Japan - Yusuke Kado - 2014 Volunteer

by Yusuke Kado

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Public Relations

submitted March 2020

Network e-Bulletin No. 6, June 2020

ARI, Okinawa, and a Djembe

https://gyazo.com/de6ab00b46bfe28a91ce7cdda080bb47

Yusuke

When I was at ARI, I was into djembe which is a traditional drum of West Africa. I always walked around with a djembe when I didn’t have farm work. I played it whenever I found free time and I asked African participants to play it to learn from them. Those days were very happy and precious for me.

https://gyazo.com/9fed2b96a5027a68b894306439716a8e

Djembe concert at HTC - Romeo in front and Yusuke behind

One day, I had a chance to attend a live concert of traditional Okinawan music. The show was amazing, and the audience enjoyed the music very much. During the time between songs, the singer told jokes. I was sitting there with an African participant, Romeo, holding my djembe as I always did. It felt quite natural, but the singer spoke to us because we were standing out. We introduced ourselves and the singer invited us, saying, “Let’s have a session together with the next song !”

I asked Romeo to play the djembe with his technique because this was a precious opportunity and I wanted to hear it. Romeo is a pastor and he used to play drums, so his playing is so amazing. He is a drum master for me. I was excited to listen to his playing. When the next lively song started, he started playing the djembe with the music.

You want to know how his playing was, don’t you?

Before that, I will briefly explain about the features of Okinawan music, especially the beats. When a bar is divided, like “1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and,” the numbers 1,2,3,4, are emphasized. It is called on-beat. It may be difficult to understand by just reading, so please listen to traditional Okinawan songs on the internet. Then you will understand what I mean. The playing of the band started cheerfully as I imagined, but the rhythm of the djembe was beyond my expectation. He played it emphasizing the “and” in “1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and,” which is called up-beat. Moreover, he really enjoyed the rhythm.

The impact made my heart beat fast, because I realized I had been listening to music with a kind of stereotype. The world is broad, and I could see the world from a new perspective. The world became interesting again. I wanted to know more. Now I realize I had so many chances to think about the world we live in while I was at ARI, not only during the Okinawan music concert. This is the best thing I learned in ARI.

After spending one year at ARI as a volunteer, I had chance to go to Senegal in West Africa as a JOCV. Now I am working in JICA in the public relations department, recruiting future JOCVs.

The rhythm of the djembe on that day is always beating in my heart wherever I am, with the feeling of the beat of “the world is amazing.”

https://gyazo.com/549045ebc973810331b79897bdd493ee

Yusuke as a JOCV in Senegal

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