Now, Back to Sanshin World...

...where the tri-annual two-day concours for Noborikawa-style sanshin music has just ended.

A sanshin looks so simple. A stick, a flattened cylinder, three strings, and something to pick the strings with--that's all it takes to create a sanshin. I've seen them made from tupperware and an old board, or an empty cookie tin instead of the tupperware, and also the fabulous instuments made from rare hardwoods with coral pins to hold the strings. It's not, however, the instrument that counts. It's the heart of the person who plays it.

No one has more heart than Noborikawa Seijin.

Yesterday's celebration concert ran for five hours, many of those hours with the much-loved "Sei-gua" himself on stage performing entertainment miracles with three strings and his indomitable heart.