English Blog

Living with Robert Schumann’s Music 1/20/17 January 20, 2017

I have been tinkering with Robert Schumann’s Davidsbundlertanze Op. 6. This is an amazing music to live with. The life and music of Robert and Clara Schumann is my life long theme. Their romance and relationship created great music, and they substantially influenced musicians and artists in 19th century. Without them I believe the music […]

Being Anonymous 1/20/17 January 20, 2017

It has been already for 20 days into the new year! Time flies. Social media has been around our world more than 10 years. For instance FaceBook started February 4, 2004. People have been creating “self image” apart from the reality for long time. We can be anyone we like online. In Japan it is very […]

A Movie “Neruda” 1/8/17 January 9, 2017

NERUDA is an imaginative tale about the fugitive poet Pablo Neruda and the police officer who is set on capturing him. The cold war reached Chile and Neruda has a warrant to be arrested because of his political stance. It is based on the true and gruesome story, but the movie is a fantasy, love and power. It […]

A Movie “Lion” 1/5/17 January 5, 2017

I saw this movie on 1st of January 2017! It was a perfect choice! It s a uplifting story based on the true experience. Talented cast and directing makes this “feeling good” movie not too much tear jerking. Five-year-old Saroo (Dev Patel) unexpectedly gets lost on a train which takes him thousands of Kilometers across […]

A Movie “The Eagle Huntress” 11/27/16 November 28, 2016

It is really a cool movie. Aisholpan, a 13 year-old girl, trains to become the first female eagle huntress in 12 generations of her Kazah family. She is strong, she loves eagles, she loves nature, she loves her family, she loves her friends at school, SO she is a good girl! This attempt is against […]

Haruki Murakami “Norwegian Wood” 11/15/16 November 15, 2016

I have read this book at least 5 times by now. Each time I cry at the same places, one is the cucumber scene when Watanabe at Midori’s father’s death bed. It is very quiet, tender, gentle, and beautiful scene. Murakami is known to be a sort of Japanese-American style writer, but he is really […]

A Movie “The Handmaiden” 11/8/16 November 9, 2016

“The Handmaiden“ uses a Victorian crime novel, Sara Waters’ “Fingersmith”,  as the loose inspiration to create Japanese-occupied Korea in the 1930s. The result is a historical drama, an erotically charged thriller, and, most importantly, true romance. Park Chan-wook, a director, is very sophisticated, creative and flexible. I don’t want to go into the details of the story. […]

Schubert’s Winter Journey: Anatomy of an Obsession by Ian Bostridge Knopt 11/7/16 November 7, 2016

First of all, it is a beautiful book. And it is very heavy.. They use very nice paper. If you like Schubert’s Winterreise this is the book to read. I have played many of songs in this collection and recently heard Alfred Brendel/Matthias Goerne’s performance of Winterreise at Disney Concert Hall. I believe it was […]

Robert Schumann: Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6 10/7/16 ロバート・シューマン「デイビッド同盟舞踏曲集」 October 7, 2016

I have been in love with Robert Schumann’s Davidsbündlertänze. After coming back from the summer concerts I decided to learn this piece. I have played several Schumann pieces, but I never had a chance to play Davidsbündlertänze. This was basically written for the wedding gift to Clara. He took the opening melody from Clara’s Mazurka […]

Noon to Midnight “Green Umbrella” Concert 10/7/16 October 7, 2016

Fantastic combination of compositions were presented at Green Umbrella on Saturday October 1. I truly enjoyed listening the concert, but also being there was something very special. The Disney Concert Hall had an energy. Noon to Midnight project had so many aspects, and I went for the Green Umbrella part which is from 1000 crickets […]