An Irish harp ensemble comes to Japan
Three years after it was first planned, the Japan Tour 2023 with Michael Rooney, June McCormack and the Laois Harp Ensemble is over, and it went well.
For years I had carried one wish: to let people in Japan hear the sound of an Irish harp ensemble.
Thank you to everyone who helped make that wish come true.
My thanks go to every single person involved in these concerts.
Without any one of them, the tour could not have happened.
How the tour began
The story starts five years earlier, in 2018, while I was studying in Scotland.
Through the harp I had become friends with Siobhán, an Irish harper.
Siobhán was already teaching harp at Music Generation, Ireland’s national music education programme.
The first time I visited Music Generation in Portlaoise, Siobhán said to me: “I’d love to bring an Irish harp ensemble to Japan.”
I answered “Yes, please!” without thinking very hard. That was the start of the whole project.
From that one conversation, the plan kept growing.
○ The Irish harp ensemble
○ Irish harper Michael Rooney
○ Irish flute player June McCormack
○ Michael and June’s children
Before I knew it, eleven people were coming to Japan.
I had never produced a concert tour before.
When I said “Yes!”, I had no idea it would turn into something like this.
But once I had decided to do it, I wanted to do it properly: for the audience, for everyone coming from Ireland, and out of respect for the people who organise concerts like this for a living.
Arrival in Japan
We gave concerts in three cities: Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka.
16 August: Tokyo
The Tokyo concert was at Tiara Koto.
The Irish Harp Festival used to be held there, so it is a venue that harp people in Japan know well. That is why I chose it.
Nervous backstage, but everyone looked happy to be standing on a Japanese stage for the first time.
Our guest was Sara Akiyoshi, who plays shinobue (Japanese bamboo flute) and kagura music.
18 August: Nagoya
On 18 August we moved to Nagoya and the Nishi Bunka Shogekijo theatre.
Twenty-seven Irish harps on one stage.
Here we met the harp ensemble club of Kinjo Gakuin Junior and Senior High School.
With a cross-strung harp joining in too, the joint Japan-Ireland ensemble was something to hear.
Our guest in Nagoya was fiddler Dai Komatsu.
20 August: Osaka
Finally we travelled to Osaka, and on 20 August gave the last concert at the Yamamoto Noh Theatre.
I had played the harp there twice before. The acoustic is beautiful, and it is one of my favourite places to play.
I chose it because I was sure that hearing everyone’s harps in that room would be something special.
To step onto a Noh stage you have to wear tabi, the traditional split-toe socks. I asked everyone for their shoe size and got the tabi ready, feeling excited about what was coming.
During the interval Michael said that he felt something spiritual in the Noh theatre, something he shared with Ireland. That stayed with me.
Everyone played in a very relaxed way that night.
Each of the three concerts had its own character, and I think all three were good. Hearing everyone play in Japan meant more to me than I can say.
Sightseeing
The Irish side very much wanted to see Japan, so during the nine-day stay we set aside plenty of time for sightseeing.
They had astonishing energy.
And to my delight, they enjoyed Japan to the full.
Places we visited during the tour
○ Tokyo: Asakusa, Tokyo Skytree, Tsukiji, teamLab
○ Nagoya: Noritake Garden
○ Osaka: Expo ’70 Commemorative Park, Dotonbori, Osaka Castle, Universal Studios Japan
The whole team worked hard to make sure everyone had a good time.
Exchange
Exchange between the two countries was one of the themes of the visit.
In Tokyo we attended a reception hosted by Ambassador Cole and the staff of the Embassy of Ireland.
The ensemble performed, and everyone had a chance to talk with the Ambassador and the guests.
In Nagoya we spent time with the harp ensemble club of Kinjo Gakuin Junior and Senior High School.
The students exchanged presents and learned each other’s names. Watching them enjoy themselves together was a lovely thing to see.
It felt like the beginning of a real bond between Ireland and Japan.
Looking back
I can say this now: honestly, producing this tour was enormously hard. I gave it everything I had.
I now understand the work that goes on behind the scenes when people bring artists to Japan for a living, and I take my hat off to them.
There was no funding at first, and I was prepared to pay for it myself. In the end many people came, and I am grateful that the tour came together.
Preparing for a large group to travel, arranging harps in each city, visas: there were many hard moments.
There were times I thought this was beyond me, and times I thought about cancelling.
What kept me going was the people who had supported the tour since 2020, when it was first postponed.
Thanks to everyone around me, I came to feel that letting the sound of the Irish harp ring out in Japan was my job to do, and I threw myself into the preparations.
When audience members said “Thank you for bringing them”, and when the Irish group said “This was the best time of our lives, we want to come back to Japan”, I knew I had been right not to give up.
To everyone who took part, and everyone who supported these concerts:
thank you, from the bottom of my heart.
Special thanks
From Ireland:
Michael Rooney, June McCormack, Siobhán Buckley, Dasha Buckova, Emily Breslin, Kai Conroy, Lily van den Berg, Niamh O’Shea, Eoin Rooney, Cillian Rooney, Dónal Rooney
Music Generation Japan Team:
Dai Komatsu, Yu Imamura
Harp loans: Ginza Jujiya
Tokyo concert:
Sara Akiyoshi, Shinobu Narita, Kozo Toyota, Motoya Ishizaki, Tom Toi, Kanako Noto, Tamba-san, Yoko Kamoshita, Sachiko Miyamoto
Nagoya concert:
Yuriko Miyake, Yasushi Kamai, Asami Mizuno, Nao Komatsu
Osaka concert:
the Yoshie Shimizu family, the Emi Kobayashi family, the Masami Yoshida family, Tomoko Nishikawa, hatao
Co-organisers and sponsors:
Suntory Holdings Limited / Yasui Architects & Engineers, Inc. / Mont-bell Co., Ltd. / Mizuno Corporation / IM Co., Ltd.
Supporters:
Embassy of Ireland, Japan / HARP LIFE / Kinjo Gakuin Junior and Senior High School / EU-Japan Fest Japan Committee / Ode Inc.
For their advice:
Harmony Fields, and Mr Watari of King Records
Donations:
everyone who donated their postponed tickets, and Fumie Nin, who entrusted her hopes to us
And to my family, who supported me all the way: thank you.