Nanba Violin Master
Shirai Takaaki

Born in 1987, Shirai Takaaki lost his sight at the age of four, due to an illness accompanied by high fever. As a child he became interested in the violin, and loved playing out of doors. Throughout high school and college, which he attended at Toho Gakuen College of Music, he also studied Nanba Movement under the close guidance of Yano Tatsuhiko, the leading authority on Nanba Movement. The music played here by Mr. Shirai is from KOKORO NO YO (Light in the Heart), composed by Chinese American Wang Lee-Hom.

Mr. Shirai has leverage his Nanba training into world class performance, both in music and sports. He is a published performer, and has been featured on NHK Japanese national television. He has also won close to a dozen National Championships in track and field competition for Para-Athletes, and also has placed number 5 in international competitions. He is a Renaissance Man and a true Nanba Master.

Nanba Woodwind Quartet

Many students when they graduate from Toho Gakuen form classical music ensembles and begin performing as professionals. Some of them bring to their performance and practice the power of the Nanba Method.

In this interview in Japanese, flautist Endo Kanako, talks about how Nanba training helped her overcome nervousness under the pressure of performance, finding a natural way of breathing to play the flute. Yano Sensei talks about the importance of finding your own natural way to hold and play the instrument, and the importance of internal awareness rather than worry over what other people might be thinking. 

The audio-photo below features a piece by Saint-Saëns written in 1887 for the Russian Court on the occasion of his wedding, performed by Endo-san and three other woodwind students done at the July 2008 Nanba Matsuri. It runs for about 12 minutes and 50 seconds.

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