Tottori

Sanin Beach Party in Tottori-Ken, Japan takes place every year in July. The event takes place on a beautiful beach in the most rural prefecture in Japan. Hundreds of foreigners and Japanese people alike descend on Tottori for a weekend of food, music and beach fun. It was a great weekend. Tottori Sand Dunes are nearby for those who want to see Japan’s biggest “desert”. The DJs were good (DJ Kentaro headlined), the bands were better and the vibes were great all weekend. Recommended.

Japanese Name

So, when a foreigner wants to become a Japanese citizen, they are often required to change their name to something more Japanese.  Turns out that anyone can apply for a legal Japanese alias even without meeting the requirements to be a Japanese citizen.  Long story short, if anyone has any good ideas, I am in the market for a classy Japanese pseudonym.

Lucky Strike

I recently spent a night in Nagoya.  I went to a party hosted by a group called “Nagoya Friends”.  I generally try to avoid these events due to the high number of over excitable foreigners that frequent them.  The party was at a place called Red Rocks which bills itself as an Australian bar.  The place was packed to capacity with Japanese people and foreigners all wearing name tags.  Naturally, mine said Jesus.  I am often put off at these types of events by guys who approach me to chat.  While they most likely just want to meet another foreigner or practice their English, it is still a bit awkward for me to go to a social function and end up talking alone with another man.  I met one interesting fellow who I christened  Lucky Strike because of his lack of name tag.  He told me of his plan to go to America because of his love for Eminem (as far as I know, he is not all that popular in the states anymore).  Anyway, Lucky Strike and his friends cornered me and requested advice on how to go about impressing the ladies when they get to America.  I suggested that some people are gullible and would believe them if they said they were secret ninjas.  Strike is actually planning on studying “black English” so he too can become a rapper like Eminem. His goal is to go to Detroit and become part of the rapper populous by speaking their language.  I encouraged him while suggesting that this plan could put him in some danger.

In all, the party was overpriced and not very compfortable but the night went well even though I forgot a good shirt on some hotel floor in Sakae.

Sushi Eating Contest!

Saturday’s Sushi contest successfully raised 8,000 yen for disaster victims in China in a matter of 1.5 hours.  This year’s champion ate 26 plates of sushi (52 pieces of sushi) I believe I was in 3rd place with 21 plates. I don’t eat as much as I once could but it seems that some training is in order for next year’s contest.

Gil Scott Heron

An interesting well documented area of 20th century American culture is the fallout from the Sex, Drugs and Rock ‘N Roll glory of the 60’s and 70’s. Pioneering Jazz/Soul poet Gil Scott Heron is one artist who has suffered greatly since the pinnacle of his creativity. He has had numerous drug arrests and has subsequently recorded a limited number of tracks since the mid-1980s. Gil recently (December ‘07) did a great NPR interview and discussed his recent problems only to be arrested once again for cocaine possesion. Unlike fellow drug addicts like Rick James and George Clinton, Gil Scott Heron never glorified drug abuse. In fact, a review of his cataloge reveals nothing but personal music about life, love, politics and the struggle with addiction. Any album from the 1970’s is highly recommended.

Reggae from Japan

It’s remarkable that this music that came from a small impoverished island in the Carribean has made it’s way throughout the world.  Italy, Germany, Finland and the United States are among the many countries throughout the globe with vibrant Reggae scenes.  While Japan is probably the most unlikely country to adopt the music of Jamaica, there is a commercialized rasta culture here that probably rivals any country outside the Carribean.  Not only is Reggae music popular but Japanese enthusiasts have also adopted symbols such as the Jamaican flag, Red Stripe beer and the ganja plant to decorate everything from steering wheel covers to school accessories.  A Japanese woman (Junko) even won the international Dancehall Queen competition in 2002.

While there have been many original Reggae artists from Japan since the 1980’s, my opinion is that most of them are less inspired and original than artists from other parts of the world.  Pop music is dominant on the radio here and most of the Japanese Reggae artists have a pop inspired sound. Dancehall is the most popular style now and unlike the rough and streetwise sound of many Jamaican dancehall artists, the Japanese sound often includes corny Pop choruses and friendly melodies.  Also, (again, this is just my opinion) the majority of artists here do not have the experience of oppression, , poverty and hardship which makes Reggae from Jamaica so powerful. (It is possible that the language barrier is keeping me from enjoying J-Reggae, but there is an undeniable cheesiness about most of the popular artists).

