Concert #9 at Tenryu School

On Thursday 12/22, we traveled to Tenryu, a small mountainous town about an hour's bus ride from the Shizuoka hotel.

This was a very special school (enrollment: 120) for students Grades 1-12 with various disabilities.  Some were physical, while others were mental or behavioral.  Studies were in small classes or even one-on-one, and our pre-concert tour showed their facilities to have a computer lab, learning kitchen, art studio, instrumental music room, several libraries, science lab, and many more hands-on educational facilities.  Traveling through the hallways, we witnessed extraordinary artwork and purposeful socialization exercises.

Most students attended for up to three months, and then returned to their home schools.  Some students live on campus (all high school students did), while others came only for the day.  There were also 20 or so students in an off-campus hospital, recuperating for surgeries and such.

The bus couldn't reach the school, so the teachers used their personal cars to transport our equipment from a nearby larger parking lot.  It rained really hard that day, too!

The gymnasium transformed into a concert hall with a large carpet laid over the hardwood floor.  In true Japanese style, we were asked to remove our "outside" shoes and use their "inside" slippers.  This worked for a while, especially when traveling over rain-soaked walkways.  However, American feet appear to be different sizes than Japanese feet, and most of us opted to use our stocking feet during the performance.

We were there on high school students' parent day, and so the audience included them as well.  Only the high school students attended the concert.  Students in the hospital watched the concert by video feed.

Afterward, all Sonos members had an hour-long Q&A session with most of the teachers, where we were able to share about our work and hear more about theirs.  Both teachers and students were especially riveted by the teamwork and cooperation needed to perform music using handbells.  For students with social issues, this was a perfect example for the teachers to use in future lessons.

Roaming Sans Ringing

As a Sonos groupie, my duties are limited to being on time when the group travels, moving a share of baggage, and hopefully being a positive influence. When Sonos approaches the stage, I step back, and sometimes step away with freedom to explore.

For example, during our visit to Kurashiki I was able to visit the the old town Bikan area adjoining the concert hall. It contains many 17th century wooden buildings and was a beautiful find.  Here are some views...

A tree-lined, koi-filled canal and shops in the evening.

A shop dedicated to decorator masking tape. Otaku indeed. 

An army of Nippers listen to their Master's Voice. 

Quiet shopping street.

A view of modern Kirashiki. Sonos is plying their trade in the concert hall in the distance. 

A chance dinner with Noriya

Jan and I went in search of dinner on Wednesday 12/21 in Hamamatsu.  A good source is always the Japanese train stations.  Unlike those in the USA, Japanese train stations have stores so you can shop on your way to/from work (groceries, clothing, medicines, convenience items, restaurants, and more).  Often times, the train stations are right next to theatres and concert halls too.

So we wound up at the Hamamatsu train station, seated at the counter in a noodle shop (because we really like Japanese food, and I love the udon!).

The lady next to us was there alone, and spoke up when we seated next to her.  She spoke very good English (but with a heavy accent), and was great company.

Her name was Noriyo, and we became instant friends, conversing for about an hour in the restaurant while eating veggies and pork over udon noodles.  She was having eel, and insisted that we try it too.  It's hard to refuse an insistant Japanese lady!

Noriyo told us all about her life, and Jan and I were finally able to get some of our lingering questions about Japanese culture answered.  She was a single mother, and her son (age 30) was searching for a job, while she held a position as food critic for grocery store suppliers.  She told us of the difficulties she had as a single mother, and how she wished she could meet a nice Japanese man to marry (but it wasn't so easy, she said).  Noriyo traveled a lot when a young lady, and fell for a man in Pakistan while living/working there.  She became pregnant, but returned home to tend to her ailing parents.  Her mother died before the baby was born, and her sick father lived only a short time longer.  Caring for an infant, handling her parents' estate, and trying to work consumed all her time.  When she contact her boy's father, the religious differences and distance kept them from reuniting.  Life went on, and she downsized the big family house to an apartment closer to work.  When her boy became old enough to possibly apprentice work with his father, Noriyo searched for him in Pakistan, only to find that he had passed away, leaving her with absolutely no family members in either country.  However, she is an outgoing and interesting person, and we found her to be delightful.

We invited Noriyo to attend the next day's concert, and she came!  It was great getting to know her.

Hamamatsu Instrument Museum

On Wednesday 12/21, our travel day had us hopping two trains to get from Kochi to our hotel in Hamamatsu.

