To listen while following along with the score, click here: Nihon Petite Suite, Op. 171 │ Brass Quintet │ Dr. Daniel Thrower

Japan’s commercial culture may be described in a single word: cute. Every business has a cartoon mascot. Bright colors catch the eye at every store display. Ads (oh, the ads…) are dramatically over the top.

When my family moved to Tokyo in 2023, one of our first modern Japanese cultural experiences was similar to an American “dollar store,” which I cannot name here. That store became one of our favorite places to go if we wanted anything cheap and cute. And cue the toys! The store chain has a line of miniature interlocking blocks similar to Lego, but truly tiny. Each small set is 110 yen, which during our three-year stay equated to about $.75 USD each. I bought them all! No, not for my 10-year-old… for me. Thinking of my future grandchildren, of course, I dutifully built my collection, excited every time a new little set was released.

The sets are organized in series, such as “Train Series,” which includes mini models of the famous Shinkansen—Japanese bullet trains; and “Friends of the Sea,” with an orca, a blue whale spouting water, and a dolphin. I thought it would be fun to take the store’s four-note jingle and write a series of short movements based on the simple motif. It’s amazing what variety can be inspired from four simple notes. Each movement of this suite aurally depicts my take on the mood or feel of a series of mini building blocks:

1. Train Series
2. Plants
3. Work Vehicles
4. Friends of the Sea