The best J-Reggae artist I have heard so far is Dry and Heavy.  This band has produced several extremely heavy and moody roots and Dub albums, some featuring the likes of King Tubby at the controls. They are no longer together but Likkle Mai, the singer from Dry and Heavy has a recent album that is not terrible (but her debut album is).

For Reggae (or any vinyl) reissues on Lp or CD, Japan is where it’s at.  For Rasta inspired merchandise, Japan probably carries anything that could be found on a trip to Jamaica.  But for true Reggae fans, Dry and Heavy is the only Japanese band that comes close to producing authentic Reggae music.

ENKAI!!

Enkai is a Japanese work party.  These are commonly held to celebrate the completion of important events like school festivals and final tests. I never attended an American work party but I would imagine that it is more family oriented than an enkai.  Unlike American workplaces, many Japanese offices are places strictly for work and not personal interactions.  Unlike the offices I experienced in the past where people talk about their families and their plans for the weekend in between classes, Japanese schoolteachers stick to business while they are at work and party hard when the time comes.    Often, I feel like a drag at these events because whoever gets stuck sitting next to me feels obliged to speak English even if they are not comfortable with it.  Anyway, this enkai was great. There was lots of good food and beer and I got to participate in tossing people up into the air and we also all shared a huge circular group hug and sang a spirited version of the school song.  The place we were at was super fancy and the way everyone was partying so recklessly, I felt like I was hangin’ with Jake and Elwood when they went to the fancy French restaurant to get the band back together.

Three Imaginary Boys -The Cure

Three Imaginary Boys (1979) is the debut album from The Cure. This album has a completely different vibe than the synthesized pop rock that made them popular. This is a great melodic punk album. The tracks here are raw, energetic and devoid of all the makeup and pretenses that made them mainstays on 1980s radio.

Track: Fire in Cairo.

Fantastic Directions

Most streets in Japan have no names. Finding one’s way around can be difficult if there are no monuments along the way. Last night I was invited to a work party and given a map that was devoid of English and meant absolutely nothing to me. So I was riding my bike around in the rain looking for a small restaurant when I decided to stop and ask for directions. I chose a meat shop that was run by an old man, his wife and daughter. With the few words that I knew I succeeded in asking how to get to the point I was looking for on my map. The old woman took charge and proceeded to discuss the matter with me for about 20 minutes. I suspected that she had no idea where I needed to go and she proved me correct when she finally decided just to call the restaurant. Apparently what she did was assume that I was an English teacher and ask the restaurant owner to talk to one of the teachers that were there. The person she got happened to be my supervisor. When she hung up she spoke to me for another five minutes before she drew me a map. The map was a classic. It took her three tries to get it right, but the third one was perfect. It was just a straight road going through the center of the page leading from one point to another. At the end of the road she drew and colored in a large black dot. That was the map. It was a straight line.

By the time the map was perfected I was about 30 minutes late for dinner and I still had only a vague idea of where to go. The old woman insisted on walking me out to the intersection so she could point me in the right direction. Her daughter got her coat and held her umbrella over her head as we walked slowly to the corner and she pointed out the right way. I thanked her and as I peddled away, I imagined her standing on that corner watching me leave to make sure everything was alright.

I took my bike a few minutes straight on that same road when I came across my supervisor, standing with an umbrella on the corner. The old woman had asked her to come out to the road that I was on because she knew I would not understand any other directions. Her straight map was perfect.

I was terribly embarrassed showing up 40 minutes late to dinner (and making my supervisor leave the party to stand in the rain). The group was waiting patiently for me so they could begin eating. Nobody said a word about it. It turned out to be a great night.

Kool and the Gang – Live at PJ’s

Live at PJ’s (1971) by Kool and the Gang is a fantastic jazz funk album.  This was the third album by the band that is most well known for their cheesy family oriented disco songs of the late 1970s and early 1980s. This particular album, along with the second album “Live at the Sex Machine” are interesting because they both advertise themselves as live albums but are rumored to have been recorded in a studio with crowd noise inserted between tracks.  While many of the highly sought after soul and funk records do not live up to their reputation, this album proves that Kool and the Gang were a great band before disco stole their souls.  The solos are great and the songs range from mellow to super funky. Highly Recommended.

Track:  “Ike’s Mood/You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feeling”. While “N.T.” has been  sampled to death, this combination of these two songs is undeniably potent.