The Piano is a Tool That Enriches My Life

My journey with the piano

I started playing the piano at the age of four. Influenced by my older brother, I started playing around with the piano since before I can remember, and I’ve stuck with it ever since. While practicing, I would think about quitting almost every day, but I’ve somehow loved it enough to keep at it.

When I was in elementary school, I admired Son Goku the main character of my favorite manga, Dragon Ball. I always wanted to become a protagonist like Son Goku in some way. This led me to reach for the top with piano, which I was pretty good at, so I started taking on the challenge of competitions. During that time, when I was purely focused on the piano, I remember a child telling me they started playing piano after hearing one of my performances. That made me truly happy, like I had become something of a protagonist myself. Experiences like that made my piano life until around middle school really fulfilling.

But time passed, and I found myself preparing for university entrance exams during my third year of high school. I also ended up studying during a gap year, so there was a period of about two years where I drifted away from the piano. My parents were very strict about studying, so I spent my days solely focused on that and didn’t have time for the piano. Looking back, that period when I couldn’t play was a really tough, dark time, one where nothing seemed to go well.

But I made it through that dark period, and I entered Meiji Gakuin University. The main reason I chose Meiji Gakuin was that my brother was a student here, and he seemed to be having a great time. I could easily imagine the school’s atmosphere from hearing stories about his university life. Another reason was that I had attended a Christian high school, so the music in the chapel felt very familiar. That music had enriched my high school life, so when advancing to university, I wanted to further my studies at a Christian university as well.

A university life that began with uncertainty

Despite matriculating here, to be honest Meiji Gakuin wasn’t my first choice. So when I started, I was completely blank about how to proceed with my life, unable to think about what to do next. I had something of an inferiority complex about not having performed to my full potential in my university entrance exams, and I was very afraid of entering the workforce with that burden. I didn’t want to just rot away like this. While I was grappling with such vague worries, my mother gave me a nudge, telling me, “If you’re going to do something, give it your best.” So to cast aside my worries, I decided to return to my area of expertise, resolving to participate in a piano competition. However, having been away from the piano for two years, I was far from a competitive level. My reality was a harsh one.

There’s a famous saying among pianists: “Skip practice one day, become three days worse.” Experiencing that saying on a two-year scale made me despair. My hand muscles had deteriorated significantly, and my fingers wouldn’t move at all. Just going to piano lessons while attending university wasn’t enough practice time. I didn’t know how to achieve my goal, and I remember feeling at that time like I would have a breakdown.

The important things piano made me realize

Knowing I had to practice to prepare for the competition, I looked for a place to practice at the university. That’s when I heard there was a piano in the Yokohama campus chapel, and hoping I might be able to practice there, I visited it. Looking back, I realize it wasn’t a good thing to do, but I started playing that piano without permission. By chance, a staff member from the Christian Activities Office heard my performance. I explained my situation, expecting to be scolded, but to my surprise, they said if I was aiming for a competition I could practice when no one else was using the piano. From then on, I started practicing in the chapel on days when I had classes on campus. The Christian Activities staff even suggested specific times when no one would be using the chapel, for which I’m truly grateful. The support I received from the Christian Activities Office staff and my friends strengthened my resolve to once again give my all to the piano after having been away from it for so long.

After that, I was able to play accompaniment for Christmas services and get involved in various university events. When I think about how I’m now playing in the chapel the music that I used to listen to as a high school student, I’m amazed at how everything is connected.

Outside of piano, when I hit a wall in my practice, I would go to the light music club I’d joined and refresh myself with music unrelated to the piano, or I would go out with friends to change my mood. I feel that experiencing different instruments in the club also helped broaden my range in piano performance.

With continued support from those around me, during my second year I participated in the 24th International Chopin Piano Competition in Asia, where I received awards. Winning, of course, made me happy, but more memorable was realizing that throughout this competition, people around me were cheering for and helping me. It made me feel incredibly supported. I came to understand that my greatest talent is being blessed with wonderful people. Although I had conflicted feelings right after entering university, I now believe that it was precisely because I was at Meiji Gakuin that I was able to meet such warm people.

I also think that during the period when I was aiming for the competition, I learned the principle that “overwhelming effort never betrays you.” I developed a mindset that even difficult goals can be achieved if you apply constant effort.

The person I want to be, as seen through the piano

As I worked with all my might towards the goal of winning an award in the competition, the people around me at the university watched over me and helped me when I was in trouble. During such times, I strongly felt their warmth: Meiji Gakuin’s spirit of “Do for Others.” I think it’s because I’ve been playing piano, which involves a lot of self-confrontation and self-struggle, that I’ve become so keenly aware of the presence of those supporting me and the joy of being praised by others. That’s why I’ve come to believe that supporting and pleasing others is truly wonderful and a necessary part of life. While my future plans are still vague, I hope to find a job where I can support people and directly communicate with them. To that end, I want to apply the spirit of pursuit I learned through the piano to master my work and become a unique individual who causes people to think, “Only Kamitsubo can do that.”

Even after I enter the workforce, I want to continue playing piano, which is my identity. Looking back, many things didn’t go well when I wasn’t playing piano, so I consider the piano as a tool that enriches my life, one I’ll stick with forever.

A message to prospective students

The warmth of many people at Meiji Gakuin incredibly supported me. At first, I had lost sight of my goals due to setbacks in my entrance exams, but over four long years of university, I strongly came to feel that people, myself included, have the potential to change.

So, I hope you never give up and try various things once you enter university. I want you to remember that there will always be people nearby who you can rely on and who will support you.