Report of the Band 58th Regular Concert and the 118th Class Retirement Ceremony

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Text and pictures by Rei’ichirō Fukuno (Wikipedia)

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This article is a report, mainly presented in photographs, on the band 58th Regular Concert, held at Biwako Hall in Shiga Prefecture on March 27 and 28, 2022, and the 118th Class Retirement Ceremony, held on the 29th.

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The Band 58th Regular Concert:

I was invited by Kaneshiro-sensei to attend the 58th Regular Concert, held at Biwako Hall in Shiga Prefecture, on March 27 and 28, 2022 for a two-day performance. This alone was a great honor, but I was also invited to the backstage, and I was able to talk to and take photos of the members before and after the show.

As you know, television broadcasters were also on site for coverage, and there were also journalists famous for their work at major newspaper publishers. I have been working as a writer for over 40 years, but my experience is that venues tend to prioritize media outlets with a large number of viewers or readers. It’s only natural that the director of a TV station with several million viewers swaggers about, and famous journalists with hundreds of thousands of readers are given top priority. So I try to stay out of the way of the big shots and let them do their work!

Kaneshiro-sensei told me many times, “It’s very encouraging to the students to know that overseas fans watch them.” Luria (118th leader of the clarinet team), who played Maria in “West Side Story“, and Moppi (118th trumpet, born in Hiroshima), who played Maria in “The Sound of Music” practiced hard and sang a solo in English, telling me they did it “for the fans watching from overseas.”

Incidentally, the choice of those musicals was made by the students. Kaneshiro-sensei proposed, “What’s wrong with doing a musical?” And with that, they had decided on a theme. I felt that their wish for world peace is subtly embedded in this choice of the two musicals. Cha-pu-te (118th leader of the alto saxophone), who said “I’d like to work in music and entertainment in the future” served as the general director, neatly preparing the musicals in a short amount of time. Itani-sensei is effusive, describing her as “possessing a genius level of talent.”

I saw the performance on Day 1 live, with the show in the hall being truly amazing. That was particularly so for the seated performance. I never expected it to have such an impact. Two people who appeared to be graduates sat in front of me and leaned in closely, listening intently, then gave a large round of applause.

One things I was personally quite pleased about was that Fujishige-sensei (legendary Band Director of Seika Girls’ High School band (1979-2015) and Kwassui High (2015-2021)) was seated two seats down from me, so we were able to exchange business cards and say hello. He was very impressed by the fact that there is a KT fan site overseas. Moreover, he was effusive about their performance abilities. Fujishige-sensei is a very elegant and modest gentleman.

What you likely saw on the live stream on the second day covered only up to when the 118th kids each got a bouquet of flowers and left the stage. This year the mini “Send-off”-concert held nearly every year in the lobby after the main event was canceled. The 118th kids gathered in the hallway leading to the dressing room to take a group photo, then returned to the black-floored backstage being used to store personal belongings, where they joined the first- and second-year students again.

Each instrument team broke off into groups and they said their goodbyes in their orange uniforms. What really struck me was that the ones with bleary, tear-streaked eyes were largely the first- and second-year students.

The following day, several 119th and 120th kids said, “Fukuno-san, we really want copies of the photos you took yesterday.” The event did not have a dedicated time for guests to send-off the performers, so they didn’t have their parents or friends on hand to take photos for them. So these were the only commemorative photos of the group in uniform. I bundled all the photos I took and airdropped them to Itani-sensei.

Here is the trombone team. As I took a photo of them in tears, they noticed, turned around, and struck a pose with a smile. This is really in the spirit of KT’s audience-oriented interactions and what they do for their fans. The leader, Pollon (far left) cried so much as to be a wreck. The second from the right is the 119th Drum Major, Creta, and the fourth is Yadoco from the 118th, an ultra-skilled manga artist.

Colour Guards unit. Leader of the 119th is on the far left.

