A group practice session in Kusatsu

My shamisen teacher planned to have a group practice session in Kusatsu.
He has been teaching the shamisen to students in Kusatsu.
Kusatsu Onsen is one of the most famous hot springs in Japan.

He originally started to teach the shamisen to Kusatsu's geisha.
In such hot spring areas, there used to be many geisha, so my shamisen teacher's teacher introduced him to the geisha in Kusatsu to teach the shamisen.
However, over time, there are now fewer geisha in hot spring areas.

At first, I was not so interested in going to Kusatsu with my contemporaries.
Since in the shamisen world, there are class relationships, I imagined that I would have to pay attention to them.

However, in the end, I was glad I went to Kusatsu, because I could get to know my contemporaries more deeply and also see their passion for the shamisen.

On early Sunday morning, we gathered at Ueno station and about 3 hours later we arrived in Kusatsu around noon.
As soon as we arrived at the hotel, we ate our lunch, which we had already bought in the train, in our rooms.
The hotel's owner is also a shamisen student.

I shared my room with 3 people. The most senior person was in her eighties. The others were near my mother's age.

Around 2:00pm, a group practice session started in a hall at the hotel. Almost 25 people gathered to practice.

The main purpose of that group practice session was for our recital in December. There is little time before the recital, so the lesson was very hard.

Some students couldn't play the shamisen well, so our shamisen teacher got angry and instructed them to play each piece dozens of times.

When they played the shamisen alone, they can play it well, however we have to play with other shamisen players, and in addition we have to accompany singers, so it was very difficult.

However I was impressed that they desperately tried to follow our shamisen teacher's tough instructions.

After 2 days of practice session, I talked to some students. They said that our shamisen teacher is a rare teacher, because he has a strong passion for his students, so they are keen to continue to learning from him.

On Sunday night, after a hard practice session, we ate dinner together. I knew our shamisen teacher doesn't drink, and that he disliked to get drunk.
So I wondered that how I should behave myself at such a party, because I like to drink.

I observed the shamisen teacher and other students for some time, and started to drink with a woman who staying in the same room as me.

During the dinner party, one student stared to sing Karaoke.
I was very surprised, because I thought that the shamisen teacher didn't like Karaoke.
Quickly I checked his reaction, however he looked glad, so I decided to request my favorite song which I sometimes sing in front of my customers.

When my turn came, I tried to sing that song cheerfully with dancing. Everyone laughed, so I became happy.

I was really glad to attend the group practice session in Kusatsu, because the distance between the other students and I became closer after the trip.