This is a report from the fourth and final day of the summer training camp.

On the morning of Thursday, August 10th, the Yaeyama Mainichi Shimbun and the Yaeyama Nippo, two newspapers from Ishigaki City, where the training camp was held, covered the exchange concert with Ishigaki Second Junior High School that had been held the previous day.

You can also read the Yaeyama Mainichi Shimbun article online here .

Practice began again today at 8am. Before that, I spoke to the 50 members who participated in this training camp to get them motivated. Why does the Tohoku Youth Orchestra exist and why do we hold a summer training camp? Here's a brief summary.

"This year marks the third year for the Tohoku Youth Orchestra, and our activities for the fiscal year begin with a summer training camp and conclude with a concert in March of the following year. In fact, the largest expense for our activities this fiscal year is the summer training camp. Traveling to Ishigaki Island in the peak summer season with an out-of-pocket expense of 40,000 yen is a bargain. It would normally be unthinkable. This is possible thanks to the donations of individuals and corporate sponsorship who sympathize with and support the Tohoku Youth Orchestra. I want you to feel that gratitude once again.
It would be a shame if the members who participated in such a summer camp were to feel unhappy or return home regretting that they had not come.
Why do we spend so much money on summer training camps? Everyone, born and raised in different places and of different ages, practices, sleeps, eats, and plays together, far from their hometowns. That's the depth of meaning. Sleeping with someone else actually takes a lot of courage. You might be killed while you're sleeping. You might be poisoned while eating together. You can't live together if you don't trust the other person. The sense of unity that comes from entrusting your life to such a person is something that can only be created at a training camp. The plane we're all on today and about to board might crash and we all die. That's life. You never know what's going to happen. But the good thing about a training camp is that the mutual trust that comes from being far away from your parents, sleeping and eating together, and sharing special experiences that you can't usually have is what makes it so great.
The Tohoku Youth Orchestra was born from Ryuichi Sakamoto's desire to support the reconstruction of the disaster-stricken areas as a musician. The coastal areas that were damaged by the tsunami are still recovering, and the effects of the Fukushima nuclear accident are still ongoing. It is important that everyone's activities are featured in the Okinawan newspapers and spread throughout Japan, and even to the world. The fact that everyone is performing energetically and wonderfully in the midst of the reconstruction from the Great East Japan Earthquake will encourage the local people and help people all over Japan and the world to remember 3/11. Therefore, please think of performing in the Tohoku Youth Orchestra as an activity that is "for someone" unlike other club activities or anything else. That "someone" will have their own thoughts. However, please do not forget that you are "doing it for someone". If you cannot do that, you can quit at any time. There is no point in being active as the Tohoku Youth Orchestra.
What's important is that we can all trust each other. Let's practice so that we can give a performance that we won't be ashamed of in front of the paying audience at the concert in March next year.
It is because of this trust that the Tohoku Youth Orchestra exists."

After that talk we took a break.

It was a real ice breaker. Mari Watanabe , who has been supporting the Tohoku Youth Orchestra from the Children's Music Revival Fund, the predecessor of the orchestra, and has been volunteering to host the concerts every year since 2012, brought us ice cream, just like she did at last year's Sapporo training camp.

Mari Watanabe loves sweets so much that she even has a serial called " Marie's Room " in the "Hobonichi Itoi Shimbun," so as a connoisseur, she is particular about the gifts she receives. This time, it was "Yokohama Bashamichi Ice Monaka" from Mari's local shop. I had the red bean flavor. Thank you very much!

On the final day, under the guidance of Toshio Yanagisawa, we practiced Stravinsky's "The Firebird" and Debussy's "La Mer" one measure at a time. It took time, but I think this is the quickest way to tackle difficult pieces.

Finally, Ms. Yanagisawa instructed, "I don't like being forced to do things like in the military, so I expect everyone to practice voluntarily. Please carefully review your scores several times before the next practice session." After this, Ms. Yanagisawa, along with Captain Akane Hatakeyama and trumpet section leader Yuto Nakamura, discussed personnel reinforcement for each section and the independent score reading sessions and practice sessions for each section.

The final activity at the training camp was,

Spring cleaning. With the goal of leaving the place "better than when we arrived," everyone divided up the work and worked on cleaning and tidying up.

We would like to express our gratitude to the director and staff of Ishigaki Youth Center, who took care of us over the four days.

Before I knew it, the director was holding a famous Aizu product, a kiagari koboshi doll, in his hand.

Apparently, Abe Hidekatsu (cello), a university student from Fukushima, had quietly handed them out to the people who had helped him during the camp. What a thoughtful guy! Even adults can't be that thoughtful. I'll buy them ice cream next time.

When we arrived at New Ishigaki Airport, we found ourselves in a long line to check in.

This is going to delay the flight departure time again...

After checking their luggage, the university students bought the Yaeyama Mainichi Shimbun newspaper in which their article had appeared and read it with glee.

Here are some photos of the arrival. The three elementary and junior high school students from Iwate, the furthest away from the camp, who had already left, and the clarinet duo from the National College of Music, Natsumi Kidoguchi from Kitakami, Iwate Prefecture, and Hiromasa Adachi from Aizu, who joined us this term, were practicing the peace sign at Haneda Airport.

When the trio arrived at Morioka Station, they took a commemorative photo with their mother in the same composition as when they departed on the first day .

In comparison, you can see that she is sunburned.

This is a picture of the arrival at Sendai Station.

Here is a snap shot with the large straw sandals of Fukushima Station in the background.

This year, as always, everyone returned home safely, just as they said at Haneda Airport at the end of the camp: "The field trip isn't over until you get home. The training camp isn't over until you get home."

As for me, on the way back, I returned the large instruments that I had rented at Haneda Airport with the other members of the orchestra.

Karin Hashimoto, a university student from Iwaki, who plays the double bass, and Hirotaka Yamazaki, a new member from this term. Even just carrying their own instruments is hard enough for both of them, but they were considerate of others and helped out. Yuta Tomizawa, the tuba player, said, "I wonder if there are any statistics that suggest that people who play large instruments become more dedicated."

Thanks to everyone, our 3-night, 4-day summer camp in Ishigaki Island went off without a hitch, although there were a few minor incidents that didn't amount to anything serious. Thank you to everyone in Ishigaki City who helped out and to everyone who supported the Tohoku Youth Orchestra!

To all members, please just keep practicing. Please practice with the words "motivation," "perseverance," and "courage" that were written in large letters on the wall of the training camp . As I said at the end of the practice session, when we are young and rebellious, we tend to make fun of cliched things. However, as we become adults, we come to understand the importance of cliched things. All we need is "motivation," "perseverance," and "courage." I'll post it again to finish.

See you at the first joint practice session in September @ Fukushima Minpo Hall in Fukushima City!