国際交流を目的とした歌合戦

[From April Issue 2014]

Global Community
In Japan, every New Year’s Eve, a program called “Kohaku Utagassen,” (Red and White Song Battle) is broadcast on NHK TV and radio. In the program, female singers perform for the red team and male singers perform for the white team. Through hit songs and memorable topics, listeners and viewers reflect on the past year.
Another “Kohaku Utagassen,” named “Kokusai Kohaku Utagassen,” is an international event that started in 2011. Aiming to promote international exchange and understanding, Japanese participants sing in foreign languages and non-Japanese sing in Japanese. Basically, regardless of gender, foreign students join the red team and Japanese students join the white team. It will be held again in November this year.
After the Great East Japan Earthquake, not only Japanese, but also people from other countries visited the disaster hit region as volunteer helpers. An executive committee was set up in the hopes of “bringing foreigners and Japanese together in order to cheer up the people living in the damaged area.” The editing staff of Global Community, which runs the website for this international and multi-lingual exchange, is at the center of the project.
They asked the Tourism Agency for support. As a result, MIZOHATA Hiroshi, then the secretary of the Tourism Agency, participated in the event as a singer in the white team. In this way, the first event was successfully completed. It was reported by the media in nine countries.
Since then, the event has been held annually and is now also held in Osaka. Last year about 600 people in Tokyo and 900 people in Osaka took part in the event. Many participants wear their national dress, creating an impressive ambience at both the Tokyo and Osaka events. At the event, there is singing and dancing, a furisode (long-sleeved kimono worn by unmarried women) and cosplay fashion show, a performance by the Austrian Ballet and more.
Some of guests are professional singers and some performers display incredible vocal ability. “Each time we have some people in the audience who were expecting nothing more than a ‘karaoke contest between overseas students who cannot speak Japanese well.’ They go home astonished at the high level of the performances given by the singers,” says executive committee member MIYAZAKI Kazumi, with a laugh. Prizes are given to performers who not only sing well, but who also get the audience fired up.
The event is staged in a way that brings the audience and performers together. The audience can participate as judges and are given time to interact with the performers by doing things like having their photos taken together with them. “On the actual day of the event, we sometimes ask people who came to see the show to work as stage hands or as interpreters. Everyone gladly contributes. We want to keep it as an event in which everyone plays a leading role, says Miyazaki.
Here, Japanese, alongside people of various nationalities, become one through singing. “Although there are more than two million foreigners living in Japan, there are not many opportunities for them to interact with those of different nationalities. For the finale, everyone, including the volunteers, joins the performers on stage and sings together. With all these people from around the world singing the same song, you really feel that the world is joining hands through song,” says Miyazaki.
Global Community[2014年4月号掲載記事]

グローバルコミュニティー編集部
日本では毎年12月31日の夜、NHKのテレビとラジオで「紅白歌合戦」が放送されます。女性(紅組)と男性(白組)に分かれて歌い、その年一年間をヒット曲や話題になった事柄で振り返る番組です。
もう一つの紅白歌合戦、「国際紅白歌合戦」が2011年から開催されています。日本人は外国語で、外国人は日本語で歌うことにより、国際交流とお互いの理解を図ることが目的です。基本的には留学生と日本人学生が男女に関係なく紅白に分かれて歌います。今年も11月に行われる予定です。
東日本大震災の後、日本人だけでなくたくさんの外国人が被災地にボランティアとして訪れました。「外国人も日本人も一緒に、被災地の人たちをもっと元気づけたい」という思いから、実行委員会がつくられました。中心となったのは国際交流と多言語交流サイトを運営するグローバルコミュニティー編集部です。
観光庁へ後援を頼んだところ、観光庁長官(当時)である溝畑宏が白組歌手として参加しました。こうして第一回目は大成功に終わりました。9ヵ国のメディアでも紹介されました。
その後も毎年開催し、今では大阪でも行っています。昨年は東京で約600人、大阪では約900人が参加しました。民族衣装を着て参加する人も多く、どちらの会場も華やかな雰囲気に包まれます。歌やダンスだけでなく、振袖(未婚の女性が着る袖の長い着物)やコスプレのファッションショー、オーストリアバレエ団によるバレエなどもあります。
ゲストで参加するプロの歌手も驚くほど歌のうまい人もいます。「毎回観客のなかには、『日本語が下手な留学生のカラオケ大会』くらいのイメージでいらっしゃる方がいるのですが、パフォーマンスのレベルの高さに驚いて帰られます」と委員会の宮崎計実さんは笑います。ただ歌がうまいだけでなく、会場を盛り上げた人には賞が贈られます。
会場とステージが一体になるような演出も特徴です。観客も一般審査員として参加したり、参加者と一緒に写真をとったりして交流する時間もあります。「当日、ステージのサポートや通訳をお客様に頼むこともあります。でも皆さんとても喜んで引き受けてくださるんですよ。こんな風にこれからもみんなが主役のイベントにしていきたいですね」と宮崎さん。
ここでは様々な国籍の外国人や日本人が歌を通じて一つになります。「在日外国人は200万人を超えますが国籍が違えば交流する機会はあまりありません。毎回フィナーレでボランティアの方々も含む全員がステージに上がって合唱します。世界各国の人が一緒に同じ歌を歌うので、世界が歌でつながっていることを肌で実感できるんですよ」と宮崎さんは話します。
グローバルコミュニティー編集部

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