Fan Corner


This page is dedicated to discussion on activities related to Tachibana, Izusho, Matsusho, and other Japanese Brass Bands, as well as other topics covered in this blog.

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43,176 thoughts on “Fan Corner”

  1. Woo-hoo-hoo way to go again KT!!! Congratulations on your back-to-back Gold at the Nationals!!! The culmination of all your sacrifices ended up very well and you were rewarded with these happy memories.

    Let us all share this Nationals gold to all the doubters, naysayers and critics. To quote the late Rudy Tomjanovich, head coach of the back-to-back NBA champions Houston Rockets in the mid-’90s, playing against a highly favored and mighty New York Knicks and twice beating them (before that guy in Chicago ended his baseball career to return to playing basketball): “Never underestimate the heart of a champion”.

    These kids, this team including all the support staff, senseis and coaches, really have hearts of champions. And they proved that two years in a row. I’ll just say, never lose hope, have faith in them. Congratulations and a big thank you for all the fun and enjoyment you have shared with us.

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    • I wonder how long the performance video will remain? I expect someone will post another version with the red logo covered so as not to offend anyone.

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  6. Please note that there is still some more to come after the National Finals. At 7pm JST (in about half an hour) there will be “Thank You Marutani-sensei” -concert for the memory of late Akio Marutani, former President of AJBA. It will also be streamed live free of charge. It is not known which bands will be in the joint performance at the end but we can always hope for Tachibana and Matsusho. Click here for details.

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  7. Mie congratulates KT after being there at Osaka-jo hall to watch the gold winning performance. Nice words.

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  12. If you planned to watch the stream of the National Finals of the 35th All Japan Marching Contest on Sunday, November 20 at 2pm JST the live chatroom for the patrons of this blog is here (and click here for the instructions on how to get the stream).

    Also the last gig of Mita-san Japan tour in Sound Creek Doppo, Tokyo is held on Sunday at 12.30pm-2pm JST. As it nicely fits with the schedule of the Marching Contest, the same chatroom is available also to those watching the stream of this event (click here to buy the stream).

    Click here for the local time in Japan right now.

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    • Livestreaming ticket holders have now been provided with access to the contest brochure (in Japanese), including descriptions of each band’s programme and the rules, here.
      One thing new we learn (if I’ve read it right) is that the number of each award will be: G (9), S (8), B (8).
      The timing of the awards ceremony has been more precisely defined as at 17:30 JST.
      An interesting little detail: KT has decided to display a photo of themselves taken in Taipei.

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  13. A new venture: “O-Vils Academy”
    Starting January 2023 at Kyoto Terrsa Hall Rehearsal Room
    Target age 3 – 15
    Teachers Honoka and Suzuka
    Kindergarten class: move your body to the rhythm while listening to music
    Elementary school class: play harmonica or recorder while dancing
    Middle school class: formation dance and performance using wind instruments.
    (Who is Honoka?)

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  16. To end this little series on bands KT will meet tomorrow, here is another one rarely featured if at all here. The Anjo Gakuen High School Brass Band from Aichi has represented the Tokai region eleven years in a row. They variously win gold and silver; gold, two contests ago and silver last year. The band reported having 111 members in 2021, but strangely only 67 have been fielded for tomorrow’s contest. Smaller than some other bands who do well in both marching contests and “sit-down” concerts, nonetheless they always reach their region’s brass band competitions.
    Anjo Gakuen have put a lot of thought into their programme, the theme of which is “Super Heroes”. They describe their thinking here: https://agwo.jp/?p=2355 . In my opinion, what we see is innovation; about moves, formations, playlist and especially sound. Note how part way through, six players swop their French horns for other instruments. What these are I can’t tell- flugelhorns? In passing, we see them perhaps seeking, with as many as four, to score highest for the number of conductors!
    I think that Japan’s high school brass band culture is unique in the world. Tens of thousands of students work hard, many from elementary school (as shown by gressy’s post below), to develop wonderful individual and collective musical skills (the tip of the iceberg, 1777 of them, will be on stage tomorrow). Most of the bands have a limited audience when in fact, in my book, they should be appreciated far more widely. Yes, we know which band we like best! But let’s admire the efforts of so many others who are striving to do as well as they can, and in doing so are continuously pushing the best to do better.

