On September 9 Ho Etsu will once again participate in the University of Illinois Matsuri Festival. Held on the grounds of Japan House and the University Arboretum, on the U of I campus in Champaign-Urbana, the festival showcases Japanese culture. To learn more follow this link:...
Sponsored by: Midwest Buddhist Temple Date: Saturday September 29, 2018 Time: 7:00 - 9:00 PM Location: Midwest Buddhist Temple Cost: $15 Advance Sales (eventbrite) No-No Boy creates an immersive experience which shines a light on diverse but interconnected histories: WWII Japanese Incarceration, southeast Asian refugees,...
This show is over but you can still experience our performance: https://www.hoetsu.org/portfolio_page/autumn-hues-2018/ Date: Thursday, October 18, 2018 Time: 7:00 - 8:30 PM Location: Midwest Buddhist Temple Cost: $15 ($10 for MBT Members) Advance Sales (eventbrite) Learn more about this concert event
This event is over but check out our photographs: https://www.hoetsu.org/portfolio_page/ic-fine-arts-series/
JASC Japan Bowl
We were invited by the Galesburg Public Library to perform at the kickoff for their NEW Big Read program. This event is over but check out our photographs: https://www.hoetsu.org/portfolio_page/galesburg-public-library-2019/
Ho Etsu will perform for the Japanese Cultural Association at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. Follow this link for event information: https://www.facebook.com/events/2697167393641289/
Ho Etsu has been asked to take part in a program to mark the closing of the exhibit: “Courage and Compassion”: Our Shared Story of the Japanese American World War II Experience. The program will run from 1:30 pm until 3:00 pm with Ho Etsu...
About the Japan Festival Chicago On June 16th at 11:00 am, Ho Etsu will open the outdoor performances for Japan Festival Chicago in Millennium Park at the Chase Promenade South. The Japan Festival Chicago brings together a large variety of Japanese culture, food and...
About this Performance Ho Etsu will be part of the musical entertainment for Mundelein Community Days on July 6. The event runs all weekend and our performance is on Saturday, July 6 at 3:30 pm - follow this link for more information about Mundelein...
Composer’s note: Poston is an incarceration camp in Arizona that held over 17,000 Japanese American citizens rounded up and displaced by the US government during World War II.
Only what you can carry, they said
An unknown future, moving forward
Separation, nulled identities
Stories hidden, some may never know
Divided by war (Unified to forge ahead)
What lies ahead from here? (We’re staring into present day)
No time for the past (Unified in face of hate)
What lies ahead from here? (Won’t let it repeat again)
All life
All life is
All the love you give
Tell me Where does your heart
Your heart live?
All life
All life is
All the love you give
Tell me Where does your heart
Your heart live?
In the nightwood, dark and deep
The tiny songbird cries in sleep
Sleep my love, though the wind do wail
And snow clouds pile, and storm and hail
Black bough trees, cold earth beneath
The breath of night bares icy teeth
Water moves, though the moving’s slow
And the deepest root guards life below
Fire flicker, warm and bright
Bind us in your ring of light
Shadows tall on the cold ground cast
Draw dancing shapes of those who passed
Gather now in the circle round
While the hoarfrost kiss the ground
Heart and hand and drum and song
We speak of them, we speak of them, our voices strong
Mountains high and oceans wide
The dead stand with us, side by side
Greeting’s sweet and parting’s sore
And still time’s tide wears on our shore, wears on our shore
And still time’s tide wears on our shore
Come by me and share your light
Walk hand in hand into the night
Glowing hearts and our faces cold
Life catches us in a web of gold
In the nightwood, dark and deep
A tiny songbird sighs in sleep
Sleep my child though the wind do cry
My love will keep you by and by