Story of Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra’s 50th anniversary since turning pro, Part 1 (3): Starts in A-bombed city as unpaid volunteer orchestra with two doctors as chairs working to send A-bomb survivors to US for treatment
Feb. 17, 2022
by Aya Nishimura, Staff Writer
At present, the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra receives support from the entire community, with names of local business and cultural leaders listed as members of the orchestra’s board of directors. However, until 1972, the time at which it changed status from amateur to professional, the orchestra relied solely on the passion of its musicians. Thanks to the efforts of two physicians, the orchestra transcended a period of existential crisis and was able to turn professional.
It was during the Cold War between East and West in 1963, with the Cuban Missile Crisis breaking out the year before. Seven people were seated face to face, holding a discussion at the Takahashi Hospital, in the area of Shimonaka-machi in Hiroshima City (now part of the city’s Naka Ward). “Hiroshima should have at least one orchestra,” one participant remarked. Another said, “I wonder how many people would join.”
Sadamu Takahashi, then president of the Takahashi Hospital, listened intently to the passionate discussion among local musicians, including Kazukiyo Inoue, assistant professor at Elisabeth University of Music, and Tokuji Tagashira, contrabassist of the Japan Broadcasting Corporation Hiroshima local station’s orchestra (NHK Hiroshima Orchestra). On October 12 of the same year, the seven people became founders of the Hiroshima Civic Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Takahashi served as the first chairman of the orchestra.
Dr. Takahashi, a surgeon and amateur violinist, was born in Kure City in Hiroshima Prefecture. When Mr. Takahashi was 14 years old, Taro Kawai (1884–1976) was appointed to serve as bandmaster of the military band attached to the unit of marines known as “Kure Kaiheidan.” The band to that point had mainly consisted of wind instruments, but Mr. Kawai added violins and other stringed instruments. When the young man first heard the music, he was fascinated by the harmonies produced in the orchestra and dreamed of becoming a musician. However, he met opposition from his father and instead went into the field of medicine.
During World War II, Mr. Takahashi served as an army surgeon, moving around to numerous bases where he was transferred, from the Chinese continent to the South Sea Islands. In 1948, after he was deactivated from the military, he opened a surgical hospital along Hiroshima’s Peace Boulevard, which was still under construction.
Around that time, Tomin Harada and other medical practitioners in Hiroshima started activities to provide relief to atomic bomb survivors. Dr. Takahashi joined the group and worked with Dr. Harada to send 25 A-bomb survivor women to the United States for treatment during 1955–1956. Dr. Takahashi, observing a medical examination performed by a physician overseas, and Dr. Harada, holding up a camera, appeared in a photograph carried in the Chugoku Shimbun newspaper published at that time.
Besides his hectic schedule as a physician, Dr. Takahashi sometimes performed in NHK Hiroshima Orchestra’s concerts as a part-time violinist, forging deep friendships with local musicians. He was 57 years old when he became chair of the Hiroshima Civic Orchestra. Recapturing his childhood dream, he dove enthusiastically into the orchestra’s musical activities.
“I feel excited when I consider the promising future before us. All members of the orchestra serve as important pillars of the city of peace and culture.” Although Dr. Takahashi was said to be a person of few words and an ineffective public speaker, the message he contributed to the newsletter for orchestra members was replete with passion. The Takahashi Hospital’s director room was turned into the orchestra’s office, and he made every effort to collect support funding and sell tickets. In the orchestra, he sat in the fifth row from the front in the violin section, playing his favorite violin made by master craftsman Gentaro Suganuma.
The orchestra played Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 9” at its 10th regular concert, held in December 1968. Dr. Takahashi’s desire for people of Hiroshima to play Symphony No. 9 was thus achieved. The next summer, however, when examining a patient, he died suddenly of a heart attack.
“My friend Mr. Takahashi had the desire to establish an orchestra in Hiroshima. Four years later, his dream was shattered by God” (quoted from the book “Inochi Mitsumete Rokujunen” [in English, Sixty years of observing life], written by Tomin Harada). At the orchestra’s insistence, Dr. Harada took over the post, becoming the second chair of the group. He was surprised to find out about information pointing to the fact that the orchestra had developed on the basis of the self-sacrifice of volunteer members who worked without pay.
Dr. Harada thought about what could be done to develop an orchestra suitable for the city of peace and culture as his friend had wished. In 1970, the Hiroshima Civic Symphony Orchestra changed its name to the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra in an attempt to expand its activities both inside and outside Hiroshima Prefecture. At the same time, a funding group called the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra Association (now, the Hiroshima Symphony Association) was formed. In that way, the orchestra steered its course toward becoming a professional group of musicians.
Keywords
Sadamu Takahashi
Born in 1906 in Kure City. Graduated from Nippon Medical School. In 1939, he went to the war front in China and south as an army surgeon in the former Imperial Army of Japan. He was working at the former Tachiarai Army Hospital in Fukuoka Prefecture when the war ended. After he worked as a hospital director in Fukuoka Prefecture, he returned to Hiroshima City. He held various posts including as a member of the Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Casualty Council. He died in August 1969.
Tomin Harada
Born in 1912 in Hiroshima City. Graduated from the Jikei University medical school in Tokyo. In 1938, he was sent to the war front in China as an army surgeon in Japan’s former Imperial Army. He returned to Hiroshima in March 1946 and opened a surgical hospital in November, at a time the city was still a burned ruins. He was devoted to the medical care of A-bomb survivors and international exchange to promote peace. Served as director of the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra from 1969 to 1984. Made an honorary citizen of Hiroshima City. He died in June 1999.
