SPOTLIGHT ON... Agnes Ikuyo Nakajima – reflections from Japan

How did you start playing the organ?

I enjoyed learning the piano as a child and discovered the joy of singing hymns in church. The church organist said: ‘From the sound of your singing, you must be able to play the organ!’ So I started playing at Sunday services and the congregation’s encouragement prompted me to learn properly.

Was it easy to find organ lessons?

Sadly, no. Most organists in Japanese parish churches are untrained volunteers. Private lessons from resident organists at concert halls and university music courses are available, but they train organists only for a concert career, and my goal was to provide organ music for worship and parish events. Eventually I found Mr Masaaki Tsukioka, ARSCM, to teach me the organ; he had studied at the RSCM in the 1960s before returning to Japan to serve long-term as organist at Rikkyo High School Chapel. I also learned from him the fundamentals of musicology – analysis and harmony. Sharing memories of his days at the RSCM, he mentioned Anglican chant and anthem accompaniment. I wanted that training, too, but it was unavailable in Japan, so I search online and discovered the RCO Summer Course, centred at St Giles Cripplegate Church in London. The Summer Course curriculum was excellent, but – more than that - it was the supportive and positive attitude of the teachers and classmates that really moved me. I resolved to build my skills in the hope that my work in Japan might replicate Anne’s work in London. So I began preparing RCO diplomas.

Why RCO diplomas – are these respected in Japan?

Unfortunately, people in Japan are completely unaware of both the RCO and organ diploma systems – I am likely the first and only holder of a RCO diploma. But I considered that studying for the ARCO exam would enable me to attain the knowledge and technique relevant to church music, whereas what I could learn in Japan was limited to concert repertoire or interpretation of Baroque music. In Japan a professional organist expects to study performance at a domestic music university, followed by a conservatoire in Germany or France, to win a competition and make a career as a recitalist or a professorship at music university.

Could you have taken Japanese organ diplomas instead of RCO diplomas?

People in Japan cannot imagine any path for an organist other than becoming a concert performer or professor. Until Japanese society recognises the value of someone who enriches the lives of ordinary, local people through organ music, there will be no diploma here that certifies the skills and techniques relevant for this.

I did, however, undertake relevant academic study at a Japanese university, and I completed a Master’s degree. My research focused on music’s role within Christianity, particularly congregational singing and the organ’s function. I explored the history of what people sought from music within Anglican parishes, the approaches church musicians and clergy had adopted in response, and the connections between this history and present day.

What is your life now as a Japanese musician?

As well as playing on Sundays and for special services, I give lessons on the church organ and piano to local children. I currently have 18 children taking lessons from me, and sometimes I’m asked to teach the organ at other churches, too.

Bravo – so your work is gradually raising the standards of church music in Japan! Do you think your work as an organ teacher sets a model for future church organists?

Because I want my lessons to be affordable for families of limited means, I charge only low rates, giving me the equivalent of £15 a day, so it’s not lucrative at present. But I hope my presence on the organising committee of an Ecumenical Church Music Festival, where I represent the Anglican Church of Japan, helps me to influence the wider church.

Can you tell us more about the lives of church musicians in Japan?

Unlike the West, Japanese church organists, and keyboard players generally, are overwhelmingly female. 150 years ago the Japanese ban on Christianity was lifted and this prompted us to embrace Western culture. At this point many missionaries arrived in Japan; these missionaries needed organists for their services and so they recruited the daughters of wealthy families attending mission schools. Japanese society thought it improper for women to flaunt their skills in public. Organists earning money was utterly out of the question! That attitude persists: it’s still a common belief in Japan that church organists need not be skilled, should remain inconspicuous and should perform only what they are told to do, without pay. I am unusually fortunate that at the church where I play it was agreed that I should receive a small fee for each service.

Yet there have been such fundamental changes to Japanese society in the last 150 years. Perhaps these changes are at last impacting church organists?

I hope so, and I feel that my generation, born in the late 1960s, has a responsibility to make this happen. What I can do now is not to be afraid of being called "unfeminine", cheeky and pushy. In that way I hope to become someone that young people will think cool - a woman working as an organist in a church. But we have a long way to go: in the World Economic Forum's (WEF) 2025 Global Gender Gap Report, Japan is ranked 118th out of 148 countries. I think this accurately reflects the position of women in Japanese society.

Who is likely to call you ‘unfeminine, cheeky and pushy’? And how do you deal with these criticisms?

Sadly, it is often women of an older generation who make such criticisms. For their generation, living modestly as a housewife and supporting their husbands was considered the "desirable way of life for a woman of good family," and unpaid church volunteering was their only chance for social recognition. To them, seeing someone like me who lives a different life probably feels like their way of life is being rejected. I try to think of this not as criticism of me, but as their own pain and regret being disguised and directed at me.

How do you see your own future in music?

I've never really tried to paint a vision for my future. I've always done things based on what was expected of me at the time, or what I needed to do when the situation arose. In that sense, my future in music will also change depending on what those around me expect of me, and what I should do in the environment I'm given. As the parish's principal organist, and whenever I'm called upon as a guest performer elsewhere, I always want to be a musician who can enjoy playing any organ.

Certainly I would like to continue teaching as long there is a demand. While keyboard instrument education in Japan focuses on training technique, I strive to convey Western music and church history, harmony and analysis - knowledge I acquired through the ARCO diploma exam - in an easy-to-understand manner. So, my future is to keep sowing the seeds of skill, ambition and musicality to create professional church musicians!

Agnes, I know that every reader will join me in applauding your work and wishing you every future success. Thank you for sharing your experiences with us.