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      • “In two days time, on 20th November, I will be accompanying the team to the All-Japan Marching Contest again this year.
        I can only cheer them on during the performance, but I will support them with final conditioning and first aid.
        In the high school section, Kyoto Tachibana will be the fifth to perform. (around 14:28 min) It is possible to watch the performance by streaming for a fee. Please come and watch their once-a-year performance at their best!”

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  19. The Funabashi Municipal High School (or “Ichifune”) Brass Band may not be a bookie’s favourite to win Gold this Sunday. But they won silver in the last two national contests, and gold back in 2016. Fans may remember seeing the Funabashi players in their distinctive blue uniforms practising alongside KT before last year’s marching finals: [https://youtu.be/ygBU1QEHgak]
    What is notable about the band is that a film about them has just been released. It focuses on Taigi Asano (played by Fuju Kamio) who sadly in 2017 died aged 20 from cancer. As a high school student, he had formed close bonds with fellow brass band members and 164 of them gathered at his funeral. It’s a very moving story, described here: [https://www.city.funabashi.lg.jp/funabashistyle/jp/topics/p090079.html]
    This is a trailer for the film, called “20-year-old soul”: [https://20soul-movie.jp/]
    Taigi Asano had composed a sports club cheering song “Ichifune soul” and here it is played by what I think is the current brass band team.

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    • Alan – Very nice compilation of school bands you have featured here and as always I’m impressed with your knowledge of Japanese bands and the knowledge of the many other users here on the KT blog, always very informative to me. Thank you very much

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    • I have to admit that Funabashi’s blue uniforms are absolutely amazing. These would look great on any marching band. I wonder what uniform company manufacturers them?

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  20. “Waratte Koraete!: Wind Band Trip 2022 Final”

    Three high school bands, Tamana GHS, Kamimura Gakuen HS and Hachiōji HS, challenged to participate in the All Japan Band Competition in 2022.

    @ NTV on November 23, 2022.

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  22. The next in the series of bands due to play alongside KT is the Kashiwa Municipal Kashiwa Senior High School Brass Band, from Chiba.
    With just 14 members, the band was founded by their current Director Shuichi Ishida 石田修一 in 1978. By 2020 they had grown to over 200, more than 20% of the school’s roll. However, there has since been a decline, to 171 reported last year and about 135 members now (the class sizes are 1st year: 37, 2nd year 31 and 3rd year 67 people.)
    They have won four of the last seven marching contests including last year; and have always been brass band competition finalists, winning either silver or gold. The video shows them practising for last year’s contest (with cymbalists replacing a Colour Guard?).

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    • I believe it would be disrespectful to the family concerned, who fought hard for the full truth to be revealed, to ignore the tragedy that occurred at this school. Moreover, it highlights the seriousness of the debate about extreme practice time. A male member of the band committed suicide in December 2018. The formal enquiry into the circumstances of his death was only concluded earlier this year. A report was published by Kyodo News: https://nordot.app/904989376508346368

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      • Elsewhere on this blog we learnt that, in 2018, the band practised for 90 minutes before school, for 3 hours after school and for longer on weekends and holidays. Then we learnt that with Covid restrictions, these hours were cut right back.
        Do we know whether the club hours have returned to anything like they were before?
        That article mentions Ministry of Culture national guidelines of around 2 hours a day for club activities. Has KT cut back its hours as a result?
        There are occasional comments on YouTube along the lines that the choreography is not as vibrant these days. Could that be a result of shorter practice hours? If so, I’m willing to sacrifice a small amount of my own visual enjoyment as a spectator for the sake of the mental and physical wellbeing of the students.

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        • There are occasional comments on YouTube along the lines that the choreography is not as vibrant these days. Could that be a result of shorter practice hours? If so, I’m willing to sacrifice a small amount of my own visual enjoyment as a spectator for the sake of the mental and physical wellbeing of the students.

          I wholeheartedly concur. It’s insane that “work”-life balance can be so much distorted with “optional” after-school club. It’s all fun and games until…

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        • Agree MartinC-san. The band is supposed to be for the fun, enjoyment and development of the band members. They are not there for our enjoyment, that is only coincidental because we like to watch their performances. As long as the band members develop their physical and mental health, it should be commensurate to the amount of time they dedicate to their after-school activities.

          If some fans think that their choreography is not vibrant and wanted to watch them “as in the old days”, maybe they should watch the old videos. What we see is what we get, it’s as simple as that. If you don’t like it, don’t watch. But do not try to criticize these kids, who sacrifice their own time, without the promise of any monetary compensation, but just for an award or a medal, and of course the happy memories. Only to be badmouthed by someone who doesn’t even know how the band members would feel afterwards. That is a form of bullying and should be stopped.

