Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
A Town of Earthy Echo --- Ocarina Village Tanuma ---
The town of Tanuma, which lies in the southwest of Tochigi prefecture, has a population of about 30 thousand.
As it lies in the middle of the great nature, there are many small scale farms.
Town's roadside station opened two years ago and among such stations, the direct sales of the local farm products ranked top in the prefecture and second in the entire country.
The town is also noted as you can hear the sound of ocarina, which generates simple earthy echo.
"Let me play a bit."
"You said a bit, right?"
Can you play, "Wakamonotachi?"
"You are requesting, 'Wakamonotachi (Young People)' right?"
"I wonder if I can play that nicely. Let me try."
"You are an old man!"
"The song is about 35 years old, isn't it?"
Tanuma has been known to the entire Japan as the ocarina town thanks to Mr. Kayama.
This particular ocarina was made by Mr. Hisashi Kayama, who made an essential contrubution to ocarina's popularity in Japan.
Since 1976 for 5 years, Mr. Kayama had lived at this atelier and done making and performing activities of ocarina in Hikoma village of Tanuma, and produced famous players such as Sojiro.
One of them was Mr.Tsutomu Tani. He is practicing the making and performing activities in Tanuma.
People wanted to make Tanuma the town of ocarina sound, so the young people's association of the local Chamber of Commerce and Industry proposed an ocarina village enterprise.
With a slogan, "listener, player, and, maker," ocarina village is taking shape under the leadership of the Ocarina Promotion Committee which is supported by the local board of education and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The Chamber of Commerce and Industry holds an ocarina making class twice a year. The class is quickly booked up.
"Does it make a sound?"
Rooftile production had been an important industry in Tanuma until around 1955.
Here is an ocarina maker who has set up her atelier in one corner of a rooftile factory.
"No good!"
"Well, the sound was comming out."
Now, we are going to have town's annual ocarina concert people have been waiting for.
It is the place where the listener, the player, and, the other who are interested in ocarinas make presentations.
Students attending one of the town's 11 elementary schools are also going to perform.
The town has held 8 annual concerts including this one and it is getting greater each year.
It is also becoming more wellknown and enthusiasts from Kansai, Tohoku, and other regions in Japan also participate and make it more exciting.
Town people are proud of having made the foundation of ocarina's popularity in Japan.
Recording/Editing : Yokuko Shinozaki
Planning/Production: Tanuma Ocarina Promotion Committee