「Sky and Future and Special Big Band」

I spent my teens in Fukushima. My parents still live in Fukushima. Fourteen years ago, when the
2011 Great East Japan (Tohoku) Earthquake and Tsunami happened, I couldn’t sit still—I felt like I
had to do something—so I canceled all the concerts on my scheduled European tour, went to
Fukushima, and launched Project FUKUSHIMA! together with Michiro Endo, Ryoichi Wago and
many others. My reference point for this project was the NHK TV drama Sono machi no kodomo
(The Town’s Children), which was made 15 years after the Kobe Earthquake. It was written
by Aya Watanabe and directed by Tsuyoshi Inoue, and I wrote the music. I was moved by every word
in this work, which depicted the feelings, 15 years later, of people who were affected by the disaster
as children.My activities in Fukushima began with a view to what things might be like in 15 years.

Another important foundation of the project in Fukushima was my experience with Otoasobi
no Kai,which has been active in Kobe since 2005. This project makes improvised, nonhierarchical
music together with children with disabilities, and it taught me how to work with members of the
general public.

It was based on these experiences that I wrote the music for the 2013 NHK TV drama Amachan,
directed by Tsuyoshi Inoue. The drama and its music got a lot of attention in Japan. Just after the
Tohoku Earthquake, I had a strong feeling that what was needed in areas affected by the disaster
was probably comedy That It was based on these experiences that I wrote the music for the 2013
NHK TV drama Amachan, directed by Tsuyoshi Inoue. The drama and its music got a lot of attention
in Japan. Just after the Tohoku Earthquake, I had a strong feeling that what was needed in areas
affected by the disaster was probably comedy. That feeling may have inspired the music for
Amachan. The group that was formed by the people who came together at that time was the
prototype of the Otomo Yoshihide Special Big Band. At the same time, I created a new Fukushima
festival and its music and bon dance, together with many colleagues who gathered in Fukushima
after the earthquake, along with Michiro, Jun Nagami, and the members of Project FUKUSHIMA! and
the Special Big Band. That festival is still taking place.

I think these activities were probably what caught the attention of the conductor Yutaka Sado.
Another important connection was that Ryoko Egawa, who plays sax in the Special Big Band, works
with Mr. Sado. When he asked me to create an orchestra work to be performed for the 30th
anniversary of the Great Hanshin (Kobe) Earthquake, it seemed to me that various things that
happened after the 2011 disaster had all come together. I wanted to put all my experiences up
to that time into the structure and creation method of the work itself—that was my first concept for
this piece, Sora to Mirai to (Sky and Future). With a focus on the flute phrases in “The sky was so
beautiful… Wed. Nov. 18th, 2022” and “Fukushima Waraji Matsuri,” I created the basic concept and
general framework, and a collaborative piece created by four people—arranger Naoko Eto, Michiaki
Kato, Kazune Ogihara, and me—became the orchestra work

The first performances were held at the Hyogo Performing Arts Center from January 15 to 17, 2025
(the 30th anniversary of the Kobe Earthquake) with the Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra and
local children, conducted by Yutaka Sado. Requiem, improvisation, and festival—various post-
disaster experiences form the work’s foundation.

After those first performances, I felt I wanted to perform this piece with the Special Big Band
members who had been working with me since the 2011 earthquake. I wanted to perform it in our
own way. As luck would have it, Mr. Sado casually dropped by on the recording day. Since we were
fortunate enough to have him there, we definitely wanted him to conduct. And that’s how the second
movement turned out to be improvised music created together by Mr. Sado and the Special Big
Band.

The long horizontal photo on the other side of these notes was taken with an old panoramic camera
by the photographer Ai Iwane at the festival venue on the day of the 2019 Festival FUKUSHIMA! The
people in the photo include not only members of Project FUKUSHIMA! and the Special Big Band, but
also colleagues I had spent time with in Fukushima, as well as Taeko Wakita from Little Stone
Records, with whom I produced this album, Sachiko M, and my parents and siblings. These are just
the people who happened to be there at the time, right before the start of the festival, so a lot of
important people are missing. Even so, this panoramic picture is my most treasured photo. That’s
because it includes the faces of so many people I’ve known over the years, including people who are
no longer with us. I feel the same way about the music on this album.

Otomo Yoshihide
Tokyo and Fukushima
October 2025

(translation：Suzuki Yoshiyuki)