I've been busy with the heat for a while. This year's activities will get fully underway with a training camp in Sapporo on the 17th of next week, and this year I went to Namiyoke Shrine in Tsukiji, Tokyo.

After all, during last year's training camp in Miyakojima, typhoons passed through the week before and after the camp period, so it seems that the intention of worldly people is to rely on the divine power to ward off waves again this year.

Located in Tsukiji Market, which is teeming with inbound tourists from Asia and Europe, you pass through a torii gate surrounded by greenery.

When I timidly told them at the shrine office that I was going to a training camp with several dozen members of a children's orchestra for work, they replied, "You were here last year, too." It has already been two years since I started offering prayers for the success of the Tohoku Youth Orchestra training camp, and with the same dignified freshness as the front office of the Yomiuri Giants before the start of their training camp, my junior colleague Miyagawa and I bowed our heads and prayed for the safety of the training camp and the improvement of their skills.

Last month we also held training camp information sessions in Sendai and Tokyo.

In Sendai, many parents also participated. I think you can see them clearly from the front angle.

It is encouraging for us on the management side to receive enthusiastic feedback from the parents about last year's activities. The Date family came all the way from Fukushima to attend the information session in Tokyo, along with the university students who will be joining us from this term.

I laughed when I heard that the best thing that impressed Dad about his time with the Tohoku Youth Orchestra last year was "getting to see Yoshinaga Sayuri up close."

Anyway, with the proverb "The second time you do something, it sticks," I would like to ask all the members and guardians who will be participating in the camp to please join us. I will update this page every day during the camp.