Joint sponsors: The Red Shoes Foundation and World Bank PIC Tokyo
July 28, 2008, Tokyo – The Hibiya City Summer Beer Garden, open from July 22 – August 22, sponsored by Mitsubishi Estate, on July 28, hosted t the Teruo Nakamura Quartet for an open-air live performance for HIV/AIDS awareness. Dr. Shigemasa Sawada, Professor of Nihon University Medical School, who has spoken at other Teruo Nakamura events, spoked on issues related to HIV/AIDS.
The world population has hit 6.7 billion and a billion of those people are living on less than $1 per day. The number of people worldwide estimated to have been infected with the HIV virus has reached 35 million. A disproportionate 60% of the world’s HIV-infected people live in Africa, though Africa makes just over 10% of the world’s population. While HIV/AIDS grabs the attention of people as social problem in Japan and other developed countries, the number of HIV/AIDS infections in the developing world continues to increase.
One Japanese artist who has been standing up to face the HIV/AIDS crisis for 13 years now is a jazz bassist by the name of Teruo Nakamura. Nakamura left home for America 45 years ago all by himself, and rose to become the best Japanese jazz bassist around. He has also become an important advocate in Japan for HIV/AIDS awareness. During his years in New York, Nakamura says he came to learn about how important it is to transcend race and other discriminatory boundaries as many of the friends and musicians around him fell victim to HIV/AIDS. He decided to take action in his own way, and on his yearly tours in Japan he has created a unique series of concerts – bringing together the comforting sounds of jazz with Japanese experts in the fields of Asian and African development, and HIV/AIDS.
Last December 2nd, in cooperation with the World Bank, Teruo Nakamura and the Rising Sun band premiered in a concert for HIV/AIDS awareness at U Thant International Hall at the United Nations University in Tokyo. And this April 17th at the World Bank Group’s Global Development Learning Network (GDLN) videoconference facility, Mr. Nakamura held a seminar entitled Arts & Music for HIV/AIDS Awareness, connecting 10 different sites around the world in real time to discuss HIV/AIDS issues in Japan and in developing countries.
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