The Japanese ukulele advantage

An advantages that Japanese ukulele amateurs may have over players elsewhere is that it is generally easier to find fellow travelers.

Most places around the country have neighborhood community centers. These centers vary in terms of quality, but compared with what one is likely to find in, say, North America, they are on average pretty good. Most of the facilities offer different kinds of rooms, including music rooms, gyms or dance rooms, kitchens, or craft rooms. Groups can hold regularly scheduled cultural or educational activities at very little or no cost.

It seems that these venues play host to quite a few clubs and classes around the country. A quick survey of the Japanese Yahoogroups for ukuleles has just revealed that many of the Yahoogroups are centered around a group of people that practices at these centers. Almost all the larger Yahoogroups appear connected to groups that use these kinds of facilities.

The city here may well be an indication of what the rest of Japan is like also. I know of one teacher at a local music school that teaches ukulele, but there are at least three groups connected with the community centers. More or less the same can be said of the town next to us.

Ukulele players might be more gregarious than some other musicians. But, with these community centers, it is certainly a lot easier to spread the faith.