Serbia as a soloist or a member of the orchestra. She performed a few times in the Embassy of the Republic of Serbia in Tokyo. 

She is conducting research on Serbian music and dance as well and wrote an article about Serbian music traditions for a publication in Japan. She gave a lecture about Serbian traditional music in the Embassy in 2015 and 2019.

Etsuko TSUNOZAKI (Violinist)

Started playing the violin at the age of 4 and studied with eminent musicians from Japan and the US. Aside from Japan, Etsuko performed also abroad such as London, Moscow, Geneva and Serbia, where her husband worked as a diplomat. She launched the „Association for promotion of music exchange between Serbia and Japan“ in 2010 and has been engaging in various cultural exchanges, such as introducing music of both countries and exchanging musicians. Board member of „The Japan Serbia Society“, Public Interest Incorporated Association „Save the Children Japan“ and NPO „SEEDS ASIA“.

Kako zvuči harmonika u rukama Fumiko Takešita

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