Lithuania Concert Tour

The concert held in Tokyo in February 2026 by AKchoir, Akihito Kinashi, Viktorija Miškūnaitė, and Yuko Yamasaki now comes to life again in Lithuania.

This concert features Gintarė Jautakaitė, the singer-songwriter known as the composer of "Viešpaties Lelija," along with tenor Jurgis Jarašius and organist Rimvydas Mitkus.

We also welcome the young soprano Gabrielė Butkaliuk, who performed at the February Tokyo concert and is scheduled to tour Japan with AKchoir in July, and violist Marija Šešelgytė, who gave three concerts with AKchoir in Japan this April.

Japan and Lithuania — their traditional music, prayer songs, classical and folk music meet and resonate across genres and borders in this cultural exchange concert.

Memories of the forest, memories of the sea, the prayers of people and their longing for home.

Memories etched in music cross borders and become a single resonance that binds us together.

Please enjoy a special moment connecting Lithuania and Japan.

A Reunion Brought by Song — Once More, Beyond the Forest —

In 2018, having finished its very first concert, AKchoir went straight on to take part in Lithuania's largest song festival, "Dainų Šventė."

On the way back, still wrapped in emotion, Akihito Kinashi walked along the road leading from today's Čiurlionio Street into the forest, singing together with one choir.

The last song they sang was "Kur giria žaliuoja," a song beloved by the Lithuanian people.

It was a time of singing together, weeping together, and sharing emotion beyond words.

They had asked the choir's name as they parted, but the note was lost somewhere along the way. Among the thousands of singers gathered at the festival, meeting again seemed all but impossible.

All that remained were a few photographs and a short video.

The only clue was the pattern of the folk costumes they wore.

Asking many Lithuanian friends and musicians afterward led nowhere. But in April 2026, with the help of Kotryna Šešelgytė during her visit to Japan, the choir was finally identified.

It was the Miežiškiai choir led by Lina.

The companions who sang together that day, walking through the forest.

This time, AKchoir visits the small town of Miežiškiai, far from Vilnius.

A reunion brought by song, across eight years.

This concert is at once a cultural exchange between Japan and Lithuania and the moment a promise is tied once more.

Now, together, we will let the rest of that day's "Kur giria žaliuoja" resound.

The Beginning of Sound

— A Wind-Music Bridge Connecting Lithuania and Japan —

In August 2026, a concert in Japan by AKchoir and the Marijampolė Wind Orchestra has been confirmed.

As preparations advanced, the Marijampolė Wind Orchestra will perform two pieces representative of Japanese wind-band culture: "Matsuken Samba II" and "Takarajima."

Japan is said to have one of the world's largest wind-band populations, developing in its own way in close connection with school education and community activities. "Takarajima" and "Matsuken Samba II" are signature pieces of Japan's repertoire — it is no exaggeration to say that anyone who has played in a wind band has performed them at least once.

For this visit to Japan, we are inviting students of Koyamadai High School in Tokyo and Hayama Junior High School in Hayama, as well as local children, to take part — planning ways to connect through dance and song.

The program will include Japanese pieces everyone can enjoy regardless of wind-band experience, such as "Furusato" and "Nanchu Soran," alongside works representative of Lithuania.

Music binds people beyond words.

Performers raised in different countries learn each other's cultures and play each other's music. We hope that the accumulation of such small encounters will lead to greater exchange in the future.

This is the first step of a new wind-music cultural exchange connecting Lithuania and Japan.

Please enjoy the beginning of sound together with us.

The concert held in Tokyo in February 2026 by AKchoir, Akihito Kinashi, Viktorija Miškūnaitė, and Yuko Yamasaki now comes to Lithuania at the Kaunas City Museum.

We welcome pianist Darius Mažintas, bringing the delicate, beautiful sound of the piano, including works by Ryuichi Sakamoto. Tenor Jurgis Jarašius and violist Marija Šešelgytė — who gave three concerts with AKchoir in Japan in April 2026 — also perform.

Japan and Lithuania — their traditional music, prayer songs, classical and folk music meet on one stage and resonate across borders and genres.

