• Performance Schedule:
  Thursday 24 April @ PICO
  17 (Sat) and 18 (Sun) May:　Western Japan Stick Seminar
  Sunday 18 May:　Hiroshima Stick Night @ Rakuza

I was able to finish my performance at Jimo Cafe without too many mishaps. Thank you to everyone who came out to enjoy the music!
In a sense, sometimes I feel that the type of music I perform doesn’t really fit Jimo Cafe very well. However, I really like both the atmosphere and the owner, and hope to play there again soon.

By the way, here is my set list from Saturday night:

１．Floater
２．Air Dancer
３．My Funny Valentine
４．Jive
BREAK
５．Resonance of Lonely Places/Peak Not Through
６．Love Theme from “Pink Shaved Lips”
７．Soon
８．Pleasant Fiction
９．Lift Off

I will be solo at PICO on the 24th (Thursday), promoting the upcoming “Hiroshima Stick Night” on Sunday 18 May. See the Schedule section for details.

Special Discount Ticket Price for “Hiroshima Stick Night”
Anyone who comes to my 24 April show at PICO can purchase a Hiroshima Stick Night ticket at the discount price of 1500 yen. One night only, one ticket per person.

To apply for the seminar or request tickets to Hiroshima Stick Night, contact ramuji at 080-5612-8243 or by email.

• Performance Schedule:
  Saturday 19 April @ Jimo Cafe
  Thursday 24 April @ PICO
  17 (Sat) and 18 (Sun) May:　Western Japan Stick Seminar
  Sunday 18 May:　Hiroshima Stick Night @ Rakuza

I will be performing two times in April.

Saturday 19 April @ Jimo Cafe
Thursday 24 April at PICO

See the Schedule section for details. I will be performing both of these shows solo, promoting the upcoming “Hiroshima Stick Night” on Sunday 18 May.

Special Discount Ticket Price for “Hiroshima Stick Night”
Anyone who comes to my 24 April show at PICO can purchase a Hiroshima Stick Night ticket at the discount price of 1500 yen. One night only, one ticket per person.

To apply for the seminar or request tickets to Hiroshima Stick Night, contact ramuji at 080-5612-8243 or by email.

• Performance Schedule:
  Thursday 27 March @ Organ-za
  17 (Sat) and 18 (Sun) May:　Western Japan Stick Seminar
  Sunday 18 May:　Hiroshima Stick Night @ Rakuza

This month, I’ll be peforming live for the first time in about 6 months. I’ll be appearing on stage Thursday the 27th at Organ-za, a cafe opened in February by my friend Goto Izumi. It will be an easy-going evening with no charge (but contributions accepted), at 8pm and again at 10pm. Organ-za is a wonderful cafe with a unique atmosphere that is both welcoming and relaxing. And, the food is marvelous! Please come by on the 27th, and be sure to say hello.

So, I’m finally recovering from 6 months of musical inactivity. There actually were reasons for my break, but 6 months is too long. However, a great plan was devised and hatched during that time. I am combining forces with Derek Dallenger, a Stick player living in Kyushu, to organize a seminar for teaching the Stick method to beginning and intermediate students.
Derek and I have discussed this for quite some time, and now we are finally seeing it through right here in Hiroshima. With the wonderful assitance of Musician’s Institute Japan, we will be holding the 2008 Western Japan Stick Seminar on 17 and 18 May 2008. For more information, see the Western Japan Stick Seminar page.

On the second day of the seminar (Sunday the 18th), we will be joined by special-guest instructor and leading Japanese Stick player Kanamaru Toshiaki. On the night of the 18th, we will bring the weekend to a close with the Hiroshima Stick Night at Rakuza, featuring performances by Kanamaru, Dallenger, and ramuji.

To apply for the seminar or request tickets to Hiroshima Stick Night, contact ramuji at 080-5612-8243 or by email.

• Performance Schedule:
  Saturday 1 September @ Club Water (Osaka)
  Friday 21 September @ Rakuza

I’ll be performing my first live show ever in Osaka on Saturday 1 September.
Due to the wonderful help of several kind people, I’ll be providing 1/3 of the live music at Club Water in Osaka.
The other performers include “DEWACHEN”, specializing in ethnic music on sitar and various other instruments, and FAITH, a vocal and bass duo.
(By the way, the bassist of FAITH, Izumi Naoya, was kind enough to introduce me to Club Water and book this gig. Thank you, Mr. Izumi!）

I’ll be playing at Rakuza on Friday 21 September.
My special guest this time around is my good friend Rie. You really owe it to yourself to not miss her beautiful singing voice.

