tag:mihoebihara.com,2025:/en/blog//4 2025-12-31T13:23:48Z Movable Type 3.35 tag:mihoebihara.com,2026:/en/blog//4.917 2025-12-31T15:00:00Z 2025-12-31T13:23:48Z

Wishing everyone a peaceful New Year. Th...

Miho Ebihara Wishing everyone a peaceful New Year. The world seems to be heading in the wrong direction.. Praying that Peace will prevail. tag:mihoebihara.com,2025:/en/blog//4.914 2025-01-23T14:20:09Z 2025-01-23T14:29:36Z

Wow! What a show! Went to One Republic'...

Miho Ebihara Wow! What a show! Went to One Republic's concert in Tokyo yesterday and it was one of the best shows I've ever been to. Ryan Tedder is such an amazing singer. Never misses a note, and you can tell that his music comes from his soul. He was born to be a singer! So much positive energy and joy in his performance that my whole body was just filled with joy. I just felt so energized by his voice and his songs and his performance coming home. What an inspiration! Although, what we do in classical music is something totally different, hopefully what I've recieved from yesterday's concert will reflect in my music in some way. tag:mihoebihara.com,2025:/en/blog//4.913 2025-01-05T15:00:00Z 2025-01-07T15:52:49Z

The Divine Image William Blake To Merc...

Miho Ebihara The Divine Image William Blake To Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love All pray in their distress; And to these virtues of delight Return their thankfulness. For Mercy, Pity, Peace and Love Is God, our father dear, And Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love Is Man, his child and care. For Mercy has a human heart, Pity a human face, And Love, the human form divine, And Peace, the human dress. Then every man, of every clime, That prays in his distress, Prays to the human form divine, Love, Mercy, Pity, Peace. And all must love the human form, In heathen, Turk, or Jew; Where Mercy, Love, and Pity dwell There God is dwelling too. Here is William Blakes' "The Divine Image" to coincide with the Epiphany and end of Christmas. A very close friend of mine gave me Malcom Guite's book "Waiting on the Word - A poem a day for Advent, Christmas and Epiphany". It's a beautiful collection of poems by Rosetti, Keates, Chesterton, Tennyson, Coleridge, John Donne and also contemporary poets. Some of them are quite hard to understand and even to read (as some are written in old English) but for 3 years now (since my friend gave it to me as a Christmas present) every year I try to start reading it from December 1st. It ends on January 6th which is apparently the "Feast of the Epiphany" which celebrates the visit of the magi to the Christ-Child. I've never read William Blake, but this poem gives us a glimpse of his beautiful soul. No matter what religion or faith, aren't our virtues all the same?]]> tag:mihoebihara.com,2025:/en/blog//4.911 2024-12-31T15:00:00Z 2024-12-31T15:12:43Z

More than ever, I am praying that 2025 w...

Miho Ebihara More than ever, I am praying that 2025 will be a peaceful year for our world. tag:mihoebihara.com,2024:/en/blog//4.908 2024-02-24T06:00:55Z 2024-02-29T06:30:59Z

I'm not sure why, but there are a few qu...

Miho Ebihara need it. I'm in a lucky position where I love my work and I have a fairly healthy body, and I don't live in a dangerous environment. Practicing Bach, Rachmaninoff, and just working on the piano is meditative. Having a really nice cup of tea or eating a really nice meal is meditative. Walking through nature, or just appreciating the trees and flowers in a residential area or watching children being totally carefree is meditative. Just seeing the moon when I get out of the station quite late after work and following it on my walk back home in quietness is meditative. We have all these beautiful and wonderful things around us which are inpsiring in our everyday lives. Just taking time to appreciate them, to live in the moment, and to be in awe of them, is to me much more meaningful than sitting with my eyes closed and trying to be still to "find myself". I'd rather be working on my Rachmaninoff. I feel balanced, energized, inspired and happy after a good practice. ]]> tag:mihoebihara.com,2024:/en/blog//4.906 2024-01-28T13:39:34Z 2024-01-28T14:04:27Z

I had the priveledge of going to Ivo Pog...

