Between the 6th and 16th of October, 12 members of our Only Boys Aloud Academi and 3 members of staff embarked on a once in a lifetime trip to Japan!
The Aloud Charity’s relationship with Japan started over 5 years ago when we taught pupils in 3 schools in Japan to sing Calon Lân over Zoom (read about it here). Since then, we commissioned a new arrangement and performed it digitally with a school in Oita, and 5 Choir Leaders travelled to Japan in 2023 to work with schools in Beppu, Oita and Tokyo. We are thrilled to have been awarded funding this year to take OBA members to Japan.
The group departed London Heathrow for a mammoth 14-hour flight to Tokyo on Monday and landed on Tuesday afternoon. After an evening to adjust to the time difference and try and get over the jet lag, we woke up early on Wednesday and jumped on the high-speed bullet train to Hiroshima. We visited the Peace Park which was a surreal experience being in such a meaningful place, and performed outside the Genbaku Dome, the only surviving building. After visiting the Museum, we then jumped on another train and made our way to Oita. We then stayed in Oita for a few days visiting interesting places in the local area including Beppu and visited OPAM and performed at the Oita Hovercraft station. The highlight of our time in Oita was a workshop and joint performance with the outstanding pupils from Midorigaoka High School of Arts.
“One of the most unexpected interactions during our trip to Japan was the excitement of the pupils of the first school that we visited in Oita. After performing with the school choir outside Oita train station, we were overwhelmed with the number of pupils that wanted to talk to us and take photos. We spent a long time chatting with them about Wales and our experience so far in Japan we also took a lot of group photos and selfies. They were so excited to have performed with us and we loved performing with them, so it was really rewarding to see our enthusiasm for the performance and music be reciprocated.” – James
On Saturday, we travelled to the city of Kitakyushu where the Welsh Rugby team were based during the 2019 Rugby World Cup. The first thing we did was meet the Kitakyushu Academy Children’s Choir and we spent the afternoon with them, sharing warmups and teaching each other songs in Japanese and Welsh which we then performed the following day in the city centre. During our time in Kitakyushu, we also visited Kokura Castle, took part in a traditional tea ceremony and performed at Mikuni World Stadium.
“It was an incredible experience sharing our own Welsh music with people who may have never heard Welsh before, and also the reactions from the audience when we sang in Japanese was beautiful and that was something I have never experienced before” – Daniel
It was then time to head back to Tokyo for the last leg of our trip. After flying into Haneda airport, we managed some sightseeing which included Asakusa, Shibuya, Shinjuku and visiting the amazing TeamLab Planets. The following day, we were very privileged to be invited to perform at the Ambassador’s Residence in the British Embassy in Tokyo where we also had the opportunity of taking part in a Taiko drumming workshop! On our last day in Japan, we performed at Tokyo Metropolitan Koishikawa Junior and High School in the morning before heading over to St Alban’s Church to get ready for our concert in the evening. The church is directly opposite the famous Tokyo Tower so in-between rehearsals and the concert, we managed a quick trip up the tower to see the amazing city landscape. Our last performance in Japan in St Alban’s Church was incredible and we are so grateful to the St David’s Society of Japan and the Japan British Society for organising the concert.
It was then time to head home and reflect on an amazing (although exhausting!) 10 days. We are so grateful to Welsh Government, Wales Arts International, British Council, the Daiwa Foundation and Hitachi for making the trip possible.
“The trip for me really highlighted how different the world is, how history and culture is important and that it’s important to preserve and respect it. The culture in Japan is rich and beautiful likewise with Wales’. We must, like Japan, hold onto our culture for others to experience and understand it” – Luca
