Ancient Japanese Technique For Relaxation- Akikazu Nakamura- EP 415

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Okay.

Hi there, welcome to Grief to Growth, where we navigate life's challenges, we explore the mysteries of existence, and we find paths to resistance and growth. I'm your host, Brian Smith. And whether you're a first-time listener or part of our community, I'm really glad you're here. Today's episode, we're going to take a deep dive into the transformative power of music. I absolutely love music. I think music can be something that's very healing, can help— it actually helps me to get through life. We're going to go through music, meditation, and cultural tradition, and we're going to talk about something very different as we sit down with the remarkable Akikazu, or Aki, Nakamura. Aki's journey began in the realm of quantum chemistry, but a profound calling led him to the shakuhachi, which is a traditional Japanese bamboo flute. His devotion to this art form has taken him across the globe, performing at iconic venues like the Lincoln Center and Montreux Jazz Festival. But he isn't just a performer, he's a pioneer. He's developed unique methods of circular breathing, and he's mastered Misoku, an ancient Japanese breathing technique. So in this episode, we're going to explore how Misoku differs from traditional meditation. We're going to talk about its benefits for calming the mind and body and how you can incorporate into your life. We'll also discuss why I, I left the structured world of quantum chemistry for the boundless world of music. We're talking about the challenges and joys of performing and how music can actually help us manage The Complexities of Modern Life. His insights offer a fascinating blend of tradition, of innovation, and of soul-stirring wisdom. So with that, I'd like to welcome Aki Nakamura.

Hello. I'm very glad to be here. Thank you.

Yeah, it's an honor to have you here and to share with us your exploration and your journey. Now, I know you started off in quantum chemistry, What led you to the world of music?

Hmm, because I belong to some research group of the big company, so I couldn't keep going my own way. And at that time, the company had some contamination, so I didn't want to help them. So much. So at that time I met, uh, Shakuraji and I became a professional.

So had you played music before that?

Yeah.

Okay.

Actually, uh, from the junior high school I played, uh, guitar and then changed to electric guitar like Jimi Hendrix.

Okay, okay.

And then At that time, around 18 years old, I was insisting on changing the tone color of the guitar. So always using tone color and volume and also of the effect of the amplifier and the changing and I got a funky sound, like a fuzzy sound. And at that time, I listened to the Toru Takemitsu's music. It's called November Steps, performed by shakuhachi player, biwa player— biwa is a Japanese lute— and also Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Actually, originally New York Symphony Philharmonic Orchestra performed that one. And at that time I was really surprised the sound of the shakuhachi because that changing much more than my electric guitar, but no electricity and just the power of the humankind. So I was really surprised and I investigated the phone book and I called the player and please teach me the shakuhachi. And then he asked me, "You have some kind of experience of the shakuhachi?" And then I said, "No." And then he said, "Okay, so anyway, please come to see my lessons." And I went there. But at that time, the sound is much greater than the record. So I asked him to be a disciple of him. Then I started shakuhachi.

So for those who don't know the shakuhachi, explain to them what the shakuhachi is.

Yeah, actually, this is a shakuhachi. Mhm. Uh, it's a— shakuhachi is the name of the reduction. Originally it's a one, uh, ishaku hasen. Ishaku means one foot, hasen means 8 inches. So this is almost 1 foot 8 inches, and then like 55 cm. And then now in these days Foreigner said 1.8, they call it.

Yeah, okay.

Originally this derived from China and it came around the 5th century and at that time very small, just a vertical small flute. So at that time we cannot generate the energy of atom and no energy of atom so much. But gradually Japanese changed this instrument, very thick and very big finger hole, and we have get high free degree of the instrument and So it's not good for playing many notes like a Western flute because no key, but we can generate any kind of overtone like from the sine wave, very pure tone until the almost white noise like this. Is like a test tone, right? And so this kind of noisy tone Okay, interesting.

So the shakuhachi couldn't be any different from an electric guitar. So what drew you to the sound of the shakuhachi?

Yeah, for example, we can change it like, uh, You know, um, what's happening is, is Zoom—

and so for people know you're not hearing anything, Zoom is filtering that out because it thinks it's background noise.

