MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- A fall evening filled with music, culture and friendship attracted a diverse audience at the station chapel here Nov. 6.
The station’s third annual Japanese and American Friendship Concert featured performances by local musicians, as well as distinguished guest artists from around Japan.
“We think it’s incredibly important for American and Japanese people to come together, and this concert brings an international language to help us do just that,” said station chaplain Lt. Robert Mills, who coordinated the event and performed at the concert.
The evening began with a piano medley orchestrated by Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni’s own Lt. Cmdr. John Cometa, station chaplain, who also performed a few songs with a ukulele.
Additional performances by folk singer Jiro Mouri, soprano Hisako Ikeda, pianist Chiho Uesugi and baritone Robert Mills astounded recital guests.
During an intermission, Machiko Hamamoto, affectionately known as “Mama-San,” and Torao Okuda, commonly known as “Tiger-San,” were honored for their decades of volunteer service to the MCAS community.
According to Mills, the two guests of honor reflected the ongoing friendship the concert encouraged.
After the intermission, concert guests admired classic pieces like Gounod’s “Ave Maria” and Debussy’s “Claire de Lune.”
Following the final piece of the evening performed by Ikeda, the audience and artists shared smiles, photo opportunities and refreshments.
“Music crosses all barriers, whether someone is singing in Japanese or in English or Latin or even Italian,” Mills said shortly after the concert. “We all can understand what the music brings to us, so we put on this concert each year to help bring our two peoples together, and because it’s a lot of fun too.”