Like wind crossing the forest, like waves crossing the sea, music carries people's memories and their longing for home.

"Memories of Sound" is a journey that ties different cultures and connects people.

A special concert portraying the friendship and exchange of Lithuania and Japan through music.

At a concert in July 2025 at the M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art in Kaunas, Akihito Kinashi met Gintarė Jautakaitė, the composer of "Viešpaties Lelija." Inspired by that meeting, AKchoir kept singing "Viešpaties Lelija" after returning home, nurturing it as a cherished repertoire connecting Japan and Lithuania.

Now, that musical bond is tied once again.

In this concert, AKchoir performs together with the Pastoralės Giesmė Choir led by Salvinija Jautakaitė-Hargreaves, welcoming Gintarė Jautakaitė to create a special stage of reunion.

Joined further by a distinguished line-up — violist Marija Šešelgytė, kanklės player Gabija Laimutytė, keyboardist Greta Drenseikaitė-Paliulienė, and organist Dalia Jatautaitė — they weave a rich resonance into the magnificent church space.

The prayer songs, traditional music, and hymns of Japan and Lithuania, and the memories of sound handed down in each land, resonate as one story in this sacred space.

From forest to sea, from sea to sky.

Carrying people's prayers and hopes, music crosses borders and cultures, binding heart to heart.

Memories of the Sun — Light Leading to Nagoya —

In 2014, what first drew Akihito Kinashi to Lithuania was a single short film.

It showed a kanklės playing a beautiful tone and a mysterious sun motif. Without understanding its meaning, he was strongly drawn to it and, as if guided, came to visit Lithuania.

Eleven years later, in 2025.

Guided by Simona Širvydaitė Šliupienė through the underground storage area of the National Museum of Lithuania, Kinashi encountered that sun motif once again.

The form he had held in distant memory seemed to have waited across the long years for their reunion.

And in 2026, AKchoir will perform at the pre-opening commemorative concert of the Nagoya City Museum on September 4.

Before that special stage, they visit this place once more to pay their respects to the sun motif together with their AKchoir companions.

This is not a large concert. Due to the venue, only two or three songs are planned.

Yet song can sometimes convey feelings more deeply than long words.

With gratitude for the mysterious bond linking Japan and Lithuania, we offer a small concert close to the memory of the sun.

Closing the 2026 Lithuania tour is a special concert themed on Japanese and Lithuanian mythology.

The Japanese Garden SEI SHIN EN, the stage for this concert, holds special meaning for AKchoir.

In 2018, it was Marija Simanskaitė, the garden's founder, who first invited AKchoir to Lithuania.

At that time, a concert was held in this garden, attended by Ambassador Shigeeda of the Japanese Embassy and the consular staff. Marija also organized a concert in the city of Sakai, and from that connection came a meeting with Erika, the lyricist of "Mano kraštas."

She also welcomed many AKchoir members into her home, nurturing friendship between Japan and Lithuania through homestays, and became a bridge for exchange with many musicians, including the Šešelgytė sisters such as Kotryna.

But the beginning of this bond reaches even further back.

In 2014, what first made me — Akihito Kinashi — want to visit Lithuania was a single short film.

It showed the tone of the kanklės, a mysterious sun motif, and the figure of a woman. Moved by the images without understanding their meaning, I resolved to travel to Lithuania.

And only later did I learn:

that the woman in those images was none other than Dalia Dokšaitė, the founder of SEI SHIN EN and an ink-painting artist.

Even more astonishing, Dalia was Marija's mother.

Looking back, a single piece of footage led me to Lithuania, that bond led to my meeting with Marija, and it gave rise to countless exchanges between AKchoir and Lithuania.

On this tour, we have performed across the country with the theme of Japanese and Lithuanian mythology.

And finally, we gather in this beautiful garden to look back on our journey and offer songs of gratitude.

Winds across the forest.

Songs across the sea. Prayers and stories handed down since the age of myth.

SEI SHIN EN is, for us, the origin of our cultural exchange and the place where many miraculous encounters were born.

As the close of the tour, with gratitude to this garden and a wish for the future friendship of Japan and Lithuania, we offer our final songs.