Relay Talk
KOMATSU Reiko (Sanukite player and percussionist)
Photographer：MORISAWA Masamitsu
Together with the Voice of the Earth, Sounds of Home, and Sanukite
I have spent the majority of my life in Tokyo, after leaving my hometown of Takamatsu when I was 18. But the days I spent there have formed the foundation of who I am as a human being. I have deep-seated memories of growing up free from all care in the peaceful landscape by the ocean with fresh seafood and surrounded by smiling, happy people. In those days, you could find “Itadaki-san,” or fresh fish peddlers all over town.
From a very young age, I sat beside them, watching the fresh fish being handled in front of my grandmother’s house as I ate, and energetically slurping down udon noodle at lively self-service udon noodle shops. I have vivid memories of special times on the weekends of walking hand-in-hand with my parents and grandmother in the long arcade as we shopped at Mitsukoshi, playing drums in brass band performances at the Takamatsu festival, throwing kawara-nage (unglazed plates) from Yashima, crawling up Konpirasan (Kotohiragu Shrine) at age two, and going with my family to the water wheel at Shikoku Mura (Shikoku Folk House Museum), the Yashima Aquarium, Ritsurin Zoo, and countless concerts at Takamatsu Civic Hall and Kagawa Kenmin Hall (Rexxam Hall).
With the kankan stone in Shikoku Mura
After joining the Music Course at Takamatsu Daiichi High School, I was astonished at the information gap I saw between Tokyo and the countryside. The internet was not around at that time, so whenever I went to Tokyo for lessons, I was amazed at the sheer number of concerts, the likes of which I had never seen before, the variety of musical scores and types of sticks that made it almost impossible to choose. Thanks to the internet, there is so much information out there that the world has become small enough to connect to with a single click, which conversely, has made actual experiences of “seeing,” “hearing” and “tasting” increasingly valuable.
Border between the clouds and sea
The Reiko Komatsu Sanukite Supporters’ Association was set up last year to support young artists and Sanukite-related activities, together with a scholarship system that started this year and requires no repayments by recipients. We hope that these activities will reach young artists in local areas and that this support will add a dash of color to the local culture.
Kanayama Kei-no-Sato village
People throughout the world have grown weary of the divisions between individuals caused by ongoing conflicts and the COVID-19 pandemic. Formed by an eruption 1.3 million years earlier, sanukite was used to create musical instruments about 40 years ago. But even if you travel the world over, you will only find sanukite percussion instruments here in Kagawa Prefecture. When you communicate on a daily basis with the sound of this stone, one that has existed before the idea of nations or humans even emerged, you forget the noise and return to simple thoughts. People around the world use digital technologies to listen to the sounds of sanukite and come to concerts in search of its raw sound. I believe the way adults fall into a relaxed state as they listen shows their true nature as human beings who have shed the everyday armor they wear to survive.
As in 2016, I hope that you will again enjoy the beautiful, rich landscape, food and sounds of Takamatsu City in Kagawa Prefecture at the G7 Sustainable Urban Development Ministers' Meeting. I feel that you will find universal ingredients from all over the world here in Takamatsu.
Even as technology evolves beyond human capabilities, I hope that the calm, beautiful and peaceful natural scenery of Takamatsu will remain unchanged forever.
Even as technology evolves beyond human capabilities, I hope that the calm, beautiful and peaceful natural scenery of Takamatsu will remain unchanged forever.