Wednesday, July 19, 2023
On July 17 (Mon.) from 2:00 p.m., representatives of karaoke clubs in the town gathered at the multi-purpose hall of COCOWA, a commercial revitalization facility in Hokuryu-cho, to discuss "organizing karaoke clubs in the town" and established the Sunflower Karaoke Club, an association of karaoke clubs in Hokuryu-cho.
In Hokuryu Town, there are several karaoke clubs: Hekisui Karaoke Club (Kumiko Asano, chairperson), Uta no Shuikai (Hiroshi Mori, chairperson), Hokuryu Karaoke Club (Takao Yamada, chairperson), and Himawari University Karaoke Club (Kazuo Kimura, director).
The karaoke clubs meet regularly several times a week for practice and other activities. Once a year, the town's residents hold a cultural festival (sponsored by the Board of Education), where they showcase their beautiful voices.
Proposal to inaugurate a federation of karaoke clubs in Hokuryu Town
Ryoji Kikura raised the idea of organizing karaoke clubs in the town and holding presentations several times a year.
For several years, Mr. Kikura has been working to promote culture and the arts, believing that it is important and that the town's elderly residents need more opportunities for interaction than they have now in order to live well.
With the endorsement of Mr. Kazuo Kimura, Hokuryu Town Council, a meeting has now been set up to discuss the issue.
Ryoji Kikura.
It's great that you practice and enjoy yourselves in your respective karaoke clubs. I would like to propose that we increase the opportunities for everyone to enjoy singing together. How about forming a town-wide organization to provide a place to sing together and present our songs for many people to hear?
In Hokuryu Town, there is a Taisho Harp group, a karaoke club, a sword and poetry dance group, Hokuryu Taiko drums, and the Himawari chorus. In addition to the town's citizens' cultural festival, how about starting a group that brings together artistic culture and presents it several times a year?
Such a meeting would give the elderly more opportunities to get out of the house, and some would want to sing and others would want to listen.
I hope that by creating such an association, the performing arts and culture of the town will reach out to each other, further expand the circle of relationships within and outside of the town, and join forces to connect various relationships.
I would like to express the richness of our hearts through the performing arts culture of the people of Hokuryu Town, and I hope that everyone can gather together and share the excitement and joy of 'I'm so happy' together.
Kazuo Kimura
The discussion was directly triggered by the idea of gathering about 20 karaoke people to perform a song as entertainment during a festival at the Shinryu Shrine.
Rather than ending these singing gatherings after one, we thought it would be a good idea to use this as an opportunity to continue the activities of the town's karaoke group as before and create a way for those who love to sing and those who want to sing to sing with everyone else.
I believe that the town will be revitalized if we increase the number of people who sing together and enjoy each other's company through festivals and other events," said Kazuo Kimura, a member of the Hokuryu Town Council.
Hiroshi Mori, Mitsuo Fujii
Takao Yamada, Shigenori Nakanishi
Kumiko Asano
Isao Hiraba
Opinions of all participants
- We have been talking about having a joint singing group for several years, but the Corona disaster and other problems have put a halt to the discussion.
I think it is a good thing that you are talking about organizing all these karaoke groups together this time. I hope that it will become a reality!
- I agree with you about organizing groups. In order for everyone to get together and sing, we will need a karaoke machine.
Each group uses different equipment, and there are a thousand different types of equipment, from old to new. The equipment can be difficult to set up each time it is used, or the volume and acoustics can be poor.
We also need to think about how to prepare such karaoke machines and other equipment.
- We need to carefully consider how to address not only the karaoke machine issue, but also the actual event preparation and other administrative aspects of the event!
- The point is that anyone who likes to sing is free to participate, but it is assumed that you are a member of the group.
Various opinions were exchanged and heated discussions ensued.
After discussion, the organization name and officers were decided. It was approved that the discussion will continue with the officers and secretariat.
Officers, etc. and Decisions(Titles omitted)
- Organization Name :Sunflower Karaoke Club
- Chairman :Kumiko Asano (President of Hekisui Karaoke Club)
- Acting Vice Chairman:Kazuo Kimura (Director, Sunflower University Karaoke Club)
- Vice President:Hiroshi Mori (Chairman of the Society for the Gathering of Songs)
- Vice President:Takao Yamada (President, Hokuryu Karaoke Club)
- Secretary General :Mitsuo Fujii (The Poetry Gathering Association)
- Secretariat and Treasurer:Yuji Saito (Hokuryu Karaoke Club)
- Secretariat and External Relations:Isao Haniba (Sakurashinryu Kenshibu-kai, Nihon Shigin Gakuin Gakufukai)
- Audit :Shigenori Nakanishi (Hokuryu Karaoke Club)
- Advisor:Ryoji Kikura (Sunflower University Karaoke Club)
- Membership fees :Micro-collection on a case-by-case basis as needed
With heartfelt thanks for the development of Sunflower Karaoke Club, which shines like a sunflower.
With boundless love, gratitude, and prayers for the future development of the Sunflower Karaoke Club, where the citizens of the town unite their hearts to enjoy music, culture, and performing arts.
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◇ Reporting and writing by Ikuko Terauchi (Photography and editorial assistance by Noboru Terauchi)
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