Aimachi
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Aimachi is a Japanese group of over 130 performers that competes internationally in indoor percussion ensembles, indoor marching ensembles, Baton twirling, and Winter guards. In each of these ensembles they bring a unique creative aspect to their shows. The group is sponsored by the Tenrikyo Aimachi Church and is located in Handa City, Japan, near Nagoya.
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[edit] History
Aimachi was started in 1962 with only 4 members. The Founder of the Band was Sekine Kiyokazu who continues to serve as the group's Director. They grew gradually over time, and in 1990 Aimachi started receiving show design and music arrangements from their American staff. In 1996 Aimachi performed with WGI for the first time, placing 18th in the Independent World division. In 1998, Aimachi became the All-Japan National Champion in the All-Japan Marching and Baton Twirling championships for the first time. They have won in 1998, 2000, 2006, and 2007. They won the WAMSB World Championship for Marching Showbands in 2002. The percussion ensemble performed in the 2000 WGI Independent World championships and received 3rd place in their debut performance.
Since 1990, Americans on Aimachi's instructional and design staff have included Gordon Henderson [1], Mitch Rogers, Michael Gaines, Jim Campbell, Tim Fairbanks, Erik Johnson, Scott Kretzer, Brett Kuhn, Jim Moore, Marty Rhees, and Dean Westman.
[edit] Indoor Percussion
This group performs in many competitions across Japan, but also competes in Winter Guard International. In WGI they placed 3rd in 2006 and in 2008 in the Independent World Division, the highest division for a group to perform in. Since Aimachi hails from Japan, they deviate from conventional battery percussion by adding taiko drums, shime-daiko drums, and the odaiko bass drum. In the pit they also have a few unconventional instruments, most notably the shamisen. They add many elements from Winter Guard into their performances, including flags, rifles, sabres, batons, and dance sections.
[edit] Winter Guard
Aimachi's winterguard uses all conventional flags and weapons, but also adds the unique baton twirling to the performance. They have the World Champion Baton Twirler Seishi Inagaki in their troupe. They have completed at WGI 5 times. 1996 (18th place), 1999 (10th place), 2002 (10th place), 2004 (7th place and in 2007 they tied for third in the Independent World Championships along with Blessed Sacrament, behind Fantasia and Pride of Cincinnati.
