Now：TOKYOPersonal Profile
My first name is 田鶴子; 田means a rice field, which implies fertility, 鶴 means a crane, a symbol of long life and happiness, and 子 is a suffix often used for girl's name. You could imagine a nature beauty where a crane is in a green rice field. Using the Roman alphabet, it is written as Tazuko, but this is not a correct phonetic notation, as "zu" here is pronounced as a voiced "tsu" in this chain of letters. I have to write many bars, lines and dots for鶴 when I write my name in Chinese characters, and I felt it annoying when I was a little girl. However, this voiced "tsu" sound is really the remnant of Japanese traditional tanka poetry sound. A member of the Soundscape Association of Japan has told me so, and said that it is a beautiful good name. My parents told us that it is my grandmother who hit upon this name when they named me. Now I feel very grateful for her.
Hometown：KOBE
I was brought up and lived in Kobe City till I graduated from the junior high school. When the big Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake hit Kobe in 1995, I was living in Tokyo. After the fire that followed the quake, nothing remains of my old hometown. Fortunately my family and relatives were not injured, but some of my friends lost their parents and brothers. I could never forget the sight when I first visited Kobe after the earthquake; the once beautiful city streets and buildings miserably ruined.
High School and College Days, and the Start of My Careers:OSAKA
When I entered the high school, my father was transferred, and my family moved to Osaka. I took an entrance examination for a high school in Osaka Prefecture, whereas I was at that time living in Kobe City. My mother went to Osaka many times to take a look at the school and to file and go through many complicated formalities required. Thanks to her effort and with her good support, I successfully passed the entrance examination. I think that I owed her much for it, for it is very difficult to take an entrance examination to a prefectural high school from outside the region. It was a great grief to me that she passed away last year.
After graduated from the Osaka College of Music, I went to the Osaka University of Education to take the graduate course. There I took interested in creative making music, which was just initiated shortly before that time, and I wrote a master thesis on that subject. From Osaka, I frequented to the Takehaya elementary school attached to Tokyo Gakugei University, which is in Tokyo, taking the Shinkansen, to observe the class there; the late Mr. Yoshio Hoshino taught at the school. It was then I got acquainted with Mr. Suguru Taninaka; he was teaching at Matsudo-dairoku junior high school at that time and practicing making of Sound sculpture there.
When I got my master degree, I began my career as a music teacher. I took classes at Ongaku-gakuen attached to Osaka college of Music, and I taught students at a vocational music school. I taught them how to play the synthesizer; I have always been interested in playing the synthesizer music ever since I was a college student.
A catchphrase, "We cultivate a sense of independence in the children. We are developing a wonderful educational system that helps and backs up the students to do a creative and voluntary study, " caught my attention; it was from a private educational company, a kind of coaching school. I resigned the job I was doing, and got an employment at that company.
Now：TOKYO
The head office of the company was in Tokyo. I moved to Tokyo to work at the head office. I worked as a chief research worker at the education laboratory of the company. I took on research work on education utilizing personal computer; I also did some practice teaching there. From 1992, the company started the creative experience camp program to be held in Esashi ; I took charge of the planning and management of the program, as one of the staff member. I also did some practice teaching at the camp. From 1996, I was also in charge of the creative experience camp exchange program with Shanghai children, which was just started at that time.
It was a pity that the company ended the program in 1998. I resigned the company, and took up a job as a research worker at the Otogi-no-sato music museum, which was opened in April, 1999 in the Honkawane-cho, Shizuoka-prefecture.
At present, I am taking on some research work on the musical education utilizing personal computer, as I have been working on the subject for many years. Besides I visited schools in every parts of Japan to give a lecture and to work as a teacher in the presentation classes there. Collecting information on unique musical education practices and working as a member of a team developing new software forms a part of my job.
For my job, I make a trip often to many places; I make it a hobby. I have visited all the administrative divisions of Japan, except Miyazaki, Kagoshima, and Okinawa prefectures. I hope that maybe I could visit those places this year.
*Illustration below is my portrait by my sister, Kazuyo. I hope that it makes a good impression on you.