“New Apprentices Start Their First Year at the Kodo Apprentice Centre” by Michiko Chida

The entrance ceremony for the Year 33 (2014-2015) class of Kodo Apprentices was held on April 6 and now one week has passed. They are probably so nervous about beginning this new lifestyle, but all of the 12 new apprentices have been doing well. I will introduce their week of firsts with some pictures.

Dance lesson with Chieko Kojima

Ranjo-san’s shinobue (bamboo flute) making workshop

Taiko lesson with Tomohiro Mitome

(They do not use bachi (drumsticks) in their first lesson: they use Japanese fans and towels.)

Rice field work (Selecting rice seeds)

Standing by the rice fields and singing a song facing out to sea

Kiyoko Oi teaches all the new apprentices how to make chopsticks from one shared bamboo stick