A strong, passionate and continuous beat The story of a strong pulse that resonates deep in our hearts A complete story of all living beings A mighty rhythm It is the echo of the living that resonates throughout existence The theme of our new program is “the story of a strong, passionate and continuous beat”.

The story is based on the sound of the heartbeat in everyone of us. This sound of the heartbeat is continuous from our birth, growth, and day‐to‐day existence. Above all, we who carry this soundare protagonists in this story of today, during this brief moment in the endlessness of time. In all that exists between the blue sky and green earth, our hearts are continuously beating throughout all that is vividly visible in this world. It has a quiet but strong pulse.

Inspired by this sound, we weaved this beat into the story of “Yamato”. Each beat from the taiko drums in “Yamato” represents its history, a life’s story of sweat and tears, and the vast memories remembered within the sound of every person’s heart who is gathered here. Alas, although our place in this vast storyline may appear insignificant, we still endeavor to inscribe a new page into the story! Today we hope to share with our audience an earnest moment in time where together “we somehow still exist”.