Translation by DeepL of the Twitter-notes of MICHINOKUGORO (=Yuzuru Kumagai) on Tachibana in 2011

---

●●(Green Band Discourse Book 1)
From a bowl of buckwheat noodles, an unprecedented marching boom was born!

I have participated in the Rose Parade 13 times so far, and have witnessed many miracles through the unusual power of attraction.
Please see below in the comments section.

1) It all started with a phone call from NTV.
It was January 2011, just after I returned from participating in the Rose Parade with the Northern Japan Green Band.
I received a phone call from NTV asking me to appear as a gourmet navigator on “Laugh and Cholate”.

(2) I visited Izumi Shokudo as if guided.
When I was living in Chitose City in Hokkaido at the time, a friend recommended that I visit Izumi Shokudo in Hidaka Town, more than 70 km away from my home. I was a gourmet writer as a hobby and had the lightness of footwork to go out as soon as I heard of a good restaurant.

3) The first pull is triggered.
As expected, the restaurant was far from my home and I had other plans, but for some reason, I felt I had to go to the restaurant, so I changed my plans and drove to Hidaka-cho. Just as the restaurant was about to close, I was able to have the last drink.

(4) Perfect timing for posting on the food log
After eating duck soba at Izumi Shokudo, I hurried back to my home and felt that I should write a review immediately, although I did not know why.

(5) NTV had canceled the person who was supposed to navigate the new “Word of Mouth Gourmet Site Trip” corner, and they were in a hurry to find a replacement for me, so I submitted my review just in time.

(6) The person who was originally scheduled to appear on the program was the secretary to the president of a very well-known company, but she had a meeting on short notice and was unable to appear. The broadcaster seemed to be in a panic because of the last minute cancellation of the recording.

(7) As a matter of fact, it seems that I was uploaded just in time to receive another request to appear on the program, and if I had been uploaded a day, or even an hour, later, I would not have been asked to appear on the program.
If I had been an hour, or even a day, late, I would not have been asked to appear on the program.

(8) After the recording of the program was successfully completed, the director of “Laugh and Correct” and I had a lot of fun talking about topics other than the recording. I told him that I was the Japanese liaison for the Rose Parade, that the Kyoto Tachibana High School brass band would be participating in the Rose Parade at the end of the same year, and asked him if he would like me to cover the event.

(9) I handed Mr. M, the director, a set of materials related to the Kyoto Tachibana High School Symphonic Band, including a DVD of the band’s visit to the United States for Disneyland’s 50th anniversary in 2006, and waited for the result of my interview request. Three days after handing over the materials, I received a phone call from Mr. M, the director.

(11) At the time, Laughing at Korate was in a very difficult budget situation, and to be honest, it was quite impossible just to come from Tokyo to Hokkaido for the interview, and even more so to go to America for the interview.

12）On the other hand, my boss, who had seen Tachibana’s DVD, was a former organizer of “brass band tour” and liked Tachibana’s innovative and unique marching style so much that he decided to start a new “marching tour” series in a separate program, although he was unable to cover the Rose Parade. (13) This series of events led to a new series, “Marching Journey,” within a week.

(13) It seems like fate that all of these events happened within a week of each other. As soon as the marching journey began, the program drew unprecedented ratings, and it was said that within six months the program would be shut down, but in a miraculous reversal of fortune, the program has continued to run to this day.

(14) The popularity of “Marching Journey” not only contributed to the continuation of the program, but also to the continuation of Kyoto Tachibana High School itself. (It is a long time ago now, so I will say that Kyoto Tachibana High School was struggling financially after changing from an all-girls high school to a co-educational school.

(15) Mr. Hisashi Hiramatsu, the founder of the Kyoto Tachibana High School brass band, said that the high school would stop accepting students after two years and that only the university would likely remain, and that the 2012 Rose Parade could be the last flowery occasion for the brass band. (16) In the end, he said, “We will make the best of it.

(16) In the end, thanks to the effect of the “Marching Journey,” the number of members of the brass band nearly doubled from 60 at the time to 110 at once, and the number of students who enrolled outside of the brass band was also sufficient, probably due to the effect of the image, and the school continues to exist as a wonderful school to this day.

(17) Later, I myself was able to take young Japanese people to the Rose Parade 13 times, riding the marching boom brought about by the marching trip, so I truly believe that a bowl of buckwheat noodles, which had nothing to do with marching at all, created a great miracle, and that it was all inevitable, not by chance. I believe that this was not a coincidence but an inevitable event.

(18) Finally, I believe that such a miracle occurred largely because of the personal virtue of Mr. Hisashi Hiramatsu, the founder of the Kyoto Tachibana High School Symphonic Band and the former president of the All Japan Symphonic Band Federation. I, too, am a person of great attraction, but Dr. Hiramatsu’s attraction was incomparably greater than mine.

(19) And the Kyoto Tachibana High School brass band is moving toward the Rose Parade in 2025. I believe that everyone who will be participating in the Rose Parade, including Toho, who will be competing in 2024, will once again enliven the brass band world, which has cooled down.

(20) Thank you very much for reading to the end. As one of those who have been chosen by fate, I, too, wish to send the young people of Japan to the Rose Parade as the best team, even if I have to sell my personal fortune to do so. Please continue to support all the members of the brass band!

(21) The first 3 people who read to the end will receive a rare keychain of the 2018 Rose’s Tachibana. Please contact me in the comments section here. We will not mail it to you, but would like to give it to you when you come to the Rose Parade pep rally, etc.

---