About SAWA

私は1983年に長女として生まれ、祖父から「さわ」という名前を授かりました。多くの場合、両親の願いや子供への思いを込めた言葉を選んで名付けるのとは違い、「さ」と「わ」の組み合わせの響きがよいとの理由で私は名付けられました。私はこの名前がとても気に入っています。この「さわ」に意味を与えるのは私が出会う人達と私自身なのだという事に気付いた時から、それまで以上にこの名前が好きになりました。
 
生活環境の大切さを思ってくれた両親の意向で、私が４歳の頃、日本語での幼稚園生活は突如アメリカンスクールでの米語環境へと一変しました。学校が遠かった事もあって、当時送り迎えの車の中で父が好きなシャンソンやカンツォーネの歌にデタラメな言葉を添えて歌えるようになってしまったのもこの頃です。全く意味の分からない言葉だったにも関わらず、歌手たちの感情のこもった歌声とそのメロディーは今でも忘れる事はありません。
 
倉庫に置いてあった壊れたピアノを弾く私を見かねて、両親が習わせてくれたエレクトーン、そしてリコーダーに夢中だった小学校低学年、ユーフォニウムとトランペットに明け暮れた小学校高学年。ギターと出会い、練習も半ばかき鳴らしていた中学生時代。高校でのアメリカ留学中は、ホストファミリー宅にあったグランドピアノが弾きたい一心で、ピアノのクラスを受講しました。でもどの楽器を弾いている時も、父の仕事場である釜場（かまば）から大音量で流れてくるカンツォーネやシャンソン歌手たちの感情のこもった歌声の様に、「歌い上げる様に楽器の音を操りたい」との思いが常にありました。なぜ「ならば歌えばよい！」と気付くのにこれほど時間がかかったのか、私自身まだこの謎は解けていません。
 
ところで、私の両親は先祖代々90年の間継承してきた、昔ながらの銭湯を営んでいます。銭湯とは様々な人が文字通り「裸の付き合い」をする場所です。普段社会生活で身につけている制服を脱ぎ、バッジを外し、メイクや香水も洗い流して、リラックスできる時間を共有する場所です。子供は普段接する事のない世代との会話から敬語や社会のルールを学び、大人は若い世代と接することで最近の流行や思想の違いに驚かされたりもします。最近では一人暮らしをするお年寄りの方々が情報を交換し、お互いの健康を気遣うコミュニティースペース的な役割も高くなってきました。なによりも、最低限の「道徳」というルールさえ守る事ができるのならば、入れ墨をした人でも私の実家では入浴する事が可能です。つまり、警察、ヤクザ、裁判官、赤ちゃん、老人、外国籍の人、そして私が一緒に湯船に浸かる事は実際に起こりうるし、それに似た状況が日常的な場所なのです。この湯船のような場所を音楽の世界で築く事が私の目指す音楽のイメージであり、あなたと共有したい空間です。
 

I was born in 1983.  My name, Sawa was given by my grand father.  Usually, many Japanese names are named after the meaning of the words that contains wishes of their parents or wills toward their child, but my grand father picked two sound of Japanese words “sa” and “wa” and put them together just because he liked this combination.  I like my name “Sawa” because it is people that I encounter and myself to give meaning to this name.  How exciting this could be?
 
I used to attend Japanese kindergarten until my age of 4 and then I switched into Nagoya International School.  The school located far from my house, so I used to listen my fathers favorite Canzone and Chanson for over 3 hours drive everyday.  I don’t understand Italian nor French but I liked the way how those singers put their emotions and feelings into their voice.  I even sang with my nonsense lyrics on those melodies, and even today those songs are played in my head over and over again.  When I was 6 years old, I switched into Japanese local elementary school, and that was the time I started to feel irritation between English and Japanese differences.  There was many situations that that I couldn’t find the right expressions in neither languages.  True, my English was childish and my Japanese wasn’t perfect and in that way I was to face with language problems.  More over, my new classmates in Japanese school bullied me because I acted in Americanized way, and my appearance was quiet Japanese girl.  I strongly realized there are walls that differences of language or culture create, but I know that people can understand each other over those differences.  At that time I started to search answers for miscommunications in Art and Music.
 
Started from the broken piano in the storage when I was 4 years old, I learned electric organ until my age of 12. I was absorbed to play recorder flute, euphonium and trumpet during my elementary school years.  When I became teenager, I loved to play with guitar, piano… etc.  To tell the truth, I always wanted to play instrument as if I was singing with those tones, just like those Canzone and Chanson singers pours their emotions into their voice.  And I have no clue why it took me so long to notice that I could also sing!
 
By the way, my parents run traditional Japanese Public “Sento” Bath, and this Sento has been my family business for over 90 years as part of our heritage.
Sento is the place where people with various cultural/social back grounds take off their badges, clothes, make-ups, and share the warm water in a tub and nice relaxing time together.  The younger people can learn important social rules from the older generation, and the older people can learn new current events or the way of thinking that younger generation got.  People from different places can know regional news or distinctive features that only local people know.  I’ve done a little research few years ago, and learned the reason why people come to Sento even they have their own bathtub at home.  This is the place for communication and exchanges of ideas.  Recently, more numbers of elderly are living solitary, and  Sento is becoming one of their important space to socialize and connect with outside world.  The atmosphere of the Sento is free to almost all people for those who can follow the least rules to participate this place.  If you can keep these rules, such as morals, anyone can be part of this place.  Not like many other Sento, people with Tattoo’s can come to my family’s Sento.  Can you imagine police officer, Yakuza (Japanese Mafia), Judge, babies, elderly peoples, foreigners, and I taking bath happily together in the same bathtub?  It may sound impossible, but such situation really happens in my daily life.  And this is the image of the music that I have and want to share with you.