The King's Singers

04 / 07 / 2010

David

Today we have sung our first Japanese concert of the trip. We are in the city of Toyotashi, about one hour’s drive from Nagoya. When I think about concerts in Japan two things come to mind - elegant modern concert halls, and the alarming prospect of Japanese language announcements. Here in Toyotashi both of these aspects were realised. Toyota City Concert Hall is a lovely space in which to perform, with a fine looking organ and excellent acoustics. It sits on the tenth floor of one of the city’s civic buildings, which may seem unusual, but it does give wonderful views of the surrounding hills from the lobby. We managed to get through our Japanese announcements without too much panic. This is the trickiest language we attempt (with the exception of Chris’s greeting at the start of each concert, we spoke English in Taiwan, China & Korea), but the audience really appreciates the effort. I always wonder how much they actually understand, but they did laugh at the jokes. We are indebted to Mio Collett, our wonderful tour manager here in Japan, for guiding us towards the correct pronunciation.

Tomorrow we head off to Tokyo on the Nozomi 116, one of Japan’s incredible ‘bullet’ trains. I think we will pass Mount Fuji on the way, which is worth seeing. Often the mountain seems to hover in mid-air above the surrounding countryside. At last we have seen some sunshine today, after nearly two weeks of overcast skies and rain, so I am hoping for a good view.