First meeting with Toru

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Tetsuo O’hara: Because Shuntaro Tanikawa  and others call you “Asaka-san,” it wasn’t long before I started calling you “Asaka-san” too. [laughs] And you called Mr. Takemitsu “Tōru-san.” Have you always called him that way?

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Asaka Takemitsu: I don’t remember what I called him at first. Long before our marriage I used to call him “Tōru-san.” We called each other “Tōru-san” and “Asaka-san” all the time. Even my daughter Maki started calling him “Tōru-san” after she grew up—probably because I referred to him in that way. [laughs]

O: Well then, “Asaka-san,” I would like to ask you many questions. If you prefer to dodge any questions, just let me know. [laughs] So to begin, how did you first meet Takemitsu?  How old were you?

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T: We first met in 1951. I had just graduated from school, so I was twenty-one years old.  Tōru was my neighbor, and my younger brother was his friend.

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O: How interesting. I thought you two met at the Shiki Theatre Company  through his work. Where did you live at that time?

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T: The neighborhood is Setagaya-Daita in Setagaya-ward, Tōkyō. It was called Setagaya-Nakahara when I was a child.

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