Our Road Family

There are a lot of things that make touring and performing in Japan so special. When we fly to Japan we fly Business Class. While we are in Japan we stay in great hotels where there is often a full buffet breakfast. The halls are wonderful and the audiences are enthusiastic. As I said in an earlier post to have these tours produced and managed by Noguchi-san and Fumiko-san makes everything first class.
One of the thing that makes the concerts special show after show is the special crew that travels with us for the entire tour. They arrive at the hall hours before us to set the stage and leave hours after we’ve gone to pack everything into a truck and head to the next venue. I learn a lot from their demeanor. They are always friendly. They are an amazing combination of personal and professional.
We’ve had a lot of fun with them. We’ve shared bus rides and a great dinner and some special times each day preparing to produce the best show.
Kaoru Ito is our Stage Manager. He is always smiling and making sure that things are ready for both sound check and the show.
Shinya Miyamori runs the soundboard. We have had lots of good people doing sound for us over the years. Miyamori-san is one of the best.
Atsushi Yamanaka also does the sound for us. He mixes the monitors and is there on the stage during sound check to make sure that everything is to our liking.
We have worked with the lighting guys before.
Minoru Sakurai runs the light board. He is a most amazing light designer. His spirit is contagious.
Kiyoshi Saito does the rest of the lighting work including running the spotlight for featured performances.
Satoshi Shida makes sure that everything is transported safely and in style. We have worked with him before as well.

There are pictures here so you can see them.

Let me say to them personally:
You are artists and craftsmen of the highest order. You do your jobs with such joy. You make what you do look easy while making us look good and our jobs simple.
Let me say to each of you: THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

The song expresses how I feel: Thankful.