The
"One World... of Peace Through Music" videotape concert in
Tokyo, Japan was scheduled for October 2, 1999, and local practitioners
had barely a month's time to complete all the advertising, printing,
promotions and other advance work. We seemed to be losing in a race
against time, but it turned out that everything proceeded smoothly,
as though it had been pre-arranged.
Our
first task was to produce posters announcing the event. We wanted to
have them printed in Korea, where it would be cheaper, but it had to
be done within a week. How could we do it? Unexpectedly, a sister initiate
in Kyushu, southern Japan, contacted us, saying, "I have a week's
leave from work and I'm planning to visit Korea." Korea? What a
coincidence! The next day, we mailed the layout for the poster to Seoul
and asked the traveling sister from Kyushu to contact the printing group
in Korea about bringing the printed copies back with her. After she
arrived in Seoul, she called us at midnight and said, "No problem!
I can bring the posters back to Japan with me." So, these posters
were mounted in the subway stations of Tokyo a week before the concert.
Now
we had a more difficult job, especially for an inexperienced crew-producing
videotapes carrying Japanese subtitles. Moreover, we had two videotaped
lectures needing translation in this short time. Just as we were wondering
how to possibly get this project done in time, a sister from the Korean
translation group called and asked how long it would take us to complete
the work in Japan. We replied honestly that it would probably take two
months, since our three translators were inexperienced and had full-time
jobs. The Korean sister recalled that a Quan Yin messenger had once
asked the Korean translation group to render help to their Japanese
counterparts, should the need arise. The Korean staff remembered this,
honored its promise, and started working right away. We expressed our
gratitude and replied to them that we would try our very best to complete
the job. It took us only four days to translate the first tape, and
three days for the second one. Both tapes were mailed to Formosa for
proofreading and processing.
Things
were going so well that we began to relax a bit until a phone call from
Formosa had us sitting up again. We were told that we had been working
on an older version of the tapes. We had to wait for another week before
receiving the new editions to work on. As soon as they arrived, we set
about making adjustments and setting line breaks so that the subtitles
could fit the screen. We had to work quickly because the Formosan sister
in charge of linking subtitles to images was leaving for the moon festival
celebration in Florida three days later and would be returning only
three days before the concert.
We wasted no time getting started. Over the next 30 hours, our staff
members set all other work aside to concentrate on this challenging
job. When the translation was e-mailed to the sister in Formosa for
proofreading, Formosa had just experienced a strong earthquake. Despite
the many aftershocks and long hours of power outage, the sister proofread
the translation before leaving for the USA. The Formosan group then
completed the post-production work and when the tape arrived, it was
the eve of the concert. Yet, we still could not sit back and rejoice.
One of the plastic cases had been broken in the mail and we were not
sure if the tape would play correctly. One hour before the concert,
the person in charge of the venue bought a new case to replace it and
carefully examined and adjusted the tape before handing it over for
screening.
|
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| Receipt
from the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation for a monetary
contribution of NT$85,260 made by the Japanese Center of The Supreme
Master Ching Hai International Association to September 21 earthquake
victims in Formosa |
During the concert, the vivid pictures on the big screen and the beautiful
background music deeply touched the audience. Some were even moved to
tears. And those who had taken part in this work knew that it was the
support and guidance from the Supreme Love that had made this moment
possible. We learned through the work to have faith and put our minds
down, since the job was completed just in time. The local fellow practitioners
have become more united and have found oneness among themselves. We
deeply appreciate the support we received from fellow practitioners
in other countries who helped us accomplish this work.
The concert also raised funds totaling Y287,100 (NT$85,260 or US$2,708)
for Formosan earthquake victims. The contribution was made to the Buddhist
Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation.
Panorama of Events
Japan