Koto Festival at Awagin Hall

So I started Koto lessons here in Japan. My family actually owns a koto back in Utah and I've tried to learn it on my own using a small book that we got with it. So I knew the basics and how to read the music, but I was never quite sure I was doing it right because I never had a teacher. So one of my wishes was to come here and be able to get lessons and learn how to do it correctly.

With the help of a teacher Jacob works with, we were able to find a teacher that lives pretty near us. I started at the end of January. The teacher is wonderful! No English what-so-ever, but we seem to communicate okay. Because I would only be learning for a couple months, she actually is teaching me free of charge. Yay! I ended up learning my first song in a week which really impressed her and she asked if I would play with a group at a festival in Tokushima a few weeks later. I said yes! It was a great experience and a lot of fun. I got to play with about 7 other kids, most quite younger, but I didn't mind. We also had some guys on the flute. It was a pretty big deal. :)

So the festival was a bunch of koto players from around Tokushima and even a couple really famous people that are known throughout Japan. We had it at Awagin Hall, which was a big theatre center. We were set up in a dressing room and got ready for the performance.

We had all of our kotos lined up and ready for when it was our turn to play.

Because the koto is a very traditional instrument, it's required that we were to be dressed in kimono. My teacher lent me one of hers because the one I had wasn't quite fancy enough. (haha!) So it took about 30 to 45 minutes getting dressed and fixing the obi (Belt) to look just perfect. It was quite the undertaking. But I loved the kimono. It was beautiful. And a pain to wear. But beautiful :D

This was the hall that we performed in. The curtain covering the stage features a large Japanese painting.

With the curtain drawn, we had a lovely stage set up. This isn't actually my group. That was recorded on a fancy video camera that we haven't been able to get the video off of yet. We have to get the right kind of software apparently. So the video will be up at a later point in time.
After having a flawless performance, our group gathered out in the foyer for a lovely group picture. It seemed that our group had the most youth in it. Most other groups were only adults. We felt pretty spiffy.

And of course, a picture with Jacob!

And here's a picture of the back of my kimono with the obi. I love the green obi!
Here is a video of one of the performances we saw that was taken on our camera. Picture quality isn't that great, but I think the song is just lovely. I want to learn this one!

Overall, awesome experience, and had a great time. I bet not many foreigners get to perform for a crowd during their stay in Japan. :D