Since 1990, Americans on Aimachi's instructional and design staff have included Gordon Henderson (Band Director), Mitch Rogers, Michael Gaines, Jim Campbell, Tim Fairbanks, Erik Johnson, Scott Kretzer, Brett Kuhn, Jim Moore, Martin Rhees, Dean Westman, William Plenk, Christian Carichner, Stephen Mason, Aidan Ritchie and Kevin LeBoeuf.
They add many elements from their award-winning Winter Guard into their performances, including flags, rifles, sabres, batons, and dance sections to offer a visual package unique in the percussion circuit.
The Aimachi Band came into existence at a time following World War II that Japanese culture was greatly influenced by the presence of American military bases throughout the country.
Following World War II, the Tenri religion in Nagoya quickly grew in membership, and in 1955, the present day Aimachi Church was built.
In addition to religious services, the Church began to offer a variety of clubs for activities such as singing, karate and other sports.
It was at this time that Sekine formed the Merry Young Man Band, a small combo that played jazz and popular music.
So these 15 Meiden High School graduates, none of whom belonged to the Tenri religion, started coming to the Aimachi Church to play in a band conducted by Mr. Sekine.
As the band progressed over the next year, most of the Meiden High School alumni continued to play and Aimachi Church members started to join.
By October 1963, the band purchased its first set of uniforms for the group that included 13 Meiden alumni and six Aimachi Church members as well as baton twirlers.
Genkichi Harada, who had served as a tuba player in the famed NHK Orchestra, conducted numerous clinics around Japan about band music.
Mr. Harada, who later became the Executive Director of the Japan Marching Band Baton Twirling Association, also helped guide Mr. Sekine during this period.
Around this same time, Mr. Sekine attended a clinic in Japan held by Mr. Thomas Davis, a percussionist who was also the Director of the Marching Band at the University of Iowa from 1968 to 1972.
Harada encouraged Sekine to travel to the U.S. to follow Drum Corps International events, which he started to do on a regular basis.
For this performance, the Aimachi Band designed its first field show using Japanese popular music and traditional block formations.
Mr. Harada was a key figure in helping to overcome these concerns, and the variety of international influences eventually led to a great deal of interest in marching bands and drum corps.
Due to the importance placed on their performance by the leaders of the Tenri Church, the Band scheduled a great deal more rehearsal time than they had for earlier events, and the playing level dramatically improved.
The format of the event gradually evolved until the top two bands and baton corps in each division from each of three regions of the country (North, Midsection and South) met in Tokyo for an exhibition performance.
Once a site had been selected for the new church buildings in Handa City, he had to help cut down the trees and clear the land to make it possible to start construction.
The Aimachi Band found themselves far down in the rankings, and as a result, decided to work harder to achieve the goal of winning the Final competition.
To help with their preparations, Fukuda asked an American clinician he knew, Frank Dorritie, to come work with his Band while they were in Pasadena, however, Frank was unavailable that week and he suggested that Mr. Fukuda call Gordon Henderson, Director of the Marching Band at UCLA and the Brass Arranger for the Santa Clara Vanguard Drum and Bugle Corps, since he lived close to Pasadena.
Upon Fukuda's return to Japan, Sekine asked him about possible American arrangers and clinicians for the Aimachi Band and he suggested that he contact Mr. Henderson.
Drum Corps International Championship videos started becoming available in Japan in the late 1970s and members of the Aimachi Band loved to watch these over and over again.
Although Uichi did not yet have the skills as a percussionist to perform with one of the top DCI corps, he did tour as a volunteer with the Cavaliers from Rosemont, Illinois for the 1992 season.
Over the next several years, more Aimachi Band members, including two of his children, Kazue and Kiyotaka, traveled to the U.S. to join various drum corps including the Cadets, Blue Devils, Carolina Crown, Santa Clara Vanguard, Troopers, Blue Stars, Phantom Regiment and several more to the Cavaliers.
Most of the facilities would close at 9pm, meaning that at 8:45pm, there would be a mad scramble to move all of the instruments and equipment out of the gymnasium and back on the Band's truck.
When the Band would travel to Tokyo for the Final Competition, they would practice outside, sometimes in wet, muddy (and cold) flood control areas.
In 1997, the Aimachi Band's score tied for first place, but the Renaissance Vanguard was again named Champion due to the All Japan tiebreaking formula.
In 2008, the show was entitled “Guernica” that told the story of a love affair between a German soldier and a peasant girl during the Spanish Civil War.
For the exhibition performance at the 38th Annual, Mr. Sekine designed a show that conveyed a strong sense of Japanese tradition, because he planned to take this show to Basel, Switzerland in July, 2011 to perform at the internationally renown Basel Tattoo along with ensembles from Switzerland, England, Scotland, Germany, Australia, Ireland, and Bahrain.
The Aimachi Band performed over a dozen times during the week-long event, and took sightseeing trips to Lucerne, Interlaken, and Strasbourg.