Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places - "Sunrise, Sunset" from Yiddish "Fiddler" - in Tokyo!
Sunrise, Sunset in Yiddish? Sure, it's a featured song (Tog ayn, tog oys) in the Yiddish version of Fiddler on the Roof, now playing in an extended run Off-Broadway at Stage 42 in New York.
But it's also being played in Tokyo and on YouTube by a Japanese klezmer band called Jinta-la-Mvta. It's is a musical group founded in 2004 by Ohkuma Wataru, clarinetist and bandleader of the groundbreaking Japanese experimental folk band Cicala Mvta, and his partner and drummer Kogure Miwazo.
Ohkuma's interest in Klezmer music began in the late 80s. He was one of the first Japanese artists who listened to and played the genre. He has a repertoire of dozens of Klezmer tunes through his distinct perspective, setting him apart among non-Jewish klezmer musicians.
Considered as one of the few Klezmer experts in Japan, he has also penned various pieces on Klezmer and Japanese liner notes of Klezmatics and Frank London. Since the Great Northeast Japan Earthquake and the subsequent nuclear crises in 2011, the band started to perform not only on club stages and festivals but also at anti-nuclear protests and demonstrations on the streets of Tokyo, attracting a new and wide range of audiences and fans.
The YouTube post includes a greeting to the Yiddish-speaking audience:
Tayere Yidn, mir zaynen tsuzamen mit aykh. Libe fun Tokio
(Dear Jews, we are together with you. Love from Tokyo)
Labels: Fiddler on the Roof, Japan, Klezmer, Sunrise Sunset, Videos, Yiddish