KAWASAKI, Japan—On my last day in Kawasaki, I was walking from the train station to my motel, oblivious to the connection I was about to form with a stranger.
I passed by a man with an electric guitar and paused for a second to see if he would play something. When he didn’t immediately play, I began to walk away. But when I heard guitar strings, I immediately walked back to hear him play.
That’s when Eikichi asked me to sing with him, and although I was frightened to put myself out there, I was also excited and honored by the invitation.
At first, we weren’t in sync. I started singing too soon, and he kept telling me, in Japanese, to wait and follow his lead. It took me a while to catch on. If we spoke the same language, there probably could have been a much more endearing first part of our performance.
But when I realized what he was saying—and as we began to sing together—the language barrier melted away. Instead, music kept us connected and became our common language.
This experience helped me to understand more deeply the different ways that art can bridge cultures, build empathy and foster understanding.
The song we shared, Stand By Me, is all about the human yearning for connection. With lyrics like, “No I won’t be afraid just as long as you stand by me,” Ben E. King captured our human need for togetherness.
This song, and this moment, had a big impact on me. I was in a foreign country trying to understand Japan and its culture, and Eikichi gave me the gift of seeing how music and art really bring people together. Meeting each other halfway, Eikichi and I were brought together through music.
We were no longer strangers but two people connected through a song.
Singing on the sidewalk with Eikichi allowed me to overcome a big fear. Simply singing in front of strangers is something that I previously did not have the courage to do. Self-doubt and my insecurities flooded my mind, but with Eikichi singing and embracing a foreigner, it brought me closer to myself.
If I had ignored those guitar strings, I would have never overcome my fear of singing in front of strangers and felt liberated from the thoughts that hold me back.
