00:01:40.040 - 00:03:12.830

mm hmm. Yeah. Mm hmm dig and dig and dig and dig. No. Bye. And the push good. What? Mhm, mm hmm. Yes. Yeah. Mhm Thanks. Mm hmm, mm hmm. There are 102 in our orchestra and all of us

00:03:12.840 - 00:04:28.510

just loves Japan. We don't, we don't want to go home. Japanese composer and Leonard Bernstein George Gershwin, you know George Gershwin american composer George Gershwin Beethoven Beethoven. Yeah, I understand. Mhm Yeah. Mm hmm. Yeah. Mm hmm, mm hmm. So

00:04:28.510 - 00:04:46.460

when we first started talking about going on this trip tour, A lot of people said, you know it's impossible. You can't do it. Including me. At one we just had this really a dream to go to Japan in March of 1970. That dream came true after

00:04:46.460 - 00:05:04.880

raising more than $75,000 to finance the trip. The Lowell High School Orchestra of san Francisco was taking off for a two week concert tour of Japan That would take them more than 10,000 miles for concerts in six cities climaxing in a special performance on San Francisco

00:05:04.880 - 00:06:00.400

Day at Expo 70 in Osaka. Japan. This film is an impression of that trip as experienced by the 102 members of the orchestra and their conductor John Pereira. Mm hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Alright now we thought we should review very, very briefly what's going to

00:06:00.400 - 00:06:29.040

happen when we arrived in Osaka when the plane lands and the doors are open. We want four Children. You go down the raft 1st interested in fuji will be on the left side of the aircraft. Japan kind of connotations, a different world to me and you

00:06:29.040 - 00:06:50.020

know in school you always learn about all the temples and it's just a different religion, different type of people. And I'm hoping that's what it will turn out to be. Yeah, she's even worse up when she met Isaac Yeah, I hope it comes true. You know,

00:06:50.030 - 00:08:22.000

a lot of people like Japan has been industrialized and there's so many people and it's overcrowded and you can't enjoy it. But I think just Japan is exciting any kind of Japan. Mhm Yeah. Mm hmm, mm hmm, mm

00:08:22.000 - 00:10:12.480

hmm, mm hmm, mm hmm. Start start at the beginning. Karen Kirk, johnny Naomi, good evening, bye goodbye goodbye. Yes. Mm hmm.

00:10:20.740 - 00:12:40.360

Okay. Mm hmm, mm hmm. Mhm mhm mhm, mm hmm. Mhm. Mhm. Mhm, mm hmm, mm hmm. Quiet. Mm hmm. Alright, Give Me one Time. What before

00:12:40.360 - 00:12:57.690

the first concert And I was very worried about my section of course how they would play and I was hoping you know, they do okay and everything. I kind of well, since this is the first concert I, I really wanted to do. Well yeah, I can

00:12:57.690 - 00:13:35.770

do it three in one but I can't do it being the first one in Japan. It was all very strange and the whole thing, it's extremely new to us. We hadn't rehearsed also I was on everything. So I suppose we were pretty nervous. Bye. Okay. Mm

00:13:35.770 - 00:14:00.610

hmm I mean like I knew my part and I knew what I had to do as a member of the orchestra, but I think that I was still nervous because it was the first concert and well, like we've heard so much about the japanese audiences. Yeah,

00:14:00.610 - 00:14:17.300

they were, you know how they just kind of sat there in judgment. We didn't know exactly what they think of the music. I just wanted to play a really good concert. Okay. You know, this is it was our first time. It's sock it to him. We

00:14:17.300 - 00:14:32.960

hadn't seen any audience. So when the screen went up, we saw the packed house of 1100 people. So it kind of, well, it shook me. I was frightened because I didn't, I thought, well, this is kind of our first thing. And if we make this one

00:14:32.960 - 00:14:45.000

then the rest of the easy, but if we don't make this one, then we're going to be concerned about the rest of them. If you get nervous or if you start thinking negative thoughts you want, it's only going to hurt your performance. I felt if we

00:14:45.000 - 00:15:16.860

went out and played, well that's the most we could do. Mhm Yeah, I didn't play the first couple of pieces. And I was backstage and I watched out, I watched through the curtains and I could see that the people didn't really seem to express what they

00:15:16.860 - 00:15:45.370

were feeling. Yeah. Mm hmm. Their hands in their laps all folded and just sit there with a straight face and when they were listening, he didn't smile at all. And you couldn't tell if they were enjoying the program or not. I had to excite them. I

00:15:45.370 - 00:15:59.290

had to turn them on to the music. I was playing with our orchestra. We have to just do our thing. We play a certain way and we play a certain kind of music better than other kinds of music. And I've yet to find an audience that

00:15:59.290 - 00:16:36.180

didn't appreciate it. Mm hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. During the performance, you know, listening to some of the other players and they were really good. You know, and then that's just kind of the, the vibration is just kind of spread throughout the orchestra. And

00:16:36.180 - 00:18:22.690

then towards the end, the cost of the orchestra's playing like one person. Mhm, mm hmm. Yeah. Mhm. Okay. Mhm. Mhm. Thank you. Mhm, mm hmm, mm hmm. Thank you. That was the time where we had the most response from

