It was hot in the gymnasium. Preconcert gathering was short lived, but very touching with Eric’s devotion on quantum uncertainty. The gym was packed from front to back with students sitting from front to back, teachers maneuvering through the organized throng had difficulty from the density of the audience.

The Utsnomyia band was first in our concert and played their hearts out. In every song they played was an intense energy woven through each song, though it was shadowed by reservation. Every song just kept getting better and better. First was a more traditional concert band, followed by a pepper version. Third was the fastest Spain as I can recall ever hearing that was right.

The 4th piece was like pep band all over with power brass and marching percussion. The song evolved into a rock esq concert with the intensity and energy. Then even faster phantom of the opera and two dancing teachers that joined in at the very end of the final song. By the end of the concert I was fired up, just like the closer of a rock concert, and they were only the first of 3 bands today.

The Wind Ensemble had a hard act to follow up with differing musical purposes and cultural intentions with our pieces. The students were very receptive of our selections and in awe of Dr. Wachmann, Garrett and the clarinet section on their solo pieces.

What I think had the greatest impact on the school was the joint concert. It’s one thing for an unknown ensemble to come in and give a concert, it is an entirely different story when they sit side by side with students and perform with them. This had a more lasting impact on the Sakuskin students than other performance options we could have done. Takaragima brought back the same rock concert energy from earlier into the students and pumped up us beleaguered college students for Stars and Stripes Forever. I feel our traditional closing songs had some small impact on our high school ensemble friends as it is a very unique opportunity for a non-ensemble member to be a part of form the performers perspective. While it did not heighten the songs for me, I am very happy to have shared an important tradition on with them as they are sharing their homes with us and their traditions.

There are many ways to learn about a new culture. One way that we experienced today was through observation and participation in calligraphy and archery classes at Sakushin Gakuin, the high school in Utsonomiya.

We were split into two groups. My group went to a calligraphy class first. We had been in a calligraphy class previously in Ichicawa, so we all had an idea of what we were doing. However, this time we had all new characters to draw.

Calligraphy is the art of writing kanji (Chinese characters) and kana (Japanese syllabary characters. It was introduced to the Japan introducedaby either Korea or China in the 5th century. We used a fude (brush) dipped in ink to draw the symbols on a special paper (hanshi).

It was really hard to commit to only using one stroke, because I wanted to go back over my lines to make them perfect. Some people really excelled!

For me, calligraphy is really relaxing. You are extremely focused on every mark and movement the brush is making. It goes slowly, but results in something meaningful, as well as an excellent souvenir. We even got one of our characters laminated!

Calligraphy in Japan is important because at one time, writing was the only way to keep records. Today, it’s more used in special ceremonial occasions, such as writing New Year’s greeting cards, and less for everyday practical situations. It’s a required part of elementary education: to teach students how to use the brush and create the characters, as well as to learn the characters. In junior and senior high school, it is an elective. it was an amazing experience and I feel so lucky to have been able to learn about this beautiful art form.

The next class we went to was archery. Archery was introduced to the Japanese by the Chinese in the sixth century. It was first for warfare, but after guns were developed, it became a form of body and mind training, and is now a very well-known martial art form.

It is important to remember that the target is your opponent, not another player, and that it is not about competition. It is about physical, spiritual, and moral development. It is to be enjoyable by oneself, and can be enjoyed by people of all ages, because the bows can come in all sizes and strengths. However, the bow is typically 2.21 meters long and made of laminated strips of bamboo. There is a hand grip at least two-thirds of the way down from the top, and the bow is lacquered. The arrows are made of a bamboo shaft, and then eagle, crane, or pheasant tail feathers and steel tips. The quivers can be very ornamented.

The first thing the archery students did was give us a demonstration. They gracefully moved through several poses, before releasing their arrow at very small targets. All but one arrow struck.

Then, it was our turn! It took a few attempts, and we were much closer with much bigger targets, but almost everyone hit somewhere on a target.

