#2 The difficult times for Tozan｜ The founder of Tozan-ryu Shakuhachi, Tozan Nakao

The difficult times for Tozan

At that time, there was a concert called " Kyorakukai（共楽会）” where only first-class artists could perform. Tozan set out on his own and negotiated directly with him to let him appear. At first he was rejected because he was not popular, but they were impressed by his beautiful sound and finally allowed to him appear. As a result, he was recognized as a first-class artist and the number of his disciples increased.

However, when his mother died of illness in October 1900, it was a great loss for him. This is because at that time there were few disciples and it was difficult to live on the monthly stipend alone, so he received financial support from his mother.

Finally, he made up his mind to close the school and work as a staff in the financial industry. However, during that time, he continued to play the shakuhachi. The period lasted for three years.

The shakuhachi became popular again

After the Sino-Japanese War, when the economy recovered, the shakuhachi became popular again. So he quit his job and started rehearsal school again, and the number of students increased rapidly.

He released " Iwashimizu（石清水）", which is created to pray for Iwashimizu Hachimangu Shrine （石清水八幡宮）, Tozan worshiped all his life.

References
　田辺尚雄（1977）.「特集1 尺八諸流の流祖をたずねる」『季刊邦楽』10号

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