Volunteer concert in Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture

On February 17th, we were able to hold the 3rd Tohoku Youth Orchestra Volunteer Concert at San San Shopping Street in Minamisanriku Town, Miyagi Prefecture.

Ah, sorry for not introducing myself earlier. I will be writing this activity report. My name is Tomizawa Yuta, and I am a member of the volunteer performance group and play the tuba at TYO.

On a personal note, I was able to see the sunrise during my morning commute, and a poem by the famous poet Kakinomoto no Hitomaro came to mind: "In the eastern fields, a shadow appears to rise, and when I look back, the moon has already set." This put me in a state of elegance (though, the moon wasn't reflected in the sky...)

Now, to report on our activities, the members gathered at Sendai Station at 8:30 (sorry for being so early, members) and headed to Minamisanriku Town. The photo shows the Fukushima group.

Apparently the Fukushima group gathered at Fukushima Station at 6am... Thank you so much for coming so early in the morning.

So, this time we will be performing the famous "San San Shopping Street"!

Since this is the city of octopuses, we were greeted by a magnificent octopus sculpture (apparently called Octopus-kun).
As soon as we arrived at Sansan Shopping Street, we started rehearsing!!

Despite it being early in the morning, everyone is working hard and in production mode.
Then, as the performance was about to begin, I looked around the audience and saw a familiar face...

Mr. Miura, the percussionist participating from Kesennuma, came to watch!
So, I took a commemorative photo in front of Octopus-kun.

A few photos of the performance. And after the performance, we all took a commemorative photo. Everyone looked happy.

After the performance, we took a long lunch break and had lunch at San San Shopping Street.
Everyone was enjoying the delicious seafood.

This is a sparkling bowl of rice topped with plenty of local salmon roe.

After enjoying a delicious lunch and savoring the flavours of Minamisanriku Town, we moved to a training facility called the Portal Center, where project "M," our cooperating organization for this event, held a special lecture for TYO.

Here is an introduction to project "M" (the following is a quote from their website):

"The band was formed in 2015, mainly consisting of university students from Minamisanriku Town (Tokura district) in Miyagi Prefecture.

As a person directly involved in the Great East Japan Earthquake, he disseminates the lessons learned from the disaster. Since then, he has been working to disseminate information about the past of the disaster as well as the current state of Tohoku as it moves forward with reconstruction, including with the addition of students from Tohoku. He connects young people with the local community by actually visiting the area, and shares the situation at the time of the disaster, the current issues facing the affected areas, the warmth of the local people, and the charms of his hometown that he has rediscovered since the disaster.

This project explores how young people can get involved in their communities and society through activities that involve the younger generation in interacting with the local community, while also passing on the memories of the Great East Japan Earthquake and the lessons it teaches.

Another goal is to share the awareness we have gained about issues in the local area and in our immediate society through our involvement in the disaster-stricken areas of Tohoku, and to put ideas into practice to the best of our ability as students.

From left: Miura, Saijo, Matsuzaki, Sato, and Onodera

As for the content of the lecture, the first half was led by Project "M" representative Onodera and Miura, who is a certified disaster prevention specialist, who used PowerPoint to explain the state of Minamisanriku town at the time and their experiences at the time.

Perhaps because Project “M” is close in age to the other members, the members listened to what he had to say attentively.

To tell the truth, until now, many of the youth members have had the opportunity to hear stories about the earthquake, but most of the people they heard were elderly, and I thought it would be nice if they could have a chance to hear stories from people of the same generation...so I asked project "M" to help us this time. Just as project "M" and I had intended, the members said things like "It was refreshing" and "It was good to hear stories from people close to our age," and I am grateful to project "M" for giving us such a great experience.

In the second half, we received a lecture on disaster prevention using the Crossroads Game.

This was also well received by our members, especially the elementary and junior high school students!

I was impressed by what Mr. Miura said at the lecture: "Even though we talk about disaster prevention, it is difficult to prevent disasters. However, what is important is 'disaster reduction', which means keeping the damage to a minimum."
There was some time after the lecture, so we asked Kana Matsuzaki, who was a member of the first Tohoku Youth Orchestra until last year and is now a member of project “M”, for her impressions.
“Until last year, I was an active member of the Tohoku Youth Orchestra, but this time I participated not as a member of the orchestra, but as a member of a student group called Project “M.”
It was a valuable experience to think about the damage in Minamisanriku and the steps taken since then, and about the steps taken in my hometown of Fukushima Prefecture after the earthquake, with Project "M", and to be able to perform on the stage at the TYO concerts two years ago and last year. I hope that this volunteer performance will provide an opportunity for the 13 members of TYO to think at least a little about Minamisanriku and their hometown, and that they will approach the concert in March with even stronger beliefs and feelings. I wish the concert a great success!

thank you.

To tell you the truth, it is no exaggeration to say that it was thanks to her that TYO was able to hold a concert together with project "M". She was the catalyst that connected TYO and project "M" and I cannot thank her enough for her work as a bridge between the two. I am so grateful!

After the lecture, we were heading back to Sendai Station, but on the way there, one of the members said, "Since we're here, we'd like to see the ocean," so we decided to take a slight detour to see the ocean before heading home.

According to Mr. Onodera, the representative of Project "M," the town's main industries are forestry and fishing, and in the fishing industry, shellfish and seaweed farming is thriving.
We arrived at Sendai Station at 6:30 p.m. Although everyone was tired from the activities from morning to night, they all looked satisfied and thought it was a wonderful experience.

Now, here is a summary.

The volunteer performance activities are based on the principles of "bringing a smile to the faces of people in the disaster-stricken areas" and "letting many people know about the Tohoku Youth Orchestra." However, we believe that these activities are also extremely meaningful for the members of the orchestra.

I say this because I think that by participating in the activities, the members will be able to see, hear, feel and think about the local area with their own eyes, which will enrich their life experiences even more, and that the encounters they make through the activities will become experiences that will lead to performances, creating a virtuous cycle. And I think this is very important.

Therefore, although the main focus of this concert was of course the performance, the theme was decided upon during a meeting between the TYO volunteer performers and project "M" to be "getting to know the area while having fun." For this reason, we took a longer lunch break after the performance, giving more time to look around the San San Shopping Street, and we also invited a lecturer to talk about the past and future of the area, as well as lessons for the future.

We hope to have fun while enjoying the audience, and to learn at the same time. By planning voluntary performances that the members find "fun," "educational," and "really good," we hope to spread the word among the members and hold even more lively and proactive voluntary concerts.

Well, there is only one more volunteer performance left this year. The performance will be in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture on March 3rd. We will do our best at this concert, so we appreciate your support.

Finally, let me also inform you about the crowdfunding campaign currently being conducted by JAPAN GIVING, "We want to bring music to the disaster-stricken areas - Tohoku Youth Orchestra Volunteer Performance - Additional support wanted." The campaign will run until Saturday, the 24th. Thank you very much for your support.

Yuuta Tomizawa