Overall, it was very fun and a very neat experience to be able to participate in these activities with some amazing students helping us out!

After a long day full of adventures, which included touring the Sakushin Gakuin High School where we participated in Japanese archery and calligraphy classes and also had a combined concert with the students there, all of the members of the Wind Ensemble were ready for some well needed rest. Although, we still had to meet with our homestay families and head home for the evening. It’s always a nerve racking time when going into somebody else’s home, especially in a different country, but we’ve already been with this family for one night so the nerves aren’t as high.

All Japanese homes are different but most include an entryway, kitchen, bathroom, shower room, washitsu, and 1-2 bedrooms. The entryways in Japanese homes, called genkan, is a small room where you take off your shoes. After you take off your shoes you point them towards the door and step on the higher platform. Here is where you put on slippers before entering the house. This is done to avoid damaging the hardwood floors that are within the house. Japanese kitchens include the majority of the same appliances used in American kitchens, but the overall size of the kitchen is much smaller compared to America. Bathrooms in Japan are very different compared to American bathrooms. In America the shower, tub, toilet, and sink are all in the same room, but in Japan the toilet has its own room while the tub and shower are in another. Sometimes the sinks in Japan are on top of the toilet and only work after you flush. Don’t worry, the water that comes up from the toilet is clean! Other times the sinks are separate from where the toilet and the tub/shower are. Japanese homes also have a room that is called washitsu which is similar to a living room in America. Washitsu’s are typically unfurnished and serve as a family room by day and bedroom by night. Doing laundry in Japan is quite different from America. Majority of Japanese homes only have a small washer, usually found outside of the toilet, and do not include dryers. Without dryers, they hang their clothes outside or inside of the shower room which sometimes includes a drying system within the ceiling. As you can see, Japanese and American homes have a lot of similarities but also many differences (Wikipedia).

My homestay experiences thus far in Japan have all been great! My first homestay was when we were in Ichikawa for two nights and was my first homestay in a Japanese home, so you can imagine the nerves I was feeling. Despite my nerves, the family was very nice and welcomed me with open arms. Their home was very small and only had 2 bedrooms, toilet, shower room, kitchen, genkan, and washitsu, which is where I slept. They also didn’t speak much English, which was scary at first, but they knew certain words and pieced them together to figure out what I was asking. This was my first homestay family! Then, my next homestay is the one that I am currently staying at, and we are here in Utsunomiya for three nights. My host parents are very lovely people, but they speak no English at all. Usually something like this would scare me, but because of my previous homestay I learned to use technology as my best friend to help us communicate. Even though we are talking more to our phones rather than each other, we still are having a great time! Currently, my host mom and I are at her sisters restaurant, which their family built themselves, and are having dinner. All the food here is homemade and is very delicious! Hear are some pictures of what we ate! Tomorrow we have an entire day to spend with our host families, so we will go to Nikko and get to see more of the Japanese culture! Japan has been the ultimate trip of a lifetime for me and I’m so grateful that I get to spend it with my Wind Ensemble family! Less than 2 weeks before tour is over. Where did the time go?? See you before we know it America!

Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Housing_in_Japan

The bus ride from the Ashikaga Heritage Site to the Sakushin High School seemed to be like many others.  All of the students loaded onto the bus and either find a stationary seat or in the case of the coach busses in Japan, a seat in the center isle. Once the bus was moving however, Dr. Hancock announced this bus ride would not be like the others, but we would get a chance to sing karaoke on the bus.

It so happens that karaoke is so popular on Japan that the coach busses all come equipped with two built in karaoke TVs, a microphone that reaches the entirety of the bus, and thousands of song choices.

Songs selected by members of the wind ensemble included “Dancing Queen”, “Bohemian Rhapsody”, and “Country Roads.”  The students has a blast passing the mic and jamming out.

When we finally arrived in Utsunomiya, we were greeted outside by music!  Both brass and saxophones represented the Sakushin high school band with their pieces.

