[Ryuichi Sakamoto Memorial Concert 2024] All dates concluded on Sunday, March 31st at Suntory Hall.

There is only one regular concert left in 2024.
Looking back, Suntory Hall will be the stage where I will perform together with director Ryuichi Sakamoto for the last time in March 2022.
Backstage, among the stickers of world-famous orchestras, there is a shining TYO logo sticker (designed by Nagashima Rikako ) that Manager Sakamoto had attached together with then-horn captain Tajima, holding his hand.

Did you find it?

This is the staging team for this tour, who will arrive at the venue earlier than the other members who stayed the night before near Tokyo and will help with setting up and other matters.

Thank you. How about 5 girls and 2 boys, "TYO's New Jeans and KinKi Kids"?

This seven-man boy group is represented by "Okada from the secretariat who is a fan of TYO's SEVENTEEN!"

Greetings and precautions before the dress rehearsal.

Although Director Sakamoto called himself a "very sunny man" when he was alive, I never expected that the final memorial performance would be the hottest ever recorded in March (in fact, it reached 28 degrees). I said something like, "Let's deliver the best performance ever recorded in TYO, in this wonderful hall, with gratitude to everyone at the venue, the people of Himi City who were watching the live viewing, and Director Sakamoto."

For the Tokyo performance, Rina Matsuda , who participated in the joint practice session in Fukushima City in February of this year, appeared as a special guest on the same stage as us, saying, "I would love to play with everyone." Moreover, she was cheering us on from behind. It was a great stimulus for the members. Thank you very much.

After the dress rehearsal, the names of 18 members were read out at the 9th graduation ceremony. Violinists Ayaka Kikuchi, Yuko Yamazaki, Masahiro Watanabe, Nanase Suzuki, Tomoki Oda, Momoka Tonobe, Takashi Chiba, double bass Yuri Tanno, Nana Kobari, flute Nanami Noguchi, oboe Remi Kanno, clarinet Risa Watanabe, Yuki Nakayama, horn Natsuki Senda, Shiori Tajima, trombone Yukiho Hashimoto, percussion Kaiki Asano, Mizuho Miura. Nine of them have been members since the first term. It is moving to think that they spent about half of their youth in the Tohoku Youth Orchestra.

I was glad that we were able to introduce the names of the 6th and 7th graduating members on stage, who were unable to hold a real graduation ceremony due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 16 alumni who rode with us this time presented the secretariat staff with flowers, and the current members also presented us with a message book. At this point, I was already tearing up.

Next, everyone took their annual commemorative group photo taken by photographer Ryuichi Maruo.

After all, it's the Suntory Hall stage.

On behalf of all the members participating in this performance, Kikuno Kanae presented Captain Kaizu Kota with a written message of gratitude.

The camera in the background is the team behind NHK's ETV special program, which will be broadcast in April.

A photo of concertmaster Watanabe Masahiro, who will be graduating this term, and guest soloist Narita Tatsuki.

Kokoro Komai, a member of TYO's one-person handicraft club, presented each staff member with an artificial flower. Thank you to her, who goes by the fancy name "Kokone."

For Mr. Takeda Manabu of the Fukushima office, I made a portrait origami instead of a portrait. By the way, the first day of this year's pre-camp started with Mr. Takeda's instruction. It happened about 10 days ago, but it feels like it's been about a month already.
Pictured on the right is Ono Seigen, a super sound engineer and sound engineer who loves photography.

I saw Seigen talking about Brazilian Portuguese with director Yasuhisa Shiozaki and "TYO's cream puff man" Yuji Arakawa (who is actually the writer of the music commentary in the pamphlets distributed at regular concerts), so I couldn't help but call out to him.

This trio of old men is, of course, "TYO's YMO"!

Today, a portrait of director Ryuichi Sakamoto can be seen backstage.

As I passed this portrait, a member of the group (a new high school freshman) gave a slight bow, which left a lasting impression on me, but I didn't press the shutter.

Now, this is the lobby of the hall before the doors open.

Yosuke Yamashita, who performed "Rhapsody in Blue" with us at our first regular concert, received a lavish bouquet of flowers from Miho Hazama, the arranger of "ETUDE," whose encore I vividly remember him engaging in an ad-lib battle with Director Sakamoto. Thank you very much. And JA Kyosai, who sponsors us every year , displayed a message board with everyone's enthusiasm.

These are two alumni volunteers helping out.

Ms. Soga and Ms. Ashina (older sister) came to visit us. We will call them "TYO's Asagaya Sisters."

This is a four-person team selling TYO original products.

Well, "TYO's Momoiro Clover Z"! Thanks to you, the expensive disaster prevention kit and the book "Resound, the Sound of Hope - The Future Begins with the Tohoku Youth Orchestra" have both sold out. Thank you for your purchases.

As the 2pm start time approached, today's shadow announcers began gathering.

From the right are Sato Kana-san, Kana Kotaro-kun, Captain Kaizu, Ichikawa Mana-san, and Maruyama Shu-kun (staff T designer).

Things are starting to get lively backstage.

Director Ryuichi Sakamoto taught the members the importance of enjoying music. This is a memorial performance, but it's fine.

Even the host, Mari Watanabe, was happily caught up in the action.

On the right side, we are surrounded by Nakano Shota, who is playing a burst of music that pays homage to Ryuichi Sakamoto's piano.

Thank you very much for being swept up in TYO's young wave!

Now the show begins.

We tried to calm the nervous maestro by taking photos.

