Immerse yourself in jazz tonight
File.6 Rikuzentakata "h.Imagine"
Mayuko Niimura (Jazz Cafe Chigusa)
Chigusa closed once in 2007 due to the rezoning of the area. In 2010, a three-day archive exhibition, "There was Chigusa in Noge!", was held, and calls for its revival grew, but there was neither money nor manpower. Time passed with the vague notion that "someday..." and "if we can reopen someday..." until the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred on March 11, 2011.
On this day, the tsunami that struck the Tohoku region claimed many lives and destroyed entire towns.
I was in Noge and saw the extent of the damage on the ground, but there was nothing I could do and I was overcome with a sense of helplessness.
Then in April, as the media began to report the details, I came across a photo. It was an article in the Kanagawa Shimbun newspaper showing a man standing amid the rubble, holding a record. The owner of a jazz cafe called "h.Imagine" in Rikuzentakata had lost everything in the tsunami, including his store, audio equipment, and records, but was still hoping to get back on his feet.
Jazz cafe... Records... I couldn't help but see the words, so I immediately called on Chigusa- related people and the town to plan a charity event. We held a flea market and raised funds, and also asked for donations of records. It was only a one-day event, but we received cooperation from many people, so we immediately went to Rikuzentakata with the sales, donations, and records. I met the owner at the gymnasium where we were evacuated, and was able to hand them over to him in person.
We also visited the site of "h.Imagine" accompanied by the owner, Mr. Toyama. The situation is difficult to describe, with tens of thousands of people still missing and the rubble still untouched. There was no sign of jazz being played anywhere, and the smell of stale food in the dusty air made it difficult to take off my mask.
With the desire to play jazz in this place, I dropped the needle on the record on the player I had brought from Yokohama.
'Don't Be That Way' by Benny Goodman.
The cheerful sound of a big band and swinging clarinets echoed loudly through the rubble-ridden city. It was a strange sight, but it was a sound that reminded me of the stories of Yoshida Mamoru.
When Chigusa 's founder, Mamoru Yoshida, returned home from military service after the war, the city of Yokohama was burned down by the air raids. He headed straight for the shop site, but the coffee shop and the precious records he had painstakingly collected were all burned to ashes and there was no trace of them. However, the sound of jazz coming from the occupying forces' radio broadcast inspired him to revive Jazz Cafe Chigusa .
This story is a passage from "Yokohama Jazz Stories," but I could see the image of Yoshida Mamoru at that time overlapping with that of Tomiyama, who was affected by the disaster in Rikuzentakata.
After that, Tomiyama-san, while living in a shelter himself, continued to visit other shelters energetically, carrying a gramophone, records, and a coffee set. Chigusa 's friends also visited Rikuzentakata again and held a "Mobile Jazz Cafe Chigusa" with Tomiyama-san. Connected to Yokohama via live internet broadcast, they delivered the real voices of Tomiyama-san and the people who were rising up to rebuild, and talked with each other.
At the time, I thought I was sending my support from Yokohama. But thinking back, maybe it was Chigusa who was being cheered on. I thought that I must not let the story of Chigusa , who was brought back by Mamoru Yoshida from the ashes of having lost everything, end.
With the help of many people who love Chigusa , Chigusa managed to reopen on March 11, the year after the earthquake. The reason for choosing this day as the reopening date was to ensure that the earthquake and the affected areas were not forgotten. At Chigusa , we always report on the latest developments in Tomiyama-san and other affected areas on each anniversary.
In slang, "jazz" also means "liveliness." This does not only mean music, but may also refer to life itself.
As we send jazz to Tohoku, March 11th approaches, marking eight years since the earthquake and seven years since Chigusa reopened.
