"Goku" Nonaka (Mitsumasa Nonaka) (drums), born in Oita, Japan in1951
Naoji Kondo (tenor sax), born in Tokyo in1962
Hiroshi Higo (bass), born in Tokyo in1952
Nonaka first studied drumming with a military band, and then with Masahiko Togashi and others. His career as a musician started in 1980 with street performance in Tokyo, and soon he formed his own group, Ningenkokuho. Naoji Kondo has been a member of the group since the beginning. Ningenkokuho means "living national treasures" (!) in Japanese. In 1987, at the Ohm Jazz Festival in Tokyo, the trio received an enthusiastic ovation from the audience for their dynamic, fast-paced sound. Since this initial success, Ningenkokuho has been invited to many musical events in Japan, such as the Yokohama Jazz Promenade.
In 1998, the trio had a Russian tour which included performing at the Sergey Kuryokhin Memorial Festival in St. Petersburg. They were highly praised by Russian journalists, one of whom wrote that they conveyed "the energy of an electric power station, but also a feeling of personal communication with the audience."
Nonaka is one of the most remarkable musicians in Japan. He has not played with famous musicians or been a member of other musicians' bands. He is more attuned to remote areas of the world than to the Japanese jazz scene. Not just a drummer, he is also a kind of adventurer.
Nonaka has traveled to many areas of the world alone, carrying his drum set himself. He has played solo drums in every kind of situation--on stage at big festivals; before displaced people at refugee camps in Afghanistan and Somalia; at orphanages in Kenya; on the Peace Boat in Vietnam; in pygmy villages in the jungle of Zaire; near the Ganges River in India, for the gods who dwell in the river... In 1991, he participated in a world music festival in Brazil. In an old Chinese story, a magical monkey flies around the world on a cloud which is like an airplane. Nonaka's nickname, "Goku," is taken from this monkey's name. In fact, Nonaka has flown all around the world. Everyone who hears his rapid, exciting drumming sound can feel the stream of warmth and generosity in his music.
"Goku" Nonaka & Ningenkokuho have made four CDs. The most recent is OVER DRIVE (Manish Records & Quint Co. Ltd., MR-0591), released in 1997.
Written by Teruto Soejima