Happy Birthday to Panama!

Storming of the Bastille, by Jean-Pierre-Louis-Laurent Houel. *Photo from Wikipedia July 14 is Bastille Day. It commemorates the Storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789, a turning point of the French Revolution as well as the Fête de la Fédération (lit “Festival of the Federation”) which celebrated the unity of the French people on July 14, 1790. The medieval fortress, armory, and political prison in Paris known as the Bastille represented royal authority in the center of Paris. The prison contained just seven inmates at the time of its storming but was a symbol of abuses by the monarchy;

Interviewed & written by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: info@myeyestokyo.com   Rolando Encinas Quena player   A worldwide quena player whom all Latin music lovers must know – that’s today’s interviewee. We met him on referral from Luis Carlos Severich, Japan-based Bolivian guitarist whom we interviewed in 2007. We faced Roland Encinas, a Bolivian quena player, two days after we got a phone call from Luis Carlos. The interview was conducted right before his concert so we didn’t have enough time to go deep into his background. But he talked about his ties with Japan affectionately. However, he had an expression

A market in Maradi, the third largest city in Niger. *Photo from Wikipedia August 3 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Niger from France in 1960. In the 19th century, contact with Europe began with the first European explorers to travel to Niger. Following the 1885 Berlin conference during which colonial powers outlined the division of Africa into colonial spheres, French military efforts to conquer existing African states were intensified in all French colonies including Niger. By 1922, all resistance to colonial rule was eliminated and Niger became a French colony. Following the Overseas Reform Act (Loi Cadre) of