Yoshida Renzan
吉田 連山
Shakuhachi
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Yoshida Renzan (Yoshida Chūji) was born May 25, 1901, in Shinzawamura, Takaichi-gun, Nara Prefecture. While studying at Gojo Junior High School, he began his training in the shakuhachi under Tozan-ryū master Nomura Kyūō in April 1919. With a natural talent for music, he made extraordinary progress under his teacher's guidance, completing the Shoden rank later in the year year and Chuden in May 1920. He devoted himself to honing his skills and completed the Okuden repertoire in September of the following year. He obtained his initial teaching license in December, and began teaching shakuhachi alongside his work as a school teacher. Eventually, the busy schedule of his elementary school teaching job monopolized his time to the extant that he felt he had to drop out of his shakuhachi studies and, for a time, he did so. A few years went by before he, once again, found the inspiration (and time) to resume his shakuhachi practice, But, with a renewed sense of purpose, he began to study and practice diligently, and in February 1925, he set his sights on taking the Jun-Shihan exam, and successfully passed it, receiving the shakuhachi name Renzan. In December 1926, he was appointed as a member of the Tozan-ryū examination committee and, in February 1931, he finally earned his Shihan (masters) license. Over the subsequent years he set up several shakuhachi teaching workshops in his own town as well as neighboring regions, and trained many students as a professional Tozan-ryū shakuhachi master.
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| Also Known As 吉田 忠治 (Yoshida Chūji) |
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Teachers Students
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