See the Schedule section for more information, and be sure to say “Hi” if you come to the show.

• Performance Schedule:
  Friday 20 July @ Rakuza

I’m playing at Rakuza again this week, during another “Rakuza Rock Day” event with three separate performances.

See the Schedule section for more information, and be sure to say “Hi” if you come to the show.

• Performance Schedule:
  Saturday 16 June @ Rakuza

This month, I’ll be playing at my favorite live cafe, Rakuza, for the first time in a few months. The owner of Rakuza, Mr. Ishizawa, is sponsoring this event, which he calls “Rakuza Rock Day”, and there will be three separate performances.

One of the musicians will be playing a rare, unusual instrument called the “Theremin“.This is a unique instrument that is played not by touching the instrument itself, but by using your hands to manipulate the surrounding area (actually, manipulating the electronic waves emitted by the instrument). It’s a bit difficult to explain in words, and really should be seen to be appreciated. You have most likely heard the theremin before, in popular music such as the theme song from the 60’s TV series “Star Trek” and “Good Vibrations” by The Beach Boys.

I’m looking forward to my first opportunity to see the theremin played live. Be sure to come out and see all of the unusual instruments and enjoy the music at Rakuza!

• Performance Schedule:
  No more performances scheduled for 2006

The weekend in Tokyo with Stick player Greg Howard was wonderful. Greg was in Japan for the first time in six years, during the weekend of 18, 19, and 20 November. He had a busy weekend, including a joint concert with Stick player Kanamaru Toshiaki on the 18th, a Chapman Stick clinic on the 19th, and finally returning home to the US on the 20th.

I learned a lot about Greg’s Stick technique, but there was so much to absorb in such a short time that my head felt close to bursting. I have no performances scheduled for December, so I’ll use that time to study and practice the basic techniques I learned from Greg.

We also had time to discuss a few other things, such as the state of Stick activity in Japan and an exciting project Greg

has coming up soon that I may be able to lend him a hand on. We plan to keep in touch and work together to elevate the Stick scene in Japan, a little at a time.

Photo 1: With Greg Howard, at the Ishibashi Music Store in Shibuya

Photo 2: Greg Howard plays ramuji’s graphite Stick

• Performance Schedule:
  Friday 24 November @ Rakuza

I’ll be playinig my final show of 2006 at Rakuza with drummer Satoshi Tateoka on Friday 24 November. The fabulous blues trio KKM will be joining us as our special guests.

Chapman Stick + Drums duo
ramuji: Chapman Stick
Satoshi Tateoka: drums

Special Guest - KKM
King: guitar, vocals
Kit: blues harp, vocals
Maggie: vocals

See the Schedule page for details.

• Performance Schedule:
  Saturday 14 October @ Kapone
  Friday 27 October @ Jimo Cafe

I had two nice performances in September. The first was at Jimo Cafe, with my friends Maple Street. Thanks to Jan and Greg (Maple Street) doing a wonderful PR job and pulling in a ton of people, we set a new Jimo Cafe record for the night; the house was packed, with standing room only during Maple Street’s set. The room thinned out a bit during the break, as all the parents rushed home to look after their little ones. This photo was one of many taken by a new friend and fellow Stick player who drove three hours to catch the show.

A couple of weeks later I played at Rakuza, recently one of my favorite places to play because of the great sound and nice owners. This was also the first time that I played with a drummer, my friend Satoshi Tateoka. We practiced together once a week for about six weeks, as he learned my songs. Most of my songs are quite simple in structure, but a couple are a bit intricate. Lucky for me that Satoshi is a wonderful musician who not only caught on quickly, but made my music better through his suggestions and performance. I think this night was probably my best performance ever. Too bad I forgot to record it.

• Performance Schedule:
  Saturday 16 September: Stick Seminar @ MI JAPAN
  Tuesday 19 September @ Rakuza

This is Luna. I discovered him late last week, wandering around by himself outside our apartment crying for food. I ended up bringing him up to the entryway to our building, where I prepared a makeshift bed and a place for him to eat. I wanted to make a safe place for him, because there are several stray cats in our neighborhood and one particularly large tom was giving the little guy a hard time. Since we already have two house cats (one a kitten who came to us in June), I was a bit reluctant to bring in a third. However, Chicaco and I really fell in love with him, so after a few days we gave in … and now the felines outnumber the people at our place.