Goze – women who earned a living as musicians despite sight impairments – are all but forgotten in Japan but Rieko Hirosawa has learned their songs
Rieko Hirosawa sits on a stone bench outside her home, tunes her instrument and takes a deep breath. She unleashes an impossibly high note while her bachi plectrum slaps the three strings of her shamisen, a traditional instrument.
Combined, they slice through the stillness of an oppressively humid afternoon. If her neighbours were wondering if the usually softly spoken Hirosawa was at home, now they know.
