I was totally astounded! On a Saturday in mid-July, I went to a concert by Joe HISAISHI. The concert was held at a hall in the Phillies National Park in Washington, D.C. As soon as I got off the Uber near the venue, I was surprised by the long line of people walking toward the venue. Even I realized that this concert was unusual. There was a golf cart service to pick up and drop off customers from where I got out of my car, but I wanted to get a feel for the atmosphere, so I walked the 300 meters or so to the gate.

After passing through the gate, I walked a little further and found the concert hall at the bottom of a mortar-shaped terrain. There was no roof, but the concert could be viewed from the inclined plane, and there were plastic seats with numbers on them. The hall was already about one-third full.

When I entered the hall, I found it to be a huge American hall with a capacity of 5~6,000 people, including the seats in the second floor. When I went outside later, I found that the open-air seats were also full, and the number of participants probably exceeded 10,000. If it were a local event in Japan, the newspapers would have said that there were more than 30,000 people in attendance. Contrary to my expectation, less than 5% were Japanese. Most of them were young Americans.

Only Ghibli songs were played in the concert. A combination of Ghibli songs and Ghibli animation projected on a huge screen was tremendously powerful. I realized that Joe HISAISHI's music is loved not only in the U.S. but also all over the world. Actually, a probably 17 to 18 years old American girl, who was sitting next to me was so moved that she started to cry halfway through the performance.

At the end of the concert, the audience of more than 10,000 people stood and applauded. HISAISHI-san seemed, more or less, happier than in Japan. (Perhaps, it was natural because he was applauded by that large audience.)　

Actually, I didn’t know until recently that HISAISHI-san is a composer who started his career as a film music composer and then moved to classical music. As a late-blooming classical music fan, I thought that he was a leading figure in the classical music industry who wrote critiques and commentaries for classical music CDs such as ones featured by NHK (The Japan Broadcasting Corporation). However, there are many fans among the staff of our brewery, and I finally made the connection that he composed and performed the music for Ghibli. Furthermore, he has been a guest conductor at Japan Century Symphony Orchestra since 2021.

When I heard that HISAISHI-san was going to give a concert in Washington, D.C., I knew I had to go no matter what, so I flew in on Delta Air from JFK International airport in New York, which was absurdly crowded during the summer vacation. (I didn’t know how to use the unmanned check-in machine, and I got just panic right in front of that! I’m so lame!) But I am really glad I managed to come. Until now, I had a very low-level, selfish understanding of HISAISHI-san as a leading figure in the classical music industry and a conductor who is appreciated when he conducts a concert because the seats are full. I'm sorry... But I really realized that the reputation of him and Ghibli's animation in the world is so great.

After the concert, I wondered if the music industry in Japan realizes how much the world appreciates him. Somehow, I felt it was the same as the story of Jesus Christ who did not perform a miracle when he passed through the valley in his hometown. We should be proud to have such an amazing person in Japan, and we should encourage him to be more active and do his best for Japan.

It was an inspiring two and a half hours, and I felt, at the same time, the problems of Japan's inward-looking society.

By the way, just as the concert ended, it started raining very hard. We had no rain gear, and we felt at a loss as we drove to the venue by Uber. In the end, HISAISHI-san called the organizer to get a car for us, as we were an easygoing couple who did not seem to have a car ready for the return trip. We left the venue an hour late because the exits were crowded, but even at that point, there were still many people waiting in the rain for Ubers and taxis.

Anyway, this kind of experience was possible only because I am the chairman of Japan Century Symphony Orchestra. From now on, I won't say anything punitive like "pull someone’s chestnuts out of the fire”. Thank you for leading me, a tone-deaf person, to this point, Iimori-san. (Iimori-san is the chief conductor of Japan Century Symphony Orchestra.)

 

☆Moromi of the first brewing

Six days have passed since the third stage of the fermentation process of the first brewing at the New York brewery was completed last Friday. I am a little concerned about the progress of rice dissolving too much. But when I stood by the tank and smelled the aroma of moromi, I could not help but notice how good it smelled. “Yes, this is the smell of DASSAI.” The smell of DASSAI, which I hadn't smelled in a long time, brought a sense of relief to all of us in the team sent from Japan.