In 2005, the Osaka Toin Symphonic Band was inaugurated to support the baseball team and now has 182 members. From April 2006 it has been led by director Takashi Umeda. They participated in the national tournament of the All Japan Wind Orchestra Competition a total of fifteen times and won the “Gold Award” seven times. They participated in the All Japan Marching Contest National Competition five times and won the “Gold Award” four times. They also won the Japan Wind Ensemble Contest National Competition “Best Grand Prix / Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award” four times. At Koshien, we will support the victory five times in the spring and four times in the summer (including friendship support).
In July 2013 they held their first overseas performance in Austria’s Wiener Staatsoper (The Vienna State Opera). In Schladming they also participated in the15th MID EUROPE competition for youth wind bands, winning the overall Grand Prix. In 2015, they visited the United States at the invitation of the St. Patrick’s Parade, the first parade appearance for a Japanese group, which was broadcast across the US.. They also received praise and a standing ovation from their audience when they performed their “Toin Concert” at Carnegie Hall. In 2017, a second European expedition, they won the Grand Prix in all categories at the first participation in the 15th Mid-European Wind Orchestra Competition.
In 2022, Director Umeda won the Best Father Award in Kansai (in the academic category). In July 2021, he opened his own YouTube channel with the cooperation of the alumni association. In order to deliver energy with music, he continues to explore the new possibilities of brass band, such as transmitting videos even during the corona disaster. The number of subscribers to this channel was 20.8 million (as of December 2024), with more than three hundred videos available.
The orchestra has performed in Ishikawa Prefecture’s “La Folle Journee Kanazawa,” in invitational performances in Tokushima Prefecture, Tokyo, Ehime Prefecture, and Kurashiki City, in Kanto Regional Invitational Performances with appearances in Minamiashigara, Kitamoto City, and Sagamihara, and in Kyushu Invitational Performances in Kumamoto, Nagasaki, and Fukuoka, among others.
In their latest competition at the Japanese Wind Ensemble Contest, which was held at Bunkyo Civic Hall in October 2024, the band won the Best Award, Best Grand Prix Award and the Minister of Education, Culture, Sport, Science and Technology Award. The band has made many media appearances such as “The world’s best class” “Laughing and collapsing” “24h TV” “COUNT DOWN TV” “NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen”, “Arashi niyare”, “Utacon” and so on.
