Echoes of Hope: ‘Elephant Train’ Revival Concert Unites Families and Fans in Matsudo for a Night of Peace and Harmony
The Elephant Train: A Choral Suite for Peace
Image: About 120 people sang together at the Tokatsu Chorus Harukaze’s performance of “The Elephant Train Has Come” in Matsudo City in June (Photo provided by the choir)
The Story Behind the Elephant Train
After World War II, a special train called the “Elephant Train” took children from all over the country to visit the Higashiyama Zoo (now Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens) in Nagoya to see the country’s only two remaining elephants. A choral suite based on this true story was performed in Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture, in June.
Reviving the Elephant Train
The late Akira Yanagisawa and his wife Setsuko, who lived in Yokohama at the time, were instrumental in reviving the Elephant Train in the 1990s. Akira, who served as editor-in-chief and president of the publishing company Labor Shunpo, heard about the choral suite “The Elephant Train Has Come” from Setsuko, who was a member of a local chorus group. Impressed, Akira worked to revive the Elephant Train, and on August 26, 1990, a seven-car Elephant Train carrying about 370 people ran between Shinagawa, Tokyo and Nagoya Station.
A Family Legacy
The performance, held at Matsudo Civic Hall in June, was planned to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the founding of the Tokatsu Choir Harukaze (led by Ota Sachiko). The couple’s granddaughter Sayaka (29) from Moriya City, Ibaraki Prefecture, and Setsuko’s sister and Sayaka’s great-aunt Kikuko Nagai (80) from Edogawa Ward, Tokyo, invited each other to participate. A total of about 120 people from within and outside the prefecture, ranging in age from 2 to 80, performed ”The Elephant Train Has Come.”
Image: Sayaka Yanagisawa (left) and Kikuko Nagai, who sang at the Matsudo concert, in Funabashi City
Passing Down the Message
Nagai smiles and says, “The children who sang grew up and began to sing the adult parts. I think that’s how the song will be passed down.” He rode the elephant train in 1990 with his second daughter, who was 9 years old at the time. “We sang on the train and listened to stories about elephants. At the stations where the train stopped, the local people who were waiting gave us snacks to welcome us,” he recalls fondly.
A Message of Peace
Akira was said to have been deeply saddened by the Gulf War that broke out in the same year between Iraq and the US-led multinational forces. He also threw himself into singing in a choir, and established concerts in various places. Wishing for peace, he also had feelings for the atomic bomb sites of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as Okinawa.
Image: Akio Yanagisawa and his wife Setsuko, who were involved in elephant activities (Photo provided by Sayaka Yanagisawa)
A Family’s Love for Music
Sayaka-san often participated in choral singing with her grandparents from an early age, along with her sister, who is three years younger than her. When she entered junior high school and her school life became busy, she naturally moved away from the stage. However, as an adult, she happened to find a CD of a choral suite, and when she listened to it, she was hit straight on by the heart-rending sadness and hardships that she could not understand as a child, the determination of adults, and their desire for peace. She said she could not stop crying.
The Elephant Train’s Legacy
The elephant train’s legacy lives on through the choral suite, which continues to be performed by choirs across Japan. The story of the elephant train serves as a reminder of the importance of peace and the power of music to bring people together.
What is the Elephant Train?
In 1949, during the dark times of the US occupation, a specially made train transported children from all over the country to see the elephants at Higashiyama Zoo. During the war, zoos across the country were ordered to cull wild animals to prevent them from escaping during air raids, and elephants were killed at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo and other zoos. The director and keepers of Higashiyama Zoo did not succumb to pressure, and two Asian elephants, Eld and Macanie, survived. In 1976, Takashi Koide, a primary school teacher in Nagoya, self-published a picture book based on a true story, “The Elephant Train Has Come,” at his own expense. A choral suite with lyrics by Norio Shimizu and music by Kiichiro Fujimura was completed.