Once the show starts, it's difficult to take photos of the stage at Suntory Hall. Today, the three commercial actors for the original products before the break, MISAMO from TYO, were there. The host, Mari, and former member and NHK close-up director Kikuchi were also making peace signs during work, but is that okay? Well, that's what they do.

Of course, the CDs are still on sale, and the books are available as e-books . Both will help support our activities, so please buy them!

There's still part 2 left, we're on break.

It appears that a message board with messages was presented to Narita.

Former teacher Nakamura now seems to be more likely to hold a selfie stick than a trumpet.

I wonder how many photos the members took during this concert tour. I'm sure they have created a lifelong treasure along with memories of Director Sakamoto.

Due to the site's system, you can only upload 30 photos per post, so time flies.

The audience filled the hall and gave a standing ovation, and everyone rose for the curtain call. Here and there, tears, tears, tears.

Thank you so much to everyone who surrounded the maestro!

Sayuri Yoshinaga says she looks forward to the messages she receives from the members every year.

I picked it up and couldn't wait to start reading the words.

With presenter Captain Kaizu.

Thanks to you, we received a lot of media coverage. Here are some of the reports.
"Yoshinaga Sayuri mourns Ryuichi Sakamoto, sheds tears after appearing at "God is Mean" memorial concert" (Daily Sports)
Sayuri Yoshinaga sheds tears thinking of Ryuichi Sakamoto in heaven, reciting a poem at a memorial concert: "I think he reached him" (Sponichi)
Yoshinaga Sayuri sheds tears thinking of her ally Sakamoto Ryuichi, "It's so frustrating that he was welcomed into heaven so soon" (Chunichi Sports)
Yoshinaga Sayuri sheds tears while reading "God is Mean" in honour of Sakamoto Ryuichi at Tohoku Youth Orchestra concert (Sports Hochi)
In memory of his former teacher Ryuichi Sakamoto, a band from the Tohoku disaster area will hold a concert, including a requiem for the earthquake disaster (Sankei News)
Sayuri Yoshinaga sheds tears at the Tohoku Youth Orchestra memorial concert for Ryuichi Sakamoto, director of the orchestra: "Sakamoto-san is here" (Nikkan Sports)
Ryuichi Sakamoto's youth orchestra holds memorial concert, with Sayuri Yoshinaga reciting a poem (Mainichi Shimbun)
Ryuichi Sakamoto's memorial concert: Disaster-hit orchestra learns from him (47News)
Ryuichi Sakamoto's memorial concert: Performers from disaster-hit areas who taught him perform, and Sayuri Yoshinaga also appears (Sanspo)
Ryuichi Sakamoto's Tohoku Youth Orchestra Viewing Event in Himi City (NHK Online)
Three months have passed since the Noto Peninsula earthquake... A band formed in response to the Great East Japan Earthquake holds a concert in Himi City (FNN Prime Online)
Prayers for recovery resonate in Himi - Live broadcast of Tohoku Youth Orchestra performance, 800 applauders from Toyama and Ishikawa (47News)
This is a long 8-minute news video : Sayuri Yoshinaga "tearfully recites" a poem dedicated to her ally at the Ryuichi Sakamoto memorial concert (TV Asahi News).
Ryuichi Sakamoto's band sends cheers from eastern Japan to disaster-stricken areas of Noto (Asahi Shimbun Digital)

Additionally, here is a video news of about 10 minutes. Ryuichi Sakamoto Memorial Concert Captain sheds tears during performance "It's all part of music" (NTV News)

This Tokyo performance was also the first step for the Tohoku Youth Orchestra to "no longer be on the receiving end of support, but to also become a supporter."

At the beginning of the concert, Miura Mizuho, who was a victim of the Kesennuma earthquake when she was a third-grader in elementary school, hesitated to deliver a message of encouragement based on her own experience to the 800 people who had come to watch the live viewing at Himi City Arts and Culture Center. Miura, who had escaped the tsunami and narrowly escaped death, had been wondering whether she should be alive and had continued to blame herself. However, through her activities with the Tohoku Youth Orchestra, she began to think, "I should be alive, too." I understood her hesitation as wondering whether she could actually say words that would cheer up those affected by the Noto Peninsula earthquake, and wondering whether her words might be imposing on them. I also felt that this feeling of hesitation is important even if I become a supporter in the future. I also thought that director Ryuichi Sakamoto would sympathize with this modest attitude.

During the performance, Miura struck the clappers as he always does, producing a clear, straight sound that echoed throughout Suntory Hall. I'm sure that sound reached the audience in Toyama and Ishikawa prefectures.

Among the five people leaving Suntory Hall with bright smiles on their faces is Miura Mizuho, who will be joining the workforce starting tomorrow. Please help nominate and train the next "Hyoshiki striker"!

Thanks to you, the Tohoku Youth Orchestra's Director Sakamoto Memorial Concert 2024 was successfully completed.

During the curtain call, the words that were projected on the screen were,
"Director Sakamoto, please continue to watch over us."

During the tour, alumnus Yuto Nakamura, who was skillfully using a selfie stick, is a Catholic elementary school teacher and a devout Christian. When it was his turn to get off during the shoot, he came up to me and said, "Did you know? Today, the 31st, is Easter." "Oh, so today is Easter for Manager Sakamoto."

I hope that we can all gather together again next March to reminisce about 3/11 and remember Director Ryuichi Sakamoto at the Sound Festival.

Finally, let me ask for your support.
Donations can be made through the donation platform Syncable's website, and from February of this year , you can also donate using T-Points through Yahoo! Online Donations .

We appreciate your continued support for the Tohoku Youth Orchestra.