On the sixth day of the tour, we headed from Sendai to Fukushima.

Since arriving in Sendai last night, I have experienced many aftershocks throughout the night and this morning. Although they were only around magnitude 1 or 2, they give an idea of the magnitude of the earthquake last week.

Mari Otsuka from the Fukushima Secretariat was waiting in front of the elevator on the first floor of the hotel, collecting all the hotel keys from the members as they got off and checking their names. This is the reassuring work of a veteran secretariat.

As the person in charge of bus number 3, only one bus can be parked in front of the hotel, my tactic is to line up the buses on the road side so as not to inconvenience other pedestrians, and to quickly load luggage and board the passengers.

Then we loaded our suitcases and instruments.

From the left, a smooth suitcase relay quartet was born, with Mikami on horn, Tomizawa Mitsuo on trumpet, Tanno Otoko on clarinet, and Tomizawa Tsuguo on percussion, and the loading and unloading of the previous day proceeded at what seemed like twice the speed.

Thanks to Mr. Otsuka's professional roll call, we were able to leave early for Fukushima.

As we headed south on the Tohoku Expressway, we came across places where one lane was closed due to road repairs following the earthquake.

Suddenly I looked out the window and saw the derailed Shinkansen train and the work being done to repair it.

I had mixed feelings, wondering whether I should consider such a chance sighting lucky.

Along the way, the bus stopped in the Kunimi Service Area, where the Fukushima Office's Takeda-san's home is located, and where the earthquake had a magnitude of 6 last week.

Mikami-kun was in an attractive corner.

I had the "Kawamata Shamo Bun".

There is a general trend towards peaches.

The brass players seem to like buying snacks, and seem to be hesitating at the register.

Two university second-year classmates from Fukushima Prefecture, Horn player Natsuki Senda and Trombone player Akane Naito, seem to have chosen beef tongue-style food from Miyagi Prefecture. It's important to have a foreign atmosphere when traveling.

Despite the traffic jam caused by one-way restrictions, it took just under two hours to reach our lodging for the night, Surikamitei Otori in Iizaka Onsen, run by JA Kyosai, who is once again supporting our activities.

Shortly after getting off the highway at the Iizaka exit, Kaizu, a trombone player from Shirakawa, Fukushima Prefecture, said, "Oh, there's Toho Bank! We're finally back in Fukushima." That's right, this time we're touring the three prefectures where the band members are from, Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima.

Today we will have lunch in the Phoenix Room banquet hall, and in the afternoon you will be able to play music and practice on your own until 4pm.

Today's lunch box.

To the left of the younger Taguchi, who is also a violinist, is the older Takeda, who is holding a smartphone and talking about something. The sunglasses Takeda is holding are apparently earphones that connect via Bluetooth.
On the way there and back, Mr. Takeda from the Fukushima Secretariat sent me a photo via LINE of him trying it out.

Mr. Takeda exudes kindness even in sunglasses and a mask. Thank you for joining our staff even though your home is in trouble due to the damage caused by the earthquake.

Then, Ichikawa Mana, who had been away for two days due to her high school entrance exams and the results being announced, joined us with her mother.

We received the happy news that he was successfully accepted into the local Koriyama High School. Congratulations!

Once everyone has gathered, we look for someone who is wearing "a bold outfit" today.

I found a candidate in this generally dark-looking group of four.

Takumi Tomizawa, the percussionist of the group's graduate, graduated this year. "You might think it's a hard rock cafe, but...

SAVE THE PLANET

Let's save the earth. This is a certification for "people who wear statement clothing" based on the scale of the event.

Now, the afternoon is a fermata time when anyone who is tired can rest and anyone who wants to practice can do so.
"People practicing without stopping even during break time" - we got a ton of footage.

I was working in the hallway when this message was sent to me by Captain Tajima, who called me "adults working."

While some people were practicing hard, some people who had been unable to practice due to their instruments breaking down due to the dry weather in Morioka received some good news. Yutaka Watanabe, who runs the musical instrument store Brilliant in the Fukushima office, repaired their clarinets as an emergency measure.

From the left are the repairman, Yuki Nakayama, Erika Hiruta, and Shoka Hirono. I'm glad the instrument was fixed before the Tokyo show!

And then dinner.
As an expression of gratitude to JA Kyosai, who will be accommodating us tonight, and to all those who are supporting us, we asked Captain Tajima to be the one to call out "Itadakimasu!" together.

This year's 7th term member is violinist Komai Kokoro, a 6th grade elementary school student from Iwate Prefecture.

The meal was so luxurious that I was worried it might be too much for an elementary school student. Thank you very much.

During this tour, which started with a training camp just before the actual event, I had been concerned about the small amount of food the male members were eating, but then a tough guy appeared.

It seems that Shogo, the trumpet player, Tomizawa Mitsuo, served rice in the bowl of his violinist Takuya Ito, a classmate from his fourth year of university.
All I can say is, "Please eat it all carefully and don't leave any leftovers!"...

At that exact moment, strawberries were brought out on a plate.

We received a gift of strawberries grown at the family home of Mizuho Miura (2nd year university student), a percussionist from Kesennuma City, Miyagi Prefecture.

Mizuho explains about the Tochiotome and Akiotome varieties.
When it was time for dessert, what happened to that mountain of rice?

In another place, two boys wanted to have a speed eating contest to see who could eat the strawberries they were given. Well, that's what men do...

Today's "person wearing bold clothing" will have a six-strawberry eating contest against Hibino Makoto, a cellist from the year below.

After a delicious dinner, it was time to call out, "Thank you for the meal!"

Both are 7th-term students, violinist Tsuguyoshi Ota (from Miyagi prefecture, first year of junior high school) and percussionist Hiroko Onisawa (from Fukushima prefecture, sixth year of elementary school).

Many members are graduating this year, but we also have new generations joining us. I hope that the three members who called out for dinner will grow to amazing heights. They grow even without expectations.

As for me, I found something that looked like me in the hotel lobby.

Tomorrow we finally head to Tokyo.

For those attending the Tokyo performance at Suntory Hall, please look forward to it.