Miho Ebihara I had the priveledge of going to Ivo Pogorelich's recital yesterday at Suntory Hall in Tokyo and oh what a priveledge it was. Wow - just - Wow.... It is impossible to describe what it was like but I came home loving music more and my hope for humanity renewed. It was an experience - not just a concert. The over 3000 capacity hall was not totally full but I could tell that everyone there was really there to hear "Pogorelich" and not just a pianist. I have never heard such a quiet sound from the piano in that hall and everyone was so intensely listening, trying not to miss a single sound. It was as if he was inviting us into the deepest part of his soul. The sound, the music was unworldly. And it wasn't just serene but also at times passionate and full of inner energy. Never an unintentional tone nor phrase and played with total honesty and dignity. Apparently his recent performances are very controversial and I totally get that. I'm sure there would have been plenty of people that might have thought his playing was boring and too introvert. But in truth, it's never self indulgent nor does he exclude the audience. There's no flashiness to his playing, no exagerated gestures. Nothing of which even the classical world has become accustomed to is there. He invites you into his world which is full of compassion and beauty in the stillness of his soul. What a pianist!! tag:mihoebihara.com,2024:/en/blog//4.901 2023-12-31T15:00:00Z 2024-01-04T15:24:21Z

Wishing the world a peaceful 2024. May w...

Miho Ebihara Wishing the world a peaceful 2024. May we be able to find a way to live together in harmony. tag:mihoebihara.com,2023:/en/blog//4.900 2023-12-30T12:53:15Z 2023-12-30T13:04:15Z

I cannot believe that I haven't been abl...

Miho Ebihara I cannot believe that I haven't been able to write a single post this year! I guess there's been too much going on that I didn't have much time to reflect. My "word" for this year was "GO-GO" (go means "5" in Japanese and I turned 55 this year so I thought it would be a good word to get myself out of COVID mode and just go to wherever it was I wanted to go without fear.). I have to say, I did travel a lot - even more than I had planned or imagined! It did turn out to be a "GO-GO" year. I'm thinking next year's word should be "HOME" or something along those lines! Anyway, I do want to get back to my good habits and be strong about my priorities. I will try to be better with my blog so if anyone's still reading it, please check in from time to time. This is me trying to get started for 2024! tag:mihoebihara.com,2023:/en/blog//4.894 2022-12-31T15:00:00Z 2022-12-31T15:23:46Z

Wishing everyone a happy and peaceful ye...

Miho Ebihara Wishing everyone a happy and peaceful year. The world seems to be heading in the opposite direction so this year it seems even more relevant to wish for world peace. May you all be safe and warm. tag:mihoebihara.com,2022:/en/blog//4.889 2022-03-18T13:53:07Z 2022-03-18T15:05:05Z

I'm a real scrapbook person and I collec...

Miho Ebihara I'm a real scrapbook person and I collect articles from magazines, newspapers, and any kind of printed matter. The clippings that I save are anything from essays, interviews, places I want to visit, food, art, films, music, literature, photography - basically things that I'm inspired by or which make me happy. The problem is I accumulate quite a lot and then just put them in a pile... At last I had time today to go through all the clippings that I had saved in the past few years and started filing them. I was putting them into a file which was of photographs that were inspiring or beautiful and came across a newspaper photo/article which I didn't even remember saving. It nearly brought me to tears. The headline "The Victory over Germany - 60th Anniversary Celebrations". Japan was on Germany's side so I'm sure there were mixed feelings but in this photo we see the leaders of Germany, America, France, Japan and Russia - Putin himself. According to the article, this was held in Moscow, hosted by Russia and Putin made a speech saying "Today we celebrate the victory of peace and justice". I was thinking of why I kept this photo. I love the expression on everyone's faces and how close they are standing next to each other. I think it gave me joy even back then (I'm guessing over 15 years ago?) to think that the leaders of our world are getting along and that those who are in charge and have the power to keep our world's peace are actually "happy" to be together. What happened, President Putin???? This photo represents the world that I want to live in. It wasn't even a dream. It was a reality. What will it take for us to be able to all live together in harmony again? ]]> tag:mihoebihara.com,2022:/en/blog//4.886 2021-12-31T15:00:00Z 2022-05-29T14:43:30Z

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy New...