Yeah, okay.

Yeah, it's really interesting because, uh, Zoom has— for people that are listening, this is a technical thing— Zoom has a noise filter on it. So if it thinks there's something going on that that it doesn't want to hear, it's filtering that out. So unfortunately, yeah, we can't hear it. So you, so you became a shakuhachi player and you basically became an expert, and there's also a breathing technique that you developed. So tell us about that.

Yes, I developed two kind of breathing technique. One is a misoku, and this is, uh, I'm talking about this book. I published. This is a Japanese traditional way of breathing. And then secondary, I'm playing Sakura Breathing for shakuhachi. It's really difficult, but I must study it. So today, mainly I'd like to explain about Misoku.

Okay.

Misoku has used By traditional Japan, almost everybody doing this one. Oh, really? Yeah, that's why Japanese culture is getting different and different. Even compared to Korea or China, Japanese culture is very special. That means derived from the Misoku. Actually abdominal breathing is, uh, when we inhale we expand the abdomen and when we exhale we contract the abdomen, right? But, uh, Misoku is always keep expanding and then inhale and exhale. So like, for example, if I playing shakuhachi, abdominal breathing is a— but Misook is a— like this. So sound doesn't change. Very calm.

Okay.

So actually there are 3 special features of the Misoku. One is a lot of volume of the air we can inhale, and then it's in a very short time, and then Body doesn't move at all, just a diaphragm moving.

Okay.

So looks very calm and everything is getting very calm and then we feel we can get together. For example, if we go to forest, If we doing abdominal breathing, just only me is moving in the forest, right? But if we doing a Misoku, I'm becoming the part of the forest. And then inhale, all the air and all the circumstance go into my body. And then we can melting in the forest like that.

Okay, and is this— is a technique that's taught in schools? How do people learn the, the technique?

Yeah, actually I went to some Zen monk temple.

Oh, okay.

And then when I played shakuhachi, he said your breathing is not traditional way.— and I asked him to teach that traditional way. And then he said, he taught me for a week and then I mastered it. After mastering this breathing, everything is changing. And if I see some kind of very calm Japanese culture, I felt a lot for that, and I got a very strong sympathy for them.

So how, how could someone, uh, that's outside of Japan, how could someone learn this technique?

Oh, uh, so just I'm teaching in my school and in some university or college, and then also with Zoom. I'm teaching.

Okay.

There are many, many foreigners studying this breathing from France, Sweden, or California, or New York. So if someone search the name of me, Akikazu Nakamura, or Misoku, they can find my home page or my address, so they can contact me. Me on the weekend doing lessons with Zoom.

Okay, yeah, and we'll put links, we'll put links to that in the show notes for this. So for people that are listening, we in the West, we've heard of different types of meditation. How does Misoku, does it combine with other forms of meditation or forms of meditation, or how does it differ?

Oh, actually the breathing is a big category, right? Yeah. And then In that breathing meditation is here. So sometimes music or sometimes other culture. And then also meditation we can do with Misoku, we can do with abdominal breathing also. But abdominal breathing moving body.

Hoo, hoo, hoo.

So we cannot be in calm. But Misoku, body doesn't move at all, just diaphragm moving. So we can concentrate much more than that.

Right.

Japanese Zen meditation, everybody is doing with Misoku.

Right. So the misoku could be a breathing technique that we do while we're doing our meditation.

Is that correct?

Yes. Yes.

Okay. And tell us about your music. So how can people find out more about you? I know you've been around the world playing your music. So tell people more about that.

Yeah. Actually, at first I studied zen music. It's a very special Japanese music. No rhythm, just changing the overtone, and then that is very good for the meditation, and it was Zen music. And after that, I got some grant of Rockefeller, and then I could enter the Berklee College of Music. Berklee is very famous for the jazz music. And I studied jazz music with them, and at first I couldn't interpret the chord progression so much, but gradually I studied a lot. And my black saxophone teacher taught me black music a lot, and so I progressed very much. So now, and then also I studied contemporary classical stuff from other teacher. So now I'm going outside of Japan whenever, wherever I can adopt my technique. For example, with the rock group with a jazz group like Cassandra Wilson, or sometimes Ravel String Quartet, or some British orchestra, and sometimes folk music in China, or any kind of music I can adapt. So that's why many people called me to go outside of Japan, and then I played.

