Today’s concert was held as part of the “Hiroshima A-bomb Piano Peace Activity” by Mr. Mitsunori Yagawa who is a second-generation radiation survivor himself.

Mr. Yagawa is a piano tuner and he received the piano from the owner and adjusted it to be played again.
 He has traveled throughout Japan and abroad with his A-bombed piano to convey the message of peace and the preciousness of life so that the world will never experience another atomic bombing or war.

 Here is the A-bombed Piano.

 Pianist Mr. Benny Tsuha also came as a guest and gave a wonderful performance. 

Also, on behalf of AMICUS, 9th grader played “Gunjo” (Azure) written by a music teacher and Fukushima junior high school students.  She played as a memorial to the victims of the plane crash in Korea last year and to the Battle of Okinawa on this A-bombed piano with all her heart and prayers.

 At the end of the performance, students from grades 1 to 9 gathered in the gym (grade 8 students were away on a school trip) and sang “Inochi no uta” (Song of Life) together with the AMICUS choir, wishing for peace.
 The sound of the A-bombed piano was a little dry but strongly moving.

Thank you, Mr. Yagawa and Mr. Tsuha, for creating such a deeply memorable opportunity for us to end this concert in Okinawa this year, the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.