Yoshiaki Matsuda – he was the first real Japanese person I ever met. Small and wiry, only a little older than I, he had an infectious laugh and a beautiful tenor singing voice with a hint of silky vibrato. I spoke no Japanese, he spoke only a little broken English, but we had a great summer working together.

You see, when I was still in high school, I had a great job. I worked at the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography in Savannah, Georgia. I thought of myself as a budding scientist at the time, and I was making money while working in what I thought might be my career field. Yoshiaki, or Yoshi as he was known there, was a visiting oceanographic graduate student from Japan. He and I worked long hours together on a research project designed to determine how to most economically raise catfish – not a glamorous job, but one with real-world application. Ironically, although neither of us spoke the other’s language with any fluency, we spent a lot of time talking and laughing. He would struggle to pronounce a word, and it would sound like an alien utterance (I mean out-of-space alien). I would ask him to repeat the word, then I would try to say what he had said. He would say it again with just a slight variation. This would go on for quite a while before I would solve the puzzle and pronounce the word correctly. At which point we would both celebrate and move on to our next task and our next bit of conversation.

What I remember most about Yoshi was his sweet and optimistic nature. He was always cheerful, started work early, and finished late. And if we weren’t talking, he was singing – words I couldn’t understand, but melodies of enchantment. He treated me as if I were a worthy colleague – one who deserved respect, despite my young age and lack of work experience.

I think of Yoshi in reference to the difficult times in Japan today. As most of you know, Patty has had a much closer and more recent connection to the people of Japan than I. She lived there for over five years, taught English, and performed in a Japanese jazz band. Since the terrible earthquake and subsequent nuclear disaster, she has had communications with some of her friends and former students who still live there. Their emails are so touching. They mention the hardships, but they emphasize hope for the future. Some have seen Sound Traveler’s rendition of “Sukiyaki” on youtube. Some have visited the soundtravelerband.com website and played the songs.

Patty and I have both been fortunate to have had the opportunity to interact with people of so many different nationalities and backgrounds. And as we have gotten to know people from other cultures, we find that it is not “us and them” it’s just us. As corny as it might sound, we are all members of one family — we share common laughter, common tears, and uncommon love. Our songs may have different instruments, different words, and different melodies. But we all sing. And I pray that one day we may all come to sing as one. – Bob Tatum

Sound Traveler was so honored to play at the wedding of Patti and Scott Wheetman. It was a great party with wonderful people. We shared in a moving ceremony followed by feasting, singing, and dancing.

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6 Comments to “SongTravelin: 04.27.11 – Our Japanese Connection”

• April 27, 2011 at 9:03 am
  Jacques says:

  The point is well made that there are really no integral distinctions separating different groups of people. Genetically speaking we are much more closely aligned than members of most other species. Individual differences exist, of course, but essentials vary little between members of different nationalities, races, or ethnic backgrounds. Because of this, opportunities for understanding among peoples is not a totally unrealistic hope.
• April 27, 2011 at 12:17 pm
  Art says:

  We really are all one family riding the same vessel through space and time. The fact that politics and religion try their best to separate us into segments is one of the biggest failings of our kind. If we could all sing with one voice the world would be a much better place for all of us.
• April 27, 2011 at 12:24 pm
  Emily Byerly says:

  
• May 1, 2011 at 1:20 pm
  Karen says:

  I remember hearing about Yoshi and Taki. Didn’t they wrestle and alligator on Skidaway?
• May 2, 2011 at 6:17 am
  Bob says:

  Hi KT! Yoshi and Taki were a pair of Japanese scientists who worked with us at Skidaway. I worked most closely with Yoshi. One of our workers did wrestle a gator our there, and he brought him back to the center. That was a local guy whose first name was Jack. I don’t remember his last name. Maybe someone who reads this can remember that.
• May 11, 2011 at 7:30 am
  ed hardy says:

  This is my first comment here on this web site and I just wanted to say that I really enjoy the site and I visit it everyday.