In another post, I wrote about my friend, Kumi-chan, who wrote a book called "Where is the Bear?". That made me a bit nostalgic because Kumi-chan used to enjoy reading my posts about another friend of mine, Yuki-chan, on Mixi, which is like the Japanese Facebook.

My son used to go to a gathering spot called Hitonoma. Yuki-chan was one of his friends there, even though she's about a decade his senior. She has a mild learning disability and started high school in her twenties. Hitonoma isn't an accredited school — it's just kind of a sanctuary — but it helped her obtain her high school diploma.

In 2014, Hitonoma was planning to hold a summer school festival. Everyone was excited, but Yuki-chan's excitement was off the charts. She was extremely hyper the day of the festival. She sang and danced to Fortune Cookie in Love, which was a popular idol song at that time, together with girls from Hitonoma, and positioned herself in the front row. Next up was Matsubaras — a band from a neighborhood in Toyama.

Hitonoma was a tiny venue with no stage. The band was just standing and we were sitting on tatami mats. We were all captivated by their first song. The vocalist, Mabu-san, had a really nice voice. Yuki-chan listened intently and right after the first song, she raised her hand and said, "Oh! Oh! Are you going to play a song we all know?"

Mabu-san was taken aback and said, "Oh, we can't play such songs. Hmm… We should've prepared Let It Go or something."

Yuki-chan exclaimed, "Wow! Let It Go! I want to sing Let It Go!"

"Oh, no, Yuki-chan!" Mabu-san said. "How about singing it after the event? Outside? Cuz we haven't prepared Let It Go."

She continued, "Let me see… oh! Okay, we were going to play our original songs, but how about Sukiyaki?"

Yuki-chan lit up. "Nice! I like Sukiyaki!"

While they were playing the intro, Yuki-chan was trembling with excitement and finally stood up and yanked the microphone from the stand. The song opens with the line:

上を向いて歩こう 涙がこぼれないように

I walk with my head held high, so my tears won't spill.

Yuki-chan held the microphone close to herself and every now and then held it out to Mabu-san. I was really amazed by the contrast between Yuki-chan's pitchy voice and Mabu-san's beautiful, pitch-perfect voice. I already knew the lyrics of the song, of course, but I'd never fully felt their meaning. They're truly good. I almost cried.

After their performance ended and they put away the set, Yuki-chan insisted on hearing more, so the band sat down on tatami mats and played the Japanese version of John Denver's Country Roads, which is on the soundtrack to a Ghibli film and is quite popular. We gathered around them and sang along. That was twelve years ago, but whenever I recall that moment, I can't help smiling — and somehow it lifts my spirits.