YPC Takes on Hamamatsu

After a successful concert in Kyoto, we took a bullet train from Kyoto to Hamamatsu. YPC faced a challenge upon arrival in Hamamatsu. Hamamatsu is Japan’s music city: it is home to the Yamaha and Kawai Pianos, the Sazuki violin and many artist have made their mark in this city. Well now it’s YPC’s turn. I along with the rest of my fellow choristers were very nervous about this concert. I really wanted YPC to make its mark on the stage in Japan’s musical Capital. We prepared vigorously at our tech rehearsal and it paid off. The hall wasn’t really designed for us and was an Opera house, but YPC loves a challenge. Not only was it a great performance, but it was our best by far. We were all focused and the concert was a great success. We were all excited afterwards, but we couldn’t celebrate being that we

had a concert the next day. So we officially made our mark in Japan’s musical capital!

- Chris M.

The Power of Nuance

Japan is a country of detail. From the ancient conventions of the tea ceremonies to the intricate designs in the hotel elevators, everything in the country has, as my roommate said, “so much thought put into it. Everything has meaning.” This attention to detail and meaning is something we are striving for in our music.

Nuance is the difference between a pretty concert and a beautiful concert. When we perform with meaning and detail, it inspir

es the audience as well as just entertaining. Our latest concert was beautiful because there was thought behind every note and step, and power behind those thoughts.

Japan’s details are what make it beautiful. During our Kanji lesson, we saw how significant each stroke of the pen was in creating a symbol. When my friends were trying on kimonos, I saw

how much effort was put into every fold and clip and bow. There is so much effort put into every small detail of everything, and although the details might seem singularly irrelevant, when they are all put together, the outcome is miraculous.

In America, there is a lot of effort put into quantity. Americans eat more, spend more, waste more. There is so much

stress on the big picture that details are often missed. It is so inspiring to witness a culture where a small amount of something so meticulously cared for is held so sacred.

Our music is filled with detail and thought. It is beautiful to treat each song like a tea ceremony, each chord like a kimono bow. There are more similarities then we notice between the music we sing and the culture we are surrounded by.

- Allie

A Completely Unrelated Piece on Japan and its many Subtleties

From the moment I stepped off the plane I knew I was home. Well, not technically. I’m half-Chinese, but still I feel I share a deep seeded connection with anything Asian. Different cultures? Yes, but I break boundaries. Diversity? More like diversiME. So once my feet graced the earth on the island of Japan I was primed and ready. Adventure time in Japan had begun!

Though this was my second trip to Japan with the YPC, I never took advantage of the blog. There are so many subtleties in Japan that need to be shared! So I need all of you avid readers to know many of my ideas! For instance, the Japanese have, rather smartly, replaced human vendors all over the country with robots: robots called vending machines. And these aren’t your typical run-of-the-mill “I-want-a-fanta” vending machines. No, they are a little more… enticing. Need an umbrella? Umbrella-vend got chu. Need a coffee? Coffee-vend got chu!

Need a hot coffee? HOT-COFFEE VEND GOT CHU! Sound obscure yet? Not even close. These vending machines are EVERYWHERE. From the busiest train stations to the quietest alleys, you’ll find vending robots that will spit you out tea, coke-a-cola, water, cigarettes, beer, ice cream, and even hot noodles! You can even walk into some restaurants and order your food from the automated tellers and the cooks in the kitchen will prepare your food! The machine takes your money and the chef gets your order in a matter of seconds (that is, if you can translate the machine). No need for a waiter!

But Charlie, what about all the Jobs lost, taken by these machines?! Well little John Doe, think of all the jobs made! Kiosks run by people are still very present in Japan, but these vending machines exist and thrive in the middle of nowhere! It actually amazes me that I can wander down a narrow, rural street, put a 1000 yen bill (~ten dollars) into a vending machine located in the shadows, and get my drink and receive exact change! How do the Japanese keep all these machines stocked fully? I’ve never encountered an issue where I could not get my CC Lemon or my Calpico drink! The m

achines are never broken either! At what times do they collect the money?! How is the system run?! How are they so universal? My answer: Ninjas. It’s the only logical explanation.

