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<\/p>\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0In my opinion, learning the shamisen itself was not the most important part of my CIP. Of course, learning how to play an instrument (if you enjoy music) from someone who is respected among the music community is a great opportunity; but being able to be in a constant, small group of friendly people and having the opportunity to participate in a concert wearing the traditional concert clothes really fulfilled the \u201cauthentic Japanese experience\u201d that I was hoping to get from this study abroad.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 To those who are looking to learn the language better, and to constantly have the opportunity to talk with native speakers \u2013 who often use very strong Kansai-ben; the shamisen lesson is, perhaps, the best place to do so. Because most of the fellow students are around 60 ~ 70 years old, they consider us (young study abroad students) to be a \u201ckouhai\u201d and are more willing to talk to you, makes jokes with you, and really get to know you better. Personally, I think my Japanese skills, especially conversational skills, have improved significantly because I was always in an environment to constantly talk with someone who uses more conversational\/casual speech to you \u2013 unlike the classroom environments.<\/p>\n
Also, being in the shamisen class allowed me to participate in a traditional Japanese music concert, which is a great \u201cauthentic Japanese experience\u201d. To me, the fact that I, an American study abroad student, can play alongside Japanese people while wearing their traditional clothes, and go to a big celebration party afterwards gave me the feeling that I was really accepted in the community.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 For those who love music, or who would like to start learning the instrument, I would definitely recommend learning the shamisen under Iwasaki sensei.<\/p>\n
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\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 For a quick explanation about what the \u201cgeneral experience\u201d of learning how to play the shamisen is, please look at my first post. (https:\/\/www.kcjs.jp\/blog\/2017\/11\/25\/john-cho-shamisen)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0In my opinion, learning the shamisen itself was not the most important part of my CIP. Of course, l … \u7d9a\u304d\u3092\u8aad\u3080