Through the Eyes of the former Consul General Yamada (June, 2017 - July, 2020)

The Ventures Concert on June 3, 2018

I wonder if young people know about The Ventures. Formed in 1959, the group has had many smash hits with their electric guitar and drum sounds. They have sold over 90 million records all over the world, 40 million of them in Japan. I believe that many people remember listening to Walk, Don’t Run, Diamond Head, and Wipeout. Japanese people might be more familiar with that signature “Teke, teke, teke, teeen” sound that identifies the band.

During their most popular phase in their career in the 1960s, The Ventures played many times in Japan, and garnered huge popularity in the country. Born in 1961, I remember it vividly. Since their Japanese promoter at the time didn’t have enough money, only group members Mr. Don Wilson and Mr. Bob Bogle were first invited to Japan in 1962. When the entire band came to Japan in 1965, five thousand fans were waiting for them at Haneda Airport. Seeing them, Mr. Bogle would say, “Who the heck is on this plane?”

They have visited Japan more than fifty times. Moreover, they made many songs ― thirty in counting ― for the Japanese market, especially around the 1970s. Songs such as Ginza Lights, Stranger in Midosuji, Kyoto Doll and Reflections in a Palace Lake are big hits and are still popular choices for karaoke. I actually didn’t know these songs were written by The Ventures until I researched to write this blog. Don’t those songs sound simply “Japanese”?

By bringing the sound of the electric guitar into Japan, The Ventures brought revolutionary innovation to the Japanese music scene after the Second World War. They truly have become a musical bridge between Japan and the U.S. For this accomplishment, all the members were decorated by the Japanese government in July 2010. In the pop music field, no other non-Japanese group has received such awards from Japan before them. The Ventures were also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the U.S. in 2008.

One of the members of The Ventures, Mr. Nokie Edwards, passed away on March 12 this year. To remember him, on June 3, a concert event took place at Temple Theatre in Tacoma. Mr. Don Wilson, the leader of the band and the only original member who is still alive, is from that city. After his last performance in Japan in 2015, he retired. And today’s members of The Ventures are the second generation. At the event for Mr. Edwards, Mr. Wilson showed his guitar technique that has been polished for many years.
  Mr. Wilson is 85 years old this year. At Temple Theatre, I was overwhelmed by The Ventures’s huge accomplishments when I saw their many awards received in the U.S. and the posters of their concert tours and CDs sold in Japan.

In his “treasure box”, my 9-year-old son keeps the guitar pick that Mr. Wilson gave him. He is excited to give it to his grandfather, a huge fan of The Ventures, as a gift. My wife’s father is 71 years old, and belongs to the generation that that soaked up The Ventures’s sounds in their youth. He still lively plays The Ventures’s songs with his Fender electric guitar, making that noteworthy “Teke, teke, teke, teke, teen” sound for which The Ventures are known and loved in Japan.