All-Japan National Marching Band Contest

[takigan]

So, UIL and BOA (the 2 main circuits highlighted by this site and the ones that the majority of our membership follows) are over and done with great success.  Some states still have their local state circuits to finish (I believe Florida's and California's were this weekend, as were a few others) and I'm sure there are various members with interest in those contests as well that are eagerly awaiting their taking place.

But meanwhile, in Japan....they've just had their own national event for HS marching bands, whose award ceremony took place roughly 24 hours ago as of posting this.  25 of some the world's most skilled marching bands took the floor at the 16,000 seat Osaka-Jo arena.  Their drill is bare-bones, oftentimes symmetrical with minimal frills and minimal pit percussion, and in many ways is reminiscient of corps style bands in the 70's and 80's.  However, their sound is HUGE, and bears a timbre and sonority that's reminscient of finalist-tier DCI corps but with the intonation and balance of a university wind orchestra.  What they do is old-fashioned and might even be considered "boring" by some....but by measure of what is being achieved, the best bands are unparalleled by any HS band on this side of the Pacific.

The contest format is based off of 1980's era UIL (Or to put it another way, the contest was invented in the 1980s based on the most developed and superior scholastic marching contest format in the world at the time--UIL, and has evolved little since then--because it's Japan).  You have 47 prefectures (or districts).  Each hosts their own contest and qualifies 2 bands to the regional contest (occasionally 3).  Bands have a performance timeslot of 7 minutes (6 of which is performance) and performs once (no finals). The contest is judged by 3 judges, who are not usually teachers but rather professional wind musicians from various professional orchestras and wind ensembles (The Kyoto prefecture competition had a retired Trumpet player from the Kansai Philharmonic judging, a Bassoonist with the Kyoto Philharmonic and a freelance Percussionist who is a Tama performing artist). 

There are no placements.  Scoring uses a box format and resultant ratings adhere to a strictly followed 3:4:3 division system.  So in other words, 30% of the performing bands will receive a first division (called Gold), 40% are given a second division (called Silver), and 30% are given a 3rd division (called Bronze).  The 2 (or 3) advancing bands are taken from the highest scoring Gold recipients.  A non-advancing Gold-recipient is sometimes said to have received だめ金 [dame kin] or "Dud Gold".  So it's very similar to UIL Region, except instead of the everybody-gets-a-trophy mentality that ends up saddling 75% of the bands with a first division, you end up with a grueling contest that's difficult to advance from....sort of like UIL Area.

The 47 prefectures feed 11 Regions (Tokai, East & West Kanto, Tokyo, Kansai, Kyushu, Hokuriku, Tohoku, Chugoku, Hokkaido and Shikoku).  The process at this competition is essentially the same.  Still 3 judges.  The number of advancing bands can be as few as 1, and as many as 4 depending on the number of competing bands.   Then at nationals you have 25ish bands judged by 7 judges (a Trumpet, Horn, Trombone, Flute, Clarinet, Sax and Percussion pro. I couldn't tell you for sure if they judge instrumental captions or not). 

This year 8 bands received the coveted Gold at Nationals, making them the best of the best.  They are as follows:

Yodagawa Technical High School - All-Boys school from Osaka in the Kansai region.

Takigawa 2nd High School - Also from Kansai.  Kansai sent 3 bands to Nats.  Two of them got Gold, the other got Silver.  Kyoto Tachibana (who's performing in the Tournament of Roses Parade this year and consistent National God recipient) is also from Kansai and unfortunately got dud-gold at Regionals this year.  Very tough Region to get out of.

Tachikawa High School - From Kashiwa City in the East Kanto region of Greater Tokyo, Chiba prefecture. Their Wind Orchestra won Nat'l Gold this year as well on stage.

Anjo Gakuen - From the Tokai region in the Aichi prefecture.  Link provided is to band Youtube page, but you can watch their 2016 show here.

Seika Girls High School - From the Kyushu region in Fukuoka City waaaay on the western edge of Japan.  They've gotten Gold at Nationals more times than any other band and received Straight As (essentially Box 5) from all 7 judges this year. Their wind orchestra performed at Midwest in 2010 and won Gold this year at All-Japan Nats as well.

Tamana Girls HS - Also from Kyushu. They performed at a college in Washington State a few years back.

Inagakuen Sogo HS - From Saitama City, a northern suburb of Tokyo in East Kanto.  Their wind orchestra has also won gold at nats numerous times including this year.  They did a concert tour in Florida in 2006 that ended at the FMEA convention.

- Also from East Kanto.  Video is from a week ago with a lower quality mic.


Most linked videos are from 2016 Nats with a few exceptions. It's very difficult yet to find 2017 videos, even from the prefecture and regional competitions.  Fancam recordings from the venues are rarely shared, and the rights to the video are owned by Fuji TV and nationally televised at a later date.


I consider often how far a Grand National medalist or BOA San Antonio champion from the last few years would do in a circuit like this, either choosing to march their usual concepts or if they were to go for a more "precision" approach like these Japanese groups.  In most cases I feel X band has the clarity but lacks the dynamics, while Y band has the dynamics but lacks the clarity.  I don't think the marching is up to that level at all though.
 

[LeanderMomma]

The precision of their marching is simply unparalleled! Just watched a few videos from your links. Incredible stuff. Might not be everyone's cup of tea, but such talent!!

[TWHSParent]

Maybe if you take the top 70 or 80 members from the top BOA or UIL groups to match what appears to be the size of the groups in Japan, then I think there could be some that would do quite well.

 

These are great videos - Thank you for finding and sharing them!

[beowulf]

Seika Girls 2014 show was pretty amazing.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O20o-deQYGw&t=29s

[takigan]

Maybe if you take the top 70 or 80 members from the top BOA or UIL groups to match what appears to be the size of the groups in Japan, then I think there could be some that would do quite well.

 

These are great videos - Thank you for finding and sharing them!

 

Np.

 

Yeah.  I was comparing a recording of Elsa's Procession that the Lopez HS Honor Band did at TMEA this year with a version done by I think it was Inagakuen.  Ina played with a slightly darker ensemble sound and with a richer tonal blend, but Lopez had more depth of expression....partly because the arrangement was different and allowed for that greater expression, but still.  While a Japanese MS band plays more expressively than a Texas MS band, a Japanese HS band often doesn't have the level of musicality to match their technical perfection, so the really good Texas kids catch up to them and even pass them up in HS.

 

However, no American band can play Shostakovich (Festive Overture etc.) or a Circus March better than the Japanese. They're unstoppable when it comes to playing very fast very perfectly and with explosive energy.

 

Pull it down to