Okamoto Yōzan
岡本 葉山
7/19/1895 - ????
Shakuhachi
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Okamoto Yōzan (Okamoto Gunichi) was born July 19, 1895 in a farmhouse in Aine-mura, Kumage-gun, Yamaguchi Prefecture. After graduating from elementary school he entered the Railway Administration Bureau's training school and became an employee of the railway company, working at stations in Yanaizu, Iwakuni and Itsukushima. He had loved the shakuhachi since he was a child, and in September of 1912, he began his Tozan-ryū shakuhachi studies with Nakamura Tofū, a teacher in Hiroshima. In December 1914 he completed his Chuden studies and finished the Okuden repertoire in 1917. He left the railway in 1918 to become a live-in apprentice under Nakao Tozan. In February, 1920, he passed the examination for the rank of Jun-Shihan (associate instructor), received the performance name Yōzan and was asked to perform at a special concert in Hiroshima in March, where he was given a diploma and an award for his performance. He was promoted to the rank of Shihan (master instructor) in February of 1925 and became one of the most prominent performers in Japan, following which he was appointed a member of the Tozan examination committee and then ordered to give special performances on behalf of the Tozan-ryū. He established several schools in and outside of Hiroshima City to train his students, and produced many talented performers.
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| Also Known As 岡本 軍一 (Okamoto Gunichi) |
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Teachers Students
Nakako Gyokuzan 1886 - ???? |