Mission Accomplished, Thanks to My Big Village
Jodie Chiemi Ching
It was about a year ago that I decided to take on the challenge of earning my Yüshü-shö certification in classical Okinawan uta-sanshin, the art of singing and playing the three-stringed sanshin instrument simultaneously. Yüshü-shö is the second of three major certifications — Shinjin-shö being the first and Saikö-shö being the third.
“What in the world was I thinking?!”
I had reasoned that my boys were a little older now, 11 and 13, so they didn’t need my attention as much as they did before. Also, much of my work as a writer guided me toward subjects connected to my ancestral roots, and I was ready for a new challenge.
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