Yesterday was the 10th Annual Naniwa Gospel Festival, held in Namba Hachi, in downtown Osaka. I went as a Volunteer with some of my House Church friends, so while we were busy, we did get to see most of the show as well.
It was amazing. I have never been to a big Gospel music show before – I don’t just mean Christian music, but more traditional “Gospel Music” – with the big choirs singing wonderful harmonies, and a leader/main singer out the front.
I was so moved – there is something really powerful about hearing a whole lot of people belt out praises to God, and when they sound amazing too – goosebumps!
The main organiser and singer, a Japanese man called Jaye Koyama, is a really interesting guy. Back in the day, he was heavily involved in Yakuza (Japanese Mafia) circles, clubs, and was in with all the main dudes of those circles. Then, (unfortunately I’m not sure of these details) he became a Christian, and really got into the Christian Gospel Music scene. Recently, through the Ministry we have going on in AmeMura (the downtown, failry dodgy yet cool part of Osaka) we met Jaye, and he was encouraged to continue many of the relationships he had back in the days. So we have held, together with Jaye, a concert in one of the clubs where Jaye previously had lots of connections. And with his bleached blonde hair, charisma and entertaining skills – he surely is a character!
Probably one of the highlights of the show was when Jaye came out and sang with his sons. They are 15 and 17 (I think), and to be honest, at first, I was a little dubious as to how it would go. I was really hoping it wouldn’t just be a ‘family benefits’ kind of thing – Dad’s singing, so that means the kids can have a go. Boy was I wrong! They were amazing! The 15 year old son had an incredible voice. I was really really shocked! They 2 boys came out wearing their casual jeans, T-shirt, kind of cool young style, which was great to compare with Jaye in his very black-gospel-singer-suit-get-up. They did some beat-boxing, and dancing, and very good harmonies – there is just something about families that sing together!
Here is just a tiny little, (very bad quality) snippet of the finale. Enjoy.
1 Comment
June 1, 2008 at 7:36 am
Wow. I was involved with a Black Gospel ministry as well when I was in Tokyo. It’s an amazing experience, must show you the CD/DVD when you get back.