Introducing us to the school was Mr. Hideyuki Mihashi who arranged our visit to Utsunomiya.  Following a brief information session about Utsunomiya highlighting the city’s fame for its dumplings, gyoza, all of the students rushed off for a joint rehearsal between the Wartburg College Wind Ensemble and the Sakushin High School band. Several joint pieces were rehearsed for the two upcoming concerts on May 10 and May 12.  I cannot wait to spend several more days in this wonderful city, trying many varieties of gyoza and performing two more of our concerts now on the middle of our tour.

Today as we traveled from Ichikawa to Utsunomiya, we had the opportunity to make a few stops along the way. These stops allowed us to pick up lunch at a gas station, to dye a small cloth with indigo, and to visit Ashikaga Gakko.

Gakko means school in Japanese meaning Ashikaga was a school we visited. It wasn’t just any school though; Ashikaga is the oldest university in Japan. The school began teaching Confucianism over 2,500 years ago. I didn’t initially realize how long the school had been open. Looking back now while writing this, the age and importance of Ashikaga really hit me.

The grounds of the Ashikaga School Heritage Site were very pretty. We entered through two gates. The Nyutoku Mon Gate was first. Essentially, nyutoku means enter virtue in English, so the gate served as a welcome to the school.

The second gate was called the Gakko Mon Gate. This gate served as the “school gate” (japanvisitor.com). Once we were through the second gate we were inside the school grounds. We saw saw the library, Kanafuri Matsu (annotated pine tree), the hojo (where classes are held), the shuryo (where students loved), the gardens, and many other buildings.

Having the opportunity to visit historical sites like Ashikaga Gakko is something I am trying not to take for granted while in Japan. There is so much to learn about the Japanese culture and I believe I got to do a little bit of that today. It was very interesting to compare the small dorm building of Ashikaga with what we live in at Wartburg. The Ashikaga dorms are really simplistic in comparison with the Wartburg dorms.

I also really liked how the hojo, where classes were held, had such an open floor plan and was connected to the outdoors. I wish our classrooms at Wartburg were more like the hojo.

Following our time at the Ashikaga School Heritage Site, we finished our travels to Utsunomiya where we had a combined rehearsal with the Sakushin High School Band. After rehearsal we met our new host families. I am very excited for the experiences staying with a host family will provide me within the next few days!

Today we had the great honor of sharing the stage with the Ichikawa Gakuen Brass Band Club. The club itself is made up of both Junior high and high school students. Yesterday and today we practiced as a group, and then we performed a joint concert together Wednesday afternoon. Each band performed three individual pieces and then we came together to play four more pieces!

We began by playing Melodious Thunk, Riffs for Lenny, and Slava, afterwards it was time for the Ichikawa band to play. Some of their selections included Big band showcase and The Galaxy Express 999, which are both popular repertoire for Japanese music. We then all played the Japan National Anthem, Kimigayo, directly followed by the Star Spangled Banner. It was fun to share the honor of playing both countries’ National Anthem right next to each other. You could feel the power and pride that was felt in both Japanese and American anthems alike. We then played a piece called Spring March which is one of the top selections for Japan’s band repertoire, followed by John Phillip Sousa’s, Stars and Stripes Forever.

Before Stars and Stripes, both WE and the Ichikawa Gauken School showed their respect for one another by the gesture of a gift. It was very thrilling to see and be apart of the interaction that was able to take place to make our ties a little more stronger!

Dr. Hancock being presented a gift from the Ichikawa Gakuen Brass Band Club, along with Dr. Wachmann also being presented a gift.

After the concert both bands were invited to a reception. There we celebrated and shared laughs, joy, and, of course, popular Japanese snacks. It was a joy to converse with the high school students and just have fun on our last evening in Ichikawa. I loved getting to know the students and have some fun with them at the same time before we said goodbye.

Group trombone selfie – Ichikawa and Wind Ensemble Trombone section

This experience has forever made an impact on my life, and I will always have fond memories of the students that I now call friends. These students are so amazing and bright and I am very honored to have had the opportunity to get to know them. I loved talking with them about all kinds of subjects ranging from anything to anything, and making memories while doing it!

