Two weeks from tomorrow, I’ll be getting on a plane to Tokyo, Japan, to celebrate a milestone birthday. I wanted to do something different for my birthday instead of going to California to be with my family, as I’ve done for years.

I’m not sure who told me about it, but I found out that the Bach Collegium Japan will be giving a concert on Sunday, October 19, 2025, in Tokyo, and I thought it would be a perfect excuse to hear this premier choral group again live. This will be my fifth trip to Japan, and my fifth time to hear the BCJ in person.

My first trip to Japan was in 1959 when I went to Hong Kong with my father to attend to my grandmother who underwent heart surgery and subsequently died during our visit. I think it was a 17 hour flight to Hong Kong from Los Angeles at that time, but the worst part of the trip was that our plane developed engine trouble and had to turn back — twice! It was on the return to Los Angeles that we stopped in Tokyo for a few hours.

The second time was in 1965 when my family went to Hong Kong to celebrate my grandfather’s 80th birthday — only we traveled to Hong Kong by way of London, Paris, Amsterdam, Vienna, and Lucerne (Switzerland) before getting to our destination! On the way back to California we spent several days in Tokyo, and then enjoyed a few days in Hawaii before returning home.

In 1997, I was heavily involved with Japanese weddings in Hawaii, and played the organ for over 6,000 weddings in the space of 11 years. Part of the reason I visited Japan that year was to meet the people at the Tokyo Lutheran Church, where we were sending part of the proceeds as a mission project.

Then in 2006, my husband Carl reconnected with the Japanese violinist, Yuko Honda, with whom he had played duet recitals in college, and the two performed in four reunion recitals in Washington, California, Hawaii and Japan before Yuko succumbed to cancer the following year.

As I may have said in previous posts, the Bach Collegium Japan was Carl’s favorite interpreters of Bach’s music, and it always blew his mind to close his eyes and hear the choir sing perfect German. “And then, you open your eyes to see all that they’re all Japanese!” We heard them live on four separate concerts:

1), 2) In Los Angeles, 2003, when they sang back-to-back performances of the Bach St. Matthew Passion on a Friday night, and the Bach St. John Passion on the Saturday night. I remember the Evangelist sang the score completely from memory.

3) at Valparaiso University, 2011, with Allen Bauchle and Jerome Vasconcellos, we heard the Bach Collegium Japan sing the Bach Mass in B minor. After the concert, we were invited to meet conductor Masaaki Suzuki and the rest of the choir and soloists at a reception.

4) In 2012, we attended the BachFest in Leipzig, Germany, and were fortunate to hear the Bach Collegium Japan sing the St. Matthew Passion in St. Thomas, Bach’s former parish. Chicken skin moments!

I’ve built my trip around the following concert, conducted by Masaaki Suzuki’s son, Masato Suzuki, as part of The 300th Anniversary Project of Choral Cantatas Ⅷ, and the Bach Collegium Japan’s 168th subscription concert. Good thing my travel buddy, Bill Potter, will be accompanying me, since he speaks Japanese, having lived there for several years! We’ll also see pianist Sachi Hirakouji, my former organ student.

The rest of the trip will be taken up with (what else!) — visiting pipe organs and going to a music instrument museum. I mean, why else would anyone plan a trip to Japan! We’ll also be attending an organ concert at the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre with organist Jean-Philippe Merckaert.

Can’t wait for this trip!