The Blue-Eyed Samurai—in Music and Words!
Everyone is talking about the Disney+ smash hit series Shogun, based on James Clavell’s 1975 best-selling novel, which has revived strong fascination in William Adams (1564-1620), the first Englishman to arrive in Japan and be accepted into its then-closed society. But now you can enjoy a unique live stage version of the Blue-Eyed Samurai’s incredible story with music and words, in Tokyo.
As the pilot-major of a Dutch merchant fleet, Adams finally reached Japan after a tempestuous two-year voyage at the dawn of the 17th century. He was soon accepted by Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu as a key advisor and given the title of Hatamoto, or “guardian of the flag.” That is why he’s known as the Blue-eyed Samurai.
To commemorate the 460th anniversary of his birth, three well-known Tokyo-based performing artists will present at the hallowed Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan in Tokyo on October 26. The performance will include an unusual and enchanting dinner show of words and music, centred around letters Adams wrote describing his fateful voyage from Europe, and his historic and unique life in Japan.
Original music and improvisations on synthesizer and keyboards will be performed by creator and composer Suguru Minamide and pianist Ayaka Yonemoto. Adam’s words will be presented in slightly modernized form by English actor, writer and narrator Stuart Varnam-Atkin. The event is also made possible by two organisations close to my heart: the official William Adams Club, where I serve on the committee, and the FCCJ Associate Members Committee, which I chair.
Kobe-born Minamide moved to Cardiff, Wales, when he was 13. He talks fondly of spending 15 years there, including graduating from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. He has since created and managed orchestras in India and Kazakhstan, and run various international music festivals, competitions and concerts for foreign artists in Japan, such as composer Sir Karl Jenkins and the Adieus and Libela concerts. He told GoConnect: “I am so excited to bring our performance about such amazing historical figures as Adams and Ieyasu to such an historic venue which is so strongly linked to many newsmakers and reporters past and present.”
In 2009, to create more awareness of women’s equality in Japan, he founded the Bloom Quartet & Ensemble, the first major Japanese professional string orchestra consisting only of female musicians. This was followed by the founding of two orchestras in Kobe and Nagoya, one of which became Japan’s largest female-only string orchestra.
In 2011, he founded the Tohoku Kodomo Orchestra in Koriyama, Fukushima, as part of his post-earthquake Tohoku regeneration project. This pioneer initiative led to many other junior orchestras being founded in Tohoku. He wrote music for A September Soiree, which he performed at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan with Varnam-Atkin. And he also created a reading drama, called Mabinogion Part 1 for the St David’s Society Japan, of which he is a committee member and Music Director.
Varnam-Atkin—an actor, writer, narrator and TV presenter—was born in Birmingham, England, and graduated from the University of Oxford. He was a founding member of the Albion-za and Za Gaijin theatre groups, which performed around Japan in the 1980s, presenting recitals of British literary works and Our Japan comedy shows. He has taught drama at Meiji and Kanda Gaigo universities, and written and co-presented TV courses for Hoso Daigaku Open University.
He was a presenter of NHK’s Trad Japan TV series and the navigator of the Discover Bunraku performances at The National Theatre in Tokyo from 2018 to 2021. He has also appeared as a guest commentator on NHK Bilingual Sumo for 30 years, acted in TV dramas, and coached Japanese actors.
His current activities include narrating NHK-World TV documentaries and Japan Video Topics for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His many books include Great Dialogues from the World of Shakespeare, Who Invented Natto?, Trad Japan Mod Nippon, and co-translations of manga, such as The Tale of Genji and Chihayafuru. His most recent publications are Stories from The Tale of Genji, 15 Tales from Shakespeare, and The Best of Japanese Culture.
Varnam-Atkin said: “I have long been interested in the extraordinary English mariner who was an unlikely cross-cultural phenomenon in the country that has become my second home. We are so lucky that some of his fascinating and moving letters have survived, unlike any personal documents written by his exact contemporary, the playwright also named William! It’s a great pleasure for me to have the chance to present extracts from them in conjunction with Suguru’s highly expressive compositions.”
Osaka native Yonemoto graduated from Mukogawa Women’s University and took a diploma course at École Normale de Musique de Paris. She has since received numerous national competition awards, including 5th Prize in the 29th Japan Classical Music Competition, 1st Prize in the 13th Beten Music Competition, and an Outstanding Performance Award in the 13th Kobe Newcomer Music Award.
In 2020 she signed an exclusive contract with Music Inc., produced by Suguru Minamide, and started her career as a concert pianist. In 2022 she performed a series of concerts in association with the West Japan Railway Company (JR West) and appeared in Terroir de Kobe dinner shows. In 2023, she performed on a restored antique piano owned by the late Akio Morita, founder of Sony, and recorded the CD Pianist Ayaka Yonemoto Plays Akio Morita’s Piano.
Her message to guests at the FCCJ dinner show is: “I’m so delighted and looking forward to performing in this special production at the FCCJ with two very talented artists, Suguru and Stuart.”
See above flyer for more details.
Tickets include dinner, one drink and concert (early booking is essential as this event is expected to sell out soon and seats are limited):
¥9,000 (FCCJ members) ¥13,200 (non members)
front@fccj.or.jp
03-3211-3161