Our first interaction with Japanese students was a success and we will come home with so many amazing stories of our time here in Ichikawa.

Wind Ensemble Portion:

Ichikawa portion of the concert –

Shared portion:

Today, the Wind Ensemble went to school with the Ichikawa Gakuen high school students! Many of us have been staying in host families with these high schoolers, myself included. I have two host sisters, Kokoro and Nagomi. They are very sweet and taught me how to use everything from the automatic toilet to the train station! My host family is learning English, so they love to speak and practice with me. To me, it’s amazing how with some help from Google translate, we are able to have many meaningful conversations even though we have such different experiences. It shows just how small the world really is, and how kindness and a desire to understand each other and connect is a universal language.

At the beginning of the day, teachers took us on a tour of the school. We went through an English class and a math class in the junior high and then a biology class and an exam prep lecture in the high school. The students here love to say hi to us and wave a lot! We also went into a high school physical education class, where the girls played volleyball and the boys basketball. We couldn’t wait to join in their fun!

After this tour, we learned how to make chopsticks and took calligraphy classes as well. The chopsticks seemed to have simple instructions, but I somehow ended up with one stick narrower than the other.

We used a special tool that has different levels for the wood to lay on, so when we shaved it down, it made a rounder point on one end and stayed square on the other.

Once we made chopsticks, then we went to a calligraphy course. I am left-handed, so this proved to be very challenging! I even tried to see if I could get the hang of it with my right hand, but the strokes take time and practice and patience. We all started with the word “eternal”, and then branched into words we chose from a list. I also wrote “star”, “beauty”, “road”, and “love”. I appreciated how particular each stroke had to be, even if I could not quite make the same effect. Each word had a specific order to draw in, and you could only make each stroke once. Overall, I didn’t quite have the patience and attentiveness to detail necessary to make my words perfect, but I loved the opportunity and experience.

After class, we ate lunch with the high school students. I found my host sister at lunch and was able to talk with her and some of her friends. She had an English vocabulary test today that she was studying for at lunch. Her textbook is shown below.

Following lunch, we went back to the auditorium for a combined rehearsal with the high schoolers, as we will have a combined concert with them this afternoon. My host sister is in the band and plays tenor saxophone, and it’s so absolutely wonderful to be able to get to know her and then get to make music with her and the rest of the students. It’s truly an unexplainable feeling to connect through music and know that we have been practicing on opposite sides of the world for this exact moment and this concert. This is my favorite part of tour. Not only to we get to play for them, but we get to play with them. I can’t wait to put on a wonderful concert with the Ichikawa Gakuen high schoolers. Stay tuned for more to come!

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

This morning, we left our hotel in Tokyo and headed to Ichikawa. As I look back on my time in Tokyo, a few things especially stand out.

All of the people I have met in Japan are extremely kind and welcoming. Although the adjustment to a completely new culture and new language has been challenging, the kindness I have experienced makes this place feel close to home.

Another aspect of Tokyo that I could not help but notice is how much people care about their dogs. I was pleasantly surprised multiple times when I realized that the strollers pedestrians were pushing were occupied by small dogs instead of human children. Based on my observations, it is also quite rare for Japanese dogs to not be wearing clothing. The first dog I witnessed in Japan was proudly sporting a backpack and a sweater. I do not know what that dog was carrying in his backpack, but I do know that he was being a very good boy.

My most fulfilling Japanese dog experience occurred yesterday when I met a corgi named Richard Gere outside of a shrine in Kamakura. His owner proudly told us, “There is an American named after my dog.” Although our time together was short, Richard Gere and I became close friends.

As we move on from Tokyo to experience the rest of Japan, I hope to make more canine and human friends. This trip has already given me enough memories to last a lifetime, and I can’t wait to build more relationships with people (and dogs) in this beautiful country.