You started studying in Europe after graduating in Japan. What made you choose Europe, especially Vienna, as the first step?
At first, the idea of studying abroad was still somewhat difficult to imagine, but a high school trip had taken me to the Czech Republic and to Vienna, so I already had some familiarity with the area and Vienna felt like a natural choice. There are also many great teachers! After studying in Vienna for 2 years, I took lessons in various German cities. Ricardo Gallén’s lessons in Weimar were so insightful that I decided to continue my studies there.
How do you like living in Weimar?
I was surprised by how small the city was. When I first came to Vienna, I thought the city was small compared to Japan, but Weimar was even smaller! You can walk to the end of the city in just 15 minutes from the train station! At first, I found it a bit boring, but I gradually came to appreciate the tranquillity of the place, and now I really enjoy it. A great thing is that it’s easy to visit Leipzig or Berlin, so I sometimes go to those cities to listen to some concerts.
Weimar is known for Franz Liszt in music and the Bauhaus movement in art. Vienna, on the other hand, was a center for fin-de-siècle art with artists like Klimt and Schiele. In both cities, you can really feel history at every corner, so living in both was a fascinating experience.