Japanese HS band wraps up C.O. visit

It’s a trip that’s been on hold — a three-year break in a Bend-Japan exchange program due to the 2011 tsunami and earthquake.

Mt. View High School hosted 47 students and three staff members for a small town near Tokyo.

The band spent the beginning of the week rehearsing, and held a concert Wednesday night. Friday afternoon, they moved from the band room to the slopes of Mt. Bachelor for some tubing fun.

Students from both high schools say it’s a perfect end to a great week together.

“I think the fact that we are doing this with music make it a lot easier for us to communicate with each other,” said Mountain View senior Tarrik Hayward. “We all have that one thing in common, and it’s a universal language that we all know, and we’re all a part in.”

The band exchange program has been going on for 18 years between Oregon and Japanese Band students.