Tuba Team. Front row centre is 118th team leader Melopy.

Members of the 118th clarinet corps. Centre is 118th team leader Luria.

Members of the saxophone team. Front row, far right is 118th leader Popple, second from right is Satis from 118th Marching Composition Team (kosei-kakari). Next to her is alto sax leader and director of the two musicals Cha-pu-te, and centre is 118th Student Conductor Omder.

Trumpet team. Front row, far left is Vice President Kiropy, next is 118th leader Taradon.

Following an order from Livace, the main members of West Side Story congregated. The fourth from left is Luria, in the role of Maria. She joined the club because she was given a nickname by her senpai, and felt she couldn’t refuse, but now, she became a star during the last stage number. The singing for the Boys track and dancing were excellent, too.

Here is the percussion team. They saw off Rany, Vice President of the 118th, who gave an outstanding performance with the guest drummer Tsugio Ano on the first day of the regular concert. At far left is the 119th Student Conductor, Pooh-maru.

All 118th. Livace, front row centre, was very popular with the members and I think that he was the spiritual leader of 118th.

I’m sure this image of her will remain in my memory forever.

After that, the students changed into their school uniform, packed up their instruments, and exited the hall via a side entrance at 10:30pm – yet outside, in front of the hall, their fans, friends, and families had been waiting over two hours. Some of them were able to meet up, but others did not catch the wind of the students having left out the side entrance. (The members returned home for the night on both days.)

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The 118th Class Retirement Ceremony:

The 118th Class Retirement Ceremony was held at the school on the following day, on the 29th. The Retirement Ceremony being two hours behind schedule, so unfortunately, my scheduled interview with Yadoco (118th trombone), the gifted manga artist, did not go to plan. Among the merchandise sold at the venue the day before, there were two types of Japanese round fans (uchiwa) with caricatures of the members: that was because one members parents are manufacturers of these fans in Kyoto.

Unusually for the tea ceremony room, a blackout curtain was drawn. This seemed to indicate, “Do not come in here,” but I peeked a glance and saw the first- and second-year students steadfastly preparing their gifts. These were destined for their beloved senpai(s) after the retirement ceremony. Until the day prior, they didn’t have time to make these due to practicing for the concert. Despite having finally gotten off past 10pm the night prior, today they came to school at 9am and started preparing the gifts.

119th and 120th are all really good guys.

All of the presents were handmade. The type of gift varied by each instrument team making them. The tuba team applied frill to a transparent umbrella and then stuck sweets and snacks on it. Perhaps this is one of their little traditions.

The percussion team wrote dozens of messages to the two senpai(s) and folded them into bags with numbers written on them. The idea was to hang those on a board and open one bag each day, starting on April 1st, like an advent calendar.

Another popular choice was wrapping up sweets and plush toys.

Many of the students found photos of their memories with their senpai(s), printed them and cut them out, then made miniature photo albums. This student even went so far as to make a card with moving parts.

Here’s a page from a photo album made by the trumpet team. Each page features a completely unique and lovely design. What’s more, the students are all so good at drawing.

The album this student created resembles a clapperboard used when filming a movie: when the clapper is opened, the album begins. One album featured memorable photos laid out like 35mm film from a movie. This must have been the influence of working on West Side Story and The Sound of Music, but the execution was wonderful. (Strictly speaking, movie 35mm film is oriented vertically… sorry)

Creta, Drum Major of the 119th, was hard at work writing a message to her to senpai(s) from the trombone team. Though I wasn’t furtively filming, when she caught notice of me, she laughed, a bit embarrassed.

She put the finishing touches on it by attaching sparkling decorations to the card. These were items bought at a 100-Yen Shop. As I filmed, she was embarrassed, shyly saying, “This is a bit slapdash.” Yet all behind this is love and affection.

Look at these handmade decorations. You’d hardly think this detail was the result of an impromptu two hours of work.

