Toru Takemitsu (1930-1996) was the first Japanese composer to receive international recognition in the field of classical music, and is now widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the late twentieth century. Largely self-taught, Takemitsu created his own unique sound world-one that was not bound by convention. In A Memoir of Toru Takemitsu, his wife of forty-two years reveals a candid, behind-the-scenes glimpse into his fascinating life, his legendary music, and his final days. After rising to prominence in 1957 when Igor Stravinsky praised his Requiem for Strings, Takemitsu became best known in the West for his concert music, but was also a master composer of music for film, television, theater, and radio drama. Through six extensive interviews, Asaka Takemitsu reveals previously unknown information regarding the composer's compositional processes and his private life-including the difficult period after the war and the subsequent post-war art movement in Japan, his bond with his friends, love of movies, and daily routine. This inspiring memoir shares an unforgettable story of how a young boy without any musical training or affluence used the power of positive thinking to make his dream of becoming a composer come true.
A Memoir of Toru Takemitsu
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By Asaka TakemitsuiUniverse, Inc.
Copyright © 2010Asaka Takemitsu
All right reserved. ISBN: 978-1-4502-7111-0Contents
Acknowledgements........................................viiForeword................................................1Chapter 6 Music through Friendship......................157Toru and Asaka Takemitsu Chronology.....................169Afterword...............................................171
Chapter One
The Encounter
This interview covers Asaka's early years with Takemitsu—how they first met, their respective battles with tuberculosis (a disease that reached nearly epidemic proportions in Japan), then the first years of their marriage in Senzoku-Ike (a town favored by members of the NHK Symphony Orchestra) and Takemitsu's first work for NHK Radio. Near the conclusion Asaka recounts several famous episodes in Takemitsu's life—the piano sent by Mayuzumi as a gift, Takemitsu's meeting with Stravinsky, and his friendship with art critic Shuzo Takiguchi, one of many vital interactions that Takemitsu had with people outside of music. The interview begins on what may be a quintessentially Japanese note, namely the precise manner in which people address one another.
First meeting with Toru
Tetsuo O'hara: Because Shuntaro Tanikawa and others call you "Asaka-san," it wasn't long before I started calling you "Asaka-san" too. [laughs] And you called Mr. Takemitsu "Toru-san." Have you always called him that way?
Asaka Takemitsu: I don't remember what I called him at first. Long before our marriage I used to call him "Toru-san." We called each other "Toru-san" and "Asaka-san" all the time. Even my daughter Maki started calling him "Toru-san" after she grew up—probably because I referred to him in that way. [laughs]
O: Well then, "Asaka-san," I would like to ask you many questions. If you prefer to dodge any questions, just let me know. [laughs] So to begin, how did you first meet Takemitsu? How old were you?
T: We first met in 1951. I had just graduated from school, so I was twenty-one years old. Toru was my neighbor, and my younger brother was his friend.
O: How interesting. I thought you two met at the Shiki Theatre Company through his work. Where did you live at that time?
T: The neighborhood is Setagaya-Daita in Setagaya-ward, Tokyo. It was called Setagaya-Nakahara when I was a child.
O: Which part of Setagaya-Daita?
T: It was a five or six-minute walk from the station. There used to be a river there—now it's a culvert—and my family lived in front of it.
O: Was it on the west side, facing toward Shinjuku? Didn't that area suffer from war damage?
T: Yes, it was on the west side. That part of town used to be a residential area before the war, and I had lived there before entering elementary school. When the war became severe, my family evacuated to Shikoku, and when that area became dangerous, they moved to my father's hometown in Mie prefecture in the mountains. But I, for the life of me, didn't want to leave Tokyo at all. My sister and her husband had rented a house near where my parents lived after they were married. So I stayed at my sister's house and attended an all-girls' school from there. There were some houses in my neighborhood that suffered damages, but fortunately, my sister's house survived. After the war, my whole family returned to Tokyo, and we all lived together in that tiny house.
O: Right after the war was a period when the entire family lined up futons and slept together in one room, some as small as six tatami mats.
T: Yes, everyone lived like that. My sister's house had only four small rooms, and my whole family lived together.
O: And your sister's house was close to Takemitsu's house?
T: Toru's family—along with another family—lived across the street about five houses down from my sister's house. They had moved to their friend's house in our neighborhood after losing their own home to war damage. The area beyond their friend's house had burned down ... In those days you were lucky if you had a place to live. Many people were burned out of their homes, and ended up with nowhere to stay. Some lived in dugout shelters with roofs made from iron sheeting. During the air raids, many incendiary bombs were dropped on that area.
O: It is hard to imagine today ...
T: There was a house with a very nice black fence near where I grew up. The poet Sakutar Hagiwara lived there, as I think his own house had burnt down too. Toru's family was burned out twice before they moved to the house in my area, so they have no photos of that time. Until then, Toru lived with his aunt and not so much with his own family. But finally, at the house in Setagaya-Daita, he was reunited with his mother and younger sisters.
O: So, was that how he became friends with your younger brother?
T: Yes. They were about the same age, so they got to know each other and started to play together. Toru also came over to our house to play.
O: What is the difference in age between you and Takemitsu?
T: I am one year older than he is. My brother and I are two years apart, and Toru is in the middle. I was born in February and Toru in October, so I am older by one and a half years. After getting married, I would say, "We are one year apart in age" and he would say, "Aren't we two years apart?" In the old days, we used the East Asian age counting. He didn't have to emphasize such a minor detail, don't you think? [laughs]
O: You're right. [laughs]
T: My brother became close to him, and they would go out to eat or out to swim in the Tama River during the summer. At that time, Tama was still clean. They would take the Odaky Train Line to the Izumi-Tama River Station. Young people in our neighborhood gathered and formed an a cappella chorus. We said 'chorus' but we didn't have that many members, maybe about ten people altogether. Toru joined the group and conducted too.
O: Takemitsu conducted?
T: Yes. Once, when we were singing some trivial song, he said, "Let's sing this one" and began to conduct "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean." At that time, Toru and I didn't really know each other. He didn't care about his appearance at all—his pants had holes in the knees and were sewn together like a swab, and he wore women's geta with red straps. One time, he put on an American Army uniform and we all frowned at him. [laughs]
O: Do you think the uniform was an old one from the United States occupying forces?
T: He was employed at the army base in Camp Zama, so maybe it was. He worked as a 'band boy' at night and was able to use the piano during the day in return.
O: Was it around this time that he made a portable keyboard by drawing a piano on a cardboard? Did you ever see it?
T: I never saw it, but he did tell me about it.
O: I heard that, while you were in school, you were involved in a theatrical club.
T: When I was twenty-years old, I became involved in theatrical acting with a friend who also went to the Keisen Girls School in which I was enrolled. We didn't have anywhere to practice, so I, along with three members of the Tokyo University drama club, read scripts on the lawn at the Meiji Shrine. One of them knew an actor called Tomoo Nagai and I consulted him several times. He told...
