Life Onboard LAST UPDATE  March 7, 2009
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February 12, 2009 In Pictures – Peace Boat’s Gospel Choir, directed by Nohara Hiroko
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Nohara Hiroko belongs to VOJA (short for “The Voice of Japan”), a choir founded by Kamebuchi Yuka, one of Japan's most famous gospel singers. Ms Nohara majored in Portuguese at university and discovered her ability to sing by listening to Brazilian music. Her passion for gospel comes from watching the movie Sister Act 2, which features a high school gospel group. As a guest educator aboard Peace Boat, Ms Nohara ran a series of gospel workshops for participants, forming an energetic choir.
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Every day, gospel choir members participated in these workshops for an hour in the ship’s International Lounge, preparing for the final concert held on February 12. “At first, everyone had a hard time remembering the English songs,” said Ms Nohara during the performance. “They don’t really understand the lyrics, but they have fun. To me, sharing music is very important. I want everyone to feel happy about music, and if some of you have, then that would be one of the best things in my life.”
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One of the songs the choir performed was “Amazing Grace.” One participant, Yonehara Hiroko, said, “When I was a child, I listened to this song on the radio and television but I didn’t know the meaning of the words. Then I joined Ms Nohara’s workshop and I was happy that she didn’t correct my pronunciation or melody. She only cared that we sang loudly and happily. I never thought I would get to sing this song in English on stage one day.”
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Peace Boat staff members also joined the action, surprising the audience with a rendition of “Hyokkori Hyotanjima,” an upbeat song from a television series beloved by Japanese of all ages. The song is about a floating island and the people living there, sailing aimlessly through the ocean, going through various difficulties and eventually realizing we do not want to be daunted, a sentiment that occasionally can feel apt after many days traveling at sea on the Mona Lisa.
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Ms Nohara, far left, conducts her choir. “I love singing,” said one of the members, Mr Kurokawa. “I often went to karaoke at home, but no one listened to me. Then I got on Peace Boat and joined the gospel choir. There was just something about it, some passion came from inside me. After that, I just felt so good. I’ve never missed a single gospel workshop. I can’t really carry a tune and everyone at karaoke makes fun of me, but here with everyone else I can forget about myself and just have fun.”
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To celebrate Peace Boat’s arrival in Cape Town the following day, the choir was joined by South Africans Flora Matjila, Molly Dhlamani, and Victor Matom to sing their country’s national anthem. Jerry Matjila, a member of South Africa’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, enlightened participants on the anthem’s origin: “It started out as a hymn. People from all over Africa began to sing this song as a liberation song. It’s not just a song for South Africa, but for all of Africa. You can hear it sung in many countries, in many languages, but it’s still the same song.”