Another interesting observation of Charlie’s is the incredible amount of rice fields present wherever you go in Japan. Yes, there are fields all over America, but these rice fields are not just on the outskirts of small cities and towns. You’ll have a normal block of houses and then suddenly- BAM! RICE FIELD! Right there. You weren’t expecting it, but now y

ou’ve come to accept it. They are all perfectly rectangular, perfectly aligned, and perfectly all over the place. It’s like duck, duck, goose: House, house, house, house- RICE FIELD! By the train tracks with no discernable house in sight, RICE FIELD! Squished between a concert hall and a shopping mall, RICE FIELD. “Yes it’s a wonderful day outside! I think I’ll enjoy a good game of baseba-“ RICE FIELD. I suppose people need to eat, and maybe as a New Yorker I find fields somewhat foreign on many levels, but you’d have to see the situation yourself to understand. Why do these fields need to be everywhere? Who put them everywhere!? My answer: Rice Ninjas. It’s the only logical explanation.

- Charlie

“The Claw is Your Master: You Must Obey the Claw”

The Japanese are big on gaming: video games, computer games, arcades, and slot machines. I was just informed that recently a man married a video game character. Some even have life-sized pillows in the shape of video game characters in their rooms. So they’re really into it. We saw at least two arcades in the mall near the hotel that we were staying in. They’re loud and exciting. Lights flash as children and adults (and extremely intense teenage gamers) play their games and win their prizes. The most fun game we decided would be one in which you use a claw to win prizes. How thrilling would it be to win a little bear key chain?! And it looked so easy; you just tell the claw where to go. They looked so cute all cramped up together. How adorable. Yeah right.

Not only was it the hardest game to play (one of us did win exactly one large cheese doodle from the same kind of claw-like machine), it seemed to be the most addicting. We were able to walk away from a pogo-stick game when we were told that we were too old. And we were able to walk away from the train game when it wasn’t fun (which only took us about one and a half minutes to realize). But somehow, we kept returning to this one machine. By this time, we had blown 1000 yen (about 10 dollars) on that one machine, each time believing we were one step closer to winning the prized animal key chain. But we didn’t win anything. Yet.

After trying other games, we returned to our key chain machine. We watched another Japanese boy (who was with his mother and had, without any question, been to this arcade before). He had a bag full of prizes, so we knew he would be legitimate. He had a technique. If you position the claw to where you think it should go, you must also check the side of the machine to look at it from a different angle. Ahhhhhhh. The secret was out. We used this technique to our advantage, and, after another 500 yen (5 dollars) worth of tries, my friend finally wins the sought-after keychain. Some celebrating was necessary. We had cracked the code. Sealed the deal. Whatever. Even the little boy whom we had mildly stalked to obtain his secret strategy smiled.

As we leave, a young couple walks up to the machine. They speak Japanese, of course, but I can pretty much assume they were saying something like:

“Oh, honey, would you like one of these key chains? I can try to get one for you,” says the boy.

“Awww. That’s so sweet. And they’re so cute! I would love one!” exclaims the girl.

“OK. Here goes nothing,” the boy replies.

He wins it for her. On the first try. Beginner’s luck.

It’s been an amazing trip so far. Not only have some of us won games in arcades, but we have also had the opportunity to practice meditation in a Buddhist temple, visit a famous tea shop, and participate

in an ancient tea ceremony – among many other things. When we have free time, we can sometimes shop for all of the different trinkets that make Japan unique. And we perform for thousands of people, hoping to warm their hearts and make them feel something. It’s only been a week, but it feels like forever.

- Dani

Kyoto

Hello from Kyoto! After a 2 hour and 20min bullet train ride, we arrived here yesterday. In just about 24 hours we have done and seen so much! Almost directly after we checked into our hotel, the entire group made our way over to a nearby park to have a little workshop about a holiday song Francisco is writing. He wanted to know what the holiday season means to us. Many people came up with the idea that the holidays are more about spending time with people we care about and less about the materialistic world we live in. Just as our conversation began to roll, we saw a bolt of

lightning in the distance. A few seconds later,

under darkening clouds, we heard a thunderclap, and a few of us felt drops

of rain. We decided to leave the park and head back to our hotel before heading out to dinner in small groups.

This morning we boarded a bus for a day full of touring, sightseeing, and experiencing Kyoto. By 10am, we arrived at a Buddhist Zen Temple. Onoyama-san’s close friend, who lives here in Kyoto, is friendly with the Master Buddhist at the temple, and was able to get us time in t

he temple to meditate. Apparently, it is nearly impossible to be able to go inside a temple and meditate with the Master Buddhist, but all 30-some of us were able to go in for free! We had a 15 minute meditation session before taking a small tour around the tiny temple.

