Tsunami Violin − The sound of remembering

The Manila Times

Tsunami Violin − The sound of remembering  In 2011, violin maker Nakazawa Muneyuki and his musician wife Kimiko were deeply moved by TV images of the wreckage and uprooted trees left by the Great East Japan Earthquake. Nakazawa decided to make a violin using wood salvaged from the place hardest hit by the tsunami, Rikuzentakata in Iwate. For his sound post, the part that determines the violin’s tone, he chose a twig from the Miracle Pine - the only tree left standing there by the tsunami. Ten years after the disaster, his violin, which he called it the “Tsunami Violin”, still plays at concerts around Japan, ensuring that the experiences of that terrible day will never be forgotten.  VIDEO BY MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF JAPAN  Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe  Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net  Follow us: Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion  Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital  Check out our Podcasts: Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer Stitcher: https://tmt.ph/stitcher Tune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein  #TheManilaTimes #DailyNews #Japan #Tsunami #Violin #Sound #MiraclePine #Earthquake #Iwate

Transcript

00:00 [ Music ]

00:27 >> The beautiful yet melancholy tones of a violin.

00:30 On the back of this one is painted a lone pine tree.

00:37 It's a story that goes back to the 2011 tsunami

00:45 that devastated the Tohoku Coast.

00:47 When the waters retreated from Rikuzentakata,

00:53 a single pine tree still stood among the wreckage and debris.

00:56 The locals named it the Miracle Pine.

01:04 This violin was crafted from wood recovered

01:06 from the tsunami debris and one small twig

01:09 from the Miracle Pine itself.

01:12 Its maker called it the Tsunami Violin.

01:16 [ Music ]

01:21 That maker is Nakazawa Muneyuki.

01:24 Nakazawa is a specialist violin repairer.

01:27 Every day the news programs would show this pine tree standing

01:34 there all alone in the mountain of debris.

01:38 Then one evening as we watched my wife slowly began to weep.

01:45 Nakazawa's wife Kimiko is a professional violinist.

01:52 [ Music ]

01:56 >> Seeing the images of the tsunami aftermath made me think

01:59 of all the families whose memories had been washed away,

02:02 along with the town and its other trees.

02:05 The idea came to me that we could honor those memories

02:07 by making a violin from the driftwood.

02:10 No one had ever done anything like this before,

02:15 but Nakazawa took up the challenge.

02:17 [ Music ]

02:21 First he searched through the piles of trees

02:23 and rubble seeking wood suitable for the violin body.

02:28 It wasn't easy to find quality timber in all this chaos.

02:31 [ Music ]

02:37 The wood he collected was harder than he normally used,

02:40 and the work of planing and carving would be long and arduous.

02:44 [ Music ]

02:47 This small part called a sound post is the heart of a violin.

02:51 It transmits the vibration of the strings into the body

02:54 of the instrument to shape the sound.

02:56 [ Music ]

02:59 Nakazawa used a twig from the miracle pine

03:02 to make his sound post.

03:04 [ Music ]

03:08 That pine tree has given encouragement and hope

03:10 to so many people in the region.

03:13 It kept their dreams alive.

03:15 I believed that using part

03:17 of the tree itself would create a special sound that might be able

03:21 to touch people's hearts.

03:23 A unique violin born from the wreckage left by a disaster.

03:29 [ Music ]

03:32 Ten years after the tsunami,

03:33 towns along this coast are still slowly recovering.

03:37 [ Music ]

03:39 To ensure the disaster and its lessons are not forgotten,

03:43 Nakazawa organizes concerts throughout Japan featuring his

03:46 tsunami violin.

03:48 [ Music ]

03:50 Today, they are performing for middle schoolers

03:52 who were only infants at the time of the tsunami.

03:56 [ Music ]

04:23 It's amazing to think of all the memories contained in that violin.

04:28 I knew the music would make me feel the suffering they experienced,

04:31 but it was also inspiring.

04:33 People bounce back from disaster determined

04:35 to move on with their lives.

04:39 Nakazawa's project gained enthusiastic support from musicians

04:43 and over a thousand have played his violin.

04:46 [ Music ]

04:48 This is one of them, Yamauchi Tatsuya.

04:51 [ Music ]

04:53 >> These concerts create powerful reactions bringing audiences

04:57 to tears.

04:58 I hope the project will continue for many years

05:00 to ensure we never forget what happened.

05:05 I'm always aware that we can never tell when

05:07 or where the next disaster will strike.

05:10 I hope this music we make will serve as a warning,

05:13 reminding people to stay alert and ready.

05:18 [ Music ]

05:21 >> The tsunami violin, inspired by a lone tree that survived disaster.

05:26 Its music is a message for future generations.

05:30 [ Music ]

05:34 [ Silence ]

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