Club Activities

Toyohashi Tech A Cappella Circle: A circle of singers

While many of us prefer to confine our singing to the shower, members of a Cappella Circle JUST, like to come together to sing, which is why the initials stand for Join Us Sing Together.

The club was started about 20 years ago by a few like-minded singers and today it boasts around 35 members, including three female singers. They meet twice a week and practice for more than three hours a time, splitting up into a number of groups, depending on the songs being practiced.

The members, naturally, are all aficionados of karaoke and claim to be accomplished solo singers in the shower. “We all joined because we like singing,” says Takuya Ishikawa, the club’s leader and a fourth-year student of Mechanical Engineering. “We sing all kinds of songs—whatever the members choose. Popular right now are J-Pop, ballads and classics such as Stand By Me, Top of the World and Desperado.”

The group gives several live performances each year. A memorable event was held in July 2012: an inter-university occasion, when they were joined by two other university singing circles from the Tokai region and attracted an audience of one hundred. Other performances include the Toyohashi Tech university festival, an event at Christmas and a demonstration performance in spring, the beginning of the academic year, given to attract new members. Sometimes they are also invited by local businesses to sing live, while their biggest recent event took place in a park in Nagoya, with the crowds being too numerous to count.

“Everyone is welcome to join,” says Hiroki Matoba, in his fourth year studying Computer Science and Engineering. “Even singers with limited voices can sing well softly, while others may be good at percussion vocalizing such as mimicking drum sounds, for example.”

Another member, Sho Kawaharada, a second-year student of Mechanical Engineering, joined the club after “watching a program on TV about choral groups. Being a member of such a group looked really enjoyable, so when I learned Toyohashi Tech had this singing circle, I was happy to join.”

Though many of the members are also interested in musical instruments, singing unaccompanied is a special challenge worth taking on. “Singing in front of a large audience without the help of musical backing is a great experience,” says Matoba. “It really helps build your confidence.”