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Japan’s National Daily Since 1922
(Mainichi Japan)
Japanese version
YOKOHAMA — A Yokohama-based trio of Japanese vocalists is amassing YouTube views and heartfelt thanks from people in Ukraine after posting a video of their rendition of the Ukrainian national anthem.
Speaking about the Russian invasion of Ukraine launched on Feb. 24, Yokohama Sisters lead singer Maho told the Mainichi Shimbun, “It’s very sad, and I wept. By spreading the video, I want to support peace.”
The all-female trio aims to support world peace by singing national anthems from around the globe. They have previously posted videos of the national anthems of countries where Yokohama has sister cities, including Manila in the Philippines, Mumbai in India, and Vancouver in Canada. Odesa, a Ukrainian port city, is one of those sister cities.
Yokohama and Odesa became sister cities in 1965. As 2020 marked the 55th anniversary of the relationship, the Yokohama Sisters began to practice singing the national anthem of Ukraine. The trio had hesitated to post the video until now because they couldn’t find anyone to check their pronunciation, but uploaded it on YouTube on Feb. 15 in response to the growing crisis in Ukraine.
The 1-minute, 14-second video features members Maho, Miwa and Ai — the latter holding a Ukrainian flag — singing in clear, beautiful voices. Ukrainian media, the Japanese Embassy in Kyiv and others have posted the video on their official social media accounts and elsewhere, and it had just over 80,000 views as of Feb. 25.
The video has about 1,000 comments thanking the Yokohama Sisters, mostly posted from Ukraine. One read, “Thank you, Japanese people. You are a real friend of Ukraine.” The city of Odesa introduced the video on its official website with the comment, “The Odesa City Council and Odesans express their gratitude to the artists and the Municipality of the sister city of Yokohama for their support.”
Maho explained, “We only wanted to express our support for our partner city, and our aim wasn’t to send a political message. But as a result, it (the video) directly reached the hearts of Ukrainians facing difficult times. It made me realize once again that singing a national anthem is a way to respect that county.”
About the Feb. 24 invasion by the Russian army, Maho said, “I’m heartbroken when I think about how people living in Odesa are feeling. We might be able to head in the right direction if we work together, so we want to lend our support for peace.”
The Yokohama Sisters say they are planning to sing Ukrainian folk songs on a YouTube livestream on March 6.
(Japanese original by Satoru Suzuki, Yokohama Bureau)
YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJFU-soDQGA&t=4s
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