Students from the University of Tokyo bring Son Jarocho to Japan

It is nearly impossible to find someone in Japan who is even slightly familiarized with the “ Son Jarocho ”. However, since Kohei Masuda -a student from the University of Tokyo- learned about this type of music upon recommendation of a teacher, he decided to venture into the heart of Veracruz , get acquainted with the culture that surrounded it, learn to play the local instruments, and then bring the Mexican sound back to Japan.

Today, four years after the initial discovery, he has formed a band called Los Laguitos with three of his Japanese classmates. Through a crowdfunding , he made a documentary about the Son Jarocho called El hilo transparente ( The Transparent Thread ). His dream, he says, is to make a great fandango in Japan through alliances with institutions that may be interested in achieving it.

“I arrived in Mexico four years ago on a student exchange. Before we came here, we already knew a little about the music of Veracruz, because a teacher from the Tokyo University was teaching it and when he found out that I was coming, he recommended that I studied the Son Jarocho . I became interested and, during the year I spent in Mexico, I got to know it firsthand, first in Mexico City, and then Gilberto Gutiérrez, a member of Mono Blanco , invited me to Veracruz so I could learn even more about it.”

The student of urban planning was deeply impressed, not only by the fresh sound of the folk music of Veracruz, but also by the fandangos, folk festivals that he found to be very similar to his country’s matsuris ( 祭 ), only that Mexico’s traditional festivals had laughs, feet stomping, and sessions of witty improvised verses that, at first, he found very hard to understand.

"I feel deeply in love with the traditions of Veracruz and their close relationship with nature,” he claimed in an interview with EL UNIVERSAL .

When he returned to Japan, he summoned students from different majors (anthropology, religion, etc) who were also music lovers and he taught them the Son Jarocho . One of them was Makoto Suzuki .

“I learned about Son Jarocho with Kohei when he returned to Mexico with his jarana guitar. I lived in Jalapa for three months and I learned to speak Spanish. I like fandango very much and I love to see how it’s made.”

Every member of Los Laguitos has spent time in Mexico as exchange students from the Tokyo University.

Last Monday , Los Laguitos presented El Hilo Transparente at the Raíces Cultural Center in Mexico City . The documentary is now available on YouTube for all the world to see. The Japanese students also organized a fandango featuring the music group Semilla .

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