MASA TAKUMI, "Kashira"

One of the wonderful perks of having the opportunity to review music in all genres is the opportunity to listen to pieces from so many cultures across the globe and immerse in learning exciting new things about them. Perhaps it’s not essential to fully appreciating the exotic, sweeping splendor of Masa Takumi’s uplifting, prayer-like world fusion tune “Kashira,” nominated for a Best Global Music Performance Grammy. Yet it was a grand revelation to research the differences between the shamisen – the three stringed traditional Japanese instrument he plays on the song – and the similar sounding koto, which has 13 strings, plucked with three finger picks.

In my review of the Grammy winning Takumi’s 2020 album Heritage, I favorably compared his koto mastery to that of one of my favorite artists, June Kuramoto, who brought the essence of Japanese culture to her band Hiroshima. I wrote of that work, “It’s an album that celebrates his deep cultural roots while exploring his passions for all types of music – including, we can sense, rock and roll.”

On the new track, the koto is played beautifully by Miki Maruta, who joins a wonderful, musically intuitive ensemble of Japanese, Chinese and American musicians, including flutist Ron Korb, guitarist Noshir Mody and, percussionist Dale Edward Chung, with Yingzi Li on erhu (a two-string bowed Chinese instrument) and Naoki Tate on backing vocals.

“Kashira,” Takumi’s first single since his equally epic collection Sakura – a soulful celebration of the cherry blossom, Japan’s national flower – needs just a little over four minutes to take us on a similarly stimulating journey, rooted in tradition, spiritual and meditative in its soul but full of effusive energy. Composed by Takumi and produced by Lonnie Park (who also produced Sakura), the song was originally composed as the theme song for the Japanese film Himuro Renji and the Netflix Japan series based on the film Nihon Taouitsu.

Though created for more commercial purposes, the deep passion propelling “Kashira” is grounded in a more personal dedication to Takumi’s late father, who the artist tells us was “strong and kind,” and his beloved mother, who passed away in March 2024. The track was released to streaming on August 28, the anniversary of his father’s passing.

When we listen to “Kashira”’s mystical combination of rich sonic intricacies, soothing and graceful moments and emphatic swelling emotions, we should keep in mind that Takumi’s great hope is that his beautiful song evokes the love each of us feel for our own family. But that’s the power of majestic instrumental music – that we can do just that while also letting his music carry us into our own memories, life experiences and imagination to discover what it means to each of us.