This time we would like to report on the second round of singing session which was held in the multipurpose room of Cosmo Smile Kitano from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm on June 2, 2024.

Ten people participated on this day. Mr. Shinichi Anasako, who is a playwright and director, led the event speaking both in Japanese and English. Also, Ms. Mika Suzuki, who is a lecturer of the Faculty of Humanities at Fukuoka University participated as an interpreter.

At the very beginning participants practiced the melody of an original song composed by Mr. Anasako, and Ms. Chiharu Kamimoto who is an actor and musician, with the accompaniment of her guitar. At first, they began with humming a tune. Little by little they sang with the lyrics. After singing several times, their voices became louder and united into one.

Next, participants played easy games to communicate. They lined up in order of height, birthday and travel time to the venue, and shook hands with people who lined up on both sides of them. Then they split up into groups according to their preferences of each question, such as “dogs or cats”, “mountain or sea” and “favorite season in Japan” etc. and shook hands with all participants in the same group. After opening their hearts to each other, each participant made a pair with a person who they met for the first time to introduce him/her to others instead of introducing themselves. They asked their partners questions such as their hobbies and hometowns, etc. within 30 seconds and then introduced them to other participants using English and Japanese. Some pairs found that their partners also liked things such as basketball and sushi just like them.

Finally, the time to make a song came. Each pair wrote lyrics of lines 3 and 4 of “Kitanomachi de Aimashita” (below) which were left blank.

Mr. Anasako advised the participants saying, “You can express freely” and “It’s OK if your lyrics don’t fit the melody”. They choose the words in a short time of 3 minutes, to introduce his/her partner to other participants.

Time passed quickly. Each pair made a presentation in turns of their own original lyrics of the song such as, “She likes K-POP”, “She is a badminton player” and “She is a manager of lacrosse club”, etc. Amusingly, there was a participant who sang as if she was singing rap music because her lyrics were too long to fit in time with the melody. However, Mr. Anasako commented, “I like this because it’s fresh”. Each pair made songs with varied individual characteristics.

Later, when the workshop had finished, participants didn’t go home. They were reluctant to leave and remained in the venue to take photos together and chat. What impressed us was the university students sending off the international residents, waving their hands.

Here is a part of feedback from the participants.

・I was very nervous because I had a conversation with foreigners for the first time but I was glad to have this good opportunity.

・I enjoyed it because I learned that my partner and I had surprising things in common and knew a lot of things about my partner.

・It was fun and I met new friends. I enjoyed a lot and had some good laugh.

・It was fun and very interesting. I meet new people and talk some of our likes and lifestyle.