As part of July's weekend Zushi Festival, Minoru Fushimi took the live stage in front of the station and, after introducing his instrument, began to play.
Most of those who stopped to listen had never seen an oud before; few if any knew that Minoru was paying homage to the late Hamza El Din, the famous Sudanese oud player who lived for nearly 20 years here in Japan.
Now the word is spreading that in a residential area not far from the U.S. military's Ikego Hills housing complex in Zushi, Minoru has set up shop as the only specialist importer in Japan of musical instruments from the Mideast.
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