Akira Tomita, an associate professor of the Faculty of Education, Hirosaki University, participated in the "Adult Science Magazine" (Gakken Education Publishing) published on September 29, as a superviser.

The magazine, "Electric Steel Drums", has taken a big look at steel pans, with an appendix on amps and transmitters using mini steel pans and pickups. The steel pan is a percussion instrument that creates a pitch by making the top surface of a drum can into a pan shape and making the surface uneven. It is said to be the "largest acoustic instrument at the end of the 20th century" because it has a timbre that is different from xylophone and Tekkin, and it gives the image of a tropical country.

Mr. Tomita is from Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, and worked in the Republic of Honduras as a Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteer in 1989. After that, he has been engaged in various activities in countries such as the United States, Mexico and Indonesia. In 1998, he received a grand prize in the "National Geographic Japan 1st Photo Contest" and has been working at Hirosaki University since 2002.

I met Steel Pan when I was in college in New York. It was because of interaction with people from Trinidad and Tobago, the birthplace of the instrument. Mr. Tomita, who liked the process of "producing sounds," said he was involved in jazz and Latin band activities, but he was interested in steel pans, which are handmade from drums one by one.

Mr. Tomita, who was transferred to Hirosaki University, launched the first steel pan club at a university nationwide and published a book about steel pan. "Adult Science Magazine" not only supervises, but also contributes photographs and produces mini steel bread as an appendix.

The mini steel pan is produced by pressing the iron plate at a speed of 1 sheet for 4 seconds using the original template. Mr. Tomita, who was impressed by the scenes of steel pans that are being made one after another on the line, said, "Mass production was indispensable for the spread of steel pans. With this opportunity, steel pans became popular in Japan. I can expect it.

The price is 3,300 yen. Available at bookstores and online bookstores nationwide.