Ginza×CSR・CSV Vol.34 Yamano Music

Encounters with music connect people.

• ─ As a way of “social contribution through promoting music,” Yamano Music has hosted a jazz contest since the 1970s.
• Furuta：
  Our previous president, Masamitsu Yamano, the third president of our company was very enthusiastic about supporting student big band jazz bands and launched an event to offer a place to expose student bands to professional musicians. The event initially took the form of a concert but latershifted to a competition called Yamano Big Band Jazz Contest from its fifth year, and has now developed into a student band “Koshien (national finals for high school baseball),” full of energy.
  
  This year, the event celebrated its 50th anniversary, with a cumulative count of 40,000 participants. I was also a contestant forty years ago, and with my child also being a recent participant, I have achieved two generations of participation.
  
  The contest is known by the name “YAMANO,” and many people learn about Yamano Music through this contest. More than one hundred contestants have become professional musicians, so I am sure that we have more or less contributed to the development of the Japanese jazz scene.
  
  In 2015, we hosted the First Yamano Big Band Jazz Festival. This event has become an opportunity for past contestants of YAMANO as well as those who missed the chance to compete when they were young to play. President Masahiko Yamano claims the event will be continued for at least one hundred years, implying that he wishes to pass it down to future generations.

• ─ Creating opportunities for people to get to know musical instruments lead to connecting people’s hearts.
• Furuta：
  The “Musical Instrument Fair” held biennially at Tokyo Big Site is the largest exhibition in Japan targeting consumers led by President Yamano. We also took part in the Hibiya Music Festival that was launched this year as one of Hibiya Park’s commemorative events.
  
  The Hibiya Music Festival was launched under the initiative of music producer Seiji Kameda. In two days, 100,000 people, including many who do not listen to or play music every day, came to the event, which offered free concert tickets by lot and an area welcoming anyone who wanted to try playing a musical instrument.
  
  Sunaga：
  We employees of Yamano Music love music ourselves and share the hope for more people to enjoy playing instruments and listening to live music. At the Hibiya Music Festival and the Jozenji Street Jazz Festival, we have organized a Swing Carnival where we distribute musical scores on the spot and invite everyone to join jam sessions. We lend our hand in hosting events where everyone can enjoy music together regardless of experience.
  
  Of course, our company sells musical instruments as a business, but even laying sales promotion aside, we hope to let more people know that music can make people happy. We want people who are interested in starting music but are reluctant to take the first step to know that it is not as difficult as it seems and that music will enrich their lives and souls.

Supporting the enrichment of life and expanding the potential of music

• ─ Would you say that music has culturally taken root in Japan, compared to the times of the company’s establishment?
• Furuta：
  I have been told that our founder said that “it would take at least 200 years for Western music to become fully established in Japan.” We have been in business for 127 years, so that means it will take another 73 years for Western music to truly take root in Japan.
  
  It is true that the world is full of music, but I find that most people are interested only in the trends. The music that the mass media focuses on as well as the range of music played or listened to is very limited. We can say that we have a mature musical culture when each individual knows the music that they feel comfortable with and knows what they like.
  
  According to a questionnaire survey conducted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, only one in ten people have touched a musical instrument in a year.
  
  Japanese society has relied on school education to educate people in music, but schools are offering fewer music classes and extracurricular activities focused on music. Encouraging people to play not only in the school brass band but also to join citizens’ bands and community-based music activities could lead to activating local communities.

• ─ What are some values that you would hope to continue to lay importance on?
• Furuta：
  Our “Corporate Voice” is “Be happy with music,” and we hope that once we meet a customer, we can continue to support the further enrichment of their lives through music.
  
  Recent studies have revealed that playing an music instrument stimulates the brain and can effectively prevent Alzheimer’s disease. With Japanese society aging, we feel that it is our mission to address this issue.
  
  I would like to offer opportunities at public facilities where senior citizens can casually find joy in playing musical instruments, by introducing simple instruments, such as recorders, keyboard harmonicas and ocarinas, which they learned how to play when they were in elementary school. It would be wonderful if we could also send instructors to these forums.
• ─ Before we close, please offer a few words about how you feel about Ginza.
• Sunaga：
  I feel that we are very privileged to be able to continue to run a culture-oriented business in Ginza, historically home to sophisticated arts and cultured.
  
  Furuta：
  We will continue to evolve with changing times and in step with the development of Ginza. We are determined to maintain the quality of the service we offer to our customers and to strive to reach even higher levels.