Music of friendship, played by delegation from Hiroshima, echoes in Vienna
Oct. 21, 2015
by Saichi Tomizawa, Senior Staff Writer
VIENNA--During their visit to the Austrian capital of Vienna, the Hiroshima Friendship Delegation, led by Yasumaro Yoshinaka and composed of 20 people, took part in a festival held in the 16th District of Ottakring where a peace monument made of A-bombed granite from Hiroshima was erected. The members of the delegation, which include the Hiroshima Junior Marimba Ensemble, led by Mieko Asada, appeared at the festival and their performance was met with enthusiastic appreciation by the audience. Since the monument was raised in 2009, the District of Ottakring and the city of Hiroshima have become involved in continuing exchanges. Those involved in these exchange activities believe strongly that peace starts with such grassroots exchanges, like sharing a mutual love of music.
After each song played by the Hiroshima Junior Marimba Ensemble, the audience erupted into cheers and applause. The members of the ensemble, consisting of 10 elementary school and junior high school students, played the marimba and other percussion instruments with great energy and emotion. Their performance included a quick costume change from a Japanese happi coat to an ethnic costume of South America, which surprised and delighted the audience.
Because it was raining when the performance began, initially, there were only about 30 people in the audience. However, as the ensemble continued to play, the number of viewers grew, and when the performance ended, the audience roared for an encore. Franz Prokop, the mayor of the 16th District and the organizer of the event, asked the ensemble to play an encore, and the audience was treated to three more songs. Yoshie Tachikawa played the Japanese harp and the members of the Hiroshima Friendship Delegation sang in chorus, resulting in a performance that ran much longer than the scheduled 75 minutes.
After the performance, Mr. Prokop invited the delegation to the District Hall, and expressed his gratitude to the group. He told them that he had been deeply moved by the festival, saying that music can serve as a bridge to bring together different nations. He said that he hopes he will be able to visit Hiroshima and hear more music from the Japanese musicians. Ryusei Ueda, 13, a second-year student at Hiroshima Municipal Hesaka Junior High School and a member of the Hiroshima Junior Marimba Ensemble, said, “I’m so glad that the people of Vienna really enjoyed our performance in the world capital of classical music.”
On the previous day, the delegation performed at an exchange event held at the WIENER MUSIK und INFORMATIKMITTELSCHULE (Vienna Music School and IT Resources), and their performance was warmly received. Katsukuni Tanaka, 71, a member of the Hiroshima-Austria Association Steering Committee who was involved in raising the monument and organizing the exchange activities, said, “Vienna was also heavily damaged in World War II, and its people want peace. So grassroots exchanges like this are an inevitable part of the peace-building process.”
The long-running interaction between Vienna and the city of Hiroshima began with a literary work by Karl Bruckner, a scholar of children’s literature from the 16th District, who wrote Sadako will leben (Sadako Wants to Live). Sadako Sasaki was a Japanese girl who died at the age of 12 after developing leukemia as a result of her exposure to the atomic bomb. In 2009, the 16th District erected a peace monument in the square in front of the District Hall using A-bombed paving stone from the former Hiroshima City Hall. Every year, delegations from Hiroshima and Japanese residents of Austria take part in a festival to appeal for peace.
(Originally published on October 5, 2015)
VIENNA--During their visit to the Austrian capital of Vienna, the Hiroshima Friendship Delegation, led by Yasumaro Yoshinaka and composed of 20 people, took part in a festival held in the 16th District of Ottakring where a peace monument made of A-bombed granite from Hiroshima was erected. The members of the delegation, which include the Hiroshima Junior Marimba Ensemble, led by Mieko Asada, appeared at the festival and their performance was met with enthusiastic appreciation by the audience. Since the monument was raised in 2009, the District of Ottakring and the city of Hiroshima have become involved in continuing exchanges. Those involved in these exchange activities believe strongly that peace starts with such grassroots exchanges, like sharing a mutual love of music.
After each song played by the Hiroshima Junior Marimba Ensemble, the audience erupted into cheers and applause. The members of the ensemble, consisting of 10 elementary school and junior high school students, played the marimba and other percussion instruments with great energy and emotion. Their performance included a quick costume change from a Japanese happi coat to an ethnic costume of South America, which surprised and delighted the audience.
Because it was raining when the performance began, initially, there were only about 30 people in the audience. However, as the ensemble continued to play, the number of viewers grew, and when the performance ended, the audience roared for an encore. Franz Prokop, the mayor of the 16th District and the organizer of the event, asked the ensemble to play an encore, and the audience was treated to three more songs. Yoshie Tachikawa played the Japanese harp and the members of the Hiroshima Friendship Delegation sang in chorus, resulting in a performance that ran much longer than the scheduled 75 minutes.
After the performance, Mr. Prokop invited the delegation to the District Hall, and expressed his gratitude to the group. He told them that he had been deeply moved by the festival, saying that music can serve as a bridge to bring together different nations. He said that he hopes he will be able to visit Hiroshima and hear more music from the Japanese musicians. Ryusei Ueda, 13, a second-year student at Hiroshima Municipal Hesaka Junior High School and a member of the Hiroshima Junior Marimba Ensemble, said, “I’m so glad that the people of Vienna really enjoyed our performance in the world capital of classical music.”
On the previous day, the delegation performed at an exchange event held at the WIENER MUSIK und INFORMATIKMITTELSCHULE (Vienna Music School and IT Resources), and their performance was warmly received. Katsukuni Tanaka, 71, a member of the Hiroshima-Austria Association Steering Committee who was involved in raising the monument and organizing the exchange activities, said, “Vienna was also heavily damaged in World War II, and its people want peace. So grassroots exchanges like this are an inevitable part of the peace-building process.”
The long-running interaction between Vienna and the city of Hiroshima began with a literary work by Karl Bruckner, a scholar of children’s literature from the 16th District, who wrote Sadako will leben (Sadako Wants to Live). Sadako Sasaki was a Japanese girl who died at the age of 12 after developing leukemia as a result of her exposure to the atomic bomb. In 2009, the 16th District erected a peace monument in the square in front of the District Hall using A-bombed paving stone from the former Hiroshima City Hall. Every year, delegations from Hiroshima and Japanese residents of Austria take part in a festival to appeal for peace.
(Originally published on October 5, 2015)
