by MK
Every Saturday we’re spotlighting remarkable local females who could change the way we look at the world. This Saturday is Kanae Tosha’s turn, a musician from Kyoto, Japan in love with Trieste where her daughter Milena was born.
Where are you from?
I was born and raised in Kyoto, Japan and I moved to Trieste in 2016.
What do you do?
Back in Japan I was doing my doctorate while teaching music at a high school. I majored in antique pianos, with the focus on the 1700s and 1800s. After arriving in Trieste, I studied Italian for a year and then received a grant from the Italian government to study musicology at the Bologna University. I liked Bologna, but couldn’t wait to get back to Trieste, which I really fell for.
Why do you like Trieste?
I adore the grand piazza overlooking the sea, San Giusto, the Triestine dialect, and the Illy coffee. Kyoto is the former capital of Japan which is famous for its tea. My grandmother and my mother were both teachers of the tea ceremony, and I would always take part in it when I was a kid. I think coffee Illy is loved by Triestini as much as we love our antique ceremony.
What made you stay in Trieste?
In 2019 I got married and had a baby girl called Milena, who is now 2 years old.
What a wonderful family!
My husband, Motoharu Takei, is a Japanese opera singer. He studied singing back in Japan and has been living in Trieste since 2016. In Italy he performed in Trieste, Lecce, Palermo, Modena and Sanremo. In Trieste he was one of the leading singers in the world premiere of “Amorosa Presenza”.
We saw him – he was amazing!
Often people on the street stop him to say “I heard you singing at the opera!” and that makes us very happy. Milena loves singing with her dad and she even enjoys watching opera at the theater. She doesn’t speak Italian fluently yet but when she meets people on the street she says “Ciao, muli!” and she sends them kisses. She is Japanese, but very Triestine.
