Us Military Band Commemorates 2011 Disaster
A musical band from a US airbase in Tokyo has held a concert to pray for recovery from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan.
The performance was given in the lobby of Sendai Airport in Miyagi Prefecture on Wednesday, the eve of the tenth anniversary of the March 11 disaster.
Miyagi was one of the three prefectures hit hardest by the tsunami.
Sendai Airport was the base of joint rescue operations known as Operation Tomodachi, or Operation Friendship, by US Air Force and Marine Corps troops based in Japan, and the country's Self-Defense Forces.
The US Air Force Band of the Pacific, which belongs to the Yokota Air Base in Tokyo, has been visiting coastal areas of Miyagi and Iwate Prefecture ahead of the anniversary.
Its five members performed eight songs including "Hana wa Saku," or "Flowers Will Bloom," dedicated to encouraging rebuilding efforts in the affected areas. Visitors and airport staff clapped along as they listened.
In the audience was a married couple in their 70s whose home was hit by the tsunami. The husband said he's grateful that Operation Tomodachi continues, referring to Wednesday's performance. His wife said over 1,200 people are still missing in Miyagi, and that she hopes the music reached them.
The band's leader, Commander Michael D. Hoerber, said, "I think it's incredibly important for us to be here as representatives of the US military and the Air Force, showing the 'tomodachi,' the friendship and the strength that we have between the United States and Japan."