|
Jembrana, Bull Racing Center
Yoshida
Tomoko
Falling in Love with the Balinese Culture
On
the first anniversary of the Kuta Bomb Blast
a performance was held at the Art Centre
– Denpasar on 12 October. The cultural
event was under the coordination of ASEAN
Japan Exchange Year 2003, entitled “Jegog
Angin Taksu from Bali” a collaboration
of the Suar Agung Jegog from Jembrana in
West Bali, Suar Dwi Sturi from Bali Japan
Club and ASSM’s Special Guest from
Yokohama. Before staging the performance,
Yoshida Tomoko explained the meaning of
“Angin Taksu” in Japanese. It
means the spirit from the God through the
wind, with the sound of jegog that is made
of bamboo.
 She
quoted The Path of Prayer For A Supreme
Dialogue by her own lecturer, Keiko Takahashi.
“Without prayer, our existence can
not become deepened”, she said. A year
ago she heard the sound of the bomb that
disturbed her heart, and this year she heard
the voice of nature ; the harmonious melodys
of jegog. Although she had heard about jegog
in her home country – Japan, she watched
a jegog performance at Suar Agung in West
Bali in September last year for the first
time. From the first impression, she fell
in love with the Balinese culture, after
hearing the performance.
Yoshida Tomoko always wears a white shirt,
blue sarong and red scarf when she is on
duty, and wears a frangipani on her right
ear as the symbol of happiness. According
to her the three colours – white, red
and blue mean : equality, freedom and philanthropy.
She has a dream to promote jegog to all
over the world, especially to America and
Australia. “ The jegog performance
in collaboration with Australian Aboriginal
Group will be performed in Nagoya on December
14, 2003 and this will be the first time
in the Southern hemisphere”, she added.
In the other hand, she also invites people
to share in the New Year’s Eve Jegog
on December 31, 2003 at Sangkaragung village,
Jembrana regency.
Sales Marketing Manager at Jasa Tour, a
travel agency with back to nature art and
culture tours. She was born in Niigata –
Japan, on December 12, 1958, the same birthplace
of Masako – the royal family. Being
born into a Buddhist family, she has learned
the Buddhist philosophy and oriental culture
at the university in Tokyo. In l979, she
was a volunteer in a humanitarian programme
for Cambodian refugees in Thailand. She
has worked at Tobu Travel based in Tokyo
for many years, travelling a lot to Europe
and United States. Although she has read
a lot of guidebooks on Bali, she only came
to Bali in 1989 for the first time. As a
tour leader of Japanese tourists handled
by Tobu Travel, she visites Bali yearly.
In 1995, she decided to live in Sanur. Her
job was an instructor of diving sport, however
last year, she was appointed as a Japanese-speaking
guide for the Suar Agung Foundation.
(BTN/Lanus Sumatra)
|