00:18:22.690 - 00:18:40.360

the people. At least I found. And then you realize that your music meant something that seemed to reach them as much as it reached you. They started out very reserved, very typically japanese. And then after the firebird, of course they really got loose. We could have

00:18:40.360 - 00:20:32.870

just played on and on and on and they wouldn't let us stop or on tour. Candy by Bernstein. Mm hmm, mm hmm. Mhm. Mhm

00:21:13.440 - 00:24:13.280

mm hmm. Mhm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Yeah. Mhm. Oh yeah. Okay. I don't think so. Yeah, the scroll down the greetings Mr please thank you. Mm hmm, mm hmm

00:24:14.780 - 00:24:48.690

Fran welcome to Japan. You know san Francisco and Oscar is the sister of Philip ah therefore we've looked forward to this exchange meeting between the students of san Francisco and Oscar. Well, I'd just like to thank all the nice people here and for inviting us and

00:24:48.700 - 00:25:48.800

uh I hope they have as much fun as I know. We will. Thanks very much. Yeah, now I'd like to start our body All right, yes. Oh, oh, I hope that was a beautiful, beautiful experience to dance with the

00:25:48.810 - 00:26:22.610

people we were dancing their dance and learning what they were doing and reaching out. And one really good example of how you don't necessarily have to speak the same language, although you can communicate a certain amount of smiling dancing and music has

00:26:22.610 - 00:27:10.990

an awful lot of teaching them how to do our dances. There's really a lot of records. We'll keep something out. Okay. Start out with Bye music is an international language. Any kind of music they were playing these

00:27:11.730 - 00:27:25.410

songs that we play, you know, all the time here in space and they were just rocking out all the time. You know, you might, you might not think the japanese girls don't know, they just don't like the sexiest in the world. But you know when they

00:27:25.410 - 00:28:41.550

started dancing? Oh man. Mhm. Thank you. I would like to ask you, ask you to members to introduce yourself in english but very slowly, we can't catch you english. I am eric, Hayashi, japanese american, Yes, I can't speak japanese,

00:28:42.500 - 00:29:10.750

speak english, my name is randy, Herwitz american american. I cannot speak japanese but mm hmm try try the first night that we met on the way home on the train uh he mentioned something about a party. When I walked in, I really freaked out because you

00:29:10.750 - 00:29:28.540

know there are all these people and I said little party and his well you know just a little dinner party, you know the whole family was in on that you don't listen to the informal gathering. Please use english english as as well as you can if

00:29:28.540 - 00:29:51.730

you would like to speak, speak towards two persons. But in these areas we can, we can use japanese. The female role in the family is uh, is usually one of catering to the men like whenever the family would meet and then the mother would uh always

00:29:51.730 - 00:30:10.080

be certain that you would never eat with the family. She kind of reminds me of a really nice servant. You know, women here, I don't think it would take it. Um the daughters were a little bit more uh like an independent, more westernized and I think

00:30:10.080 - 00:30:30.090

they commented to fuji that uh that he was old fashioned and believing that a woman should never be dominant. Oh you're old fashioned, that's old hat women are becoming more independent. Yeah. We arrived in the first place to have a concert. It was the finest concert

00:30:30.100 - 00:31:03.890

to have two auditorium and everyone was very happy with the, with the concert. And then the next day we went sightseeing. You give me an honest answer to a question. What do you really think of eric's hair? Do you think it's too long? Teachers? Teachers forced

00:31:03.890 - 00:31:23.460

me to cut off hair very short. So if you were in my school you instantly, I had very short hair. I have very, very short hair up until maybe one year ago. Very, very short. I couldn't even, I couldn't even comb my hair until I got

00:31:23.460 - 00:32:57.560

into the orchestra. Doesn't mind. I don't like wearing it short. That's why Name David, David, Dennis, Dennis, crying, Dennis, Dennis, Dennis. Who are you, you That's difficult. Yeah. These Children who maybe had one arm or no legs or something,

00:32:57.920 - 00:33:39.440

it didn't, it didn't make any difference. They were all Children and they all kind of needed us. It happened for me just as I had hoped it would. I just was looking for one little kid, you know, and I walked in

00:33:39.440 - 00:33:50.000

this room and right in front of the door. This one little guy looked up at me and smiled and I thought, oh, that's him. You know, there was some people next to us that had a balloon and I don't think he'd ever seen one because he

00:33:50.000 - 00:34:28.450

just, his eyes just lit up, you know, so we kind of hit the balloon around and next thing I knew I felt this little tiny hand in mine and it was just a really beautiful moment. One

00:34:28.450 - 00:34:53.470

of those things that really got me is how they reacted to me and it was just about the happiest thing I've ever done, you know, it was a pleasure and it gave me a feeling and I was needed or liked by somebody who I didn't know.