After the temple and meditation,

we went to a tea ceremony demonstration, where we were shown how to make green tea, and how to serve it to a guest. A “tea master” performed a demonstration on how to make tea, before allowing us choristers and staff to make tea for one another. There is so much detail and elegance that goes into making

tea. It was great to experience that part of Japanese culture in an area known for making great tea.

We then boarded the bus again, and headed to Onoyama-san’s friends’ tea shop, for lunch, a Japanese culture/language lesson by Onoyama-san, and rehearsal. Our hosts were very gracious and provided us with a delicious lunch which included inori, cucumber rolls,

salad, KFC chicken, noodles, and watermelon. After lunch Onoyama-san spoke to us about what certain parts of culture mean to her, such as language, religion, and love. She told us that to her, love is really the amount of time people spend with someone or something, for life is short, and if one spends a lot of time with someone or something one loves, one must care about it deeply. She told us she was glad we all love music so much because it is something not to be lost. I believe were all really touched by her speech; I know I was almost moved to tears.

The group took a look in the tea shop owned by Onoyama-san’s friends’ before heading back on the bus to go to the hotel.

Tonight we have sectionals, and then dinner on our own. Our third concert is tomorrow night here in Kyoto! I hope we can do as well as we did in Tokyo!

- Nora

A Misguided Adventure

It was the day of YPC’s first concert of the Japan Tour 2010.

YPC was staying at the Hotel Kurashiki and getting ready to depart for Kurashiki Shiminkaikan, the concert hall for the first concert. Since the hall was only about a 10 minute drive, taxis were the chosen mode of transportation. Everyone met in the hotel lobby, took attendance, and headed out to the sidewalk to pile into the taxis, which were ready and waiting, all lined up on the street outside the hotel.

Sophia, Jocelyn, Hadley and Jared all got in one taxi together. They settled back and relaxed, content and ready to enjoy a short cab ride through the streets of Kurashiki.

Now, this taxi was one of the last ones to leave the hotel – third to last, to be exact. But when these two senior choristers, one alum, and one conductor rode through the incredibly narrow street to the stage door of the concert hall, the parking lot was completely empty.

Sophia: “Okay…either we’re REA

LLY late or REALLY early.”

Neither choice made any sense. They could have been late, sure, but theoretically there were still two taxis behind them. And there was really no way they could have made it to the hall before the seven other taxis that left the hotel before them.

Nonetheless, they shrugged, got out of the car, took their backpacks out of the trunk, and went into the building through the stage door – which the security man was holding wide open,

with a smile, emphatically welcoming them!

With Sophia leading the way, they confidently went through another door. Then, a sign, giving them two choices: Up the stairs for the “Practice Rooms,” or through another door for the “Stage.”

Usually at the concert halls, there are signs pointing YPC to their dressing room locations. This hall didn’t have those, so they had to guess. It was the first concert of the tour – maybe things were different this year and they decided to get rid of the signs. They didn’t think too much about it, and Sophia decided: “Well everyone must have put their stuff down first.” So they chose the stairs to the “Practice Rooms.”

They got to the top of the stairs. It was very dimly lit. And there was no sign of anybody.

Sophia: “Shhh. Follow the sound of voices.

Everyone froze. But there was complete silence.

Tumbleweed.

Sophia: “Okay…maybe we should have gone to the stage after all.”

Back down the stairs they went. Through the door marked “Stage.” But it just led to another labyrinth, and Sophia didn’t want to play the guessing game anymore.

So, she turned around and went back to the stage door, motioning to Jocelyn, Hadley, and Jared to follow. She asked the security man, “where did the chorus go?” He did not speak a word of English. She started gesturing to her royal blue YPC polo, saying things like “Many people!” and “Children!” and “All matching shirts!” and waving her arms around frantically and making sounds and gestures of singing.

The security man, completely confused but maintaining a big, happy smile on his face, sort of gestured “wait” and he went through the door to the stage. Instead of waiting, though, the YPC-ers followed. Another man joined them, who also didn’t speak a word of English. Finally, Hadley said, “STAGE, wa doko desuka?!” But the two men continued to look at them quizzically.

