The Center for Soft Power met Japan based intercultural artist and scholar T M Hoffman at the Indian Music Experience in Bangalore recently.
Hoffman performs Indian classical music on Japanese instruments such as Shakuhachi and Koto.
He spoke about the understanding and development within and between the respective traditions, and in the broader context of music in Japan.
Hoffman has trained extensively in classical piano, Japanese shakuhachi (by Living National Treasure Yamaguchi Goro) and Hindustani Classical music by Pandit Ganesh Prasad Mishra.
He has been the director of the Indo-Japanese Music Exchange Association and has pioneered the use of Japanese instruments and poetry in Indian classical music, and promotes intra_Asian creative and educational exchanges.
