May 28, 2018

Tokyo, Japan

Yesterday we gave a lovely afternoon concert in Toyonaka, a suburb of Osaka. The crowd was lovely, the hall was beautiful, we were on good form, and we met many lovely folk afterwards.

Today has been quite bizarre by comparison! We awoke in Osaka, and I headed out for a 4 mile run to the lovely castle and back. Then we set off to the train station, where we got a bullet train north-east to Tokyo. Bullet trains are so incredibly fast but also super smooth. I love them already. During the train journey, Johnny and I worked on writing a blurb for our new US charity, The King’s Singers Global Foundation — about which you’ll hear much more soon!

Then once we got to Tokyo, we checked into our hotel*, then fairly swiftly headed out to go and see the Robot Show. It’s one of the ‘must-see’ activities in Tokyo, and so we went à6 on the train into central Tokyo to see this rather bizarre display of Japanese culture! The group in fact ended up being 8 of us, as we were joined by Ellie and her mother, Emma, who are both out here returning to the city where Ellie was born 24 years ago on Sunday! This is her first visit since she left the city as a baby, and she is loving it so far. She’s dealing very well with the jet lag, and enjoying soaking in her birthplace; for me it’s just incredible to have her out here with me, both exploring the city for the first time.

I really cannot describe the robot show. It defies logical explanation. Suffice it to say, it’s an underground catwalk, where deafening fusion music plays, and hundreds of actors in bizarre costumes ride around on robots, playing instruments, dancing and flashing lasers. That’s the simplest way of putting it, but the only way to understand fully is to go and see for yourself. It’s something else.

*We are staying in this hotel for a total of 6 nights. That’s the longest run of the group staying in the same hotel on tour for many years, I’m told! It’s a delight.