Today, we wrapped up our time in Tokyo, traveled to Ichikawa, and finally got a chance to “be a band” again! After a short bus ride, we arrived at Ichikawa Gakuen High School where we were fortunate enough to spend the day while being welcomed with open arms. Ichikawa is located approximately 25 kilometers from where we were staying in Tokyo. It’s a city located in the Chiba Prefecture of Japan with a population of nearly 500,000 people, and it’s the home to several temples, parks, and museums!

Being able to experience a Japanese high school and interact with students was one of my most anticipated parts of the trip, and actually getting to be there today was thrilling and inspiring! We spent a bit of time setting up our equipment and practicing as a band for the first time in nearly a week, and shortly after the Ichikawa Gakuen students finished their classes and joined us. It was so exciting to be able to interact with the other percussionists and attempt to pass the language barrier, and once we began playing music, the barrier seemed to disappear completely. Dr. Hancock kept stressing throughout rehearsal that, in today’s rehearsal, we were not two band and two cultures – we were one. We began our combined rehearsal with the playing of The Star Spangled Banner and Kimigayo, and finally having a chance to play the national anthems of both of our countries in the presence of Japanese students was incredibly humbling.

Later on in rehearsal, I had an opportunity to sit in the auditorium and watch/listen to a combined rehearsal of Stars and Stripes Forever, and it was so cool to see how quickly we came together and actually became one band. Following our combined rehearsal, we had a chance to listen to the high school band rehearse and wow they were good! Hearing all of their upbeat songs and seeing how much fun they had on stage was definitely a highlight of the trip so far.

After all of the rehearsal wrapped up, we departed for our first home stays of the tour. Nathan Stephany and I went with our host family and had such a wonderful night talking, learning from each other, and eating some delicious food! Their hospitality was such a great reminder of how small the world can be and how, even thousands of miles away from home, it’s so easy to find more similarities than differences in this new culture we’re experiencing!

Reference: https://www.britannica.com/place/Ichikawa