Performing Koto Tales in Tokyo, Japan

Elizabeth's first instrument was the violin. She realizes that the "practice of practicing" is what she learned from her many years of lessons, and when she later encountered koto, she was able to use that discipline to become one of the few American koto masters in not just one, but two koto schools in Japan. She encountered koto after moving to Japan to teach English in 1979. During her twelve years in Japan, she earned a junshihan (associate degree) from the Seiha Koto School in less than three years, studying intensely under Nagane Utayumi. This school focused on classical works. She later moved to Tokyo and studied under the esteemed Sawai Kazue and Sawai Tadao at the Sawai Koto School, and earned a Shihan (master’s license) at the Sawai Koto School, which focuses on contemporary works. She studied composition under Kuyibayashi Hideaki and Sawai Tadao. Elizabeth uses knowledge from both schools in her playing. Her greatest mentor is the performer Sawai Kazue, who inspired Elizabeth to "find her own voice. "

As for the American side of her education, Elizabeth holds a BA in Japanese Studies from the University of Oregon (where she met her husband John at the freshman picnic and borrowed his Japanese dictionary), an MA in Japanese Pedagogy, and a PhD in International Education from the University of Iowa, writing her dissertation on koto teaching methods in Japan. Her works for koto are published in Japan.

Elizabeth has has earned numerous awards for her work combining Japanese folktales with original koto music and has produced over 10 albums on her label, Koto World. She enjoys collaborating with various artists and taking her koto into new situations, and has tourned internationally. She has performed her stories at the Smithsonian, numerous libraries, museums, schools and festivals. She can also be found performing with her husband John in the koto-shakuhachi Duo En in venues from small teahouses to international festivals. (More information is available at the EN website, www.duoen.com.) In her free time she enjoys spending time outdoors and traveling with her family. Her elusive goal in life is to have the kitchen counter cleaned up for more than one day…but so far, she has not been able to do it. She resides near Seattle.

THE STORY BEHIND THE STORIES - TOLD BY ELIZABETH

How did I become a storyteller? Like many stories, the truth is stranger than fiction...

Well, first I wanted to go to France, as a summer exchange student in high school, but was instead sent to Japan. That 1973 summer was the year I fell in love with Japan! After that, I majored in Japanese Studies at the University of Oregon, and fell in love with my husband John! We were exchange students together at Waseda University. In 1979 I returned to Japan to teach English, and that was when I fell in love with koto!

   Thus began my koto journey, which has led me on so many interesting adventures. Because of koto, I have travelled, met incredible musicians, eaten wonderful food, and discovered things about myself that I never would have known if I hadn't been playing my instrument. (Instruments have a way of doing that.) I was happily playing away, when one day....

   One day, one day in May, my husband John and I adopted two little boys, ages 3 and 5. Talk about adventure! Knowing that their lives had thus far been filled completely with television and sandwiches, we got rid of our TV (Yes! We really did!) started cooking actual meals (what an adjustment!) and began reading, reading, and reading with our two young sons, who couldn't seem to get enough stories. I was deeply moved by how much they loved being read to and how much the stories affected their everyday play patterns. Characters from the stories become members of our family! One day, I decided to try to tell a story with koto accompaniment. My very first "Koto Tale" was Issunboshi, and when I performed it at our local library and saw the look of intense involvement on the faces of the audience, I was amazed. My koto and I had never had people listen so well to what we had to say! I realized then that, instead of playing koto and giving talks about Japan (which I had been doing for years) that Japanese culture can be found in the stories themselves, and that listeners could understand how the koto works by watching me play as I told the stories.

(Brian and Jesse, pictured with engineer Scott Colburn, sing, croak, and chirp for Once Up On A Lilypad.)