Arriving in the late afternoon, several of us found that the local instrument museum still had an hour left before closing.  Quickly, we hustled on foot through the city, discovering that Hamamatsu is quite a musical hub.  In the short distance, we passed businesses like Kawai Pianos, Yamaha Instruments, and a large complex hosting the musical theatre and concert halls (yes - plural).

Wow!  The first room hosted instruments from Asia, and it was jam packed with highly decorated gongs, drums, gamelan, plus things you blow and things with strings.

 

Other rooms hosted instruments from other origins.  This is a Yamaha alto saxophone, exploded to showcase all of its parts separately.

I really wanted to play everything I saw in every room.  However, this was not allowed UNTIL we found the children's room.  There, everything could be banged, blown, shaken, and bowed.

Jan stands next to a row of instruments actually made by Adolph Sax himself.  This is just the saxophones, but there were more of his creations too.

Jan enjoyed all the variety of clarinets in all sizes and with unusual names.

He really REALLY wanted to try this little bitty clarinet!

So much to see in only an hour!  As we raced through the museum, I kept snapping pictures so I could study them later.  Here are some of the recorder-type instruments, plus an ocarina.

In the brass aisle, many instruments surprised me.  The front one with many bells was on a rotating pedestal.  It appeared that each tube had its own bell.

Also notice the unusual trombone (and euphonium on the left).  I wish I had time to ask questions!

This trombone would alternately scare and fascinate small children.  In the lower left, you can see the top of a double-belled euphonium.

Here came the bassoon group.

I've heard of serpents before, which are an early double-reed instrument.  Since it had no keys, I'm supposing that its finger holes meant that its range was smaller.  Still impressive, though!

I barely got to see the early and creative forms of the string family before the museum closed.  But I did capture a picture of this early attempt to amplify the violin sound using metal megaphones, instead of the traditional wooden violin body.

Train from Kochi

I know I already posted about the train ride going TO Kochi, but it really was a scenic trip.  This time I was ready with my camera, but it was still difficult to photograph the sights as they flew by from the fast-moving diesel train.

This mountainous town appeared from behind a hillside, and we slowed long enough for a decent picture.  I liked the terraced homes, which often surprised us at different bends along the way.  The road on the high right has a yellow warning sign that said, "11% grade."

Often times, I felt like I was back home, traveling alongside the Yuba River.

There was a road for cars too, sometimes running alongside the train tracks that we were using.

I wished that the sun was as bright on this stretch as it was when we first saw it on the Kochi-bound trip, a few days before.  When we broke away from the mountains and the waterways came into view, it was clear who were tourists and who were locals.  All tourists gave an involuntary gasp of wonder (all together), stood up in the train car, and began hopping from one side's windows to the other.  Although a bit foggy, I still managed to snap a few pictures of the shipyards, beaches, resort hotels, and islands from on the train bridge.

This picture shows the bridge we are on, as it makes a bend.  It also has a reflection of the train car seats, which were very comfortable and quite spacious on the legroom.

Concert #8 in Kochi

Concert #8 on Tuesday 12/20 at Orange Hall in Kochi.

Mt. Godai, Shikurinji Temple, and Harimaya

With more time on our 12/19 day off, Jim, Jan, and I took a city bus to nearby Mt. Godai and Chikurinji Temple.

Mt. Godai's observation deck also featured a restaurant, plus it was lunch time.  While waiting for our food, Jim serenaded the staff and other customers with some Chopin.

The views from Mt. Godai's restaurant and lookout decks were spectacular.  Here, we overlook the city of Kochi, plus its many waterways and bridges that lead out into the Pacific Ocean.

That's the Pacific Ocean in the distance.

We enjoyed the views, as did the spiders.

On our return to town, Jan and I stopped at the Harimaya Bridge, a local landmark made famous by a Japanese children's song (much like London Bridge is to us).  The story says that a monk fell in love with the tinker's daughter, and they used this bridge to meet.  Once discovered, the monk was excommunicated and ran off with his true love, and the love story became legend.

Every hour, the Harimaya Clock puts on a show for about 7 minutes, complete with a lovely tune which I believe is the Harimaya Bridge song.

The first Kochi landmark to appear is the Kochi Castle.

Meanwhile, the historic trollies run by.  Each one in Kochi seems to have been imported from a different place (or country?), as they were all unique.

Next came the dancing girls.  This is the only Kochi reference I didn't understand.  We did see a lot during our time in Kochi, but we couldn't see everything!

The third landmark to appear was Mt. Godai plus bridges and waterways.

On the right side came the Harimaya Bridge.

And then the two lovers walked the bridge to meet.  So sweet!

These two were pictured on posters, buses, and all over.  They must be some beloved creation of Kochi too, but I don't know what.