Stay with us.

We'll be right back.

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I hope to see you there. You blended the traditional Japanese music along with the— with the— with rock and jazz and other, other types of music to create a new type of fusion, I guess, right?

Yes, yes, yeah. I try to combine Japanese traditional music and new music as much as possible.

Yeah. Now, people, a lot of times we get nervous before we perform, uh, we get, we get anxiety before we perform. How do, how do you feel about when you're getting ready to perform?

Yeah, actually, Japanese people is very nervous, always tense very much because This country, we say you should do in this way, we should be polite, or like that. But music is not so strict, and mainly thinking about the gathering with the space or earth or nature. And then, so if we miss the one tone, if we can get the total structure is getting better with the nature, with the space, it might be good music. But Western music Western music, Western people is much more relaxing people, I feel, originally. But music is very strict, especially Western classical music is very strict. So if we playing those notes, we should be very sensitive for that. So sometimes many people who playing classical music is very sensitive and nervous, I feel.

Right, right. Yeah, that's really interesting, the, the cultural difference. You say the Japanese people are, are more nervous because they want to do things right culturally, but the music is much more free, whereas our music is, is the other way around. It's got to be very strict. And so, so in terms of when you're performing, I guess you don't get nervous before you perform, is that right?

Not so much.

Yeah.

And especially with Misoko, uh, if we tense too much and then sometimes it's very difficult to inhale, but if we make the pelvis tilted down and then Relax, we can inhale very well and then relax and make our body very good condition.

Yeah, awesome. So how do you feel that music contributes to, to our lives? I mean, you, you've gone from quantum chemistry, uh, a very rigid kind of thing that's very physically based to music, which I assume is much more spiritual. And so how do you feel like your transition, how do you feel that can contribute to people?

I think in these days humankind existence is meaningful connecting others, not only between humankind, but also with the nature, with the space, and then gathering and make this world much happier. And at that time, if we communicate just a logical language, it's very stricted, but If we using music, it means non-verbal communication and unconscious communication. Especially unconscious communication, if we doing, we have a collective unconscious together. So we can remind our memo, ancient memory. Together and then getting together, and then we can make this world much happier, I think.

Yeah, I think that's a great idea. Thank you.

That's—

that makes a lot of sense. Um, going back to the shakuhachi, um, a lot of us have tried to play instruments and they can be very difficult to play, like playing the guitar. I, I tried it. It's, it's very difficult. How easy is it to pick up the shakuhachi for someone?

Yeah, actually this is just a Five Finger Hold. So at first step, it's very good for everybody. But if progress very much, we can change the Tongka very much. And then also we can play the— like a 12-tone we can generate. So any kind of music we can enjoy.

Okay. So I think it's an instrument that's probably pretty easy to get started with, but you could go a lot further to master. Would that be fair to say?

Yeah, if we playing a lot and if we think many way, our technique is getting progress and then the music is much more, uh, attractive, I think.

Yeah. Now I know you've, you've written a book, Breathing with Misoku. Um, what will people get from your book?

What will they learn?

Oh, I don't know actually well, but especially people who is playing shakuhachi, who is doing meditation, and who is interested in the Japanese culture.

Yeah, awesome, awesome. Well, and do you have any final thoughts before we wrap up today? I'm sorry, do you have any, any, any final words you'd like to say before we end today?

Yeah, um, please try to get this book. This month, uh, the publisher Collective Inc. Selling 50% sales. Okay, so it's a very good time.

Yeah.

All right, great.

Well, thank you very much for doing this. Uh, it's great to meet you, Aki. Uh, and have a wonderful evening. I— we're, we're recording this at 7:45 AM my time, and it's, uh, what, 8:45, uh, your time in the evening. So thank you for doing this. It's good to meet you.

Thank you very much. I was very glad to meet you.

Yeah, have a great, have a great evening.

Have a good day. Bye-bye.

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