JIYUCHO Otobanchi vol.1 Staff Live Report

Good evening. This is Takano from the staff.

This time, staff member Nomura, also known as Mitchan, wrote a report on Otobanchi, the first music live event held at FUTO on April 13, 2024. We would like to share it with you.

Otobanchi is an unplugged live music series organized by JIYUCHO and held at FUTO in Kuramae, Tokyo. The memorable first event was a two-person live performance by TOMO NAKAYAMA, whose music was also featured in Netflix's House of Ninjas and who returned to Japan for the first time in seven years since his 2017 tour, and oono yuuki, leader of the six-piece instrumental band oono yuuki band and also active as a solo artist.

Whether you came to the live event or could not make it, we hope you can feel a little of the beautiful time that flowed that day.

From here begins the live report.

On April 13, 2024, Otobanchi was held at FUTO. We welcomed Tomo Nakayama, an artist based in Seattle whom owner Koyama met while studying abroad and who encouraged him deeply, along with Tomo's close friend oono yuuki.

When the live performance began, I was standing behind owner Koyama. I am sorry to say it, but the place behind him was the best seat in the house. I am sorry for keeping it to myself.

Every time Tomo said the title of the next song, Koyama turned around with a huge smile and said, My favorite song! I heard later what memories he had with each song, but more than anything, his face was full of the joy of being able to hear them there.

I remembered hearing that Tomo was someone connected to the very reason JIYUCHO and FUTO came to exist. From the very back of the shop, I saw Tomo singing with pleasure, many customers enjoying the sound, and behind them all, the back of our owner enjoying it more than anyone.

To invite an artist who helped shape one's life into a shop one has opened, to hold a live event there, and to have many customers and friends enjoy it together. To meet people who supported him during his study abroad days and, years later, join hands with them to make many people happy. It was so cool.

The music was close enough that every breath and resonance reached the room. The voices, instruments, audience, and shop all seemed to become part of one same time.

There were moments when Tomo looked into the audience's eyes and moments when oono's voice stretched freely through the space. The two, both from Kochi and long connected, created a performance that felt perfectly in tune.

From my special seat at the back, what I saw was not only a concert. I saw a person's past, the place he created, and the people gathered there all overlapping for one night.

Thank you to everyone who came, to Tomo Nakayama, to oono yuuki, and to everyone who helped make the night possible. We hope Otobanchi will continue to become a place where music and memory meet.