ON – moving, performance, moving again

It is already December, the end of the year. If it ends well, everything is good!! Hamilton Place has the perfect theater for an end of the year concert. Let`s work make sure it’s a good one!!

ON - Performance, moving

Our performance is in Toronto today. Toronto is a big city!! There are big malls and modern looking buildings. Among those beautiful buildings is an impressive looking brick building. It is Massey Hall and has a long history!! It was built in 1894!! Yamato`s 120 cm diameter Odaiko was raised and appeared on stage from the storage area beneath. What dignity!

QC - concert

Although we were on a tight schedule today, our leader, Mr Ogawa, was still able to give us effective guidance. Our resulting performance was very successful!!

QC - Performance

Yamato 2009 Canada tour! Today is our second of two days of performances in Montreal. We have plenty of practice time on the second day because set-up is already done. But first we must eat!! At the Japanese restaurant called “Furusato” we had Udon, Katsudon and Sushi, it tasted sooo good!!

Moving Day

We traveled 245 km by train. In Canada, there are no ticket gates at the train stations. You just show them your ticket after you get on the train. Perhaps it’s a cultural difference? We viewed the cold landscape outside from within the warm car. It almost felt like a dream … and after three hours we arrived in Quebec.

Performance, moving

Today’s show was sold out, but it seems there were still people who really wanted to see the performance and they added more seats. The hall was completely packed and our level of excitement was quite high. There was a lot of cheering and we truly enjoyed performing.

ON - Performance

This place is big! Huge! It is too big!! Everything, the stage, the dressing rooms, the seating area, is big. We feel almost as if we may get lost navigating through the back stage area. But the crew seems to have everything organized and our work continues. The safety rules are very strict too. We are required to wear a helmet if we go on the stage, but we were told to stay off of the stage during preparation.

moving day

 Today is a moving day. From Ottawa station to Montreal it takes three hours by train and two hours by car. Because of a snowstorm, our trip to Montreal was surrounded in pure white scenery. There was nothing around the hotel where we were staying, so we took a taxi to find some amusement. It is quite unusual for us, but we ended up bowling.

QC - Performance

Today is the last day of the “Yamato American & Canadian tour 2009”! It has been two months since the first performance on October 11th. Since then we have visited 31 cities and had 41 performances. Altogether, we’ve traveled 18,000 km!
From the set up of the lighting to closing the doors on a well-packed trailer, we have become used to performing all the jobs on our own. It has been a very educational experience. Now we have reached the end. Red Bull and rice will give us the energy to finish off this tour. We are grateful for another successful tour.

Working day

Two weeks after finishing our American tour we closed the 2009 Yamato Canadian tour as well. We held eight performances. For the next two months all the taiko and stage equipment that accompanied us will go into storage to await shipment to our next destination. We will meet them again in Mexico in February. Good bye for awhile. Good work.

On our way home

We are flying back to Japan!! But we couldn’t wait to get back for Japanese food so during our layover in Detroit, Mr. Ogawa bought us eel and tempura bentos to eat. So delicious!