Miho Ebihara Wishing everyone a happy and healthy New Year!! Covid does not seem to want to go away yet so I'm hoping that we'll continue to find ways to protect ourselves and to find ways to still enjoy life. 2021 was a really tough year for Japan as we had to deal with the Olympics. I'm just glad that it's over and that our focus is now simply trying to carry on with our lives alongside the pandemic. I'm hoping to start performing again and to travel - things that we used to take for granted. May 2022 be a good year for all of us! tag:mihoebihara.com,2021:/en/blog//4.885 2021-08-04T13:11:41Z 2021-08-04T16:23:04Z

So here we are in the midst of the "2020...

Miho Ebihara So here we are in the midst of the "2020" Tokyo Olympics... I've just had a birthday and so many friends have been sending me their birthday wishes. If it weren't for the pandemic I'd be traveling to Europe or America for the summer so I really miss celebrating with friends in person but still, all the messages have really made me very happy. Along with the birthday wishes though, everyone has also asked how I was feeling about the Olympics. It seemed that everyone watching from abroad was enjoying them but was also concerned how we, who live in Japan, were taking it all in. So, I thought it would be interesting to write what has been going on through the minds of many Japanese. Or at least, what my experience of it has been. (WARNING - this is a very lengthy blog. I must have had lots of thoughts on the subject!) When Tokyo was chosen to be the host for the Olympics a few years ago, most of us were very excited. (The last one held here in Japan was in 1964, which is quite a long time ago! ) Our economy hasn't been great and I think many people wanted something to look forward to as we still have many things we have to deal with concerning the 2011 earthquake and tsunami - especially Fukushima. There was a real sense of celebration and the government in particular seemed SO enthusiastic. It was to be the catalyst for a brighter future for Japan. As the event grew nearer and nearer we would see so many parts of Tokyo become "fixed up". Stations and public spaces were under construction for quite a long time but I think it's fair to say that all were ready by the spring of 2020. The one thing that was not a worry here in Japan about the Olympics was that we wouldn't be ready in time. How ironic... I would say the biggest concern for many Japanese when we were selected as the host a few years ago was the heat. EVERYONE who lives in Tokyo knows how hot it is. We were all saying that when Tokyo described the summer here as "mild" for it's presentation for the Olympics, that it was simply a lie. (I'm often asked now whether it's cooled down a bit as they're seeing on TV what extreme heat we're experiencing. It never cools down in the summer! And unlike the U.K. we have a SOLID summer. The extreme heat lasts for at least a month and this is normal for us!!!!) Apparently they tried to get it moved to a later date (which they had done for the previous Olympics in 1964) and also moved the marathon to the most north of Japan (which obviously is not Tokyo!) and were trying to come up with various ways to cool down the venues. It is only after we had started the Olympics that I remembered that this was a big concern for us. By spring 2020, Japan (in the eyes of the average Japanese) it seemed like we were very ready. The streets were lined with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics banners,and you would see the logos everywhere - on taxis, posters, and most of the towns which would host the Olympic teams. I hadn't heard any problems about the tickets going on sale and by spring All the tickets that were allocated to the Japanese had been sold out. ( Obviously they were sold through a lottery as there was so much demand. My father entered the lottery for a few events but sadly didn't win any. He told me that he had tried to get tickets for the 1964 games as well but didn't have any luck then so I was very sad for him too.) The keyword here is sold OUT. All those tickets had already gone out to people. Everyone who got a ticket must have been really excited... And then.... Feburary 2020, is when we started to here about the Corona virus and the government was VERY quick in reacting to it. By the end of February they immediately announced the "State of Emergency" for the whole of Japan and we were in our strictest "lock down" then (compared to what we've experienced since). There weren't that many cases yet, but the unknown factor played a huge part. There was a bit of time before they decided to postpone the Tokyo Olympics for a year, but when they did make this big decision the whole of Japan was relieved. It was like - "Now we can concentrate on dealing with this pandemic". Our priorities were in order. Even in June 2020 I didn't doubt that I wouldn't be able to go to Europe for the summer. Everyone thought that by the summer this pandemic would've gone away. Who knew that it would still be here even now...? As the months had gone by and the pandemic not showing any signs of disappearing, the Japanese started to get really worried. It was really a very gradual shift of feeling. The government kept on issuing the "state of emergency" which restricted everyone's daily life and many business and people being put into financial difficulty. We have seen so much coverage of protests and rallies held around the world against the governments forcing restrictions on their people but I have to say I've not heard of a single one happening in Japan. I think we're quite obedient as a nation when it comes to rules (which can be frustrating at times!) and I think the feeling was that everyone's making a sacrifice so we just have to suck it up until things get better. As the months went by, and the number of cases went up and down, the debate started on how many people would be allowed into the venues. 