Created in 2015 for saxophone trio, this is a revision of Benisashiyubi (2011) composed for Toys Saxophone Quartet.
The subtitle Benisashiyubi is an intriguing word I found in the Utsukushii Nihongo no Jiten Beautiful Japanese Language Dictionary. Beni-sashi-yubi refers to ring finger. However, its meaning is a bit different than the English suggests.
Beni is the color crimson, Sashi is to apply, and Yubi is finger. It refers to a "crimson lipstick-applying finger" since Japanese women use their ring finger to apply lipstick.
I tried to capture the alluring image of a beautiful woman applying lipstick in front of a mirror. I also tried to imagine romantic melodies for use in lipstick commercials.
The overall style of the piece should be in retro-classical Showa and Taisho (early 20th Century) era sonatina style, when Western music was popularized in Japan.

(Hirokazu Fukushima)