By KENSUKE NONAMI/ Staff Writer
May 31, 2022 at 17:14 JST
Author Haruki Murakami, left, and jazz pianist Yosuke Yamashita (The Asahi Shimbun)
Acclaimed novelist Haruki Murakami will host a re-enactment of a storied jazz concert held on a university campus in Tokyo amid the turmoil of the student protests more than half a century ago.
In July 1969, a year after Murakami had entered Waseda University, jazz pianist Yosuke Yamashita had stormed into the university building, where student protesters had barricaded themselves inside.
Yamashita, who was 27 at the time, brought out a piano stored in the campus’ Okuma Auditorium with the help of the students and put on a free jazz concert with the other members of the Yosuke Yamashita Trio.
The impromptu performance has since evolved into something of romanticized cultural moment, as students from opposing political camps paused to listen attentively to the music--a sight so rare at the time that even a documentary TV program covered it.
The re-enactment of the concert, called “Haruki Murakami Presents Yosuke Yamashita Trio Re-entry Live,” will start at 6:30 p.m. on July 12 in Okuma Auditorium in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
The live music event will feature performances by the same members of the Yosuke Yamashita Trio who performed at the 1969 jazz concert. It will also include a discussion by Murakami to encourage young people who are facing an unsettling global situation.
“With this (the music of Yosuke Yamashita) as a source of sustenance and impetus, let's open up a new horizon for ourselves together,” Murakami, 73, said in a comment released on a website for the event.
“The social situation has changed dramatically since those days, but the world is still as tumultuous as ever,” said Yamashita, 80. “I will be happy if our performance will convey something to the young generation of today.”
Organizers will announce details on tickets for viewing the event at the venue or through online streaming, along with other related information, on the website at a later date.
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