Home Event Seattle Miyagi-kai 60th Anniversary Koto Concert on November 9th

Seattle Miyagi-kai 60th Anniversary Koto Concert on November 9th

Kuniko and Miyagi-kai members playing koto

by Misa Murohashi, The North American Post

Seattle Miyagi-kai will have its 60th anniversary concert on Saturday November 9th at 12:30 pm at Seattle Betsuin Buddhist Temple Auditorium (1427 S Main St). Seattle Miyagi-kai is a koto association led by koto master Kuniko Takamura since 1959. Koto is a stringed musical instrument, which has been played since ancient times in Japan. Kuniko directly learned koto from Michio Miyagi who is known as “the father of modern Japanese music” in Japan.

While Miyagi-kai performs at different local Japanese festivals such as Seattle Cherry Blossom and Japanese Cultural Festival, its anniversary concert each decade is the largest event for Miyagi-Kai.

At the concert, 12 Japanese classic and contemporary songs including “Seoto” composed by Miyagi will be performed.  Shakuhachi – Japanese bamboo-flute – master Kofu Yamamoto will join in from Vancouver B.C. to play with Miyagi-kai. Rev. Katsuya Kusunoki of Seattle Betsuin Buddhist Temple will play sho, a Japanese traditional free reed instrument made with bamboo. The concert will be a great opportunity to experience the harmony of classic Japanese music. The concert is free and open to the public.

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Misa Murohashi is Editor-in-chief of The North American Post and general manager of North American Post Publishing Inc. Born and raised in Japan, she moved the Seattle area in 2005. She earned a master's degree in Urban Planning from the University of Washington in 2016 and has been at the current position since 2017. She often writes about urban issues and Japanese American early immigration history in the Seattle Area.