[OKUCHIBA]

Depth and Value of Billions　　　　　
The Secret Place OKUCHIBA
　　　　　With Potential That Is Unlimited

I was born in Yokoshibahikari Town (former Hikari Town) and spent time in this area until graduating from high school. At Hikari Junior High School, I belonged to the baseball club and played many games with Sosa, Asahi, Choshi, Togane, Yokoshiba, and other nearby schools, and had exchanges with baseball club members of other junior high schools. Upon entering Seito High School, I started playing the bass guitar and spent three years in band activities (I learned piano for six years in elementary school and was exposed to the guitar during music class in junior high school). I then entered Seikei University and started my professional music career at the age of 21. Since then, for the past 42 years, I have continued my musical activities as a bassist with my own band as my main band, and then as a band member of Kenji Sawada and Masahiko Kondo.

In my late fifties, I began to feel that I wanted to give back to my hometown, and I wanted to enliven my beloved hometown with music. For several years, I wondered what form my activities should take, to what extent I should target the area, and from what town to what town. As a result, I came to the conclusion that I wanted to enliven not only my hometown of Yokoshibahikari, but also the entire familiar Toso area (Choshi City, Asahi City, Sosa City, Yokoshibahikari Town, Tako Town, Shibayama Town) and established the “0479 Club” with local friends, using 0479, the area code for the region, as the group name. Thus began a music festival in the Tohso area in 2021, starting with the Tohso Cultural Hall in Chiba Prefecture.

As I continued to hold concerts twice a year in spring and fall, I realized that I also had close ties to the Yamatake area, in Narita and Togane, where I spent my high school years. I also had many friends in Narita and Katori, and from the day I realized that 0479 alone might not be enough, I began to wonder if it would be possible to think of the four regions of Toso, Yamatake, Narita, and Katori as one region if I had to put a word on this area. I have been searching for an appropriate name for them for some time.

Then, this summer, I suddenly had an idea. How about “Oku-Chiba”? “Isn't Boso, the southern part of Chiba Prefecture, also deep in Chiba Prefecture? Some people may say, “Well, it's not that far south, but it is deep inside Chiba Prefecture. The southern part of Chiba Prefecture is called “Minami-Boso” or “Okuboso. The character for “Boso” is used only in the southern part of the prefecture, where the country of Awa was located.

So, I thought, why not call the northeastern part of Chiba Prefecture “Oku-Chiba” to distinguish it from Minami-Boso (Okuboso), which is also deep in Chiba Prefecture?” The word “Oku” in Oku-Aizu, Oku-Hida, Oku-Izumo, Oku-Noto, Oku-Tama, etc., gives these areas a sense of being unexplored regions. In the northeastern part of Chiba Prefecture, there is no place that could be called an “unexplored region”. There are only blue skies and beautiful rice fields.

However, for those who come to Chiba Prefecture, Toso, Yamatake, Narita, and Katori are “deep” in any sense of the word. There is no need for the backcountry to be unexplored, and there is no problem if it is a countryside or satoyama with open skies. Chiba Prefecture has the smallest proportion of mountains and forests in Japan. The northeastern part of the prefecture, in particular, has many plains and no high mountains or buildings. Therefore, it is a region that is completely covered with sky.

Some Narita residents may say, “It is inexcusable that Narita, which has an international airport, is located in Oku-Chiba.” However, when you look at the wonderful countryside around Narita Airport, you can only say that it is “deep”. I hope you will be proud to call Narita the “Gateway to Japan” and the “Gateway to Oku-Chiba”.

The region is one of the most important “food-producing” areas not only in the prefecture but also in Japan, with a thriving agriculture, fishing, and livestock industry. People from this region live with fresh air from the Pacific Ocean and eat rice, vegetables, fish, and meat grown in the region. The region is also blessed with a climate that makes it a comfortable place to live.

“OKUCHIBA” has a brightness and freshness that is a little different from other country areas, and it shines even brighter when it is used as OKUCHIBA. There is nothing more wonderful than if we could all be proud of OKUCHIBA.

OKUCHIBA is an area centered on area codes 0475 (Yamatake), 0476 (Narita), 0478 (Katori), and 0479 (Tohso).

From now on, I have decided to change the name of the Toso-Yamatake Music Festival to “OKUCHIBA MUSIC Fes”.

I look forward to your continued support for the music festival in Oku-Chiba.

Shinichi Yochikawa

“OKUCHIBA” Kuriyama River, Yokoshibahikari Town.

For the latest information on “OKUCHIBA MUSIC Fes.” (Oku-Chiba Music Festival), please visit the 0479 Club homepage.

For inquiries, please contact 0479club@gmail.com.

Complete coverage by bassist Shinichi Yochikawa.
Off-shot camera goes into the backstage of the music festival!

⇒ Toso Music Festival Report List

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