00:34:53.740 - 00:36:29.440

Mhm thank you. Mhm Yeah, every day I have to take a cold bath. Hey Rhonda, Rhonda Rhonda thing you see on tv they should have been

00:36:29.440 - 00:39:47.060

made out of cloth monorail monorail or something that looks like a monorail. I don't have them, some english goodbye. All the japanese we know is a and you can't sit down and start attacking you. You've got

00:39:47.060 - 00:40:10.560

to make sure that you sit down just for a quick breather and then get up and start moving along. Otherwise they come in droves, everybody what's for lunch, they were taking pictures, close ups about living foot away, they must have taken pictures of each other, didn't

00:40:10.580 - 00:40:30.950

see what there was, I've never, I've never felt like such a freak before because in the United States people just don't come up to you and touch your hair and take your picture and ask for autographs, thank you, thank you, kids asked me to sign their

00:40:30.950 - 00:40:47.750

hats and asked me to sign their T shirts and hold their kids for him. You know, he felt like some kind of God or something that came from outer space was funny because three little boys asked me to sign their shirts. It didn't really make me

00:40:47.750 - 00:41:36.680

feel like a freak, made me feel like a celebrity exit stage left. Oh I was disappointed in the american pavilion. I thought that it was, it seemed so big and spacious and everything but they didn't seem

00:41:36.680 - 00:41:49.500

to be that much in it outside of, you know, the moon rocks and babe ruth uniform. It just didn't seem to represent our country very well. It reminded me of nothing I'd ever seen in America and I felt as though it were a foreign pavilion and

00:41:49.500 - 00:42:23.220

a pretty bad one at that. They should have burned out space capsule with all of the inside taken out fine. But what's that? Really okay for someone not from the United States. It was kind of fun to

00:42:23.220 - 00:42:39.410

sit in those chairs to feel what it's like. But um, maybe it's because we've had so many space explorations and seeing these things on tv it seems really every day to us. But I'm sure that to the Japanese it's something really unusual but as an american

00:42:39.480 - 00:42:56.170

like I didn't think that it really, you know projected me as an american. I would have included all kinds of maybe scenes of american life and of our cities and things that people are doing photographic essays of people's faces and what people are thinking in different

00:42:56.170 - 00:45:17.000

areas around America and not necessarily just a few uniforms and a moon rock. We're almost, we're almost in the world. Good luck. Yeah. Mhm. We're going to have something, you know, nothing at all. Okay.

00:45:21.090 - 00:45:36.820

Yeah, mm hmm. Everybody was all nervous and hectic and running around and doing things and getting things ready and trying to keep our music on the stands. And there were so many crowds that, you know, I didn't even know they were waiting there for us at

00:45:36.820 - 00:45:47.460

expo and I looked out and saw them and I go, oh my God, what are we going to do? I don't think the realization really hit us. You know, it's just okay. We're setting up, we're playing another concert. We're outdoors. Look at all the people because

00:45:47.460 - 00:46:04.210

you don't feel any crowd pressure on you. I don't know why. Maybe it's because we were so close as a group. Everybody depended on everyone else. It just seemed that the orchestra to the situation, especially at expo seven million stand through blowing over in the wind

00:46:04.210 - 00:46:31.510

and the music was going one way, it was too cold to play. For one thing you couldn't move and I had to play my soul. It was just too hard to play. Your hands are frozen. But you enjoyed playing The feeling was good because it was

00:46:31.510 - 00:47:25.900

such a large audience. I just wanted to play for your people musically it wasn't too much because we couldn't hear each other. We had to play everything very loud. We couldn't really see the conductor and of course with our music blown away. And so I saw

00:47:25.900 - 00:47:40.670

a page from the cello section comes slowly across right right past mr someplace in expo, I don't know where it is now and everyone just kept playing. I never looked at my music was and we couldn't see the music, couldn't see the conductor, couldn't hear anything.

00:47:40.670 - 00:48:36.030

So we just had a a really great time playing mm hmm. Mhm. Mhm, mm hmm. Thank you for your wonder woman. Yeah, yeah. one incident at Expo during the San Francisco Bay kind of capitalizes the whole feeling that we

00:48:36.030 - 00:48:49.850

had in Japan we had performed we were just sitting in his dance of Spectators and the foreign manager came up to me and said you know so spontaneously he said will you get your kids out on the floor and dance with the ladies. And I said

00:48:49.860 - 00:49:24.690

to us, we you know what? And he said yeah take him out there and you know it was not like all the adults forcing the kids to go out there and we ran out there willingly. It seemed like the greatest opportunity. We

00:49:24.690 - 00:49:48.990

were dancing their dance and learning what they were doing and reaching out. I really liked that better than are playing a concert for them. And I thought it meant an awful lot more to them than to us. Okay. Mhm. Okay, mm hmm. The whole thing about

00:49:49.000 - 00:50:19.830

the japanese people, the way they go out of their way to help you like these ladies breaking up their routine to teach us how to do it, right. I think that's, that's what I will always remember about Japan, remember the concert and I remember the dances

00:50:19.830 - 00:50:57.690

and all the things that I did, but I think what I would really remember is the people, you know the way they were to me as a person? Mm hmm. Mhm. Mhm. Yeah, mm hmm. Yeah. Mm hmm, mm hmm. Mhm. Mhm.