Here's a quick quiz. What pattern do you see in the costumes of the 11 performers in the photo above?

The Tohoku Youth Orchestra is made up of 105 members, all of whom must have experienced the 3/11 earthquake in the three prefectures of Miyagi, Iwate, and Fukushima, from fourth graders in elementary school to fourth graders in university. There was no paper review or audition for the members, and it seems that some of the members were conflicted about whether they should be performing in Tokyo as "representing the disaster area" even though they did not experience the tsunami. This time, three university students visited Ishinomaki as a result of an interview with NHK General TV's "Shibu 5-ji", and after hearing the lonely feelings of the people living in temporary housing in Mangokuura, Ishinomaki, it was decided that 11 members of the Tohoku Youth Orchestra would hold a mini-concert on their own.

It seems that this was the first time in a while that the band had performed at this residence, and there was a flyer made by a university student, Nakamura, who plays the trumpet, posted on the wall. Of course, the pamphlet for the day was also handmade by Narayama, a university student member of the band.

Starting with the opening song "Ama-chan's Theme," the university students selected songs such as "Ue o Muite Arukou," "Furusato," "Matsuri," and "Kimi to Itsumademo," taking into account the tastes and feelings of the audience of about 40 people. You can imagine how excited the audience was when they heard "Ringo no Uta." On the grand stage at Tokyo Opera City on the 26th of this month, the orchestra quietly played "Requiem," a piece from the film "Mother and I Live," by Ryuichi Sakamoto, the orchestra's representative and director, which was also included in the program for the first concert.

Fukusumi-kun (trombone), an elementary school student who lives in Sendai, also came all the way to support us, getting a ride in his father's car.

As expected of the boy from Sendai, he was wearing a Rakuten Eagles cap, and as soon as he arrived he handed a white paper bag full of sweets to Nakamura (trumpet), a university student from Sendai who was the leader of the mini concert, and guess what he said.

"Yes, this is the closet!"

After everyone was dumbfounded, they all burst out laughing, saying, "Oh, I made a mistake!"

From now on, whenever I bring someone a gift I'll say "Oshiire!"

During the concert, there was a dramatic performance in which university student Sato Keita, who plays the horn, presented flowers to the audience to accompany the song "Kimi to Itsumademo." There are seven members with the surname Sato. That's typical of Tohoku. Unfortunately, there is no one with the same surname. There were also two encores. They played "365 Steps March" and another song, and ended with "Ama-chan's Theme" again.

At the end, there was a big round of applause and people said things like, "It was fun," and "I have to live a long life."

After the performance, we had a social gathering with the residents.

Now, going back to the quiz at the beginning, in order to lighten the mood, the stringed instruments wore cat ears and the wind instruments wore rabbit ears. This turned out to be an unexpected benefit.

Here and there, elderly people wearing animal ears appeared, and in a friendly atmosphere throughout the event, we listened to their stories of the tsunami and life in temporary housing. In return, the members of the group encouraged them, saying, "Good luck in the actual event." Although we had come to console them, we ended up being encouraged instead.

The Tohoku Youth Orchestra was originally founded as the Children's Music Revitalization Fund , a school musical instrument restoration project launched immediately after the earthquake.

Looking back at the five years that have passed, I feel that what is needed has changed over time. It has become difficult to generalize the "disaster areas," and it can be said that the question of what kind of support is appropriate for each region, and more specifically, for each individual, is becoming more and more important.

The dilemma that the members had about whether they should "represent the disaster-stricken areas" was whether they had the qualifications or responsibility to "represent the disaster-stricken areas" depending on the extent of the damage. What I realized this time was that even five years after the disaster, if we can sympathize with the fact that there are people who are feeling lonely and living difficult lives, then that's enough. Of course, there are members of the orchestra who are plagued by such worries, and if we can play together as fellow musicians, then that's fine.

Thinking about this, I felt that music was a wonderful thing. It is an expressive activity that allows us to share time with others through sound. Even without a loud message, people can say, "That was fun." Words are, of course, a convenient tool for communication, but they can sometimes be saddled with unnecessary meanings that can lead to miscommunication. Through music, we can make people realize something, remember something, and share certain emotions. I felt that it would be fine if the members could perform with confidence and to the best of their ability while thinking of someone out there, without the message of "don't forget the disaster areas."

As for myself, I started with the launch of the Children's Music Revival Fund and am the person in charge of planning and running the Tohoku Youth Orchestra. To be honest, I don't really know what purpose this activity serves, whether it's a good thing or if I'm just being nosy, but if I had to say, I do it because it's fun. I'm often told that I "look like I enjoy my work," but there is no such thing as an easy job, and I always want to be told that "you're making an effort to make your work fun." In fact, this job is full of troublesome and bothersome things.

Last month, J-WAVE came to cover our joint practice session in Fukushima. While I was answering their questions, the scriptwriter suddenly said, "It's interesting that Hirokazu Tanaka is doing this initiative. Aren't the Hirokazu Tanaka Movement and the Tohoku Youth Orchestra similar?" I was surprised. Yes, my name is Hirokazu Tanaka, and by chance, I became interested in people with the same name 22 years ago, and now I have met 109 different Hirokazu Tanakas, and I am trying to challenge the Guinness World Record for the most people with the same name. Of course, it's a hobby, not a job.

The person who came to interview me this time was the person in charge of the previous appearance on J-WAVE's program on the Tanaka Hirokazu Movement. Indeed, the origins of each organization are "just the same name, Tanaka Hirokazu," and "just children who play music after experiencing 3/11." People can connect with each other with just a little trigger, and they can cooperate and help each other in unexpected ways. I think that trust in human connections, in coincidences that we don't know whether they are coincidences or fate, is at the root of who I am. I see. Of course, people sometimes have conflicts, quarrels, and fights, but I have a strong desire to create bright human relationships that are not like that. That's a story in itself, but what do you think about it?

Even though we only met for two hours, everyone who saw us off until our bus was out of sight gave us courage. I think the children will now be able to perform with confidence, powerful yet sensitive on the grand stage of Tokyo Opera City.

On the way back from Ishinomaki, I was on a bus heading to Sendai, looking at the many vacant lots I could see, and I felt the people and things we lost in the disaster, but I also felt that there were things that were born as a result of the disaster, one of which was the Tohoku Youth Orchestra, which I hope will become a junior orchestra that the people of Tohoku can be proud of, like the Tohoku Rakuten Eagles. I hope that the "fun" that the Tohoku Youth Orchestra brings will spread here and there, and to the world. I felt that it would be good if the Tohoku Youth Orchestra could continue without being ostentatious, but with timid confidence.

I had only visited the temporary housing once before, six months after the earthquake, so I couldn't help but wonder what it was like inside the community center.

Of course, there is music with a strong message in the world, and I can imagine that singers of that nature visited here. There are more and more vacant rooms in this house, and the people in the posters in traditional Japanese clothing are moving away, so I guess five years has passed.

We took a commemorative photo with the participating members at the office. My winter sweater, made by Kesennuma Knitting, next to Fukuzumi-kun is slightly out of place. I'll be more careful about how I dress in the future.

In response to the ironic news that a professional Go player who had lost three consecutive games to Google AI that were inexplicable to humans has finally gotten his revenge, I updated this article with deep emotion, wondering what only humans can do and whether androids will be able to do this activity in the near future. Please continue to support the Tohoku Youth Orchestra.