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The Ninth JASRAC Music Culture Award

JASRAC Music Culture Award was established in November 2014 to shed light on individuals, organizations, and works in various fields that contribute to the development of music culture through important activities that may otherwise not be heralded. While the activities may not have achieved impressive statistics in sales and usages, the Award is presented to provide encouragement for future endeavor.

The Ninth Award was presented to the following persons on November 18, 2022, along with plaques and additional prizes.

KOBAYASHI Katsuya
- DJ and Entertainer

Reason for the award

Kobayashi Katsuya has driven music programs on radio and television over many years, introducing Western music in entertaining and brilliant style with his unique, attractive voice and fluent English. He broadened the music fan base along with the emergence of a channel specializing in music videos, and since when direct interviews with overseas artists were rare, he has gained trust from Japanese listeners and overseas artists by bridging information through frank communication with those artists. In the rapidly changing world of popular music, he is an active front-line guide as an outstanding and extraordinary DJ.

Comments

Since the 80's, even before MTV was launched, I have been performing the role needed by the times – to be the first to bring news on Western music. My program continues to this day, but its role has changed with the times. Nowadays, we can easily get information from YouTube and other media. That is why I try to deliver information adding, for example, what kind of person John Lennon was. Regardless of domestic or foreign, I would like to continue sharing wonderful music with everyone. Even now, I enjoy every day discovering fresh music.

Profile of the Awardee
Kobayashi Katsuya was born in Fukuyama City, Hiroshima Prefecture in 1941. Passing the exam to become a National Government Licensed Guide Interpreter during his first year at Keio University, he also started working as a concert MC while in university. In 1970, he made his debut as a DJ on Radio Kanto (currently RF Radio Nippon). ‘Snakeman Show,’ a music program he started on Radio Osaka in 1976 made a buzz, and he released 16 vinyl albums of the Snakeman Show series in which he played the character appearing in the show. He has also released 12 albums as the ‘Katsuya Kobayashi & the Number One Band’ formed in 1982. ‘Best Hit USA,’ a program which started on TV Asahi in 1981 and made a comeback on BS Asahi and FM NACK5 continues to this day, and ‘FUNKY FRIDAY’ is also a long-running radio program starting in 1993 on NACK5 which is still live on the air for nine hours every week. He currently works as a DJ for a total of seven stations, including ANA's in-flight entertainment program. In addition to guest appearances on various artists’ albums, he appears in numerous films and TV dramas as an actor.

TOYAMA Yoshio and Keiko
– Musicians

Reason for the award

Since their student days, Toyama Yoshio and Keiko a have continued to introduce the charm of classic jazz, especially Dixieland jazz, for more than 50 years. In particular, they have studied the works, life, and performances of giant jazz star and pioneer Louis Armstrong and have shared their findings with music fans through events, performances, and publication of books. They have also made efforts to communicate with the people of New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz, and devoted themselves to charity by donating musical instruments to children suffering from poverty, gun crimes, and natural disasters.

Comments

TOYAMA Yoshio
My wife Keiko and I have been following Louis Armstrong for 56 years. We have even lived in New Orleans for 5 years, and we still enjoy jazz together. Jazz was born in the United States in the 20th century, and it is a wonderful gift to the world. To express our gratitude, we have presented 850 instruments over the past 28 years, thanks to the support of Japan Louis Armstrong Society (Wonderful World Jazz Foundation) and others. We have been able to continue these activities and receive this award because of jazz lovers who have put their feelings into our thoughts. Thank you very much.

TOYAMA Keiko
Following Louis Armstrong and New Orleans jazz for nearly 60 years, we have found ourselves at this age. We have continued our grassroots activities to send musical instruments to the people of New Orleans who have been helpful to us by delivering the joyful rhythm and swing of jazz through the best of our performances. Our 60 years is a miracle born from your good will. Satchmo was born and raised in a poor environment, yet he left behind music that changed the world and touched everyone's hearts. We once again feel the amazingness of his spirit.

Profile of the Awardees
Toyama Yoshio was born in 1944 in Minato-ku, Tokyo, while Toyama Keiko was born in 1942 in Seoul, Korea. They met at the Waseda University New Orleans Jazz Club (NOJC). After their marriage, they took an immigrant ship to New Orleans in 1967, where they performed with local musicians and widely exchanged communication. After returning to Japan in 1975, they formed the band Yoshio Toyama & the Dixie Saints. With Yoshio on trumpet and vocals, and Keiko playing banjo and piano, they performed as a popular band at Tokyo Disneyland from its opening in 1983 until 2006. In 1994, they established the Japan chapter of the Louis Armstrong Foundation (renamed Japan Louis Armstrong Society (Wonderful World Jazz Foundation) in 1998). Under the slogan "Horns for Guns," they have engaged to present musical instruments to children in New Orleans, for which they received the Foreign Minister’s Commendation in 2005. For their performances and promotion of Dixieland jazz for over half a century, in 2018 they received the "Commendation by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology" and the lifetime achievement award of the "Spirit of Satchmo Awards" in the United States. Yoshio and Keiko have been jointly awarded a letter of appreciation from the National Policy Unit of the Cabinet Secretariat in 2012 and the "Music Pen Club Awards" in 2019.

SULIS Doriano
- Biwa (Japanese lute) Artisan

Reason for the award

Sulis Doriano produces and restores various types of biwas, including "Satsuma biwas" with majestic tone and "Chikuzen biwas" which became popular among women during the Meiji period for its soft tone. He is training future generations of biwa artisans and is also known as the only Chikuzen biwa artisan in Japan. To support biwa performances with unique and incomparable sounds which are still used for storytelling the Heike Monogatari (The Tales of the Heike), poetry recitation, dance, and modern music, he has dedicated himself to the authentic reproduction of biwas in their original forms from the main body to the materials used for each of their smallest components. This attitude of loyalty has contributed to the inheritance of traditional music culture that invites listeners into an exotic and ethereal world.

Comments

I am from Italy and continued to play classical guitar and performed in puppet theaters. At the age of 27, I was shocked by the sound of the “biwa,” which I heard for the first time in my life. Unlike other stringed instruments, no two biwa are the same. Therefore, each time a biwa is restored, a different approach is needed. When I first came to Japan, the biwa was a traditional folk instrument not that familiar even to the Japanese, and people around me said the things like “It’s so dark and grave. Why do you like it?” But now, nine young students are learning to make biwas at my school. I feel that the future of biwas is just beginning.

Profile of the Awardee
Sulis Doriano was born in Sardinia, Italy in 1947. He studied classical guitar performance at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Italy. After that, he worked in a puppet theater company as a scriptwriter and puppet maker. He came to Japan in 1974, and in 1975, fascinated by the tone and shape of the Chikuzen biwa, he began studying under Yoshizuka Genzaburo, who was designated as an intangible cultural property by Fukuoka Prefecture and was said at the time to be the last Chikuzen biwa artisan. Working on the production of biwas and their studies, Doriano restored not only Chikuzen biwas but also Satsuma biwas, Heike biwas, Moso biwas, and sasa biwas, thus becoming a restorer of biwas. In 2020, an exhibition entitled "Reviving Biwa: Doriano Sulis’ Restored Biwa Exhibition’’ was held in Fukuoka. In 2021, he founded "Biwa kan," a private school for training biwa artisans, and have dedicated himself to fostering the future generation. In 2022, he received the Fukuoka Citizen's Award for Distinguished Cultural Activities and was designated as an intangible cultural property by Fukuoka Prefecture. Doriano is currently the director of Centro Italiano di Fukuoka and the manager of the "Biwa kan" studio and school.