Since the debut of the 12 Girls Band revived interest in Chinese music in Japan last year, more and more Japanese have been taking up traditional Chinese instruments such as the erhu, a two-stringed, bow instrument, and the pipa, a pear-shaped lute.

Some are speaking of an "erhu boom" in Japan. Japanese women in their 20s and 30s have started taking erhu lessons following TV appearances by the young Chinese women in their stunning red outfits.

The 12 Girls Band has sold more than 2 million copies of its debut album "Beautiful Energy" in Japan since its release last summer. The group also appeared in Japan's annual Red and White Song Festival on New Year's Eve, the nation's most prestigious televised music event.

Despite rising interest in Chinese music, Xu Ke, a veteran Chinese erhu player, says the boom may fizzle out unless more exposure is given to the instrument and the quality of erhu music is enhanced in Japan and other parts of Asia.

"It's hard for us to expect that the fad spurred by the 12 Girls Band will continue for the next two or three years," said the visiting professor of erhu at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing.

"I want to take the lead in promoting the erhu and Chinese culture in Japan from a long-term perspective," said Xu, who relocated to Tokyo from New York in February. "I'd like many people here to feel the taste of authentic Chinese music through my performances."

As of 1997, there were about 100 erhu players in Japan. But in 2004, the figure jumped to 2,000 in the Tokyo metropolitan area alone, said Xu, who "plays as well as any superstar virtuoso on Western instruments," according to the Boston Globe.

The erhu, called "niko" in Japanese and known outside China as the Chinese violin, dates to the 18th century, having evolved from the "xiqin," which arrived in China in the 10th century.

As a first step in his venture in Japan, Xu will go on a one-month tour across Japan in the fall, playing classical and contemporary Chinese and Western pieces in eight shows.

The tour will start in Fukaya, in east Japan's Saitama Prefecture, on September 15 before ending in Tokyo on October 16, playing the first seven shows with piano and the last with the Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra.

The 44-year-old has been an outstanding erhu player since his youth as a student of China's prestigious Central Conservatory of Music.

Since making his solo debut in 1987, Xu has performed with orchestras around the world, including the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra and Singapore Symphony Orchestra. He has also staged recitals on the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, as well as in Canada, Estonia, Finland, Japan and the United States .

He moved to New York in 1997, having taught and performed the erhu across North America. He has released 18 CDs.

Co Hirano, a correspondent for Japan's Kyodo News Agency, said Xu is known in Japan as a pioneer of classical Chinese music abroad.

"I appreciate Xu's efforts to offer the audience the flavor of Chinese music and culture through his erhu performances," Hirano said after one of Xu's concerts last month in Tokyo.

"His performance is unique and innovative in style, fusing traditional Chinese folk music with Western pop music, classical and jazz influences, which I expect will draw considerable interest among Japanese - both young and old," he added.

(China Daily September 3, 2004)