Sakura in Kyiv

Academic council hall of Kyiv Polytechnic Institute (KPI) will host a Japanese and Ukrainian music soiree on September 13. Traditional Japanese music appears to have attracted numerous audiences with its unusual sounds, original instruments, and enigmatic melodies. Kyiv has hosted several traditional Japanese music groups in the past. This time Kyiv will play host to a group of Toho Gakuen School of Music students who will take part in a gala show, together with KPI Ukrainian performing groups. The Japanese guests are expected to bring traditional instruments, including koto (a musical instrument having numerous strings, usually seven or thirteen, that are stretched over a convex wooden board and are plucked with three plectra, worn on the thumb, index finger, and middle finger of one hand), shamisen (a three stringed musical instrument played with a plectrum called abachi), and of course the good old flute. Due to the combination of Oriental and Occidental instruments, the Japanese tunes will sound refreshingly different. In the second half of the concert the Ukrainian musicians will play our national tunes, with the Japanese and Ukrainian musicians coming together in a fascinating rendition of the Japanese folk song Sakura.

As previously reported, the organizers of this concert, the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the Ukrainian-Japanese Center, were founded on the base of the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute in 2006. This combination has proved quite effective, boasting a number of markedly successful cultural projects aimed at familiarizing the Ukrainian public with Japanese culture. These included a drummers’ concert, a Japanese film festival, a traditional Japanese dance festival, and a series of kimono, Japanese cuisine and martial arts (kendo) exhibits, along with other interesting projects.