Mini concert by volunteers @ Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture

Saturday, January 14, 2017, 11:00 a.m.
It's below freezing in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture.

From the front, Sato Keita, Nakamura Yuto, Sato Hikari, Takahashi Risa, Hatakeyama Akane, Watanabe Masahiro, Hattori Miki, and Kato Kyohei.

The reason why they gathered here was because of the feelings they had discovered through their activities up until now. I think those feelings were summarized in the pamphlet that Nakamura-kun created to be distributed on the day.

"We place the highest priority on our awareness and sense of responsibility as an orchestra that is sent out from the disaster-stricken areas by disaster victims themselves, and we also place great importance on 'feeling close to the disaster-stricken areas.'" (Excerpt from the pamphlet distributed on the day)

The first volunteer activity of the year was a mini-concert held at the Ishinomaki Base, thanks to the generosity of many people, including the members of Caritas Japan Ishinomaki Base.

As soon as we arrived at the venue, we were treated to a lunch of oyakodon (chicken and egg rice bowls). Thank you very much!

After a pleasant lunch, final adjustments were made.

The mini concert then began at 2 p.m.

Amachan Opening Theme / Ito / Oborozukiyo / Haha to Kuraseba / Yae no Sakura Main Theme / Matsuri / Ringo no Uta / Kimi to Itsumademo / Kawa no Nagare no Youni / Furusato

The sheet music cover and TYO scarf used at the concert held at Tokyo Opera City in March last year were also used. The cat ears are a cute way to communicate with the audience.

Keita Sato handed flowers to the customers while saying, "I'm so happy." It was a surprise to make the customers happy. It was a big hit.

The approximately 30-minute mini-concert ended with a huge round of applause.
Some of the photos were taken in backlight, which may have made them look unsightly, but the sun started to shine as the concert started, and it was a very bright mini-concert. (Just an excuse for my poor photography skills.)

Before

After

The social gathering was then held in this cheerful atmosphere.

It was a free talk between the audience and the participants, transcending the boundaries of generations. During the talk, one of the audience members started singing.

Sing! Dance!
This was a folk song called "Dairyo Utaikomi."

At the Tohoku Youth Orchestra concert scheduled for March this year, they will be taking on a new challenge: performing folk songs.

The title of the event is "Three Tohoku Songs." Among them, "Tairyo Utaikomi" will be performed, and by chance, I will be able to hear this folk song sung by the local people in their live voices! What a blessing.

Thus, the first volunteer activity of the year came to a successful end.

Once again, I would like to thank Nakamura-san, Ishida-san, Nitta-san, Sato-san, and Hoshi-san from Ishinomaki for providing us with such a wonderful opportunity. Thank you to all the customers who came in the below freezing temperatures. It was an invaluable experience.

Finally, two things that made me happy.

Ao Nishino from the Tohoku Youth Orchestra came to listen.

The gifts were a delight, but the fact that the Tohoku Youth Orchestra is an organization of so many different ages and places of residence, and the fact that they came out to see us like this, made me realize once again how wonderful it is to be connected to them. Thank you, Nishino-san and your mother!

And another thing that made me happy.

After the social gathering was over and the guests had left, and we had finished cleaning up, one customer said, "I didn't make it in time." She had made the effort to bring a bouquet of flowers.

Among the participating members, several people started saying, "We have a little bit of time before we leave, so let's play!" "This feels like Tohoku Youth!" "The brass band members are going to brush their teeth, so let's start with a string piece!" "Let's go!"

The second part begins.

Mr. Sato, who is based in Ishinomaki, took me to Ishinomaki Station, and my six-hour stay in Ishinomaki came to an end. Thank you to all the volunteers who participated. I think it's wonderful that you were able to create this experience with your own efforts.

The baton will be passed on to the next group of volunteers. (Saturday, February 4th, Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture)