Hello, I'm Masashi Kikuchi, the representative director.
I currently also work as a double bassist, and I'd like to share a little about how I encountered musical instruments and how I became involved with them.
I played instruments since I was a student, but I wasn't a huge music lover. I was doing raku pottery in my club activities, and my dream was to become a "raku pottery artisan."
One day, perhaps my singing voice was good in music class, but I was scouted by the music teacher. I intended to decline because I had raku pottery club activities, but the choir club met on Saturday afternoons after school.
Enticed by the teacher's words, "You can bring your lunch," I joined the choir club in addition to the raku pottery club. When it was time for the sports festival, I started practicing with the brass band for the fife and drum corps, and I was chosen to play the bass drum.
However, I still wasn't thinking of actively pursuing the world of performing. When I entered junior high school, I was planning to join a sports club. A friend in the same class invited me, saying, "I'm thinking of joining the wind orchestra club, want to go check it out together?" I went to visit, and the advisor handed me a tuba, saying, "This is for you."
After a trial period, I officially joined, intending to stick with it for three years since I had made it this far.
Looking back, this encounter with the tuba was the beginning of my lifelong relationship with musical instruments that continues to this day.