76-year-old Kazuhiro Nishino is a craftsman based in Tokyo’s Tachikawa area, devoted to making erhu. Based on woodworking skills he has honed over 6 decades, he handles everything from the selection of materials to the production of erhu instruments, which he then sells. We interview one woman, Neo, who has been an apprentice under Nishino for the past three years, about her experiences and core values.
The erhu is a traditional Chinese stringed instrument known for its distinctive sound and expressive playing, and is loved by devotees and performers all over the world. Erhu are crafted, repaired and tuned in Japan by the workshop ko-shun-do, which is known as the ‘erhu doctor’ or ‘erhu clinic’ for its workmanship.
It all started when Nishino-san, proprietor of ko-shun-do and MAio-108 (which creates interiors with handcrafted wood and iron) repaired an erhu that was a memento of his mother’s. In the last decade, some 3,500 erhu have passed through his hands.
Neo came to know about ko-shun-do through some fate that could also be described as coincidence. It all began with a casual question from a high school classmate: “There’s a part-time job in the crafts sector, would you be interested?”
Although Neo graduated from a crafts high school and loved making things, she initially had no knowledge of erhu and started out simply as a part-time job.However, her path changed profoundly when she met her mentor, Nishino-san. In particular, his tolerance for ‘failure’ and his attitude towards his ‘apprentices’ made her determined to join Nishino-san and to inherit his mastery of the art.
‘Nishino-san never gets angry when I make mistakes. On the contrary, he says that in this handicraft field, if you don’t make mistakes, you won’t learn. Even if it means making a loss in some cases, he believes that without that, his underlings won’t thrive. I was particularly struck by the fact that he said to me, ‘You don’t have to take over the business: it’s boring to just be an erhu shop” – it’s his policy that if you learn erhu and your interests become kindled in something else, then you should focus on that as well. I genuinely feel that he respects me as a person and has deep affection for me in everything he says and does.”
At present、she commutes a distance of three hours round trip, five days a week. Three years on, while she modestly states that she is “not yet at my master’s level”, she also feels that her own skills are steadily improving. Recently, Neo has been responsible for the construction of some types of erhu bows by herself.
However, erhu making is so intricate that in authentic Chinese workshops there are specialized craftsmen for each stage of the process; Nishino-san handles the whole process by himself, while imparting a wide range of skills to his apprentice Neo-san. He frankly reveals his reservations: ‘I endlessly worry about whether she really understands it.’
Alongside ko-shun-do, she is also in charge of watering the plants in the botanical garden once a week. She describes how the characteristics and habits of each plant, as well as watching them grow, also tie into her erhu making: “When I was at a crafts high school, I had the sensation of my spirit moving through my hands and into objects, and now I want to sublimate that feeling into erhu and bows.”
Finally, we asked Neo about her future thoughts.
“Nishino-san feels that he has about five more years left in him for this line of work. During that time, I want to absorb and convey as much as I can, and be of use to those who rely on ko-shun-do.”
Apprentice Neo was full of deep respect and fondness for her master.
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