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          • I think that the choreography is fantastic all the time. I have never been disappointed by KTs music or shows. I also love their sit down performances, no complaints from me. I always will wish them good health, wealth and lots of love and laughter. Go KT!!!!

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            • I truly think the Choreography this year is excellent – and let’s be fair – for the first time in a while we have been flooded with examples of it. More important is that the KT sound has improved by leaps and bounds, hugely improving their performances. The Changes are seemingly student led and have put KT into the National Finals two years running. The weekend may be exciting.

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              • The problem with “student led” changes is, they not necessarily should be right by definition. The problem mentioned in KT which i have learned of recently, but according to MartinC discusses before on the site, seemed to be focused on inter-student relations. One of the trombone players being supposedly driven to depression and near suicide.

                It would make sense, as there were previously multiple mentions that some students pick KT precisely because they want to be in this very Band. It’s entirely feasible that students themselves are putting pressure on themselves and their peers, as also mentioned by Hiroyuki Tanaka in one of the interviews (not sure if it was written one here, or on youtube promoting his book) that somewhere around their previous Rose Parade younger students themselves declared that their senpais “are not taking it seriously enough”. It takes quite a lot in Japanese culture to criticize your seniors for not being good enough, i believe.

                For me it looks like typical Japanese peer pressure to “not stick out”, along with high drive and talent among some which puts a lot of pressure on less talented or otherwise capable students and finally – which as a instructor at my company it pains me worst – bad oversight from the teachers. When things are about to get ugly, instructor HAVE TO take notice of that and HAVE TO step in hard and fast. It’s professional’s job to set the boundaries and enforce them – mere tutoring does not cut it.

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    • Hi Alan-san. KT also tried this cymbals effect (sorry I don’t know what they’re called) in their 2020 entry to the Sky A on-line contest where they used 5 cymbalists, very rare in past KT competition entries. Fantastic visual effect during their final formation for Sing3.

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      • Ray. I’m glad you brought up the subject of the 2020 Sky-A show done without spectators due to that Covid bugaboo. It has always been my opinion that that show should be used as a competition entry because it has all of the ingredients necessary for a great performance. Tune it up a bit and the band wouldn’t have to devote so many extra hours learning a new one. In other words, why fix something that isn’t broken! You used the words “fantastic visual” …. that entire show was fantastic.
        But, who am I ………….

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    • lerocher66,
      Granted, in todays world this may not apply, but way back in the mid ’60’s, our marching band class was considered our P.E. class. We dressed out in our gym uniforms and had mandatory calisthenics, before each marching band practice. I was going to include a photo from my H.S. yearbook, but I thought better of it…..sorry.

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      • Paul and lerochere66. It has often crossed my mind that there are many athletes, male and female, who cannot keep up with KT band members. My d&b corps devoted several minutes prior to practice to p.e. exercises just to keep from injuring ourselves during regular practice …. and even then it didn’t work 100% as there were several muscle pulls … which are no fun in our activity.

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  25. Just to continue this little series about some of the bands KT will meet this Sunday:
    The 220 members of the Saitama Prefectural Ina Gakuen Comprehensive High School Brass Band are broadly split into two groups: one that performs in brass band competitions and one that concentrates on marching contests. The band has won gold in six of the last seven contests (2016 being the exception). (I take seven years as a marker, because of a series of rule changes that occurred before 2014.) In addition, the band have always been finalists at the brass band competition, winning either silver or gold.
    I don’t think they have ever featured on the blog, perhaps because examples of Ina Gakuen marching are very rare. So I’ve resorted to providing a link to last year’s contest. They appear, together with their majestic formations, from 1:19:07 here: https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1ND4y1w7ub/?p=2

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  28. Toyooka City official YT:

    A message from Kyoto Tachibana High School brass band to Toyooka citizens. (December 24, 2022, Christmas concert in Toyooka)

    “Hello everyone! We are Kyoto Tachibana High School brass band. This year’s concert in Toyooka will be held on Christmas Eve? December 24th. We will prepare a program related to Christmas and collaboration goods with Toyooka City. Christmas Eve 2022, we will…” “warm you up! Yay!”

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    • I was surprised at how smooth the video from the person walking backwards was. From other videos it looked as if it would be very wobbly. Perhaps they edited out the wobbly bits and inserted footage from the other cameras! A splendid video.

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