We set up right in front of the pitcher's mound at Blair Field in Long Beach. Another first. What an interesting view you get from there. The pitcher definitely has a good view of much of the audience. Another unexpected revelation was how well we could hear. The sound of our drums, our kiai... all of it was very clear and you could hear it so well... did not expect the acoustics of a baseball field to be so good. The food was all donated by restaurants. It was good. I hope they made a lot of money for their relief effort. Gambare Japan!

Rain forecast from the week before helped get tents set up just in case it was a wet day. Luckily it didn't rain but it was COLD. There were people there from Japan including the governor of Wakayamaken and many of the products displayed were from that prefecture of Japan. They were on a tight schedule... we were set to play a couple pieces, stop for an interview (not of us), then play again. We were asked to stop in the middle of our second piece and I was shocked that we were able to end it the same way when we had never practiced anything like it before... AMAZING!! The second set though much later than we thought went just as planned. I must say, it's much harder to play when confined under a lowish tent and there are people walking around in the path of your bachi. Always something new to learn. Happy 100th anniversary!