Griffin students work with renowned Japanese music educator

An internationally renowned music educator from Japan led band classes and met with students at Griffin School this week.

Tomio Yamamoto, co-principal of Kobe International Junior and Senior High School and lecturer at Osaka Music Conservatory, is in the Northwest for a music and cultural exchange program that will culminate with a free concert at Pacific Lutheran University in Parkland on Sunday.

“He got wind of our cross-curricular Japan unit and was intrigued,” said Jennifer Marin, band director and music specialist at Griffin.

“He’s wonderful at his craft and looked up to by many.”

Yamamoto was welcomed at the school, which is between Olympia and Shelton, with drumming, singing and dancing from members of the Squaxin Island tribe. During his half-day visit on Thursday, he taught seventh- and eighth-grade band classes and watched students perform a play based on the Japanese folk tale “Momotaro,” a story of a boy born from a peach who works with others to save his village from ogres.

The play featured Japanese songs and authentic percussion instruments from the country.

Through a translator, Yamamoto said he enjoyed the play, and looked forward to sharing a video of it with students in Japan.

During the band classes, he talked to students about the importance of the basics, such as breathing, working together as a community and finding a time to squeeze in small amounts of individual practice.

“His message today was to teach how important it is to come together and care and help others in making music together,” said PLU percussion instructor Miho Takekawa, who translated for Yamamoto and founded the sister-band exchange program.

In an interview with The Olympian, Yamamoto said he’s a music educator, but he also considers himself a motivator and a leader.

“He believes his job is to light their hearts (for those) that want to play music,” Takekawa translated. “Music is the tool, the vehicle, so he can teach more important lessons for life.”

Marin said she worked with social studies and language arts teacher Patrick Harvey on the Japan unit for the school’s seventh-graders. Besides the play, students also get to experience Taiko drumming, learn some of the language, and find out more about the country’s history and culture.

“Ultimately, it’s about building community,” she said. “Japanese culture really embraces that.”

Eighth-grader Colby Wilson, 14, who plays the trumpet, said he enjoyed listening to Yamamoto’s lecture.

“I’m hoping to go home and practice with the ways he taught us,” he said. “And get better at my instrument with the knowledge he gave us today.”

This story was originally published June 3, 2016 at 3:29 PM with the headline "Griffin students work with renowned Japanese music educator."