JAPANESE TOUR PHOTO RECALLED

Posted on May 29, 2020

We received several responses identifying this Japan tour photo, first published in our last issue of the Alumni Newsletter in February this year. In fact, two alumnae both claimed to be the person near the front with her head turned away from the camera!

KARI (KEISER) CARRICO
PYP Alumna now living in Tokyo, Japan

Yes! I recognize this photo! I am sitting in the front row—the girl who is turned away from the camera - oops! The photo was taken on November 12, 1979
in Kamakura, Japan (near Tokyo). This tour was November 3-14, 1979. I was a senior in high school, and I kept a diary, so I can share lots of memories!

We flew from Portland to San Francisco to Honolulu to Tokyo that first day, and were bused to a nearby hotel for the night. The next morning we were up at 5am to take a bus to a different airport (Haneda) and we flew from there to Sapporo. In Sapporo, we were greeted with TV cameras, several dignitaries, a ceremony, speeches, and three “Miss Sapporo’s” who presented roses to Mr. A.!

Later in the day we were taken to the City Hall where we were greeted with a band playing “My Oregon”! There was another ceremony, this time with the Mayor, and again, many cameras and reporters. At the end, we were matched with our host families.

My host family had a beautiful house. I remember being amazed that their doors had no handles—they were sliding doors! and there were no beds in the bedrooms! (the mattresses came out of the closets). And I loved their nice, DEEP, bath—although it was almost too hot for me to get into!

Following were four days of rehearsals, giving concerts, and attending fancy receptions. There were always tons of pictures being taken, and I remember feeling like a celebrity! Anyway, on Nov. 10th we said our tearful good-byes and flew off to Tokyo for five more days of making great memories!

ANN SANSREGRET LOWEN

The photo was taken during the Sapporo / Tokyo trip in November of 1979. It was my second year playing oboe in PYP. The trip was to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the sister city relation between Portland and Sapporo. I pulled out Mr. A’s book, The Concerts Revisited, 65 Years of the Portland Youth Philharmonic, published in 1991. On page 173, it mentions the giant statue of Buddha in the historic shrine city of Kamakura. This was a fun way to spend part of an evening. The Japan trip as well as being a part of PYP was a life changing experience. Cheers!

SUZY ROTH BUERER

Hi! I was on that trip and am probably the one near the bottom row with head turned inward (so it’s a profile of mostly hair!). Conductor Mr. A is center near top, and Mrs. Oringdolph is in sunglasses sitting to my left about two over (next to man in white shirt).

A memory of this fabulous trip to Japan is that I was selected to be the one that the Channel 10 O.P.B. team tagged along with and stayed at the host’s house with me in Sapporo, filming coverage of the student’s experiences! PYP also went to Tokyo and stayed in a hotel there. I would LOVE to get my hands on a recording of the one-hour documentary that OPB played on TV afterward! It was before easy video-taping, and one of the amazing things we saw on the trip was that the Japanese had these TV camera-like things called Video Camcorders that you held on your shoulder and made your own video with! My host gave me a VHS video of some things that he captured, that I still have and really ought to get around to changing it to a DVD (if it’s even in good enough shape).

3 Comments :

Comments

1. I have the tapes of the KGW TV program made for the 1978 Japan Trip if anyone is interested.
Jerome Couture|June 2020|West Linn, Oregon

2. I'm in this photo, far left, 2nd row from top, lower half of face obscured, not far from the glamorous chaperone and guest artist, Alyce Rogers, who sang a Gershwin medley and a classic Japanese song--The Moon Over the Ruined Castle, with us on this tour. I recall much of the trip, but I didn't remember that we'd been to see the Kamakura Daibutsu. My brother is in the photo too. This was our first trip to Japan, but not the last. I recall my mother wanting us to fly on separate planes, just in case.... He went on to minor in Japanese and is a long-time resident of Japan. It took me many more years to realize that Japan was calling me and to pursue serious language study as a hobby. Many more years passed before my hobby became my profession, teaching Japanese language and culture at a university in Pittsburgh, PA, as well as practicing and teaching Aikido Kokikai. In retrospect, this trip was clearly life-changing for both of us!
Barbara Litt|June 2020|Pittsburgh, PA

3. What a wonderful trip that was!! My host family was so kind and generous. My host mom was such a wonderful cook, and I discovered very quickly that I love Japanese food!

Five host families in the same general neighborhood collaborated together and treated us to several things. One was a gathering of school children and their teacher, Mrs Takahashi. How sweet it was to arrive at the house with four other PYP members—at the entry, there were MANY pairs of little shoes. Inside were all of Mrs Takahashi’s students. There were several Japanese students and one PYP member at each table. They served us delicious food. And I believe there was also a small koto concert and a Japanese tea ceremony. They were so kind to us!!
Another memory they made for us was a lovely visit to a sushi bar. And thus, my love of sushi began!

Another memory is of our concerts. We brought along guest artist and amazing mezzo soprano, Alyce Rogers (two of her children were in PYP [PJS] at the time.) In addition to the Gershwin songs with orchestra (from Porgy and Bess), she had learned three Japanese folk songs in Japanese and performed them with Maria Casale, harp. Each time when she began to sing, you could hear an, “oh!” quietly reverberate through the audience. It was very touching. How I missed that sea of black hair at our first concert back home!
Ruth Sadilek|October 2024|Portland, OR

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JAPANESE TOUR PHOTO RECALLED

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