In the classroom next door, gifts were being made by third-year students who had gradually arrived at the school grounds behind schedule. They were hard at work preparing them for their cute and beloved ko-hai(s), and a board with messages from the graduates to be given to Kaneshiro-sensei and the four deputy advisors, Itani-sensei (now she is Itani-coach), and Shima-coach at the dinner given in honor of their teachers.

Two trucks loaded with their instruments arrived. All the members of the Club mobilized to carry the instruments. The trucks could run right up to the Music Room, but there is one last barrier that must be crossed. That is the 10 steps.

The members help each other to carry the instruments. This is their important and hard work, which they have to do twice each time they perform outside.

119th Student Conductor Pooh-maru. She’s a good one!

The time was 3pm. The Retirement Ceremony, which was two hours later than planned, finally began in the music room, which acts as the room for the club activities. The students from the 120th came in from the left and the 119th from the right, facing the screen at front and taking their seats, then welcomed the 118th with a round of applause as they entered.

Despite this being a Retirement Ceremony, there were no particularly formal events. (The actual graduation ceremony and send-off had already just been concluded in March). Today’s event was intended solely for the inner circle of students. The main event was a screening of footage created by the 119th and 120th kids for their senpai(s). Each segment of the video was created by the respective instrument team. The editing here resembles the “Zenkoku Yeah!” posted on Instagram and “2021 Soar On Wings“, with much of the content being memorable, touching footage playing over background music. It seems they learned the ropes of video editing through this annual Retirement Ceremony.

But above and beyond, what everyone was expectantly awaiting was a humorous video poking fun at the strange expressions, comments, and mistakes made by their senpai(s). These are in-jokes understood only by the students, with the third-year cohort loving every minute of it.

It was soon time for the party at Hotel Okura, so the event closed halfway ahead of schedule, with an agreement made that individual remarks by each member would be streamed at a later date on a video. Without further ado, the members quickly transitioned to the exchange of gifts. They did it in groups based on their instrument parts, but there was so little time – it felt like a shame that they couldn’t savor the moment longer. Apparently, most years this is done at various venues around the school, with intimate farewells being said.

As I watched the event, the 118th Drum Major came looking for Creta. Before my eyes, the handover from the prior Drum Major took place. Racho gave Creta a decorated uniform that only the Drum Major is entitled to wear, handing over the epaulettes and mace. It was a brief, perfunctory exchange that lasted a scant 20 seconds. Farewell, 118th Drum Major. Thank you for everything!

Incidentally, I have made a habit of sending them a bouquet of orange roses each year since the 55th Regular Concert in 2018 (115th Class). However, the school requested this year that guests refrain from giving bouquets due to restrictions at the venue, so I heeded their request. Coverage of the Retirement Ceremony was allowed, so I figured I could just send the flowers directly to the school for that part. For this coverage, I found myself witnessing for the first time what it is like for the recipient to receive flowers. It involves transporting large cardboard boxes, unpacking them, breaking them down and disposing of them, displaying the flowers, taking them apart, handing them out, and so on. It really drove home to me how much hassle is involved for the receiver. In Japanese, this is referred to as an “unwelcome favor” (ありがた迷惑). Except when given as gifts between individuals, sending a bouquet of flowers to an event is ultimately done to satisfy the ego of the sender, I realized.

There is a proverb in Japanese that says, “Pudding rather than flowers” (花より団子). I vowed to under no circumstances send flowers or the like, instead donating something practical in the form of funds.

The party held on the evening of the 29th is a traditional event in Japanese schools where parents of alumni contribute to pay for the event the and sensei(s) are invited out to convey their gratitude to them for teaching the students over the years. At KT, this is done as part of bukatsu.

Now they are undergone a major transformation to become a scientific and professional music group where top-flight young musicians come together. On the 30th, the 119th and 120th students convened to hold a “Departure Ceremony” (出発式). This is a new tradition that began this year.

Thus marks the start of 2022!

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