Finally, Sophia called Naoko-san (the translator traveling with YPC for the entire month).

Sophia: “Naoko! Where IS everybody?”

Naoko-san: “Sophia! We are just pulling into the parking lot now!”

Sophia: “WHAT?! I’m already at the concert hall. How did we beat you? I think my taxi driver took a shortcut! Is everyone else just coming now, too? I’ll go outside and wait for you!”

Naoko-san: “Don’t worry! We are just coming in the driveway in our taxi.”

Sophia walked outside to a parking lot that was still completely empty, with not one car coming up the driveway.

Sophia: “Naoko, I don’t see you!”

Naoko-san: “Where are you?”

Sophia: “I’m at the stage door! I’m right here! Waving my arms! Do you see me? Wher

e are you coming from?” Sophia nearly fell over trying to look in every direction at once to find any sign of a vehicle.

Naoko: “I’m here! We’re here! We’re getting out of the car!”

Sophia: “WHAT?! I don’t get it! Are you at a different entrance? There’s nobody here!”

Sophia felt like she was in the twilight zone. She was just outside the stage door, looking at an empty parking lot, and Naoko was telling her she was getting out of the car right at the stage door. Something wasn’t right.

Meanwhile, the taxi driver (who was miraculously still in the parking lot, leaning against his car) saw the four emerge from the building, and immediately opened his trunk. He gestured toward the trunk and kept repeating, “Please! Please! Please!”

Jared: “Um…..I think he wants us to get back in the car...”

Sophia: (still on the phone with Naoko) “Uhhhmmm…..”

Naoko-san: “Ummm…..Sophia? Your taxi driver is being re-directed right now. Just get back in the car and everything is going to be okay.”

Sophia: “Okay………..”

So they put their stuff back in the trunk and got back in the car. With Sophia in the front seat, and Jocelyn, Hadley, and Jared in the back, the taxi driver drove away from the hall. Sophia turned around and looked back. The other three looked back at her. Everyone was very confused.

Sophia was still holding the phone up to her ear.

Sophia: “Naoko?”

Naoko: “It’s okay Sophia. I think your driver just went to the wrong concert hall. But it’s very close. Don’t worry about a thing. We’ll see you very soon.”

Sophia: (worried about how late they must be) “Okay…but please tell Francisco what happened!”

Naoko: “Don’t worry! See you soon!”

After another 7-minute drive (through gorgeous countryside, by the way), the four made it to the concert hall, where Naoko-san, Nicole, and the entire backstage staff were all awaiting their arrival. They were met with applause, hugs, and laughs about the mishap, as the taxi driver apologized for his mistake in going to the wrong concert hall. They hurried to the stage to join the rehearsal and chalked up the experience to gaining a fun story to tell!

- Sophia

Tokyo to Kyoto

It was great to finally see Tokyo outside the small area near our hotel. We first went to a temple and marketplace where we walked around for quite some time. The shrine was beautiful and very special to see. The marketplace had some awesome traditional Japanese things that were great to be able to buy and look at. Then we made our way over to the Imperial Palace. The heat was ridiculous and we were all already tired by that point. However, the palace was gorgeous. Then finally we went to Shibuya (the biggest shopping area of Tokyo.) It was extremely crowded and crazy; it reminded me very much of Times Square. We were able eto go and shop to our heart’s co

ntent and then we finally took the train back to the Tokyo Dome Hotel. I finished the night off with some delicious sushi and went to bed anxious to go to Kyoto!

- Nichole

On a Bullet Train: Kyoto here we come!!!

I just had lunch with Jamal, Stephan and Owen on the bullet train on the way to Kyoto! We get the honor of going back to where the group of ’05 went to perform at the acoustically sound Kyoto Concert Hall. It was so amazing to see a bullet train for the first time, it glistened like the moon in the middle of December…lol…no but it was really a sight.

This morning was amazing - I’m waiting for someone to pinch me because I can’t believe I’m walking up in Japan again. We’re going lightning speed on the bullet train now. I really hope that our next three concerts match Tokyo’s and exceed it. The Tokyo concert was amazing - as we sang our last note and clapped with our hands up and our faces to the beaming lights I took a moment to hear the cheers and look around at the standing ovations. It was a feeling like no other and after the show when I spoke to Isaac we both had great feelings about being performers and it solidified that this is what we wanted to do!!

- Monica