Tohoku Youth Orchestra String Octet performs at UNIQLO LifeWear Day Tokyo!

Held at Ariake Coliseum on Monday, October 14, 2019
At the opening ceremony of UNIQLO LifeWear Day Tokyo,
The performance was by the Tohoku Youth Orchestra String Octet.

■UNIQLO LifeWear Day Tokyo
https://www.uniqlo.com/ambassador/jp/

UNIQLO LifeWear Day Tokyo is a charity tennis match hosted by UNIQLO. A portion of the proceeds from the event will be donated to organizations supported by UNIQLO.

Uniqlo global brand ambassador Roger Federer will face off against guest player John Isner.

Other global brand ambassadors who participated in the event included Kei Nishikori, Shingo Kunieda, and Gordon Reid (all tennis players), Adam Scott (golf player), and Ayumu Hirano (snowboard player).

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The performers this time are:
1st Violin: Masahiro Watanabe, Yoshiko Izawa
2nd Violin: Takuya Ito, Ai Hibino
Viola: Ryo Muraoka and Aimi Suzuki
Cello: Kenmaru Honda and Ayaka Takahashi

The Sendai/Fukushima group arrived in Tokyo the day before. This is a photo of them gathering at Tokyo Station.

There were concerns about delays to the Shinkansen due to the effects of Typhoon Hagibis,
We arrived safely in Tokyo.

At 11am on the day of the event, the members gathered at Ariake Coliseum. It was a bit chilly with light rain.

We arrived at the venue and started playing music next to the waiting room.

By the way, I was given an event T-shirt as my costume this time. It has the signature of the ambassador player printed on the back!

Then on stage, rehearsal and sound check.

The performers didn't seem nervous at all, but seeing the orchestra members taking to this special stage somehow made the administrative staff feel even more emotional and their hearts were warmed...

After rehearsal, we went back to the waiting room for lunch.

Meanwhile, the venue is open.

Many spectators will come to the venue in search of limited edition goods!

Apparently, the audience that day was 8,000!

We also set up a TYO panel and a donation box in the sustainability corner of the venue.

Abe, the cellist, rushed over from Fukushima just to hold the donation box.

Now, it's time to change into our actual costumes!

We move from the waiting room and the real thing begins.

The director and first violinist Watanabe Masahiro make final confirmations about the start timing of the performance.

Just before the performance. He looks so calm that he even gives a peace sign...

First, the MC introduced each member one by one.

Next was a video message from director Ryuichi Sakamoto.

And then the performance begins!

The song is a string octet version of "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence" from "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence."

We received a huge round of applause.

thank you for your hard work!

After the ceremony, the charity match began!

It's a match between world-class athletes, and the sound of the ball hitting the ground is impressive.

As the time for the return bullet train was approaching, the team members only had a short time to watch the game.

At the end of the event, many customers donated money.

Thank you to everyone who helped!