(Originally published on February 17, 2022)
At present, the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra receives support from the entire community, with names of local business and cultural leaders listed as members of the orchestra’s board of directors. However, until 1972, the time at which it changed status from amateur to professional, the orchestra relied solely on the passion of its musicians. Thanks to the efforts of two physicians, the orchestra transcended a period of existential crisis and was able to turn professional.
It was during the Cold War between East and West in 1963, with the Cuban Missile Crisis breaking out the year before. Seven people were seated face to face, holding a discussion at the Takahashi Hospital, in the area of Shimonaka-machi in Hiroshima City (now part of the city’s Naka Ward). “Hiroshima should have at least one orchestra,” one participant remarked. Another said, “I wonder how many people would join.”
Sadamu Takahashi, then president of the Takahashi Hospital, listened intently to the passionate discussion among local musicians, including Kazukiyo Inoue, assistant professor at Elisabeth University of Music, and Tokuji Tagashira, contrabassist of the Japan Broadcasting Corporation Hiroshima local station’s orchestra (NHK Hiroshima Orchestra). On October 12 of the same year, the seven people became founders of the Hiroshima Civic Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Takahashi served as the first chairman of the orchestra.
Dr. Takahashi, a surgeon and amateur violinist, was born in Kure City in Hiroshima Prefecture. When Mr. Takahashi was 14 years old, Taro Kawai (1884–1976) was appointed to serve as bandmaster of the military band attached to the unit of marines known as “Kure Kaiheidan.” The band to that point had mainly consisted of wind instruments, but Mr. Kawai added violins and other stringed instruments. When the young man first heard the music, he was fascinated by the harmonies produced in the orchestra and dreamed of becoming a musician. However, he met opposition from his father and instead went into the field of medicine.
During World War II, Mr. Takahashi served as an army surgeon, moving around to numerous bases where he was transferred, from the Chinese continent to the South Sea Islands. In 1948, after he was deactivated from the military, he opened a surgical hospital along Hiroshima’s Peace Boulevard, which was still under construction.
Around that time, Tomin Harada and other medical practitioners in Hiroshima started activities to provide relief to atomic bomb survivors. Dr. Takahashi joined the group and worked with Dr. Harada to send 25 A-bomb survivor women to the United States for treatment during 1955–1956. Dr. Takahashi, observing a medical examination performed by a physician overseas, and Dr. Harada, holding up a camera, appeared in a photograph carried in the Chugoku Shimbun newspaper published at that time.
Besides his hectic schedule as a physician, Dr. Takahashi sometimes performed in NHK Hiroshima Orchestra’s concerts as a part-time violinist, forging deep friendships with local musicians. He was 57 years old when he became chair of the Hiroshima Civic Orchestra. Recapturing his childhood dream, he dove enthusiastically into the orchestra’s musical activities.
“I feel excited when I consider the promising future before us. All members of the orchestra serve as important pillars of the city of peace and culture.” Although Dr. Takahashi was said to be a person of few words and an ineffective public speaker, the message he contributed to the newsletter for orchestra members was replete with passion. The Takahashi Hospital’s director room was turned into the orchestra’s office, and he made every effort to collect support funding and sell tickets. In the orchestra, he sat in the fifth row from the front in the violin section, playing his favorite violin made by master craftsman Gentaro Suganuma.
The orchestra played Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 9” at its 10th regular concert, held in December 1968. Dr. Takahashi’s desire for people of Hiroshima to play Symphony No. 9 was thus achieved. The next summer, however, when examining a patient, he died suddenly of a heart attack.
“My friend Mr. Takahashi had the desire to establish an orchestra in Hiroshima. Four years later, his dream was shattered by God” (quoted from the book “Inochi Mitsumete Rokujunen” [in English, Sixty years of observing life], written by Tomin Harada). At the orchestra’s insistence, Dr. Harada took over the post, becoming the second chair of the group. He was surprised to find out about information pointing to the fact that the orchestra had developed on the basis of the self-sacrifice of volunteer members who worked without pay.
Dr. Harada thought about what could be done to develop an orchestra suitable for the city of peace and culture as his friend had wished. In 1970, the Hiroshima Civic Symphony Orchestra changed its name to the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra in an attempt to expand its activities both inside and outside Hiroshima Prefecture. At the same time, a funding group called the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra Association (now, the Hiroshima Symphony Association) was formed. In that way, the orchestra steered its course toward becoming a professional group of musicians.
Keywords
Sadamu Takahashi
Born in 1906 in Kure City. Graduated from Nippon Medical School. In 1939, he went to the war front in China and south as an army surgeon in the former Imperial Army of Japan. He was working at the former Tachiarai Army Hospital in Fukuoka Prefecture when the war ended. After he worked as a hospital director in Fukuoka Prefecture, he returned to Hiroshima City. He held various posts including as a member of the Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Casualty Council. He died in August 1969.
Tomin Harada
Born in 1912 in Hiroshima City. Graduated from the Jikei University medical school in Tokyo. In 1938, he was sent to the war front in China as an army surgeon in Japan’s former Imperial Army. He returned to Hiroshima in March 1946 and opened a surgical hospital in November, at a time the city was still a burned ruins. He was devoted to the medical care of A-bomb survivors and international exchange to promote peace. Served as director of the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra from 1969 to 1984. Made an honorary citizen of Hiroshima City. He died in June 1999.
(Originally published on February 17, 2022)