50% capacity, 5000 maximum, 20% - it changed every few weeks. It must have been a nightmare for the people in charge of tickets. (By the way, initially, all the people who had won tickets in 2020 had the right to their seats in 2021.) I have to say it is heartbreaking to see the empty stadiums and venues - for all the people who had won the tickets and for the athletes and for the families and support teams who weren't able to come and share their moments of glory. As we entered 2021, people started to doubt that this pandemic would not be going away. There were more and more cases, and the government made no effort in increasing our medical capacity to cope with such numbers. I think because our initial numbers weren't as bad as the US or Europe in the beginning of the pandemic that they had thought that they would be able to cope and I think it's also why we were so late in starting our vaccines. We only started the vaccinations in May!!!! By spring, there started to be a feeling of resentment towards the government. The PM never gave us the reassurance that everyone was wanting that our health and well-being came first. He kept on insisting that the Olympics would be held safely but never came up with a concrete or specific plan which would convince us that it would not make our situation worse. When the government asks us to restrict us from going out because they're worried about the burden it will bring on the hospitals, doctors and medical staff for months and months and then tells us they will need over 700 medical related staff for the Olympics, people are not going to be happy. Of course, we are willing to do what we are told to make sure we're not putting anyone at risk, but to have the Olympics seemed to be too much to be asked for. SO many people wanted it to be cancelled. SO many people were trying to find ways to postpone it. It's not that we didn't want the Olympics anymore, we just didn't want it NOW! The torch which was to be passing through the whole of Japan was mostly cancelled. (They tried a few places but too many people came to watch along the road so they had to decide not to do it. ) Many places all around Japan were chosen to host the teams from around the world so, training grounds were built, lots of merchandise was made to root for their teams and many events were planned to create a bond with that country. In the end, most of the athletes had to go directly to the Olympic village so they had no chance to even welcome them to their towns. There has been so much disappointment all around Japan. I would say, the majority of the Japanese thought these Olympics would not actually happen. That at the last minute the government would at last hear our voices and would plead to the IOC to cancel it or at least find a way to have them at another time. Our situation was becoming worse and worse and no one believed that it was possible to put on such a world event when no one's heart was in it. It was almost with disbelief that people watched the opening event. I couldn't bear to watch it as I thought it would be really awful. There was no excitement or anticipation before the games started and I was really worried that it wouldn't be well done (as they must have been so restricted in getting ready for it!) nor would it truly be able to capture the feeling of what the world is going through. ( I did watch a bit of the rerun the next day though and thought it was very well thought and did capture the sentiment of the times.) Once the games started though, there're been a real shift in how I and so many others are feeling about the Olympics. It's been giving us lots of joy and it's so nice to see something on TV which is positive and uplifting after months and months of bad news. (The U.S. and Europe have been lucky enough to have had their glimpse of freedom after having most of their population vaccinated but the vaccination ratio here is still very low so we haven't seen the light at the end of the tunnel yet. ) A common thing I hear is that it is truly moving to see all these athletes who must have been training all around the world through this terrible pandemic to come all the way to Japan for these Olympics, and feel almost guilty of having wanted these games to be cancelled. It's really comforting to hear how people around the world are enjoying the Olympics and to hear nice comments on how Japan is doing a good job considering all the difficulties it must have had to overcome. It's an emotional roller coaster still for us as while we watch TV we're so moved by what the athletes are doing (especially because of all the investment we've put into the event in the past year) and then flip the channel to the news with the face of our PM with bad news... How do I feel about the Tokyo Olympics? Very confused - joy, worry and sadness... tag:mihoebihara.com,2021:/en/blog//4.883 2021-03-11T14:38:19Z 2021-03-11T16:35:39Z

March 11th. It's now 10 years since the ...

