May 1 (Friday) Alkmaar, Netherlands – Concert Day
We went to the cheese market.

We are in Alkmaar. The city is famous for its cheese market. Every Friday, from April until the beginning of September, they open the market, which has a history of 385 years. There are tons of tourists here. We bought some small Gouda Cheese. It was very delicious.

  
May 2 (Saturday) Almere, Netherlands – Concert Day
Because we have a lot of equipment, large theaters are very easy for us to use.
All the theaters in Holland are quite nice to use, but this one is particularly modern. We were able to complete our unloading and packing up in a much shorter time than usual. The theater culture in Holland is quite impressive.  
May 3 (Sunday) Drachten, Netherlands – Concert Day
The carpenter’s daughter sewing.
It has already been 3 months since we began the 2009 Yamato EU Tour. As we repeatedly unpack and repack all of our equipment, wear and tear begins to show. If we don’t perform a little maintenance every day, it becomes overwhelming. Today we are fixing up the cover for our 4 shaku (121.2 cm) Odaiko. We have to sew up all the little holes and tears. This cover is very important because it has to protect our “guardian angel” Odaiko.  
May 4 (Monday) Day Off



“Small” sushi and “Medium-sized” sushi
Look what we found! Sushi! It comes in boxes labeled “small” and “medium-sized”. Cute. (≧▽≦)  
May 5 (Tuesday) Turnhout, Netherlands – Concert Day

Ready for our seven concerts. Bring it on!
From today we will have seven concerts in seven days!!! Before the concert, we have to make sure to have a good warm up. Seven concerts in a row: Ready! Set! Go!!  
May 6 (Wednesday) Haarlem, Netherlands – Concert Day

The tour bus we use to get around.
Each time we move during the Holland tour, we use this Conexxion Tour bus. Our driver, Leo, is the same one we had the first time we used this bus company in 2003. He has actually already retired, but has graciously come out of retirement just for the Yamato tour.  
May 7 (Thursday) Franeker, Netherlands – Concert Day

 
Today’s concert will be a small version. From the back to the front of the stage there is only 6 meters. For our full “Matsuri” program, we need at least 10 meters. We also changed the concert program quite a bit. There will be 300 guests. Although we were worried about the changes, the audience responded well and enjoyed themselves. We were reminded how thankful we are for our wonderful audiences.  
May 8 (Friday) Zoetermeer, Netherlands – Concert Day
Eating on the tour bus.
The energy of the audience is really important. We always feel energized from the audience’s reaction, but Friday’s audience was really into the show. Thanks to their energetic reception, we could really give a great performance!!  
May 9 (Saturday) Sittard, Netherlands – Concert Day
Practice, practice and more practice…
Today we are reminded of our own physical insufficiencies and …well, it means practice, practice and more practice. Marika Nito, in particular, practiced extra hard today. What was the result? Her solo today was very well received by the audience who gave her a large round of applause.  
May 10 (Sunday) Breda, Netherlands – Concert Day
We’ll keep making sticks until it’s time to go.
Today’s concert location is 90 km away. It’s not so far, so we can leave a little later than usual. We used the extra time to make new sticks!!  
May 11 (Monday) Rotterdam, Netherlands – Concert Day
We are at the Luxor Theater today, which is mainly a venue for musicals. The audience of 1200 people really got into the show. We had a wonderful concert.  
May 12 (Tuesday) Day Off
Shopping by rent-a-cycle!
We have a day off. We’ll go and explore the town by bicycle!! For three Euros we rented bikes for the day and rode them to the next town, where we did some shopping.  
May 13 (Wednesday) Hoogeveen, Netherlands – Concert Day
We are enjoying the beautiful weather.
Our enjoyable day off was over before we knew it and today we are back to work in Hoogeveen. We’ll tune up our shime taiko outside. Another day of hard work!!  
May 14 (Thursday) Day Off
Europe is extremely dry so our bachi break really quickly.
After finishing our seven days of concerts in a row, we now have another day off. Today we are making sticks again. We open the back door of our bungalow and sit in the warmth of the spring sun. We will make a lot of sticks today!  
May 15 (Friday) Beverwijk, Netherlands – Concert Day

Look how nice they look!

Well, it’s time for our daily routine, which we cannot forget: getting ready for another concert.

Today we are polishing the chappa (cymbals). We polish them up bright and shiny so they can produce the best quality sound.		  
May 16 (Saturday) Zwolle, Netherlands – Concert Day

 

Today our friend, Uriel made the long journey all the way from Canada just to visit us. He is the promoter for our N. American/Canadian tour. He has four grandchildren, is 76 years old, yet he still helps out with loading and unloading and various other tasks. “I can’t let you young people show me up,” says the energetic grandfather.

We better not let him show us up, either!!		  
May 17 (Sunday) Day Off
It was a good home to us…
Our 2009 tour in Holland started on April 15th. Tomorrow we will close it out with a performance at a theater called “CARRE” in Amsterdam. So today, we are cleaning out the bungalow where we have been staying.  
May 18 (Monday) Amsterdam, Netherlands – Concert Day

 
The Royal Theater Carre began as a 19th century circus. In 1977 this Amsterdam theater was restored. It is at this historical, royal theater that Yamato will close out the 2009 Holland Tour.  
May 19 (Tuesday) Moving Day
On our way to the country of beer: The Czech Republic.
Now that our Holland tour is over, we are moving on to the next country, the Czech Republic. We recently learned that the Czech Republic is known for its beer. You’ve heard of “Pilsner”, right? That word has to do with a beer recipe. About 100 km to the south of the capital of Prague is the city of Pilsen, where Pilsner beer was born.  
May 20 (Wednesday) Brno, Czech Republic – Concert Day
Another day of hard work.

Here we are in the Czech Republic. This morning we practiced swinging our sticks under the clear, blue sky.

“One, two three…” suspicious voices from a suspicious looking group echoed between the buildings.		  
May 21 (Thursday) Brno, Czech Republic – Concert Day
“Don’t worry, I look good with any hairstyle.”

“Hair cutting ceremony”
Takahiro Mon has decided to take on the top-knot hair style!!

Takahiro, please work hard. This haircut comes with new responsibilities.		  
May 22 (Friday) Czech Republic – Concert Day
A sellout crowd!

Today we played at a 1500 seat theater, and every seat was full.

Fueled by the applause of the audience, we gave an athletic, sweaty, two-hour performance.		  
May 23 (Saturday) Ostrava, Czech Republic – Concert Day
The cheers of the audience felt like a tremor in the earth.
Like yesterday’s show in Zlin, today’s venue is a sports arena. But today’s venue holds 3500 people! And it is sold out as well!!! Hearing the cheers of 3500 people was energizing. We really enjoyed performing here.  
May 24 (Sunday) Prague, Czech Republic – Concert Day
It’s delicious!

We left the hotel at 6:30 this morning with a packed breakfast prepared by the hotel. We got on the bus and ate them as we traveled. We arrived at the theater in Prague at 12:30. We were already hungry. Before we unpacked and began setting up the stage, we had a quick snack!! Bananas are great!!

  
May 25 (Monday) Pardubice, Czech Republic – Concert Day
Time to go home for a while!
It’s our first time in Pardubice. Today’s venue is another sports arena. With the help of an enthusiastic audience of 1000 people, we successfully closed out “Part 1” of our 2009 Yamato EU Tour. A big thanks to all who contributed!