LAHORE: An evening of traditional Japanese instrumental music was attended by a large audience at Alhamra Art Centre on Saturday evening.

The evening was organised by the Japanese embassy in collaboration with Lahore Arts Council and featured an enchanting performance of instrumental music by New York-based Japanese musician, Sumie Kaneko.

The evening opened with the national anthems of both countries sung by Japanese Embassy First Secretary Katsunori Ashida, who also communicated in fluent Urdu and Punjabi. Being the host for the evening, he thanked the audience and the council for organising the evening.

Lahore Arts Council Board of Governors Chairman Tauqeer Nasir in his welcome remarks said that Japan and Pakistan enjoyed decades-old relations that were being strengthened through cultural exchange programmes and efforts in other fields of mutual interest. He applauded the first secretary for singing the Pakistani national anthem brilliantly.

However, minutes before the performance, some audience members started raising slogans in favour of former PPP minister Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas when he entered the hall. But the administration managed to control the situation.

Musician Sumie Kaneko rendered a thrilling performance on Japanese traditional instruments koto and shamisen. Koto is similar to the santoor or surmandal and shamisen is a three-stringed instrument similar to a banjo.

Ms Kaneko is an internationally recognised instrument player as well as a jazz singer and songwriter. She is visiting Pakistan for the third time to collaborate with local musicians.

Published in Dawn, October 7th, 2018