Miho Ebihara March 11th. It's now 10 years since the massive earthquake and tsunami had hit Japan. Because of covid, memorials have had to be limited and I decided to stay at home and watch a livestream ceremony held at our local shrine in Kamakura. I was hoping to go to Kamaishi, one of the places which was hard hit, which I had gone to several times for volunteer work for the 10th anniversary but decided it was not a good idea as we're still in the midst of this pandemic here in Japan. Every TV channel was showing programmes related to the earthquake and tsunami and I happened to watch one whilst eating breakfast. It was about a young couple who had lost their 3 children. They talked how they almost separated as the pain was too great, how the wife would cry and yell at her husband everyday, blaming him for not being able to save them. After a year she started to withdraw within herself and would never leave the house. She said it was too painful to even look at the photo (which was found in the rubble) of her children as it reminded her of happy times which would never come back again. The husband is a builder/carpenter and everyday he would go to work and take it day by day. He started to do volunteer work, visiting schools and worked with children. He wondered whether it was better for both of them to separate but he decided not to as he thought that their children would be sad if they did. 3 years pass and one day the wife is able to see for the first time how her husband is busily filling his days with work, crying and working at the same time, and how she was doing nothing. She gradually is able to live her life again and in the end of the programme showed how she was a part of the community, laughing with friends, laughing with her husband. If I had met her in the street I would have not known what pain they had gone through. And this is just one single story. So many people lost someone in that tsunami and if they hadn't they have had to live with the guilt of not losing anyone. It's a been a very sad day. 10 years. We really mustn't forget how 3/11 had impacted so many lives. tag:mihoebihara.com,2021:/en/blog//4.881 2021-02-24T14:23:43Z 2021-02-24T14:55:42Z

So, practice on the Goldberg Variations ...

Miho Ebihara So, practice on the Goldberg Variations goes on. One of the reasons that it seems never-ending is that there are so many ways to interpret each variation. There are almost no markings in the score that Bach wrote which means that tempo, dynamics, style are all up to the performer. It truly tests the player's imagination which is part of the fun but also often leaves a dilemma. I have 4 CDs of the Goldberg Variations - one being the historic 1955 recording by Glenn Gould which I love - and they all are tremendously inspirational. I am in awe of all of them but it's interesting how I still have to search for how "I" want to play them. I have stolen some styles from some of them but there are some variations that none of them seem to be right for me. The trouble is it's not easy to find the way which I want to play. So, the search continues! One of the things that has come out of learning this piece in depth is that I can truly appreciate the greatness of it. I recently had a chance to hear a friend perform it in concert and could really enjoy every single variation in detail - note to note. It was a very interesting experience to hear the piece so differently and also confirm how "I" interpret it. Although it seems like a never-ending process I feel very privileged to be able to work on such an amazing piece. I read this quote just yesterday which seemed very fitting for how I feel about working on these variations.Giacometti puts it in words beautifully. “Everything gains in grandeur every day, becomes more and more unknown, more and more beautiful. The closer I come, the grander it is, the more remote it is.” Alberto Giacometti tag:mihoebihara.com,2021:/en/blog//4.880 2021-02-24T04:22:07Z 2021-02-24T14:55:26Z

One of the projects that I had started w...

Miho Ebihara One of the projects that I had started when this pandemic began, was to really tackle Bach's Goldberg Variations. "The Goldberg Variations" are a set of 30 variations set on an Aria theme. It takes over 40 minutes to play it through without repeats and nearly an hour and a half if one were to do all the repeats! It's truly amazing how Bach was able to conjure up so many ideas from one single theme. Because it was meant to be played on a double keyboard harpsichord it is actually technically quite tricky to play on the piano. Each variation is quite short though (1~4 minutes long) so I had been playing it as a warm up piece for ages, choosing a few of the variations before starting my main practice. Because it's such a vast work (46 pages of music just to give you an idea) and quite hard to bring up to performance level I had never considered playing it in a concert. Therefore I had never really attempted to really go into depth with it nor memorize it. But when the pandemic started and I had to cancel all my concerts and my teaching and was stuck at home, I decided this would be the time that I should attempt to bring it up to a level which I would be satisfied with. This has been a true blessing as it really kept me occupied! AND it still does! The more I work on it, the more there is to do! It seems never-ending!